after market batteries?

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 18:51:46 -0400, "Wanker" <[email protected]>
calmly ranted:

>You can cut it apart and replace the internal batteries,, but then you will
>need to epoxy it back together,, batteries are batteries.

No, batteries are NOT batteries. There are nickel cadmium and
lithium ion battery types. Nicads for this use come in 1.5,
1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, and 3.0 amp-hour ratings in 2 sizes.


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(russ) writes:

>I can buy an after market grill for my 99 Suburban for $80.00. I am
>afraid to know what a factory grill would cost.

$80???? Hell, I'm looking at $90 for a LF turn signal assembly for my 1990
Trooper. Some enterprising bastich swiped mine . . .
>
>How come no one out there is selling off brand rechargable NiCad
>batteries for my dewalt tools?

Because B&D, the parent company of Dewalt, patented the battery pack connect
design and won't license it.

Was a rumor back in '99 or so that the B&D batteries packs would fit the
dewally line if you filed off a tab. B&D batteries packs were about $10-20
cheaper than the Dewalt but packed a lower a/h rating. I never investigated
the rumor so I don't know if it's true.

B&D (or any of the other manufacturers, for that matter) won't license the
design to third parties because it's a major cash cow for them just like any
consumable is for any manufacturer. Think cheap razors and how much
replacement blades cost.

There's an interesting sub-culture on ebay that specialized in power tools and
their battery packs. Take a look at all the cordless tools sold w/o packs.
Some folks figure at $80 a pop for 18V dewalt it's cheaper to buy a drill kit
w/2 packs for $200 and sell the tool for $50/60 bucks.

There's also a fair number of pack-only auctions but most of those which are
NIB go for maybe $10 less than store prices and the seller makes it up in
handling charges. I suspect a number of the NIB batteries either "fell off a
truck" or were liberated from the waste stream.

Like t'other respondent I'd check out the rebuild services. Two that come to
mind are Primecell, which appears to be N.A. only, and Batteries Plus which
seems to be a franchise - a quick google turned up the fact that they've
expanded to at least the UK and Oz.

I've got a buddy who works at the Borg, which has a drop off box for defunct
cordless tool batteries. I've been considering offering him $10 for a couple
of liberated battery packs and dorking around with cell replacement, see how
that works. I'll let the group know if anything comes of it.

Marc

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 19:00:19 -0700, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> calmly ranted:

>On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 18:51:46 -0400, "Wanker" <[email protected]>
>calmly ranted:
>
>>You can cut it apart and replace the internal batteries,, but then you will
>>need to epoxy it back together,, batteries are batteries.
>
>No, batteries are NOT batteries. There are nickel cadmium and
>lithium ion battery types. Nicads for this use come in 1.5,
>1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, and 3.0 amp-hour ratings in 2 sizes.

Oops, I meant Nicad and NiMH (metal hydride), not lithium.
(Time for my lithium.)

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Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
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Russ,

A number of companies exist that rebuild batteries to various qualities. If
you can get Panasonic cells you are doing well, they generally perform best.

I could tell you of at least two battery rebuild companies but something
tells me you don't want to send them to Australia. Where are you? Assuming
you're an American and not from one of the other 100 or so countries on the
internet, try:

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=tool+battery+rebuild&meta=

Half of these are under $50, I can't promise they fell off a tree though:

http://www.batteryprice.com/category.aspx?UserID=47307&SessionID=wEA1vWl98SctDaMUFFLs&SID=2&Category_ID=199

--
Greg


"russ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I can buy an after market grill for my 99 Suburban for $80.00. I am
> afraid to know what a factory grill would cost.
>
> How come no one out there is selling off brand rechargable NiCad
> batteries for my dewalt tools?
>
> Maybe there is no answer.
>
> What I am hoping... is that one of you bright, well informed guys is
> going to shoot me an e-mail with a web address that will link me to a
> page where $50.00 batteries are falling off trees just waiting to be
> harvested.
>
> OK that medifor works on no level but it's late
>
> Thanks
>
> Russ

Obviously, I'm late into this thread, but did you try to find a "Batteries
Plus" store? I'll place my disclaimer here right now - my son is a manager
of one of these franchises. I have no personal financial interest in it,
other than I've purchased some good stuff from there.

Batteries Plus specializes in rebuilding battery packs for all battery
powered devices and tools. The can also make battery packs for cordless
tools and devices, including medical devices. They also sell batteries of
all kinds, from car and motor home batteries to batteries for computer UPS's
and motorized wheel chairs. Usually they can rebuild a battery pack for a
cordless tool for about half the price of replacing it.

