I'm very disappointed about the battery performance. I have been using my drill for 3 years and I already changed the motor one time. Now, I needed new batteries but the price is way too much. Bye-bye Portal cable, I'll never buy your tools again.

My 8823 batteries started having charging problems and one acted as though the contacts to the charger were bad (intermittent). I unscrewed the battery's cover and discovered the orange wire had broken at the contact. Resoldering this wire (probably part of the battery internal charge/overtemp sensor) repaired the charging problem. This was a problem on BOTH my batteries so it points to a design weakness. Before you drop 100 bucks, check this first.

Oh, yeah... I've owned these batteries for five years of good service, so I think I should rate them a 5. I'm sure they don't give a full "new-life" service any longer, but I recall ni-cad batteries should begin to give up in three years or so (I'm not an expert). I've had good luck with Porter Cable products--both battery and corded (routers, sanders, drills).

I've had this system for over five years, and only now one of my two batteries is beginning to lose performance. Mine get moderate use, I'm not a pro, but use mine fairly consistently. when not in use they alternate sitting on the charger. I use my delta (same as pc) 14.4 drill much less, and let one battery sit on the drill for several months without use, while the other sat on the charger. Guess what, the one that sat dead on the tool is now shot and I've had that system for less time, maybe 3-4 years, the other 14.4 that I kept on the charger is fine. So, I suspect some of the one-star weekend warrior reviews may be due to the user not keeping the batteries on the charger, leaving them on the tool for weeks/months at a time. Like one reviewer has indicated, it is no different than car batteries, anybody who has ever had a riding mower or recreational vehicle that gets parked for several months knows that the batteries never last compared to ones that get regular use and stay charged.

haysee74 is exactly right. I've owned the combo tiger saw and drill pack for several years now, although I've never used the drill. It's seen very occasional use, and has performed ok. But now the soldered fuse in my charger is blown, and I'm not going to spend $90 for a new one. Porter Cable would be fine if it weren't for the design flaws - that seem intentional.

I bought both my son and myself a Porter Cable drill with two batteries each and a charger about 4 years ago. My son called this last weekend and told me his batteries had just died and he needed some new ones and couldn't find any in St. George, Ut. and asked me to find some for him. He works construction and has been using his drill daily for about 18 months. I have owned my drill and batteries for the same amount of time with a moderate amount of use and they are still working. I have noticed that my batteries have begun to hold their charge for a shorter amount of time, but after 4 years I don't think they owe me anything. However I would appreciate Porter Cable finding a way to reduce the cost of replacement batteries, they are very expensive. Although if that means lowering the quality of the product, don't bother.