What it the difference between the voltages? 12v vs 14.4v vs 18 volts vs 19.2v vs 20v vs 36v?
How do you measure Cordless tool battery Endurance?
A 12 volt battery may actually have more endurance than an 18 volt battery. There is a measurement called Amp-Hours. Many manufacturers use this to rate the endurance of their batteries. It is figured by mulitplying the current flow in amps by the time in hours of discharges. However different batteries with the same rating may perform very differently. For example some batteries may deliver .5 amps for 20 hours which would give this battery a 10 amp hour rating. However this same battery with a 1 amp draw may only last 2 hours which would give it a 2 amp hour rating.
The amp hour rating of batteries by one company should fairly cross over to the other batteries in the same family. They may not cross over well from Black and Decker to Craftsman C3 or Ryobi however.
What are important considerations when buying Cordless tools?
What are the best uses for battery operated tools?
The best uses for battery operated tools are low current demand tools. High velocity, high Rpm tools like saws and vacuums and fans draw a lot of power and drain your batteries quickly. Drills are an excellent use of battery power because normally you drill the hole or drive the screw and then the drill gets to rest until your next hole or screw. The actual time the drill is working is just a small part of the time you spend using it.
When an electric motor is running without resistance at maximum speed it draws more power than when it is bogged down under a load (this is the opposite of most gas powered tools or vehicles). Running a rotary saw without cutting wood actually uses the battery faster than when the blade is slowed down and is cutting wood.
Battery powered inflators will draw less power as the pressure starts to go up and the inflator has some resistance than when they are pushing air into a large inflatable with no resistance.
What tools do not work very well with battery power and why?
What is the difference between a Stem type battery and a Slide mount?
The Stem type battery was designed when most of the cordless tools were drills. As the voltage went over 12 volts the manufacturers were not able to build the battery pack small enough to fit inside the handle. They designed the battery with the stem to go up the handle and the battery as a big clump a the bottom. This also worked well for the feel or balance of the drill.
The disadvantage to the stem type battery is when you are designing other tools to use the power pack. The designer wants to be able to design the tool with proper balance and sometimes the stem does not allow the battery to be located in the best position. The newer designed slide mount batteries allow the tool designer more freedom in where they attach the battery to the tool.
Almost all the latest designed battery packs are a Slide Mount type. Slide mount battery packs have the advantage over the Stem type because the designer has more flexibility on where they can mount the battery on the tool.
What is the deal with Refurbished cordless tools?
Refurbished tools are tools that were returned to the store or manufacturer for some reason. Almost all of the big box stores have very liberal return policies. Often a customer has buyers remorse or there may be an issue with one of the items in the package.
These items end up returned. The manufacturer will usually hire a refurbishing company or have a small division of their company to fix or refurbish the items. ???
What is the best way to recycle old batteries?
What is the best way to take care of Cordless Tool Batteries?
What is the difference between a drill/ driver and an Impact Driver?
There are three main types of Cordless drills. A Drill Driver, an Impact Driver and a
What do they mean by a Bare Tool?
Which Manufacturer makes the most tools for their batteries?
Craftsman? Ryobi? Black and Decker?
Comparing the Craftsman 19.2 C3 system vs the Craftsman 20V Bolt-On System.
The 19.2v C3 Craftsman system has been the workhorse of the cordless tools from Sears for several years. They have designed and manufactured a lot of tools to work with this system.
The Craftsman Bolt-On system is newly released and is a little less expensive than the C3 system. There are several tools in the Bolt-On system that are not nearly as useable as the comparable tool in the C3 system.
C3 rotary saw vs Bolt On rotary saw.
The C3 rotary saw is ?? and it is large enough to cut a 2x4 without turning it over and making two cuts.
The Bolt-On rotary saw uses a 3 3/8" blade. It is very small and easy to use but will only cut .82 inches deep so it will not cut a 2x4. The blade is a unique design to this tool and when the tool was first released no replacement blades were available.
C3 Inflator vs Bolt-On Inflator
The C3 inflator has a digital readout. It has a maximum pressure of 200psi and works very well inflating 120-140 psi road bike tires. It also has an auto shut off feature that works up to 40 psi. You can set the pressure and walk away from the tool like when you are filling a car tire and it will shut off at about the pressure you want.
The Bolt-On inflator has an analog readout. It does not have the auto shutoff feature and it is rated for only up to 80 psi. I am not certain but it might work better than the c3 inflator for filling high volume low psi items like air mattresses and water toys. The Bolt-on inflator is usually about $5 less and is quite a bit smaller to store and haul around than the C3 inflator.
19.2v C3 Basic Drill vs Craftsman Bolt-On Basic Drill.
The basic drill from the C3 line and the Basic Bolt-on drill are about the same price and quality. Both come available as just a single battery with drill and charger or as the single drill with a pair of batteries. The C3 drills are still available with Nicad batteries while the Matrix have only been made with Lithium batteries.
You will want at least two batteries (preferably 4) with either of these if you are planning on buying more tools to work with the system. With the Bolt-On system you will want to have at least two of the motor bases also. While one lithium battery will probably be enough if you just use the drill on occasional home jobs many of the other tools (saws especially) will use up the battery power quickly so you will want backup batteries.
Battery Availability 19.2V C3 vs 20v Max Bolt-On
This is the one category that the Bolt-on has a slight advantage. The 20v Max battery used on all the Bolt-On tools is also available from Black and Decker as the 20v Max Matrix battery. I have found Black and Decker tools at Walmart that have the B&D 20v Max battery that is compatible with the Bolt-on tools. It appears that B&D is going to build a lot of different tools that work with this battery.
The 19.2v C3 battery is only available from Sears, Kmart and some Ace hardware stores.