dewalt tools: Charged up over replacing batteries

Depending on whom you ask, cordless power tools are either the best thing that's happened to DIYers since the Robertson screwdriver was invented, or a cynical ploy by manufacturers to get hapless homeowners to spend ever more money.

Morgan Chong, a handy guy who lives in north Toronto, was leaning toward the latter explanation last week.

Chong was looking for a replacement battery for his DeWalt cordless drill and was frustrated after going from one big box hardware store to the next, only to be told the battery he needed had been discontinued.

"That's the thing with cordless — the batteries get discontinued before the tool dies," he complained, adding that he also has two other cordless tools from a major department store for which he can no longer get batteries.

Claudio Chiappetta, product manager for DeWalt Cordless, agrees that finding replacement batteries can be a problem. But it happens most frequently with cheap, offshore products — the kind that inevitably show up in retailers for Christmas and Father's Day. It should not, he insists, be an issue when dealing with any of the major tool companies.

Sometimes the problem is simply that the product number for the battery has changed. "In Morgan's case, the part number changed two years ago when we upped the amperage," explains Chiappetta, who got in touch with Chong and gave him the correct part number.

Chiappetta suggests that people who encounter similar problems check product number changes and compatibility by visiting the website of the tool company in question. For example, at the DeWalt site (http://www.dewalt.com) you can type "batteries" into the search box and be directed to a Battery and Charger Systems Compatibility Chart.

A reputable manufacturer would never risk losing customers by discontinuing batteries for an existing product, says Bradfield Craig, marketing and communication manager for Hitachi Canada.

"We continue to sell batteries for discontinued tools, as should other well-known tool makers. But if you buy a $25 drill made offshore, don't expect to get that same level of customer support. Because it just won't be there."

Craig says the trend is to ensure that tools work on multiple platforms of batteries. For example, the homeowner who bought Hitachi's 18-volt cordless, which takes a traditional battery, can now get a lithium-ion battery for it. Other manufacturers are following suit, so cordless tool lovers won't have to buy new pieces to get the longer charge and better weight-to-power ratio that comes with lithium-ion.

(Chong's problem may have been, both men suggest, due to store staff who weren't fully informed. But that's a whole other story, one familiar to DIYers all of stripes.)

Paul Craig of E-One Moli Energy, which makes lithium-ion batteries at its plant in Maple Ridge, B.C., says the new lithium-ion batteries may eliminate the problem of power tools outlasting the life of their battery models.

"In the past, batteries had life of less than one year in the field," says Craig. "But the lithium-ion batteries we manufacture for Milwaukee's cordless 28-volt line are guaranteed for five years or 2,000 charges. Depending on who's using the tool, and for what purposes, the battery could last longer than the tool."

Chong is happy he got the battery he needed for his drill. But he continues to wonder if one reason manufacturers are pushing cordless is that there's big profit in batteries. And he still has a soft spot for the first corded drill he bought some 20 years ago. "It still works and it cost me less than 30 bucks," says Chong. "There's nothing like good old-fashioned hydro."

by VICKY SANDERSON