Irritated with some small equipment (tools)

Holii

Holii

Farm Hand
Messages
102
So I had a list of small power tools to buy and I thought I did good. When my husband opened them he laughed! I bought the ones that didn't come with batteries! Why in carnation would they sell tools without the battery - especially if they are cordless power tools?
 
leon

leon

Golden Chicken
Messages
111
I once found myself in a similar situation and learned the hard way. A majority of them come with batteries and fastening screws. The other possibility is that the shop forgot to pack the batteries for you.
 
The Back 40

The Back 40

Farm Hand
Messages
73
LOL. You're sweet. Companies like Duracell don't partner with tool companies because they, the battery people, can make more money by selling the batteries separately.

Next year just wrap the batteries separately and have him open those "presents" first. LOL
 
Holii

Holii

Farm Hand
Messages
102
Honestly I was talking about a couple of DeWALT tools. I bought him a new impact wrench and cordless drill. It wasn't a combo pack, they were stand alone products. They had no battery! We had to go to Lowe's the next day and buy the rechargeable big battery pack.
 
BIGRED

BIGRED

Golden Chicken
Messages
130
Yeah they get you on that. If you buy the combo packs, a battery usually comes with it. If you buy individual tools, it usually doesn't. I think it is crazy! You have to be careful too because the rechargeable batteries aren't interchangeable between brands.
 

jjp8182

Farm Hand
Messages
96
What BIGRED said -- though having bought multiple tools that way (as tools only) I can appreciate their selling them without the battery as the lithium batteries for each tool brand tend to be ridiculously expensive (e.g. the highest capacity batteries for each brand tend to cost more than the cheapest tools that use them ...some times 2x to 3x the price of the absolute cheapest tool in the line).

It's enough that most people will stick to one or (maybe) two brands of cordless power tools since the batteries aren't only unique to the brand, but the power level (e.g. one brands 18V batteries only work with that brands 18V tools) so even in a single brand there is usually a few different battery lines. Usually one for 18V/20V tools, and one for 12V tools - though some brands will also add in other battery voltages as well (e.g. Milwaukee) - or have some batteries that work with multiple voltages (e.g. Dewalt's flexvolt 20V/60V

While it's possible to find adapters to cross brands I'm not sure how much I'd trust any of the adapters. It's usually easy enough to watch for sales & specials (especially after signing up for the respective companies email advertising) -- I have gotten a fair number of spare Makita batteries through "buy a combo kit and get an extra two batteries free" promotions.

Thankfully though the batteries on all brands tend to last long enough and charge quick enough that most people won't need more than two or three batteries (perhaps a few more if they have tools that need multiple batteries at a single time) plus a charger. Swapping a couple batteries back and forth between a tool and the charger can keep a person working for a very long time and indefinitely if the charge time is less than the time to run the battery down.
 
pseag

pseag

Farm Hand
Messages
88
I always pick up the extra battery and charger on black friday. You can never have too many of these. I think most people do tend to stick with 1 or 2 brands because of the batteries. We don't own any 12v tools, most of ours are 18v or 20v.
 
 
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