When I came to work on the birdfeeder holder stand (see yesterday's Day), my cordless drill's batteries were flat. I normally charge these up after a job so they are ready for the next, so I had to charge them up and continued with the job by hand, leaving out a few screws that I could wizz in the next day.

Well, I went outside the next day with my drill in hand to do that and got one screw in before the first battery went flat. I grabbed the second battery and again got one screw in. I guess these drill batteries are knackered.

I decided to open up the packs to see what was what, and discovered this:

Each pack contains 4 x 18650 cells. These are rated at 3.7V each, but 4 x 3.7 = 14.8V not 18V as stated on the packs, drill, and charger (and what I originally paid for). You can see from the packs that they could (and should) contain 5 x cells. Also, the cells are rated at 1500mAh, which they will also fall short on.

Basically, the charger has been charging what are technically 15V packs to 18V, no wonder they have become problematic.

Even though I purchased this drill almost four years ago I intend to email the supplier to see if they'll rectify this fraud/theft by sending me some replacement battery packs (of the correct specification). What are the odds?