I have the Makita 6217DWDE 12-Volt NiMH 3/8-Inch Cordless Drill/Driver Kit and one of the batteries started not holding a charge. So I brought it upstairs to my computer and typed in the model (1234) and found this page. They want $55 for the battery. You can buy the Makita 6217DWDE 12-Volt NiMH 3/8-Inch Cordless Drill/Driver Kit with TWO of these exact batteries ($110 purchased individually) and that means the charger and drill itself cost $19.
That's just stupid.
So I bought another kit. Instead of spending $55 for one battery, I spent $129 and now I have TWO drills, THREE good batteries and TWO chargers.
In other words, unless you are flat broke, you're better off buying another kit than you are just replacing a bad battery. Makita 193157-5 1234 12-Volt 2.6 Amp Hour NiMH Pod Style Battery
Its the same form factor as my old makita rechargeable battery pack, but I had an Model 1801 charger which did not charge this newer battery. I had to buy a newer charger to charge this guy, then i was ok. Be sure to check that your charger can charge this battery. Just because the battery fits in your drill and charger, doesnt mean the charger will support charging it. !!!!
A lot of what was said here was true-but there are many 'factors' to consider. First of all, the old, orange NI-CAD Makita battery had a less amp hr rating than the subsequent newer NI-MH battery. Yes it does require a compatible charger, as the old one will not charge NI-MH and for that matter, the old chargers probably won't charge the newer orange NI-CAD batteries if they have a higher amp hr rating that the originals. Yeah it all sucks, much like computers, as they keep changing the rules and the hardware. But....every generation of battery works much better than its previous generation. You don't see people in the trades using NI-MH or Lithium-Iron batteries lamenting the old days of NI-CAD batteries. A lot of what kills rechargeable batteries is how and when you charge them. For NI-CAD batteries, it was always beneficial to run them down before charging and so later NI-CAD chargers would then 'discharge' the batteries for you before they charged them-worked pretty well. Now with NI-MH and Lithium-Iron that's not as critical, except that you can even damage Lithium-Iron if you slam them into a charger all the time at near full charge. Heat too will kill any of the generation batteries if you put them in the charger hot. Before you buy a new drill "kit", look for companies that offer lifetime or extended warranties to replace the Lithium-Iron batteries for free (or just shipping). Truly, if you have to buy Lithium-Iron batteries outright, you'd be much better off buying another "kit", which of course is not eco-friendly. I have to use about a dozen rechargeable drills in my profession and the batteries have always been the Achilles Heel of the "kits", sometimes to the point of 'voodoo'!
works much better than original. well worth price if you rely of having a drill available at all times. They don't mention, though, that you will need to buy a new charger -- old one doesn't work with this battery
Since my drill/driver and impact driver did not need replacing I just bought two new batteries Model 1234. I read the package and see that the charger DC1414 that I have used for the same batteries can no longer be used to charge the new battery pack. In the detail on the sales page tell people that so they either buy the charger or another drill kit. I thought that Makita was a better company that this. - Tools - Battery - 12 Volt - Makita'
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