In this article we are going to discuss power tools. Power tools are basically those tools that work on a motor or electricity. You will also find some tools that work on fuel. There are more than 1000 types of tools that perform various functions and have different calibrations. You will also find cordless or battery power tools that don't need to be plugged into a power source and can work on their in built battery.
There are several types of battery in use at the present time and each must be treated differently. There are Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cad), Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium-ion. Ni-Cad is old technology and hence only found in ancient handsets, so I will not be covering them in this article. NiMH batteries perform much better than Ni-Cad, typically giving 30% more talk time, but Lithium are thinner and give even higher performance. I will be concentrating on Lithium-ion as it is the most used modern mobile phone battery to date. Check which type of battery your phone has before following any of the following.
Why is this important? If you have a relatively new PC the only problem you will get are error messages relating to the clock on start up. No big deal. If your PC is older then a low battery could be a nightmare. I had a PC which once lithium mines ontario every few months refused to boot. Rather than take the PC in for repair or start replacing parts myself the first thing I did was look at the BIOS settings. It was soon obvious that the BIOS settings were corrupt (wrong bus speed). I put a volt meter on the battery and sure enough it was reading 2.2 volts.
Batteries - Many of the battery products found at the dollar stores are made with carbon zinc, as opposed to lithium, so they do not last as long. Carbon zinc can also leak, thus doing damage to your electronics.
Avoid buying spares: Unlike wine and cheese, Li batteries do not improve with age. Avoid the temptation to buy spares, unless you use them frequently. Check the manufacture date, and never buy an old Lithium battery stocks, even if on sale.
In case you are using new nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery, remember you should not charge the battery for too long or it will overcharge it and end up shortening the life of the battery. However, it is important to charge and discharge the battery three times just like the Lithium mines Ontario-ion battery to ensure that it has a long a life.
I could easily have spent a fortune replacing the motherboard, the memory, the processor etc when it all came down to 2 dollar battery. What's more is these batteries are easy to get. What you need is a CR2032 available at most hardware stores like home depot and I've even seen them sold in Safeways. Of course every reputable computer store should stock them. Just check to make sure that your PC uses a CR2032 before you go to the shops!
There are a couple of more considerations about choosing your cell phone battery which we cover with a later post. And don't forget the holidays are coming up so make sure you take a look at various face plates and extra batteries to enhance your gifts!