Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
Makita is promoting 4.0 ah batteries
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/makita-dhp480-ddf480-drills-a-toolstop-report-a1318
Lol while everyone else is getting to 5.0……. Talk about taking forever for releases!
Metabo is the only one with the 5.2 ah batteries so far. I think major brands will settle on 4.0 for a year or so but who knows it only takes one company to start the war of the 5.0 ah batteries. It’s getting to the point where you really don’t need corded tools for most jobsite tasks. it’s mostly the bigger saws like table saws,tile saws, and miter saws where you still need the cord. You really could build a decent sized house with cordless tools now.
DR99 wrote:
Metabo is the only one with the 5.2 ah batteries so far. I think major brands will settle on 4.0 for a year or so but who knows it only takes one company to start the war of the 5.0 ah batteries. It’s getting to the point where you really don’t need corded tools for most jobsite tasks. it’s mostly the bigger saws like table saws,tile saws, and miter saws where you still need the cord. You really could build a decent sized house with cordless tools now.
Yeah I agree, I think we will definitely see that with the new fuel saws….I sure OSHA would prodly support it, take cords out of job sites…
No fuel gauge? Makita applied for a patent on one like 2 years ago. Can’t believe they wouldn’t include that. Makes me wonder if Makita is really even trying anymore.
Ridgid rolled out their new batteries as well. We’ve got the 4.0 hours and the 2.0 are supposed to be here monday.
From that sales guide it looks like they are going with a fuel gauge on the tool.
Conductor562 wrote:
No fuel gauge? Makita applied for a patent on one like 2 years ago. Can’t believe they wouldn’t include that. Makes me wonder if Makita is really even trying anymore.
Lol they dont like to try for the people here in the USA..
DR99 wrote:
From that sales guide it looks like they are going with a fuel gauge on the tool.
Must’ve just overlooked it.
Conductor562 wrote:
No fuel gauge? Makita applied for a patent on one like 2 years ago. Can’t believe they wouldn’t include that. Makes me wonder if Makita is really even trying anymore.
I considered makita a while back but the fuel gauge or lack of put me off. But now that I think of it, with the ridiculously low charge times it might not matter as much for many.
If you look around there are lots of people having problems with Makita’s battery packs dying after a short time of use.
DR beat me to it. Makita’s LXT line has been plagued with battery problems. Lithium pack just aren’t meant for rapid charge.
Bosch have rapid charge and they dont have the same problem
Jeth wrote:
Bosch have rapid charge and they dont have the same problem
Hmmmm…..
Sorry my bad !
I wonder if Some of those battery problems could be due to user negligence. I’ve learned the hard way that if batteries are left discharged for too long they die. I’ve used all sorts of batteries like nicad and nimh rechargeable AA batteries, mp3 player batteries, a rechargeable gps, all that worked fine for many years but as soon as I let them sit for a long period of time, the batteries died. Even my parents ryobi nicad batteries worked fine until they collected dust in the garage and died. I’ve never had my power tool batteries die on me but I do make sure to cycle then often and top them off if they will sit unused for some time.
It looks like its more of a electronic problem amd nicad and li-ion are tow world apart
Memory effect was a big issue with NiCad and Nmhd packs and charging habits ruined a lot of packs. The lithium packs have no memory and can hold a charge on the shelf for a year or better.
The only problem is Lithium batteries can still self discharge though, so it is possible for a person that ran the battery down using the tool till it cut off and then never charged the pack right away you could run into the problem of it not charging because its below voltage on the battery circuitry.
Javier wrote:
I wonder if Some of those battery problems could be due to user negligence. I’ve learned the hard way that if batteries are left discharged for too long they die. I’ve used all sorts of batteries like nicad and nimh rechargeable AA batteries, mp3 player batteries, a rechargeable gps, all that worked fine for many years but as soon as I let them sit for a long period of time, the batteries died. Even my parents ryobi nicad batteries worked fine until they collected dust in the garage and died. I’ve never had my power tool batteries die on me but I do make sure to cycle then often and top them off if they will sit unused for some
Had this happen with some old crapsman and dewalt xrp stuff at my clients house, but the battery actually caused the tool to start smoking…..
The mp3 player and GPS were lithium ion powered, I should have worded that in there. They suffered the same fate as my nicad and nimh batteries when I let them sit drained for a long period of time. Well some of us learned the hard way about rechargeable batteries. Even lithium ion self discharges, just at a much slower rate. My problem with the electronics that were powered by lithium was that I ran them down and let them sit for a long while drained. I make sure not to make the same mistake with my power tool batteries.
I’ve been waiting for 4.0ah batteries from Makita for awhile. I will buy some once they come out by themselves. The brushless makes the batteries last really long compared to brushed tools.
Now, if only they include a fuel gauge….
Conductor562 wrote:
Now, if only they include a fuel gauge….
Give them a couple more years 🙂
They applied for a patent on one like 2 years ago, just hasn’t made it to market…..yet.
I can’t figure Makita out they seem too be really holding out on releasing new tools in North America. I though Dewalt was bad releasing some tools in Europe first but it seems like we don’t get anything in the USA first from Makita!