OLD STYLE DEWALT BATTERIES PLUS

If you didn’t already know this, don’t worry, it’s not just you. These aren’t 20V battery packs, they’re 18V battery packs. There is still a lot of confusion about what Dewalt 20V Max really means.In the most simplistic terms, Dewalt 20V Max = 18V. KNOWN AS 20V MAX IN NORTH AMERICA,HOWEVER, THEY ARE CALLED 18V XR IN UK AND EURPOEAN COUNTRIES. The answer is that BOTH DEWALT 18V XR AND 20V XR SLIDE STYLE BATTERIES ARE THE SAME. I’m not sure if that means lithium-ion cells could be substituted for Ni-Cad cells in a rebuild of this sort, but that’s certainly worth exploring.We have occasionally received similar emails that ask about if we made mistakes that their batteries may not compatible with our adapter ot tools. I’m presuming this means they can swap out the internal cells with new ones of the same chemistry and use the original battery case. The site also claims that technicians in these stores can rebuild older tool batteries when a replacement doesn’t exist anymore. Click here to see if they have batteries for your brand and model.

OLD STYLE DEWALT BATTERIES PLUS

If replacement Ni-Cads might still work for you as an option, but you’re having trouble finding the specific batteries, Batteries Plus Bulbs offers quite a selection of replacement tool batteries for 25 different tool brands on their website. With all of the advantages lithium-ion offers, plus the ability to expand the range of cordless tool options that use them, most power tool brands have phased entirely out of Ni-Cad. Other “big brand” tool companies haven’t followed suit with similar adapters. Three years ago, DeWALT came out with a battery adapter we reported about that attaches to its 20V Max* lithium-ion batteries to retrofit them to older DeWALT Ni-Cad tools with post-style battery packs.

Chargers for Ni-Cads and lithium-ion aren’t the same.

The battery electronics also interact with the charger, which is designed specifically for lithium-ion, so it can replenish them more efficiently cell by cell. That’s especially true for cordless tools with brushless motors, because these “smarter” motors are interacting with the battery constantly during use. Here’s one explanation for why it sometimes isn’t: lithium-ion tool batteries and their internal electronics are designed to work together with more sophisticated electronics than your Ni-Cad model probably has. Replacing cordless tool batteries is inevitable eventually, so why not “trade up” to the next generation of cell chemistry? It seems like a smarter move, all around, than sticking with Ni-Cad. You rightly point out that lithium-ion batteries offer many advantages over Ni-Cad: they’re lighter weight, more compact and hold their charge much longer than Ni-Cad will. (I once was in the same situation with a drill/driver, and a pair of replacement Ni-Cad batteries cost more than what I paid for the tool originally, with two batteries and charger!) Trouble is, buying the Ni-Cad replacements, if they are even still made by the tool’s manufacturer, is expensive.

You’ve got an older Ni-Cad tool that still works fine, but those infernal batteries are fading fast and need to be replaced. My question is, have third-party suppliers filled this gap with lithium-ion batteries that are compatible with a tool designed for Ni-Cad power? – Tim BabcockĬhris Marshall: I can understand your plight, Tim. With few exceptions, there is nothing like the convenience of the current (no pun intended) line of battery-powered tools. However, I am not ready to put a tool with remaining life in the trash because the original manufacturer no longer supports the original battery configuration. Understanding that changes in technology can bring about improvements in tool performance, it does not appear that there has been a smooth transition in the power design. I read with much interest your August 2018 print article on cordless drill/drivers.

Old style dewalt batteries