battery pack voltage again!

Hello

Two packs with different voltage ratings. Here is the question: Which one is better?

Guido.

A lot of it is marketing bs, for example the dewalt 20v batteries are the voltage after charging, much like a 12volt car battery charges at 14 volt roughly. In some countries I am told 20v dewalt is sold as 18v due to the laws. Makita sells as 18v worldwide instead of playing into the gimmick. And as for better, well volt is only part of the story, amp hours is the measure of power. Just like a 6 volt tractor battery has a lot more power than a 6 volt lantern battery despite the same voltage

Hello markct,

Marketing BS? You are right! It is not the case with the picture though.
Volts with out amps ratings, when it comes to capacity, mean absolutely nothing!


Guido.

Exactly!

Which one is better? Come on Guido, All nickle batteries self discharge at an alaming rate. The XRP is rated at 3 amp hrs, No idea what the Die Hard ryobi is rated at. My brother had the ryobi drill, I hated it. No battery will live up to it's rating. Each time it recharged it never gets back to 100% full charge, you know that. I'm about to give up on all nickle based batteries.

When I take my 18v dewalts off charger, the voltage is over 21v, so what?

I recently made a 5 ohm load tester, like always from used parts. Hard wired in volt meter. I test batteries right off charger, then 24 hrs later. You would be surprised how fast all nickle based batteries Self Discharge. I'm beginning to think all nickle batteries are like a large leaky capacitor. Stores energy for a short time providing the battery stays warm.

My solution is to keep some inside house, keep some on floor of truck. Drop batteries in charger just before I go to use them or charge them while driving. I have one Li battery that doesn't need charged, so I use it first, but it has to be warm too..

Plan to get a 4 amp hr Li battery soon. Then I'll answer your question, Which battery is best? Right now I'm thinking they are all junk.

Hello Geo-TH,In,

I posted about voltage so anyone that looks in would KNOW that it is not a way to determine capacity. By the way the Sears pack has 16 cells in it rated at 1.2 volts each. Of Couse you know that already. NOT all NiCad's are created equal. Some of my packs including the XRP keep a good charge for months. By the way most XRP pack are not 3000Mah. They vary in capacity. My pack are 2400KR. R is the designation for rapid charge. Twice the rated charge rate will NOT hurt them. Few people have the capability to do that though. I have made up many way of discharging and rating batteries. here are some examples. Now I use my new charger it will charge, discharge many and rate many typse of batteries. Show Mah in and out among other functions. My batteries are in unheated garage and work just fine, believe it or not. The pack in the picture surprised me, months ago was charged, and I was able to drill a few holes. You can see some of my discharging gismos, recycled 1157 automotive bulbs, and old power resistors That pack was Not strong, but it should have been dead by your experience, but it was not..............

Guido.

Guido,
See how many 2x4's you can cut with a cold battery that hasn't been charged in a month. Then charge it up and see how many you can cut with same battery. I work my batteries hard on saws and gringers and at 20 degrees forget it. Sitting one month, forget it too.

Einstein said something to the effect, "Keep doing the same experiment over and over and expecting a different result each time is the definition of insanity." It didn't take me long to learn that Ni-cds are crap. Only difference is my Ni-Mh don't have a memory so I don't have to do brain surgery to wipe out memory by short each cell. I'm ready to move on the the 4 amp Li. Crazy not to try them. The difference is, I use my batteries everyday, need a battery that can deliver a large current for a long time, not have them sitting on a shelf for a month and drill a hole.

To answer your question to me last week. Max voltage I could get was 22.

Hello Wilson Ind,

Thanks for getting back to me. That sounds like a good pack. I have found that any pack that charges higher will have less capacity. Also make sure to discharge the pack totally. It will take a better charge. The pack may stop charging though, just remove and put it back on the charger until it is fully charged,

Guido.

My dad finally figured that out. Someone told him he needed a 24 volt impact wrench. Bought a harbor freight one, only came with one battery. It wouldn't snug down all 8 lugs changing a pick-up tire.

And that was fresh off the charger.

Now he's got the 18 volt Milwaukee stuff.

You get what you pay for with cordless tools.

Hello T in NE,

Voltage is important for speed, heavy duty drilling, and impact wrenches. My 18V came with a handle. With a 1/2' or bigger bit YOU NEED the handle. At low speed you can't hold it with one hand. I still like my 14.4V though for light stuff, Much ligher and almost as strong as the XRP,

Guido.