Some tools may not be able to have their battery packs rebuilt - not sure
specifically about DeWalt. It might be worth to find the nearest Batteries
Plus location and take it in to be looked at. I have one of their after
market rechargeable for my 12 volt Makita drill, and it works great. He
also built me a pack for the same drill, which also works great.

Here's a link to their website which contains a store locator -
http://www.batteriesplus.com/

Nick B


"russ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I can buy an after market grill for my 99 Suburban for $80.00. I am
> afraid to know what a factory grill would cost.
>
> How come no one out there is selling off brand rechargable NiCad
> batteries for my dewalt tools?
>
> Maybe there is no answer.
>
> What I am hoping... is that one of you bright, well informed guys is
> going to shoot me an e-mail with a web address that will link me to a
> page where $50.00 batteries are falling off trees just waiting to be
> harvested.
>
> OK that medifor works on no level but it's late
>
> Thanks
>
> Russ

"MrAoD" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> $80???? Hell, I'm looking at $90 for a LF turn signal assembly for my
1990
> Trooper. Some enterprising bastich swiped mine . . .


Are you kidding? That's cheap. $176 for the left rear light on my LeSaber.
It did include a bulb though.

Larry Jaques wrote:

> On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 19:00:19 -0700, Larry Jaques
> <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> calmly ranted:
>
>>On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 18:51:46 -0400, "Wanker" <[email protected]>
>>calmly ranted:
>>
>>>You can cut it apart and replace the internal batteries,, but then you
>>>will need to epoxy it back together,, batteries are batteries.
>>
>>No, batteries are NOT batteries. There are nickel cadmium and
>>lithium ion battery types. Nicads for this use come in 1.5,
>>1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, and 3.0 amp-hour ratings in 2 sizes.
>
> Oops, I meant Nicad and NiMH (metal hydride), not lithium.
> (Time for my lithium.)

There are those too, just not in tool batteries too much yet (though I do
remember seeing a Lion battery drill somewhere which was in the $500 price
range too).
I've found that most tool packs are in series (divide the total voltage by
1.2 and you should end with the number of batteries in the pack) therefore
the A/H or mA/H rating of the pack will equal the rating of the individual
cells.
Another small hint, _IF_ your charger is fairly low tech (doesn't time the
charge, doesn't have a chip to keep track of charge times, etc) you can
replace the cells with a bit higher A/H rating. This works on the simple
chargers NiCAD that just put a charging current and turn off when the
voltage hits a certain threshold since a NiCad charge rate is basically a
percent of the total rating of the cell. Say for example a 1000mAH cell
would charge at 100mA (I can't remember the percent so I'm use 10% for my
example here) until it hits 1.2000 volts. A 1200mAH cell would then need a
120mA charge current however 100mA is close enough to work fine and the
charger will just hold 100mA until the 1.200v mark is met the shut off so
it will just take a bit longer.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (russ) wrote:

> I can buy an after market grill for my 99 Suburban for $80.00. I am
> afraid to know what a factory grill would cost.
>
> How come no one out there is selling off brand rechargable NiCad
> batteries for my dewalt tools?
>
> Maybe there is no answer.
>
> What I am hoping... is that one of you bright, well informed guys is
> going to shoot me an e-mail with a web address that will link me to a
> page where $50.00 batteries are falling off trees just waiting to be
> harvested.
>
> OK that medifor works on no level but it's late
>
> Thanks
>
> Russ

Not falling off the tree but better than 1/2 price!
http://nicdlady.com/specials.html
I bought 2 of these and they are exactly the same as the ones solld for
abt $55 at Home Depot.
Bruce

You can cut it apart and replace the internal batteries,, but then you will
need to epoxy it back together,, batteries are batteries.

I know with handheld radio equipment after about five years they "sold off"
proprietary stuff to other companies,, where you could make the replacement
affordably.

Vin


"russ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I can buy an after market grill for my 99 Suburban for $80.00. I am
> afraid to know what a factory grill would cost.
>
> How come no one out there is selling off brand rechargable NiCad
> batteries for my dewalt tools?
>
> Maybe there is no answer.
>
> What I am hoping... is that one of you bright, well informed guys is
> going to shoot me an e-mail with a web address that will link me to a
> page where $50.00 batteries are falling off trees just waiting to be
> harvested.
>
> OK that medifor works on no level but it's late
>
> Thanks
>
> Russ

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 14:13:03 +0000, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

>
> "MrAoD" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>
>> $80???? Hell, I'm looking at $90 for a LF turn signal assembly for my
> 1990
>> Trooper. Some enterprising bastich swiped mine . . .
>
>
> Are you kidding? That's cheap. $176 for the left rear light on my LeSaber.
> It did include a bulb though.

$167 for the left front turn signal assy for my 1995 SAAB, cracked lens,
comes as a full assy. w/o lamps.