Is this old driver drill trash?

[joesxm3]

Dad gave me an old Sears Craftsman driver drill with a 9.6v nickel cadmium battery and charger.

When I put the battery into the charger the "slow start or defective battery" light lights up as well as the "full charge" light.

When I put the battery into the drill it does not run.

I have nice Bosch drivers and drills already.

My inclination is to throw it in the trash.

It does say something about "properly disposing" of the batteries. So batteries not into the trash?

Thanks.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Correct, not in the trash. Find a drop-off or mail-in recycler. Here is a locator: https://www.call2recycle.org/locator/

You don't want to put cadmium in a landfill.

 

[Walt34]

If you really want to you can replace the cells in the battery pack but by the time you hunt down and buy replacement cells you've probably spent the price of a low-end new drill with a much more efficient brushless motor and lipo batteries so yeah, drop it off at a recycling place.

 

[joesxm3]

Thanks. The next town over seems to have a drop off place.

 

[skyking1]

Home Depot took them too.

 

[CaptTom]

The 9.6V tools are probably not worth saving. But I had a set of Black & Decker 18V tools I was about to toss when I found they sell replacement lithium-ion batteries on Amazon. These are third-party, not from B&D.

I'm not sure exactly of the old and new battery chemistry, but the old ones were terrible. They'd discharge so quickly the tools were almost useless. I was shocked by how much better the new ones were. It was like getting a whole new set of tools. I use them all the time now.

 

[Car-Guy]

OP, your old Craftsman is probably not worth saving.... I agree with the post above, the new battery technology is far superior "these days".

 

[wmc1000]

The 9.6V tools are probably not worth saving. But I had a set of Black & Decker 18V tools I was about to toss when I found they sell replacement lithium-ion batteries on Amazon. These are third-party, not from B&D.

I'm not sure exactly of the old and new battery chemistry, but the old ones were terrible. They'd discharge so quickly the tools were almost useless. I was shocked by how much better the new ones were. It was like getting a whole new set of tools. I use them all the time now.

+1 on converting nicad 18v to lithium!

I have a black & decker hedge trimmer that after 2 years sat on a shelf because the nicad battery would no longer hold a decent charge. One day I found an adapter on ebay that allowed the standard B&D or comparable non-B&D lithium batteries to be used in the hedge trimmer.

The same batteries that I use in my B&D reciprocating saw and B&D string trimmer, (weed whacker), now also work in my hedge trimmer with the $7 adapter.

I bought a 7.0A/Hr lithium ion battery and it lasts for my whole project most times without swapping out to the 1.5 A/Hr standard battery.

 

[Jerry1]

Craftsman had a C3 series that was 19.2V. It originally came with the older technology batteries and changed to lithium batteries later on. If the OP’s tool was one of those, it might be worth getting a new battery for. Unfortunately, the reality of mist cordless tools is that the battery cost more to replace that just getting a new tool. Around Father’s Day, the sales are good enough that it’s pretty close to the same cost and you get the tool plus a battery. It seems hard to imagine that the OP couldn’t get a better tool with a new technology battery for the same or even less than the cost of trying to get the old tool working.

 

[joesxm3]

Its in the trash.
Last year I bought dad LI replacement batteries for his newer one, and I am happy with my modern Bosch tools.

 

[38Chevy454]

The death of that is the 9.6v. Just not enough power in a 9.6v even with good battery charge. If it was an 18-20v tool, then it is worth getting new battery pack; especially upgrading for lithium cells vs Ni-Cd.

 

[CaptTom]

I bought a 7.0A/Hr lithium ion battery and it lasts for my whole project most times without swapping out to the 1.5 A/Hr standard battery.

You make a great point. When buying batteries, look for the highest Amp-hour rating you can afford.

Just be careful, 1500mAH is just 1.5AH. The milliamp number sounds better, so some vendors use that.

 

[target2019]

IMO it is not worth the effort. What you have is a bad charger or adapter possibly, and even if you replace that the drill and battery (9.6v) it will seem like a child's toy to you when compared to your modern equivalent.

 

[Music Lover]

IMO it is not worth the effort. What you have is a bad charger or adapter possibly, and even if you replace that the drill and battery (9.6v) it will seem like a child's toy to you when compared to your modern equivalent.

The newer ones have a lot more power, and they're far lighter too.

I gave my old 12V Craftsman to a friend. It only held a charge long enough to drive a couple dozen screws so it's useless if you're laying deck boards but was good enough for his needs.

My new 18V drill is half the weight and is powerful enough sink the head on a 6" screw into solid wood.

 

[sengsational]

It's not worth saving or even converting (but please recycle the batteries).

You can get an 18 volt lithium driver at Harbor Freight for $28. And they usually have a 20% off a single item coupon, so $22. Insanely cheap for the utility you get out of it.