Wickes cordless drill.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I have an ancient 18v one of these - uses Ni-Cads. All the batteries for that - including the one I had refurbished at vast cost - are pretty well dead. And the refurbished one never delivered the same power as the originals. It is a useful drill in that it has an add on right angle adaptor, so handy for the odd awkward space.

There's plenty room inside a battery case for 18v worth of 18650 Li-Ion, and I do realise I'd need to mod the charger too.

Dedicated right angle cordless drills seem to be an arm and a leg - unless someone knows different?

Anyone done this sort of mod?

[newshound]

One option would be to put in NiMH which are still available. Some chargers (e.g. my Makita one) are compatible. That said, I've got a NiCad Ryobi drill plus angle drill plus all the bits in the bag of "metal" scrap ready to go to the tip because ICBA to re-cell it.

Even the Aldi/Lidl LiIon drills have more oomph than the old NiCad ones.

[Andy Burns]

I have one of these

But I think Makita are phasing-out tools that take the BL batteries?

[Dave Plowman (News]

Think with a battery and charger, would cost a lot more than my pipe dream?

[John Rumm]

Only in a slightly indirect way. With my old NiMh platform Makita combi drill and ID, I bought adaptor modules that allow them to be connected to a modern LXT battery. Whether you can find similar for the Wickes one may depend on the OEM. Some of their better "pro" cordless tools were made by Kress. Might be worth looking to see if you can identify the drill maker to give a wider set of search terms.

(or check out the 3D model site like thigiverse to see if there is something appropriate you could download).

[The Natural Philosopher]

The cost of a new Li-ion screwdriver was less than the cost of re-celling my ancient Makita NiCd one.

The batteries are the main part of the cost in these things

You could build an 18v Lion pack if you were prepared to buy a separate charger

Or at least a 16.8V (4s) or 21V (5s) one!

[Mark]

[Dave Plowman (News]

Can you give details on how? That would be an ideal way.

[Mark]

[Andy Burns]

Yes, over a year ago the DA331D kit inc charger and batt (same part number without the Z) was being flogged off, now I can't see it under £126.

Is this to do with drilling between joists in your ceiling refurb?

If so, an impact driver with a stubby four-flute auger makes a pretty short combo and should get in there ...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

What about some kind of stand alone battery. Surely there must be some, only issue would be the thick cable needed. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes that is one thing you need to consider, can the motor stand the actual amps deliverable from the new battery against the old nicads? Brian

[Dave Plowman (News]

Problem would be the battery to drill connection. Unless you can by a slot in connector that could be fitted to the drill. Ideally, I'd use an 18v Li-Ion that fits my several Lidl tools, as I have lots. Did wonder about butchering a charger to get the socket, as I have more chargers for these than I need. But the battery latches into the tool, but not charger.

I suspect the easiest way would be to take all the guts out of one of those Lidl batteries and fit them inside the Wickes battery (IIRC, the drill was made by Krell) And do the same with the Wickes charger. The Lidl charger only has two contacts to the battery.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Is there much of a difference between the peak current decent Ni-Cads can deliver and Li-Ion? The pack I had re-celled is nothing like as good as the originals.

[John Rumm]

There is quite a variation in the max current output from LiIon cells as well, depending on what they are optimised for. So for example: LG MH1 ?

18650 Battery[1], good for 10A continuos, vs Sony/ Murata VTC5A ? 18650 Battery[2] rated for 25A continuos or 35A if you can limit the temp to 80 deg C. [1]