About this replacement
Craftsman 900.11458 Cordless Screwdriver — 4.8V Ni-MH Replacement Battery
This is a 4.8V, 2000mAh Ni-MH replacement battery for the Craftsman 900.11458 cordless screwdriver. It slots into the handle bay and restores full drive torque when the original cell pack has lost capacity. Voltage and form factor match the OEM spec exactly — 89.40 x 35.00 x 23.10mm.
- 900.11458 screwdriver fit: The 900.11458 runs a 4.8V four-cell Ni-MH pack wired in series. Voltage matching is critical here — this tool has no BMS to compensate for a mismatched pack, so the cell count and nominal voltage must be exact.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through repeated trigger-pull loads replicating fastening inrush current. Cell voltage held steady across the discharge curve with no mid-cycle collapse at the terminal contacts.
- Break-in cycling for the 900.11458: Run the screwdriver at light fastening loads — no more than No. 8 wood screws — for the first two full charge-discharge cycles. Ni-MH cells need a few cycles to reach rated capacity, and pushing peak torque immediately on a fresh pack can suppress long-term capacity.
Why the 900.11458 bogs and slows mid-drive on longer screws
Ni-MH cells at 4.8V have a relatively low energy reserve compared to larger packs, so sustained high-torque driving pulls the cell voltage down faster than the charger can recover it. When the pack is partially depleted, internal resistance across the four series cells climbs, and the motor sees a reduced voltage rail under load. That shows up as the tool slowing or stalling before the trigger is released. A full charge before heavy use sessions keeps the starting voltage at its peak and reduces the sag effect during long runs.
Charger shows no activity or won't start charging a new pack
Ni-MH chargers designed for this voltage range use a minimum acceptance threshold — typically around 3.6V across a 4-cell pack — before the charge cycle initiates. A battery that has sat discharged for months can drop below that floor, causing the charger to do nothing. To recover the pack, apply a short manual trickle if your charger supports it, or place the battery in the tool and pull the trigger briefly to confirm cell continuity before retrying. If the charger still won't engage after two attempts, measure pack voltage at the terminals — anything above 3.6V total should trigger the charge cycle on reinsertion.