There’s something else you need to know about now that you’ve got (or decided upon) your Skil cordless drill-batteries. While your drill will come with a battery , if you plan on doing a lot of work and don’t want to be slowed down or have to stop working to wait for your battery to charge, then you may want to get an extra Skil cordless drill battery.
You might be surprised to learn that there is more than one choice as to what kind of Skil cordless drill battery you can get. But there is. This Buyer’s Guide is gong to focus on the two most popular options for Skil cordless drill batteries out there – nickel cadmium and lithium ion.
Nickel cadmium batteries, also referred to as ni-cad batteries, are the most common batteries available for Skil cordless drills. A very durable rechargeable battery, nickel cadmium batteries can be recharged over 1,000 times over the life of the battery. They will also recharge within an hour. Because of their durability and relatively short recharge time, nickel cadmium batteries have become very popular for all sort of power tools, including Skil cordless drills.
Downsides to nickel cadmium batteries include low energy density, which requires that the batteries be recharged often. As well, because of the cadmium element to the batteries, they cannot just be thrown in the garbage and must be recycled properly.
Lithium ion batteries are relatively new when compared to nickel cadmium batteries. Advantages to using lithium ion batteries are primarily twice the energy density than nickel-based batteries and a lighter weight. The higher energy density allows for a lithium ion battery to hold a charge for about twice as long as a nickel cadmium battery. The lighter weight of the battery makes the Skil cordless drill easier to use for long periods of time.
The primary disadvantage to the lithium ion battery is the price, which is still much more than nickel cadmium. Also, although they hold a charge for longer, they do have a much shorter shelf life, will need to be replaced sooner than a nickel cadmium.
My choice for a Skil cordless drill battery is the nickel cadmium. It’s cheaper and lasts longer, even though they need to be recharged more often. I combat this by always having a battery on the charger while I’m working, and that system has worked fine for me so far. If the lithium ion battery drops in price (as I’m sure it will sometime in the future) then I would rethink my stance, but for now, nickel cadmium it is.
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