Back in 2010, we wrote about better batteries using graphene nanotech. That was a collaboration between the Department of Energy and Vorbeck Materials. Scientists used graphene to enable lithium-ion batteries to recharge in minutes rather than hours. It’s been quite some time. While graphene has yet to materialize, we’re back with some more of the latest lithium-ion battery […]
Battery-powered tools have come a long way in the last decade. Moving to lithium-ion as an energy storage medium, instead of the older nickel-cadmium batteries, improves performance and runtimes. It does so to a point that “cutting the cord” has become a viable option for many professional applications. Pros can now do away with lugging […]
We talk about the cordless job site pretty frequently. But in the corded vs cordless tools question—can battery truly render the cord obsolete? The math doesn’t add up, right? Actually, it does. As manufacturers push into more powerful cordless tools, the concept of switching out your corded tools without power trade-offs is compelling. You Have […]
Without a doubt, two of the biggest battery-related news items this year have been the DeWalt FlexVolt and the Milwaukee HD High-Demand batteries. It’s reignited the debate between the need for higher voltage and greater amp-hour capacity to extend runtime and power on the jobsite. When it comes to Milwaukee HD High Demand vs DeWalt […]
When you review tools daily, you tend to get a lot of questions. One of those questions came from a reader responding to one of our topical interviews with another publication. Essentially, they wanted to know why hoverboard batteries exploded but power tools don’t. It’s actually a great question. After all, you’d think the high-current output […]
The 5th-grade science fair came around for our school and finding a project to use power tools sounded much more exciting than anything else. It’s a good thing my Dad is the Managing Editor of Pro Tool Reviews. I decided to tackle the question, “how amp-hours affect battery runtime?”. Another way to say it is […]
DeWalt to Release Massive FlexVolt Battery Along with New Rotary Hammers Poised for a September 2021 release, DeWalt plans to scale things to a whole new level with the DCB615 15Ah FlexVolt battery. It’s also no accident that DeWalt is releasing these 15Ah batteries alongside two new brushless SDS-Max rotary hammers. This battery certainly looks […]
Having already covered battery charging tips, we also wanted to cover lithium-ion battery maintenance tips. Lithium-ion batteries are expensive. You want to do all you can to extend the life of the fuel that powers your cordless tools. Of the top 5 killers, we have the most control over heat, but having good charging habits […]
It’s about 95 percent likely that you used a device with a lithium-ion battery before you got dressed this morning. Maybe it was even more than one device: a watch, a toothbrush, a laptop or tablet, and almost certainly your smartphone. Even your car might use lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion technology powers a mind-boggling amount of stuff […]
The question comes up on the heels of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s warnings to avoid buying or using loose 18650 lithium-ion battery cells. The CPSC tells us that these cells are manufactured as industrial component parts of battery packs, and are not intended (at least by the original manufacturer) to be sold off […]
