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Old 23rd Aug 2020, 11:01 pm   #1
Oldcodger
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Default Cordless drill battery compatability.

Years ago when I returned to telecom installation, I bought a Black & Decker cordless( drill + hammer), and it lasted me well. Sadly the battery died, and with no batteries available at reasonable cost, I chose a dEwALT which used a similar battery( came with two, but one has died) , but which did not lock into place on the B & D. I've since experimented with the old battery and found that the Dewalt battery needed some "modification"( aka grinding down of flanges ) and then the De walt battery fitted the B & D . Research on the net shows that a larger capacity battery for the DeWalt was available at circa £18,but a replacement for the B & D was almost £40. Result is that I've now got my Dewalt with a 3AH battery ( costb circa £18) and a modified top for the old 1.3AH battery now fits the old B & D . So now I've got both drills working.
Old B & D = MODEL KC1882F.
dEWALT BATTERY = de9098 .
Might be of use to a member who like me hates to throw working stuff away.
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Old 24th Aug 2020, 9:42 am   #2
David G4EBT
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

That's useful information - surprising that the B&D battery costs more than twice that of De Walt, given that De Walt is B&D's 'upmarket brand'. I guess there will be a measure of compatibility or similarity between some Black & Decker and De Walt components because since 1960, De Walt has been a subsidiary of B&D. It's anyone's guess whether your two types of battery were manufactured in the same factory, or different factories in different countries.

In the 1950s when demand for power tool began to expand, B&D had gained a firmly established image in the minds of the public of cheap & cheerful lightweight DIY tools for domestic use - not the sort of heavy duty equipment that professional tradesmen wanted. They introduced a 'B&D Professional' range of power tools for tradesmen, but they were still the B&D brand and had little appeal, being seen as sheep in wolf's clothing - not quite up to the task.

In 1992, recognising they couldn't take the B&D brand 'upmarket', B&D rebranded its 'Professional' range as De Walt, (who in 1994 took over the upmarket German brand Elu). De Walt equipment is much favoured by tradesmen and by DIYers who want what they perceive to be heavier duty power tools. They now manufacture more than 200 hand held power tools and 800 accessories.

From 2013, a small selection of De Walt power tools are still assembled in America from parts manufactured in factories in Brazil, Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, the UK and USA. From 2015, De Walt branded equipment assembled in the USA is badged 'Built in the USA from globally sourced materials'.

More info here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeWalt

Hard these days to know who owns which companies. Milwaukie is another familiar power tool brand with a strong brand image. The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation is a subsidiary of Techtronic Industries, a Chinese company whose other brands are also familiar household names in the UK - AEG, Ryobi, Hoover, Dirt Devil, and Vax.

As we know with radio & TV brands, back to the 1940s many brands were owned by holding companies or merged - Rank/Bush/Murphy, KB/ITT etc. And though the Bush name still lingers on, the brand is owned by J Sainsburys these days. Dynatron was bought by Roberts Radio in 1981, and Roberts has been owned by Glen-Dimplex since 1994.

Hope that's of interest and not too far off topic. (Posted for information rather than debate).
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Old 24th Aug 2020, 4:47 pm   #3
Radio Wrangler
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

Quote:
Originally Posted by David G4EBT View Post
but they were still the B&D brand and had little appeal, being seen as sheep in wolf's clothing
Capital W?

Laughing, helplessly

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Old 24th Aug 2020, 8:41 pm   #4
David G4EBT
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by David G4EBT View Post
but they were still the B&D brand and had little appeal, being seen as sheep in wolf's clothing
Capital W?

Laughing, helplessly

David
Nice one David!

Crikey, I'd forgotten all about the Wolf brand, though I think they've been mentioned on the forum in a thread about old drills ('Show Us you Drills'?).

Trawling the net, it seems that Wolf originated in 1900 and 1978 employed 850 people in it's factory in London. Wolf went into receivership was purchased by Kango Tools Ltd in the 1980's. Some may recall that back in the 1980s, 'Kango' became a generic term for a heavy duty 'breaker' hammer dill, just like 'Hoover' and 'Thermos'. The Wolf name disappeared as the Kango line was rationalized. Kango was acquired in turn by Atlas-Copco, then in the early 2000's, Kango was sold to a Hong Kong firm, TI.

A company in India has resurrected the Wolf brand under licence and produces a range of power tools. See:

https://handytoolshome.com/wolf-power-review/
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Old 24th Aug 2020, 9:13 pm   #5
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

I had a Wolf soldering-iron back in the 70s: a rather big beastie in the 'Henley Solon' 65-Watt idiom, but it was great for soldering lugs onto copper braid stripped from 7/8-inch coax.

These days I associate Wolf with a range of really-not-too-bad garden tools. https://wolfgarten-tools.co.uk/
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Old 24th Aug 2020, 9:30 pm   #6
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
I had a Wolf soldering-iron back in the 70s: a rather big beastie in the 'Henley Solon' 65-Watt idiom, but it was great for soldering lugs onto copper braid stripped from 7/8-inch coax.
Wolf was the manufacturer of the standard Strowger-era soldering irons used in Post Office / BT. They were used in their thousands - everywhere - typically on large jumper frames, where they would be left switched on all day, every day. Element failures were few and far between. They came in various voltages, identified by handle colour. 50V - black, 24V - green, 240V red. Wattage usually 50 or 75W.
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Old 24th Aug 2020, 9:34 pm   #7
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Default Re: Cordless drill battery compatability.

David, re #2, the B & D KC1882F was marketed as a B&D professional brand. TBH, I've used my old KF1882 for a lot of years at work, and it's gone through a lot of walls . In fact, I've got a DeWalt and my preference is for the B & D as a better drill. G6,RE #5,I remember Wolf large soldering irons . We acquired one in a certain TRS to remove the centre conductor of a submarine cable for faulting. It found a lot more use removing cans on 51 type eqpt sealed cans. Lots of GPO transmission blokes will remember the problems with sealed cans on 51 type. You'd diagnose fault to a component inside, send the can off for repair, get it back and fault still existed. We ended up opening these ourselves and replacing the componants. Overnight our fault rate on can faults dropped to 0%.
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