Skil SB18B-LI Slide Base Battery Pack

Worth every penny. This battery is for the Skil drill the equivalent of custom wheels and tires and a lift kit for your truck. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars for a brand new drill at one of the big box stores that actually have this battery in them you can continue using fantastic product upgrade the battery to current technology. Charges quickly and delivers consistent power during use. One of the biggest benefits as you can pre charge these batteries and store them. I have had this battery hold a charge for more than eight months and perform consistently

A nice option to buying a new set of lithium tools, at least for my needs. So far, so good. These batteries are easy to remove, unlike the old ni-cad batteries which became impossible. They seem more powerful, and hold a charge well. Run time seems good, and they charge quickly. Being half the size and weight as the ni-cads is also a plus. I don't think that most people are going to want to invest more money in 2 batteries and a charger than they paid for a complete tool set, but I like the tools (even though the color design Skil used makes them look like a kid's toy raygun), and I especially like the drill and circular saw. I didn't want to just throw the set away. Also, this is the only cordless brand I've seen where the circular saw's blade is on the right, which works for southpaws. I can see the line as I cut. Re-use made sense for me, anyway, since I can't easily or cheaply replace the lefty saw.

UPDATE- The price has come down since I bought mine, now it's only about half the price as the original drill purchase. Seriously, this does seem like a good deal, with all the features the battery has. Can't do a job without having a battery charging in the stand while you use the tool. There's nothing worse than having to stop & wait for your battery to charge if you only have one. The lithium-ion batteries are very lightweight and do a good amount of work before needing a charge. Pricey, though, but it seems like everything is. It costs almost as much as the drill! (Battery Included)

Finally, I got fed up with my NiCad/Ni-MH batteries to a point that I shelled out money for Li-Ion packs. Why did I do that? Well, any time I needed to use my power tools I had to recharge NiMh battery packs. Right, I need my power tool NOW and I need to charge it for like an hour? Nope, not anymore, not again. I need to use that power tool NOW. So, I did some checking and I found out that these Li-Ion packs fit my skill tools. I charged them up the moment I got them, used them next day and it worked as it should. No quick or unpredictable run-down. It just runs. And, as an added bonus the tools are now lot lighter with Li-Ion packs. I recommend this to anyone who is getting tired of recharging Ni-Mh before each use.

These are a great improvement over the Nickel-Cadmium batteries originally provided with my Skil power tool. A fully charged battery lasts longer in use and in storage. The battery also has a push-to-read amount of remaining charge indicator, showing 0 to 3 lights for charge level. Three notes about these: 1) they are for use only in compatible Skil power tools; 2) they must be charges with the correct charger - a charger for Nickel-Cadmium batteries will NOT work; and 3) because these are considerably lighter than Nickel-Cadmium batteries, the balance and feel of your tool will be somewhat different. Highly recommended if they are compatible with your Skil power tool.

In the description it says this is a battery kit, a kit consists of more than one item, I thought I was buying a battery and charger. No, you just get a battery, now I have to purchase a charger, not very happy...

After a couple years of almost daily use, my Skil cordless drill battery gave up the ghost (to be expected for that many re-chargings). For the longer charge holding capability, I replaced the old Ni-Cad pack with this new Lithium pack and couldn't be happier. It is certainly worth the extra expense. It needs a special charger that's inexpensive. I contemplated getting another but so far, this is all I need to keep going.

I purchased this item as well as a SKIL SC118CLI charger to go with it. Once I received it, I didn't really have a need for it right away, but a few weeks later I needed to use my drill so I unpacked the battery and put it on the charger. Whenever I plug it on there, the red light blinks. I read the troubleshooting manual and it says that if the red light blinks, then the battery is "too hot" or possibly defective. Since it has never been used and isn't "too hot" I have to assume this is defective. Unfortunately, it now says I can't return it. HELP.....I paid $50 for a worthless item and now I still don't have a battery for my drill.