Rechargable LiPo batteries do not take kindly to not being used for an extended period of time. Supposing that you did not use a respective power tool for some months, chances are that your LiPo batteries will be dead by the time you next want to use the tool (not that this is advertised by the various power tool manufacturers).
The rechargable battery pack of this Einhell screw driller uses three LiPo batteries (type: 18650/high-rate discharge; which normally cost about 4$ apiece – incl. shipping). After an idle half a year in the garage the respective battery pack is probably discharged and dead – and whatever add-on electronics Einhell may have added to the battery pack do not help in any way to prevent this.. however Einhell’s proprietary battery casing will prevent you from easily replacing the dead batteries (unless you have some slodering skills). Instead you are meant to buy the proprietary Einhell replacement battery pack.
Until recently the new drill (including a box and one battery pack) sold for around 100 Euro. The replacement battery pack was to be had for a hefty 50 Euro! Meanwhile (Feb 2015) the prices have dropped and the new drill costs between 50-75 Euro – and the replacement battery goes for 35 Euro…
There is a striking similarity to the rip-off games played by some printer manufacturers with the pricing of their replacement ink cartridges 🙁
PS: 7 years later my above homemade battery-pack still works fine – which suggests that Einhell must indeed have used some cheap garbage LiPo cells originally.. however now the “keyless chuck” has failed on my device and trying to repair it has just provided me with some additional insights that reinforce my decision to stear clear of Einhell products. A broken chuck (e.g. teeth that no longer retract properly) here is almost impossible to remove: First the respective teeth block the exit for the screw that needs to be removed from the center of the chuck. But even when that screw has finally been removed (by hammering the teeth out of the way) it is then near impossible to unscrew the chuck since nothing is preventing the gears/motor to just turn which ever way you are turning the chuck (removal of the chuck is a precondition for any disassembly of the device!). The “keyless chuck” then is a complete piece of garbage designed to NOT be repairable (but at least it uses standard 3/8” threads so that Einhell’s overpriced garbage part can be replaced with some 3rd party chuck that is actually serviceable).
