I have an old B&Q 18 volt drill that needs new batteries. Can I get them or do they only stock the latest modles?
Its a MacAlister hammer drill Model Number CLM18CHD.
Failing that is it worth getting them repaired? Or would I be better off getting a new one? It seems such a shame to ditch a perfectly usable drill just because of the batteries.
Not familiar with the name, but if it's a bottom-end model you'd probably find that buying a separate battery pack costs only a gnat's less than buying the whole caboodle. However it's highly unlikely that B&Q will even carry them (but you could always ask)
The alternative is to break into the battery pack and replace the cells (which will be a standard type) - there's an online company who specialises in these but whose URL escapes me - however, again it's not going to be cost-effective for a cheap drill.
David
It's actually the P Pro the same as but predating the name change. The last one I bought cost 100 quid. I broke the handle but it is in a masking tape splint and going OK.
Shame the batteries are different or I'd just use both drills on the pair of cells for the goodun.
The larger stores do carry spare batteries for some B&Q own brand products. I have a fairly ancient PPPro 18v and saw spares for that recently.
Try Ebay too.
I know the feeling. Trouble is labour, parts and postage often put this above the cost of a complete new one - which will probably have a better charger too.
You can buy the individual cells for a DIY repair - they are usually an industrial size called Sub-C. And available with tags for easy soldering. Will cost from about 1.50 - 3.50 depending on quality and supplier. I'm assuming they are Ni-Cad - which are getting more difficult to source. For 18 volts you'll need 15 of them.
The cheapest option is to find an 18 volt from any make on Ebay at a bargain price and swop the cells, if you can't find the correct spare.
If you're lucky the cells in the pack will be laid out in a similar way making them easier to swap.
cheers, Pete.
If you buy a Worx corless tool, and register it online, then you will get free replacement batteries for the life of the tool
dg
Sorry Sir, we no longer do batteries for that tool.. it has passed away.
I've been caught out by that ploy. Bought an expensive Electrovoice microphone back in the 80s - cost me twice the price of the industry standard Shure mic, but came with a 'lifetime warranty'...which I reckoned was worth the extra considering how rough a time a mic can have. The mic packed up some 20 years later, so I duly rang the appointed agent to sort out a warranty repair only to be told that they no longer make that model of mic and there are no spares available. I protested somewhat, but that was that.
I subsequently spent half a grand on some other mics...none of them were by Electrovoice.
Regards,
I wasn't able to buy a nicad replacement for my old analogue camcorder. They're advertised on various websites but I was told they're not allowed to sell them. Bullshit? Ended up with the NIMH replacement which seems ok despite the warning on the Sony charger that it MUST NOT be used to charge NIMH batteries.
Well, all the major component places like RS still sell the cells - but with a much reduced choice. Could be they're outlawed on new equipment too. But seem to be still available for repair/replacement.
They would, wouldn't they. It's quite likely it won't perform as well as it's capable of, though, in some way.
I think the same basic NIMH battery is sold as a replacement for all the major makes of camcorder NICADs, with no mention of the chargers needing to be changed. I should probably dump it but I like the extra weight of the old analogue types.
6 months..... Not bad.
Ok, teh issue is this.
On trivkle charging, it doen;t make much difference whether its NiCd or NiMh.
On fats chargers, using e property thata fully charged nickel battery actually shows a DROP in voltage as it gets to fully charged, the problem is that whereas in a NiCd its a nice sort of tens of millivolt type signal, with NiMh its only a few millivolts per cell.
If your charger isn't good enough to detect that, it will carry on pumping full current in, and damage the cells.
NiCd sub cs are still available BTW
Japanese watch.
Lifetime guarantee.
Mainspring goes, slashes your wrist.
Oh good. The original charger is trickle so I guess I should be ok.
Probably this type:
Only partially. NiCds are still around as old stock, but they're no longer being sold quite so openly. You _could_ still sell them, but the future ramifications of WEEE and the hazards of cadmium mean this places a liability onto the seller. RS will probably shoulder it, Arthur Daley won't care, and B&Q will just switch to NiMH.
NiMH are a better idea anyway. As almost all NiCd chargers are only crude current limiters anyway (the "leave it on overnight and kill your battery" design) then there's little difference. Typical loose-cell chargers for the last decade have offered two switchable charge rates anyway.
The only charger that might really notice would be something like a camera where it has a real charger in there and some sort of battery sensing. This will notice the difference and ought to be either checked, upgraded, or kept on NiCds. But then useful cameras have used Lions for some years now.
Mine is an old Sony AC-V 17. The NIMH is sold as a straight replacement for the original NICAD battery, so I imagine it works with the original charger.
Apart from those which still use AA batteries! Canon are actually praised by reviewers for this feature, but whether their cameras are "useful" is another matter.
Well I'm here to eat humble pie because I was in B&Q this afternoon and was checking out their power tools (as they have a sale on!) and noticed one 18V MacAllister battery pack on the shelf!
There was no price tag with it I'm afraid, but clearly they *are* potentially available. FWIW this was the Macclesfield branch.
David
About 30 quid, unless in a sale.
FWIW I replaced the cells in my PPPro 18v with Sanyo ones and ended up with a much better performing drill - as well as having a higher capacity. They've outlasted the originals already with no signs of reduced performance. But I modified the charger to true constant current at the same time.
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