# Old cordless drills



## jm82435 (Feb 26, 2008)

What do you do with old cordless drills when it cheaper to upgrade to a bigger better model than replace the dead batteries?


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

lend them to your friends ,
they never bring them back !


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## jm82435 (Feb 26, 2008)

ha ha - not a bad plan…


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

At the price of batteries, for the older models, and considering the power and battery life of the newer ones it is probably better to upgrade. You can tell the Mrs. I said so ;^)


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Drop them in a recycle bin and never look back.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Sell them on ebay ;-))


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## surfin2 (Oct 24, 2009)

I 2nd the: Drop them in a recycle bin and never look back


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## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

Give away to friends or family.


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## Eagle1 (Jan 4, 2010)

Take the battery to a place that will recycle it. Than throw the rest away..


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

I am going through this right now with my Dewalt 14.4 volt. I can get a new battery for about $60 (Ouch). But I can *not* find a suitable replacement drill for anywhere near that amount. I guess I recycle the old batteries and replace them with one new one. This seems to happen every 3 years.

Thoughts? What are you going to buy?
Steve


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## RedShirt013 (May 17, 2008)

Are the chucks for cordless drills salvageable? A good racheting chuck does cost quite a bit to buy new


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## jm82435 (Feb 26, 2008)

I have a couple of old Makitas (remember the long handled ones?), A Panasonic and one or two old Dewalts (drills and a circular saw) that are in the obsolete pile. 
I have a bunch of cordless drills - more than I use for sure; they seem to multiply like routers in my shop.
The ones I use most of the time are two Bosch (one drill one impact driver), two Craftsman (one drill one impact driver) and a Hitachi Drill (kit with circular saw and recip saw and light).
I also have several Ryobis - one big kit with cordless miter saw, drills, circular saw, jig saw, reci saw, I don't even remember what all, that is self contained in a big rolling toolbox (big enough it becomes the stand for the miter saw when set up). - that I rarely ever use. (inherited from my Dad)


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

In '08, I gave my SIL a 14.4v circ saw, light, and drill when I went to 18v Li-Ion. The batteries were still useable, but not good enough for my needs. They're fine for his occasional use.

I've also given cordless tools (with still-useable batteries) to the Salvation Army. They seem to appreciate getting them, and I claim a few bucks on my taxes. - lol


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## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

I even talked to an engineer at a battery dealer (Quest Batteries) about rebuilding the old battery packs and he said "Junk it and buy a new one".


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## unisaw2 (Feb 2, 2010)

Had this same conversation with myself back in January. I have several older Makita drills that still work well, and I really hated to throw them out. I got recommendations from the "knots" forum for a company that recycles batteries. Primecell.com

I sent them two 9.6 volt, and one 12 volt NiCd battery. The 9.6 volt batteries were from Dec 2000. They charged up right away - seem as powerful as new. They claim better than new, time will tell.

A nice touch is that their sticker has the date the battery was rebuilt on them, I always date batteries and supplies with a shelf life (paint, glue, caulk etc.)

Costs were $38 each for the 9.6 volt NiCd batteries, $47 for the 12 volt NiCd battery. Shipping was $16 there and $12 back. Spend around $150 total. Pretty Expensive.

Overall satisfied with the service, took about 2 weeks, and I got 3 drill working, including the much missed right angle drill.

You are paying for the batteries, the drills are free!


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

I had an old 9.6V drill and I gutter the batttery and hooked a long double wire to the contacts and put a cigarette lighter plug on the end and I use it for a spare when using it within cord length of the car. It came in handy a few times when I really needed a drill and with 12 volts behind it, it runs fast too. I once used it in the boat when we had some interior drilling to do and had no other drill arouond.


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