Cordless electric power tools are literally heavy, electrical pieces of equipment. In time, cordless drills have been more demanded and equally made available. With regards to drill batteries, some add bulk and weight while other batteries are lighter. Electric cordless tool batteries come in many forms, and there are three major types: NiCd or Nickel- Cadmium, NiMH or Nickel Metal Hydride, and Li-Ion or Lithium-Ion.
When you are buying for a power tool, you will notice that you are bombarded with different battery specifications.
Dewalt DC9091 Tool Battery $50.99 $30.97
The most common specifications that are all over the packaging and marketing materials are:
- Voltage (V)
- Ampere-hours (Ah)
- Battery type (Li-Ion, NiCd, NiMH)
Tools Battery Memory Effect
The memory effect occurs when a battery is constantly partly drained, then charged without being allowed to fully discharge. The name comes from the fact that the battery remembers how much of its charge was drained before being charged and then uses the shorter charge period as its new capacity.
Not all cordless drill batteries suffer from the memory effect.
Power Tools Battery Cycle Life
Cycle life is a measurement of how many times a battery can be charged before losing the ability to retain energy. For example, Li-Ion batteries in cordless tools generally have a cycle life of 400-500. So theoretically you could charge a Li-Ion battery at least 400 times before it would need to be replaced.
Deep-discharge
A deep discharge is allowing the battery to completely drain of energy through use. This can be problematic for some battery types (not all) and can severely reduce the batteries cycle life and capacity.
On the flip side, there are some battery types that should periodically be allowed to deep discharge in order to maintain a healthy battery.
Self-discharge
After a cordless drill battery has been charged, if the Dewalt DE9095 power tools battery is not used immediately it starts to slowly lose its charge. Some battery technologies have a much faster self-discharge rate than others.
Keep in mind that a faster self-discharge rate is not always bad – if your tools are never stored away for long periods between use then you probably won’t care about the self-discharge rate at all.