Posted: 12/28/2009 3:36:12 AM EDT
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After you've gotten to the point where you have a solution for continued electrical power supplies, it's time to get some rechargeable battery powered gear to keep things moving.
Today, there is a great supply of battery powered tools made by many manufacturers. My old Makita drill, which served me well for years, finally got to the point where the batteries wouldn't hold charge any more. Sadly, the replacement batteries cost as much as some battery tool kits that are for sale now. I was amazed by how this market has exploded since I last bought anything. Seems like Dewalt has the best selection of tools, and they have a good reputation. Looking around at the home supply store, Dewalt had several kits of different tools. I needed a drill, and I used a buddy's DC sawzall - the sawzall is one tool that has greatly benefited from the DC battery conversion. It's screaming fast with cutting. Those were both good tools, tools that I needed. The kit I selected also came with a fluorescent light that uses the same battery as the drill and sawzall. That light has, by far, been the most useful part of the kit. It lasts a long time, and puts off a lot of light. It's more of a lantern than a flashlight - good to hang in the middle of the room. Since it uses the same battery as the tools, I always have the batteries charged. I'm thinking of getting another one or two, and a couple more batteries and another charger. These chargers can easily run off genny power, or even off a converter plugged into the car. Lots of light, fairly easy to replenish. Another good item is two-way radios, such as Motoroloa's Talkabouts. These also come in kits now - three radios with rechargeable batteries and a charger. Radio communication can be of great use locally - you need to be able to communicate. With the rechargeables and charger, keeping the radios ready to go is as easy as the tool batteries. The newer radios have a lot of channel options. Voice activation too. Neat little radios.. The kids even use them around the neighborhood. Anyway, I just wanted to share that. Modern gear, with rechareable batteries, can help keep you comfortable and in contact when the lights go out. 
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I have been slowly converting all my AA lanterns and flashlights over to Eneloops or the Duracell repackaged Eneloops. They do not self discharge as fast as regular rechargeable batteries.
My short term (6 month) plan is to use a small generator (not bought yet) to run my fast chargers to replenish my AA batteries for basic lighting needs. I have a bigger generator that will suffice, but its way too loud and eats gas like crazy. Fortunately my family has enough gas to run a small generator for quite a while without noticing. Long term, I want to put together a 200W solar system to charge a big tractor or boat battery and then run my fast chargers off that. Once my bills are paid down this would be easy to buy. One thing to think about. Make sure your batteries are in good health and that your battery operated tools are in working order. I have a dewalt 18V drill that has some issues with the contacts that needs to be run a short period each week to keep the contacts clean or it doesn't like to run. Once it gets going it works great. The batteries are fine, but I am going to have to buy a new drill/driver soon so I know I have a working unit when I need it. The battery charger is fast so its no problem to charge batteries with short runs of the generator or solar system. The drill/driver came with a 1/4 hex drive impact gun that is a great tool. It can drive in lag bolts that the drill/driver cannot. It can also loosen stubborn bolts and nuts as well. |
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Living out in the boonies and off-grid, I have come to really appreciate the advances in battery powered tools. I do own a couple of corded power tools still, but the majority of my tools are cordless (and thanks to Dewalt for making almost their entire line of tools available in 18v format!!! Almost all my batteries are completely interchangeable). I built two houses now using battery powered drill/drivers, saws, cutout tools, lights, etc. Really reduced generator usage and being able to walk out into the woods with them is a blessing.
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What a lot of people may not realize, is that most multi-cell battery packs for tools like dewalt, bosch, ect.. are usually not a complete waste if they won't hold a charge. If you take the battery pack apart, you will find several small 1.5v batteries/cells inside that are welded together in series to bring the voltage up to the 12v or 18v total for the tool.
Most of the time, only one or two of the cells have gone bad and the rest still have quite a bit of life left in them. You can usually tell which ones are bad by checking voltage across the individual cells after recharging the pack. If one only has .07v and all the others are at 1.5v +/-, then you found the bad one. One method of "fixing" the bad battery is to take the + and - leads from a 12 volt power supply & place the + lead on the - side of the cell & the - lead on the + side. This must be done very quickly, <1/2 second, a couple of times in order to "jolt" the battery. WARNING: This method has been known to make the battery explode in your face, so use at your own risk & with appropriate safety equipment. After "jolting" the battery in reverse, try to charge the pack & see if it holds. A lot of times the battery pack will last another 6 months to several years. ymmv Another method is to cut the bad cell out of the pack and solder in a new one (from another bad pack) in its' place. This method will test your soldering skills since the packs are usually spot welded together with stainless strips. WARNING: You must be careful to not overheat the battery when soldering or it can explode. Once again, use at your own risk & with appropriate safety equipment. I've used both methods many times and have extended the life of an otherwise useless, and expensive, battery pack for months or years. SHTF battery uses: The cells out of a battery pack, 9v, & 6v batteries can also be cannibalized to be used in an emergency when you you are out of regular batteries. If you take a 9v apart, you'll find 6 AAAA batteries. If you take apart a 6v, you'll find 4 (iirc) large cells that are each the same length as 3 D cells. All of these cells are going to be 1.5v +/- which is the same as any AA, AAA, C, or D battery. Just make sure you pay close attention to the polarity since most of these cells use the smooth end for +. It's very easy to put them in backwards. |
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I bought 3 identical drills from HF when they were on sale,(charger battery and drill was less than aa new makita bat)
I like haveing several driills, one with pilot drill one with driver bit, one with larger bit, it makes projects go much quicker. I left one bat out in the rain and ruined it so I took it apart and installed a cigaret lighter cord, this works great for extended drilling of large holes. |