Skil Cordless Drill Battery

This hub is a simple guide on choosing the right replacement or extra battery for your Skil cordless drill. See below to know what you need to know like number codes and voltages so as to get a correct and original Skil cordless drill battery.

Having a “fresh” battery is essential in the performance of your cordless tool. Cordless drills like those made by Skil rely on nothing but the “juice” given by the battery—its drilling ability and performance will literally be dictated by how well the battery supplies power.

Unfortunately, batteries—even those multi-use rechargeables—do not last a lifetime. It is inevitable that a battery will lose some of its original capacity, and eventually die down in the process. As most cordless tools are tough enough to last very, very long, you should at least be thankful that the only maintenance it needs is a battery replacement—always better, not to mention cheaper, than getting a new one.

Because of the simple fact above, original and other compatible battery replacements are widely available. As for Skil and their cordless drills, finding the right replacement battery is just a matter of knowing your drill well enough.

Selecting a replacement battery

At the top of the list—of things you should know about your drill—is its voltage. This should have already been common knowledge but in case you forget, this is easily known by simply removing the battery and looking at whatever is written on it. Almost all batteries for Skill drills are at the bottommost part of the handle—the one that touches the surface when left upright. If nothing is found, resort to the original packaging and manual.

Voltages, even for same-brand drills, vary widely. As a general rule, the higher the voltage, the bigger the battery pack and the stronger the drill. For low-voltage drills, the battery packs are sometimes hidden within the handle itself and can be accessed by opening a small access latch.

The voltages used by Skil on their drills are 3.6, 7.2, 9.6, 10.8, 12, 14.4, 18, and 24 volts.

The next thing you should know is the exact model number of your drill. Skil has manufactured and released literally hundreds of drills now, so do not expect your favorite handyman shop to know your drill’s exact model by simply describing what it looks like. The good thing though, it that Skil names their tools in an organized and unique way. Skil model number usually starts with four digits like “2260”. It is normally followed by a dash, and two more digits. Sometimes another dash and two letters follow. For example: 2260-01 and 2362-01-RT. You’ll be fine by knowing only the first four digits but to be on the safe side, write the entire code down.

Other terms you will come across are “mAh” and “Ni-Cd” or “Ni-Mh”. The first term, “mAh” is ampere-hour and dictates the capacity of the battery. Simply put, a higher mAh stores more power.

“Ni-Cd” and “Ni-Mh” stands for nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride. Nickel-metal hydride is the more efficient technology. If you have a Ni-Cd unit, you can use a Ni-Mh battery to extract more performance and life from your drill. However, not all Skil Ni-Cd units have Ni-Mh-compatible batteries. Higher mAh figures are also associated with Ni-Mh batteries because of their extended capacities. Ni-Cd or Ni-Mh and whater mAh is specified, you should still get the correct voltage. Using a different voltage battery on your drill, if it fits in the first place, will damage your drill.