Why I Don't Recommend Ni-Cd Batteries... Mostly

[ptradmin]

Ni-Cd (Nickel-Cadmium) batteries have been around for a long time. Forever, it seems. And they have served an incredibly useful purpose. After all, we wouldn't have cordless tools were it not for the invention of Ni-Cd rechargeable battery technology. But now I feel that the time of Ni-Cd has come to an end. A bitter, well-deserved, highly violent end. Why? Because I am an impatient tool user. Because I have seen the future and embraced it. And because I am sick of replacing my batteries every one to two years whether I want to or not.
Discuss "Why I Don't Recommend Ni-Cd Batteries... Mostly here.
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[birdbrain]

I have replaced the battery on my Porter Cable drill too many times - at $75 a pop! I am ready to move to Lith-Ion... Pay a little more up front, save in the long run.

[TMarcus]

Yeah, li-ion is finally ready for prime time and everyone seems to be catching on.

[hammerman29]

The Ryobi ONE+ system has LiIon batteries now and they are pretty cheap. I think they have the lowest cost LiIon tools on the market for sure.

[rustcity]

This article made some excellent points, and the weight of the LiIon batteries haven't been beaten for power tools. But NiCd DO have the best subzero performance measured against the Li+ and NiMH batteries.

The sophistication of the NiCd charger is all important, such as pulsed/frequency charging and autocycling capability. Not to endorse any particular brand, but Cadex and Motorola make chargers like this and I know the Dewalt chargers do a lot better than the B&D chargers. Proper maintenance will keep those NiCd's lasting and performing much longer.

[Everett]

To your point, the industry (Milwaukee, Bosch in particular) are making specific design adjustments in their new Li-ion batteries to handle sub-freezing weather. We've had two tool demos now that included watching the companies pull their batteries out of a freezer and use them right away.

This is something the first-generation battery users will probably not succeed at well just yet. Certainly a big concern for the companies who aren't tightly involved in battery development.

[GG2]

I totally agree