18650 Tools?

Is anyone aware of any tools that use 18650’s. I am specifically thinking about Drills and Screwdrivers.

Thanks

I have a drill which using 5x 18650 in series.

Did you make it or buy it?

I bought it. But earlier I converted one from Ni-CD or MH to 18650s. But this factory one much stronger.

Do you mean tool’s that have removable cell’s or just battery packs containing 18650’s, cant say I’ve ever seen drills that you can use your own cells but defiantly something I’d be interested in as i have quite a few 18650’s a dremel or soldering iron would be nice.

Oh I forgot my Bosch IXO small screwdriver using one 18650 and my soldering iron also using one 18650.

What soldering iron are you using that takes 18650’s?

Tools that have removable cells. Sorry for the confusion.

It is not removable. The battery is internal but it is a 18650 inside.
This one:

I think when people ask for devices that use 18650s, they generally don’t mean that the sealed, non-removable battery is an 18650 or that the proprietary battery pack happens to be based on 18650s.

Oh then the answer is I have just one that I made myself.

Like a lot of people I’ve converted Ni-Cad power tools to 18650. To work well they generally need to be high output, soldered together, so are no longer really removable.

I do have an old Ni-Cad Black-n-Decker 2-cell screwdriver that I converted to 18650. That cell was designed to come out to charge in a Proprietary holder. I ‘could’ remove it from the casing to charge, but that’s a pain so I use a hobby charger and alligator clips on the contacts. It’s one of my most frequently used tools. It’s not powerful, just a simple screwdriver.

There would likely be BIG issues with tools if they made them with cells that could be pulled out. People would use UltraFire batteries in them and be pissed they worked poorly if at all. They would buy crap chargers and have even more issues. People are already ignorant enough about NiMh.

Probably most tool manufacturer use 18650s in their design.

For example Makita

Almost all tools have the battery packs built in or proprietary.
Not with swappable cells like a flashlight.

Pretty much all my power tools have lithium cells, the ones I have seen opened had 18650 type cells. There is no incentive for tool manufacturers to have the cells in removable bays because

- it would allow customers to avoid buying OEM battery packs (big revenue stream)

- it may introduce customer led technical issues like wrong polarity, wrong cell type, generally wrong handling of cells or similar

  • sophisticated features like Sync Lock (ie Makita) are only possible with their own battery pack designs

Often high currents in cordless tools.
So they use spot welded tabs, not springs.

Exactly. It’s also important that the cells be in the same condition so charging/discharging won’t get them out of balance.
A power tool battery that can take loose cells doesn’t make sense because

  • They might not be able to put out enough current
  • They might be different capacities or at different levels of charge (dangerous)
  • Springs would increase resistance
  • Cell length would be important
  • It would be a lot bigger than a spot welded sealed battery

I was looking for a electric screwdriver/drill that used 18650s similar to the way flashlights load them. I have a ton of 18650 batteries. I would like an emergency radio that runs off these as well.

Thanks

Would actually be pretty cool to have a Makita or Bosch or something that had removable 18650’s. They would never do that for liability reasons, and they would never sell an over priced battery pack again. Battery packs for my Makita cost more than the drill did.

Dontcha hate that?

Had an old phone, a Nokia candybar phone, whose battery was losing capacity. Go to Target to price ’em out. 25bux just for the battery. Kit with phone, battery, SIM, 10bux free airtime, and other accoutrements? 20bux.

Ancient NiCd-powered drills from… Harbor Freight?, forgot… something like 15bux for throwaway specials. Replacement battery? Forgot exactly how much, but lots more. Bought like 4-5 drills just for the space batteries, and just in case plastic-gears or whatever would shear off under load. (Still got ’em, work great for just kicking around.)