An Intro to Drill Battery in Under 10 Minutes

Before going out to buy a drill battery cordless power tool, consumers should arm themselves with knowledge of a few key concepts and qualities of rechargeable batteries beforehand.

When it comes to purchasing power tool batteries, the aspects that determine a drill battery overall life and run-time are often the deciding considerations (after cost, of course). Therefore, most of the qualities discussed below affect how long a drill battery will last.

Cycle life:

The length of time that the battery can be used before it fully loses its ability to store a charge or to transmit energy. This is often represented as the number of times it can be charged and discharged before its life is ended. For instance, NiCd batteries typically have a cycle life of at least one thousand charges, often known as cycles.

Users sometimes must choose between lengthy cycle life and other desirable attributes, such as run time.  This is because Li-Ion batteries may operate longer between charges than other battery types.

Self-discharge:

When they are not being used, rechargeable batteries of all types gradually lose their charge; however, some batteries lose their charge far more quickly than others. Some users don’t have an issue with batteries that have a quick self-discharge rate, particularly if their cordless power tools are stored very seldom or not at all. Users of power tools who want only to use their cordless equipment on an infrequent basis should prioritize purchasing batteries with a slower rate of natural self-discharge.

Voltage:

The voltage of a drill battery defines how much power it can supply over a certain period. Simply put, the power of cordless tools increases with the instrument’s voltage. Typically, rechargeable batteries for power tools are organized in the form of a cluster of individual cells.

Capacity, often known as “run time”:

This refers to the period that a battery may keep its tool operational before it has to be recharged. It is common practice to represent the capacity of a battery in terms of the number of amperage hours, or Ah, that it can supply. When looking for cordless tools and the batteries that power them, remember that a larger Ah number indicates a longer period between charges for the battery.

Deep discharge:

The term “deep discharge” refers to enabling a tool battery to lose all its charges while still being used normally. Deep discharge is not a concern for any of the other kinds of batteries. Additionally, to preserve the life of some batteries, they must regularly undergo a process called deep discharge. Users who don’t put their cordless instruments through many users may find the extra maintenance an inconvenience.

Effects on the memory:

The memory effect happens to a battery when it is repeatedly charged but never allowed to go completely dead in between charges. The hypothesis is that the battery “remembers” how much it is being recharged in some way, and then it adjusts its charge capacity to correspond with the reduced charge range that it now has.

When it comes to nickel-based batteries subject to the memory effect, the best way to maintain their capacities is to charge them after they have dropped to barely 70 percent of their capacity. This is both an interesting and perplexing fact. However, for the battery to “remember” its actual capacity, it must be regularly subjected to a state of severe drain. This is the secret of battery maintenance.