# What do you do with old cordless tools?



## MNDave (Feb 17, 2014)

I recently upgraded to a lithium/ion impact driver, and plan on getting a matching drill soon.

i have an old 14.4v Porter Cable drill & flashlight, and an 18v Ryobi set with drill, reciprocating saw, & circular saw. All of the tools still work fine, but the batteries don't hold a charge at all.

Are they worth anything at a pawn shop or recycling place, or do you just chuck them in the trash?


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## RobinDobbie (Jan 31, 2013)

You can get spare sub-c ni-cds on ebay and repair the battery packs for around $20 for each battery. ebay search

If that's not worth it to ya, then take pics of the kit and put it on ebay. Definitely be honest about the condition of the batteries, but you might be surprised what some people will buy. I sold an obsolete, water damaged ipod for $90 that I thought would be worthless.

Another thing is keep the motors around for projects. Think about what you've got: variable-speed, reversable motors that you can power with cheap wall-wart power supplies.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Yea the batteries cost more than the tool is worth. Someone gave me a dewalt cordless drill last summer that was hardly used. I checked into buying batteries for it and they cost more than the same size drill which included the lithium batteries. I would rather trash the tool then sell it to someone that might get mad. There is always someone selling used cordless tools at flea markets and craigslist.


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## rbk123 (Jan 10, 2013)

You can also send the batteries to a battery rebuilder who will put better than original cells in them. They'll do what Robin suggested for you, but if you don't intend to use them any more than give them away or sell them as is on eBay as mentioned.

I've used these guys with excellent results:
http://www.mtobattery.com/product-category/power-tool-battery-rebuild-services/


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## dodgeboy77 (Mar 18, 2009)

Regarding the Ryobi 18V tools: I have a bunch of them that I started collecting years ago and add to from time to time. The Ni-cad batteries are really lacking but the lithium batteries make these tools shine. I noticed today that HD has a special deal on their 18V high capacity Ryobi batteries (the good ones): Two for $99. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18-Volt-Lithium-Battery-2-Pack-P122/204321540

That's what just one usually goes for! So anyway, it might be a reason to keep the Ryobi tools around. I've owned some of those Lithium batteries for years and they're still going strong.

Bill


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Those batteries are surprisingly easy, and cheap, to rebuild. http://www.all-battery.com/ni-mhbatteries.aspx should have all the cells you need. With some of the higher capacity cells you can actually rebuild the batteries to a HIGHER capacity than they started out as. I did this with an old dewalt drill, batteries lasted longer than the drill did. Though, if you still want to offload those ryobi tools, i wont say no


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## Ogee (Feb 21, 2014)

It's possible and rather simple to re-energize the batteries yourself and get new life. I've done it to a few 14.4v batteries that wouldn't take a charge and was able to get another year or two out of them. Youtube has quite a few videos on it. Occasionally, you'll run across a battery that's not repairable with this method. For the power source, I wired two 12v car batteries in a series, couple zaps on the nicad contacts and I was in business.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Convert from cordless to corded. There are several sites you can 'Google'...here is one.








 








.


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## rbk123 (Jan 10, 2013)

Ogee said:


> It's possible and rather simple to re-energize the batteries yourself and get new life.


This will work but usually for short/mid amount time. This reduces the crystalline build up inside the cell which is causing the loss of charge life. However crystals will reform in a relatively short amount of time.


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## RobinDobbie (Jan 31, 2013)

cabinetman said:


> Convert from cordless to corded. There are several sites you can 'Google'...here is one.



Great idea. And how many corded drills do you see with a brake?


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

rbk123 said:


> You can also send the batteries to a battery rebuilder who will put better than original cells in them. They'll do what Robin suggested for you, but if you don't intend to use them any more than give them away or sell them as is on eBay as mentioned.
> 
> I've used these guys with excellent results:
> http://www.mtobattery.com/product-category/power-tool-battery-rebuild-services/


Thanks for sharing the link. I may try them out. I have a Ryobi 14.4v drill and two flashlights. The batteries don't last. They run down over a period of two-three days while sitting idle. Really aggravating. I have been thinking about chunking the drill (works perfect) but save the flash lights and try to remember to keep the batteries charged.


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

Although I own two cordless Makita drills and do find them convenient, I absolutely despise cordless tools for the very reason you are facing. The batteries end up more costly than the tools! In my case the Makita are hermetically sealed making rebuilding all but impossible. At least for me. So, I bought two aftermarket 12v batteries on eBay this past week for $37 for both with free shipping. We will see how long they last but it still came out cheaper than sending the old ones out for reconditioning. Like InkJet printers, the manufacturers of these money pits should just give you the blasted tool/printer since they have you by the short hairs for the batteries/printer cartridges. End of Rant.


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## MNDave (Feb 17, 2014)

epicfail48 said:


> Those batteries are surprisingly easy, and cheap, to rebuild. http://www.all-battery.com/ni-mhbatteries.aspx should have all the cells you need. With some of the higher capacity cells you can actually rebuild the batteries to a HIGHER capacity than they started out as. I did this with an old dewalt drill, batteries lasted longer than the drill did. Though, if you still want to offload those ryobi tools, i wont say no


I will see if i can get them disassembled and price this out. Worth a shot if I can do fairly cheap i guess. :thumbsup:


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## BKonish (Mar 5, 2013)

You can take any old batteries to Sears and they will take care of the proper disposal.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

MNDave said:


> I will see if i can get them disassembled and price this out. Worth a shot if I can do fairly cheap i guess. :thumbsup:


Pretty easy to dissassemble. Bout half just use a few screws to keep the two halves of the plastic shell together, the other half just fuse the plastic. The screws are self explanatory, the fused ones i find cutting along the seam with a dremel works well. Remove the old cells but for the love of got, dont take them apart just yet. Use them to make a pattern for the new cells. I hot glue the new cells together, then solder some heavy gauge wire for the contacts. Again, pretty simple operation. Need any help feel free to hit me up.


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## RobinDobbie (Jan 31, 2013)

I wouldn't use wire. Spend a few bucks on solder tabs like the factory did so everything fits together like it did originally. The new batteries may have tabs on them already, but it's unlikely they'll be pointing in a helpful direction for whatever particular battery you're restoring.


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## CornHusker (Apr 5, 2014)

Depends if you are set on re-purposing them. There are a a lot of non-profits looking for power tools of all types and they will recycle the batteries for you as long as the tool itself works. A local one I've dealt with does summer internships for HS kids learning carpentry, masonry, etc. Pretty good program, IMO.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

RobinDobbie said:


> I wouldn't use wire. Spend a few bucks on solder tabs like the factory did so everything fits together like it did originally. The new batteries may have tabs on them already, but it's unlikely they'll be pointing in a helpful direction for whatever particular battery you're restoring.


I use 12-14 gauge wire on all mine, works alright for me. Mind if i ask why you prefer solder tabs?


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## RobinDobbie (Jan 31, 2013)

They're thin. Wire may cause the pack to not close right since the packs were originally built with the strips. I'm sure many people use wire, but I'm sure many of those people had to whip out the rotary tool and do surgery on the case to make the cells fit.


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