cordless power tools... voltages

Posted by crgrove on March 27, 2007, 1:49 pm

Hi all,

I've been building some shelving units for my small apartment to make
the space more efficient. I'm using cordless tools for the most part.

I have a Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular saw which I bought from
Sam's Club and it works great. It is not as loud as my corded saw.
However I'd like to have more batteries. There was a Kawasaki cordless
drill to match but it is available with the new 21.6 volt battery
packs only. The DISPLAY model, which looks the same as the ones on the
shelf for sale, has the same 19.2 volt batteries as my saw.

It LOOKS as though the battery packs, though different in voltage, are
physically the same package.

If I bought the Kawasaki 21.6 volt cordless drill can I use the
battery packs between it and my Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular
saw interchangeably?? I suspect so since they are motors and motors
aren't usually that picky but I wanted to be sure.

Can anyone confirm this with me please?

Thanks,
Christopher Grove

Posted by Pop` on March 27, 2007, 4:20 pm

crgrove wrote:

> Hi all,
> I've been building some shelving units for my small apartment to make
> the space more efficient. I'm using cordless tools for the most part.
> I have a Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular saw which I bought from
> Sam's Club and it works great. It is not as loud as my corded saw.
> However I'd like to have more batteries. There was a Kawasaki cordless
> drill to match but it is available with the new 21.6 volt battery
> packs only. The DISPLAY model, which looks the same as the ones on the
> shelf for sale, has the same 19.2 volt batteries as my saw.
> It LOOKS as though the battery packs, though different in voltage, are
> physically the same package.
> If I bought the Kawasaki 21.6 volt cordless drill can I use the
> battery packs between it and my Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular
> saw interchangeably?? I suspect so since they are motors and motors
> aren't usually that picky but I wanted to be sure.
> Can anyone confirm this with me please?
> Thanks,
> Christopher Grove

Might work. Might shorten the drill's life. One way to find out; try it.

Posted by Joe on March 27, 2007, 8:11 pm

What did Kawasaki customer service say when you called them? You did
call them, right?

Joe

Posted by crgrove on April 9, 2007, 9:33 pm

> > Hi all,
> > I've been building some shelving units for my small apartment to make
> > the space more efficient. I'm using cordless tools for the most part.
> > I have a Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular saw which I bought from
> > Sam's Club and it works great. It is not as loud as my corded saw.
> > However I'd like to have more batteries. There was a Kawasaki cordless
> > drill to match but it is available with the new 21.6 volt battery
> > packs only. The DISPLAY model, which looks the same as the ones on the
> > shelf for sale, has the same 19.2 volt batteries as my saw.
> > It LOOKS as though the battery packs, though different in voltage, are
> > physically the same package.
> > If I bought the Kawasaki 21.6 volt cordless drill can I use the
> > battery packs between it and my Kawasaki 19.2 volt cordless circular
> > saw interchangeably?? I suspect so since they are motors and motors
> > aren't usually that picky but I wanted to be sure.
> > Can anyone confirm this with me please?
> > Thanks,
> > Christopher Grove

> What did Kawasaki customer service say when you called them? You did
> call them, right?
> Joe- Hide quoted text -
> - Show quoted text -

If I wanted the reply "it will void the warranty" then I'd call
customer service. What I was hoping for was knowledgeable and
technical answers.

-Christopher

Posted by Joe on April 13, 2007, 8:12 pm

<snip>

> If I wanted the reply "it will void the warranty" then I'd call
> customer service. What I was hoping for was knowledgeable and
> technical answers.

You'll never know what customer service will say unless you call them.
If they tell you that 'it will void the warranty', then you are
certainly entitled to ask 'why?' and if they waffle about it, ask to
speak with a tech type, not a marketing maven. Who knows, they could
surprise you with some enlightening info.
Odds are the batteries are different by one cell if both are the same
type. The higher votage will draw a bit more current, but since
we're dealing with DC there should be no impedence mismatches as in
some AC applications. IMO. ought to work fine.

Joe

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