That makes it absolutely perfect for our power tools.
But what about some of the terminology and technology within and associated with this family?
Friday, January 24, 2014
Lithium-Ion Battery Powered Tools - a Toolstop Guide
That makes it absolutely perfect for our power tools.
But what about some of the terminology and technology within and associated with this family?
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7 comments:
There is not a whole lot that is worse than a heavy cordless drill. This past summer I worked at a theatre and used almost exclusively Makita impact drivers and drills and on the occasion that I picked up one of their older DeWalt, non li-ion, drills it felt like I was picking up a cinderblock. Having a light and powerful cordless drill is so critical to working efficiently and accurately. If the drill is so heavy that you struggle to hold it above shoulder height for a longer period of time, the day gets really long, really quickly. Having a lighter drill also increases accuracy since you aren't fighting to line the drill up as much. The Makitas were also great because of their insanely quick charge time. They only took between 15 and 20 minutes to charge so there was never any down time waiting for a battery. I agree wholeheartedly with everything in this article.
Im not entirely sure if im on board with the "memory effect" idea. I do believe that batteries, especially rechargeables, loose their storage capacity the more that current runs in and out of them due to the build up of internal corrosion. Some batteries i think build this up less quickly than others. I do know that the set of Ryobi 18v batteries and drills are at current only good for a dozen or so screws before they need a new charge. I dont know if the ambient temperature of the room makes any difference in how fast they loose their potency, but it would be good to find out.
Batteries are really the biggest emerging market, I think. No other field has so much energy (pardon the pun), time, and attention as batteries. We think of the medicinal fields as the biggest, but the thing with batteries is...everyone everywhere needs the best batteries. We rely on our phones and laptops, hospitals use a lot of mobile technology, and what with the fuel crisis electric cars are ONLY inhibited by range now and with the emerging field of robotics, mobile electricity is key! I am very interested to see what advances are made in the next few years in batteries...Lithium batteries are great, but I think that with companies like Tesla, Dekka, and the like, we will have even more efficient and better batteries in less than 5 years time.
It's really great to see how far batteries have come in recent years. At my high school most of the drills that we had used old nicad batteries and could barely last a class period. When I bought my drill, battery life was definitely one of the most important considerations I had to make, weighing the pros and cons of getting the smaller or larger battery (charge time, fitting into tighter spaces, how much I use it). I found the article to be really interesting, and I found the whole battery memory thing to be interesting. Chris was talking about the memory effect maybe not being a thing, but my 2009 macbook pro has gone through over 1400 battery cycles and it definitely doesn't hold a charge like it used to.
Well it seems like lithium ion batteries are the way to go for cordless tools. They're more energy efficient so that they lose charge slower and can be left unused without losing most of their charge. They're also lighter which is a big advantage when you have to use a tool for an extended period of time. The only thing the article didn't really mention was if lithium batteries are significantly more expensive. My guess is yes.
After reading this I get the feeling that Lithium-Ion battery are the best thing in the world. More power, less lost power, and lighting. What could be better? Well I want to know what this article isn't telling us. I assume that there must be some downside to Lithium-Ion. If I don't know what that downside is, how can I possibly make an informed choice? Do Lithium-Ion cost more? Are they more dangers? What can other types of batteries do that Lithium-Ion can't? The other problem I have with this article is that it doesn't really tell me what I should be doing with this knowledge. For example it says "keep it cool" but it doesn't actually tell me what I can be doing to make sure that my tools stay cool? Should I be putting the battery in the freezer?
I really like how this article talks about specific brands because as someone who doesn't know a whole lot about power tool brands, this helps me get to know what each brand is better at and perhaps which one I should be getting.
I'd feel better knowing that I'm not destroying my batteries by dropping them on the charger at the end of the day. Unfortunately, this article doesn't convince me that it's fine.
Chemically speaking, batteries have a memory effect. It doesn't have to do with the chemical, but the process of recharging a cell.
While it may be true that LiIon Batteries perform better and last longer after receiving half charges, they are not completely impervious to the "memory" effect.
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