It cannot be denied that electricity which comes from your socket definitely drives your corded tools to full power, enabling them to perform their functions more efficiently. But corded tools can also bring some inconveniences and accidents. If you don’t wish to get stumbled by a tangled cord, or experience electrical hazards with a damaged cord, then cordless tools should be a good alternative. If you love using power tools but are worrying about energy bills, cordless tools are an economical solution.
Most people who are looking for cordless tools take their battery life into big consideration. After all, batteries are the key to a cordless tool’s useful life.
The following are the two common types of batteries used for cordless tools:
- Nickel cadmium or NiCad – NiCad batteries are currently the most popular as they typically re-charge quickly and have a constant discharging rate. However, used NiCad batteries end up as hazardous wastes.
- Nickel metal hydride or NIMH – NIMH batteries are some of the newer batteries to come out on the market. They are also more expensive. But when handled correctly, they can prove to be longer-lasting compared to NiCad batteries, at least when used in smaller tools. Compared to used NiCad batteries, used NIMH batteries are not considered as hazardous wastes. However, NIMH batteries cannot handle the high rate of charges and discharges (usually over 1.5 to 2 amps) that NiCad batteries are capable of.
Other things to consider are the voltage and the weight of the batteries. Naturally, people want to get more power out of their cordless tools, so they tend to choose the batteries’ voltage over weight.
An individual battery typically contains 1.2 volts. Each power tool requires a certain amount of voltage. For instance, a particular power tool requires 8 batteries to produce 9.6 volts, while another tool needs 15 batteries to produce 18 volts, and so on.
However, the more batteries you load into your power tool, the heavier the power tool feels, and that may be more difficult for you to work on it. Using a heavy power tool for longer periods of time will certainly cause hand fatigue.
That’s why it’s important to compare the batteries’ voltage and weight carefully to get a power tool that will be able to do its job and still feels handy and convenient to use.
The battery’s amp hours (Ah) rating is an indication on how long the charging will last. Most NiCad and NIMH batteries have a 2 Ah rating, but 3 Ah NIMH batteries will come out soon. Batteries with higher Ah do not normally weigh more than 2 Ah counterparts, so it is best to choose batteries with a similar voltage but with a higher Ah rating.
Most current battery chargers on the market feature an indication which lets you know that the batteries are fully charged. Still, you should not forget to check your power tool (that’s still charging) from time to time to make sure that it will not be overcharged. The standard charging time is one hour, but some chargers can load batteries as short as 15 minutes, while others have a three-to-four-hour charging time. If you use a power tool only occasionally, the longer charging time won’t be a big issue.
The standard charging time is one hour, but some chargers can load batteries as short as 15 minutes, while others have a three-to-four-hour charging time. If you use a power tool only occasionally, the longer charging time won’t be a big issue.
In addition, it’s important to factor in the following:
- Potential memory effect: This happens when the battery drains on a consistent basis, and then gets charged by the user without leaving room for a complete discharge. The effect gets its name from the fact that batteries can recall how much of their charge was drained before and then leverages the shorter period of charge as their new capacity. See if the battery you’re about to invest in is susceptible to memory discharge (not all batteries are).
- Battery cycle life: This refers to the number of times a battery can be fully charged before it parts way with its ability to store energy. For instance, the cordless tools that carry Li-Ion batteries have a 300-500 cycle life. So the power tool could theoretically be charged 300 times before you’d need to replace the batteries.
- Self-discharge: Once the battery is charged, if it’s not immediately used it’s going to gradually lose its charging capability. It’s worth knowing that some cordless battery models have a much quicker self-discharge rate compared to other models. However, a quick self-discharge isn’t always regarded as a bad thing to boast – if the tools are never kept away for prolonged periods between usage than there’s probably no need to factor in self-discharge.
- Deep-discharge: This enables the battery to drain the complete energy during use. It can be an issue for a few models of cordless tool batteries and can negatively impact their capacity and life cycle. The good news is some battery models require users to periodically enable deep discharge for maintaining a healthy life.
Types of cordless tool batteries
The following are the three common types of batteries used for cordless tools:
Nickel cadmium or NiCd
NiCd batteries are currently the most popular as they typically re-charge quickly and have a constant discharging rate. The advantage of fresh NiCd batteries is that they’re very cost effective and have a cycle life of around 1,000 charges. However, used NiCd batteries end up as hazardous wastes, so they aren’t as environmental friendly as other cordless battery models.
Nickel metal hydride or NIMH
NIMH batteries are some of the newer batteries to come out on the market. They are also more expensive. But when handled correctly, they can prove to be longer-lasting compared to NiCad batteries, at least when used in smaller tools. Compared to used NiCad batteries, used NIMH batteries are not considered as hazardous wastes. However, NIMH batteries cannot handle the high rate of charges and discharges (usually over 1.5 to 2 amps) that NiCad batteries are capable of.
Li-Ion (Lithium-Ion batteries)
First seeing commercial light in 1990s, this is the latest battery technology available for cordless power tools. If we had to make a choice amongst all the cordless tool batteries, we’d rank Li-Ion at the top, whether we make a suggestion for a cordless saw or a lawn mower. These batteries don’t suffer from poor charging routines or memory effect. The only caveat is the short charging cycle, which is usually less than 500 charges. That being said, the batteries require minimal maintenance and are capable of storing and delivering a high volume of energy.
While there are lots of batteries for cordless tools out there, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution available at this time of writing. NiCd and NIHM work for different tools, while Li-Ion batteries work for other specialized power gadgets. However, a lot of investment is coming into the latter because of the increased adoption of stationary energy storage battery and electric cards. So don’t be surprised if you see a new range of these batteries being sold in the market as costs get clashed and state-of-the-art manufacturing ramps up.