California bans the sale of all small off-road internal combustion engines

Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by bjt2n3904 on Saturday November 06, 2021 @09:50PM (#29135745)

I've bought three of them -- I'm actually using DeWalt because of that. But the batteries all arrived and refused to charge. I probed them with a multimeter, and found the cell voltage was quite low. Hooking it up to a constant current lab supply for ~30 minutes raised the cell voltage enough to get the charger to accept it... but I've only had one run with them. I hope they'll work again.

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by rootusrootus on Saturday November 06, 2021 @09:55PM (#29135794)

I'm a heavy DeWalt user and I'm already a little salty sometimes about how much they charge for their batteries. If they change up the standard again so I need adapters or new tools, I'm going to switch manufacturers altogether. So far I like their stuff well enough, thankfully I haven't run into any problems with new batteries not working out of the box yet. Knock on wood

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by bjt2n3904 on Saturday November 06, 2021 @10:01PM (#29135835)

It's like... a handful of 18650 batteries and a metal tab. Legitimately, we should be able to make our own with a 3D printer and Amazon.

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by bombcar on Saturday November 06, 2021 @10:05PM (#29135855)

They really are - at least for Milwaukee almost all the smarts are in the tool itself and not in the pack.

But never buy a pack - always wait for a sale or deal and get the batteries free with tool (or tool free with batteries).

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by rootusrootus on Saturday November 06, 2021 @10:14PM (#29135907)

> always wait for a sale or deal and get the batteries free with tool

I agree. I don't think I've ever paid full price buying a battery by itself. I just can't stomach the terrible value. I watch for a sale and pick up a new tool with the battery I want. I've got a few relatively obscure tools that way that I'd probably not bother purchasing otherwise.

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by bombcar on Sunday November 07, 2021 @12:18AM (#29136529)

It's price segmentation - they know that a contractor/employee who needs a battery ASAP will pay sticker price, whereas homeowners will wait for a sale.

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Re:California bans the sale of all small off-road internal c... by bombcar on Saturday November 06, 2021 @10:04PM (#29135847)

All the modern batteries show that when super low - often if they’ve been really discharged or in the cold.

Leaving them on the charger or letting them “rest” for a day or two can also bring them back.

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