New Cordless Drill Battery VS Older Power Tool Battery
Standardazation would be nice but until there's a huge mindset change in Wsahington DC as well as throughout the populace it won't happen. Besides, using someone elses stuff on another maker's tools almost always voids the warranty on the tool as well as the accessory. In a free market that's just how it goes!
The older Craftsman stuff(as well as the new)is made by Ryobi or a subsidary company using a different name. The new stuff won't interchange with Ryobi but the old stuff might. Within Craftsman I have modified an old 14.4V 'professional' style battery case(rebuilt to 13.2V)to work with a 13.2V drill and it was easy. There was just one little rib I had to shorten and Voila! I'd bet many other cordless drill battery combos would be similar. IMHO so long as you're only one cell(1.2V)different I doubt that using a different voltage pack in a tool would amount to much difference but you're on your own if you try it. Do be aware that similar batteries may have different terminal layouts and you could fry the thermal limiter in the battery pack if it's wrong. The thermal limiter often looks like a diode(which may also be in there)or it may be rectangular plastic. If you're rebuilding remember it needs to be firmly in contact with the side of a cell as it originally was or you might get an overcharge(and fire!). These limiters should be saved from packs you're discarding as they sometimes go bad and they're a bear to source. AFAIK these are all pretty much the same; all I've switched around worked superbly but again you're on your own.
And DO recycle those old batteries, they're poisionous to the Earth and those of us living here. Google will find you someplace convienent to do this at; there's a website that lists battery recycling centers as a public service but I forget the web addy.
On some older packs I did see the "Panasonic" brand and capacity, but I was unaware there were so few makers of Ni-cads power tool battery! Even with 'selective grading' of the factories output I still wonder why there's such a huge disparity in cell prices. I mean they go from reasonable to outrageous from seller to seller even comparing the exact same cell! Now if I could only find sub-c Ni-cad cells rated at a gazillion mega-amps for $1 apiece
Check your local Home Depot for a battery depository. I know that mine does. It used to be in the tool corral but has been moved up to the customer service counter. The disposal fee has been paid when you bought the tool/battery.
