Battery Replacement for DeWalt Drill

[Andy Work]

I've had good luck with off brand high capacity batteries from Amazon for Dewalt, Porter Cable & Ryobi tools.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Just buy a new drill. If you think it is expensive, try buying one for an electric car.

 

[divingin]

It may be possible to change the cells inside the battery housing, with a bit of surgery etc. But my concern would be the need to change the charger, as the charge profile for lithium may be different.

It may also be possible to replace the "dead" ni-cad cells at lower cost. I have done this on one of my Canon cameras which used Ni-Mh cells obtainable from a local electronics shop.

You should be able to swap the NiCads for NiMH directly. No special charge circuit needed. Big advantage: No memory to worry about after the swap.

General things about rechargeable batteries:
NiCad: develop a memory if not deep discharged before charging.
NiMH: Finite number of charge cycles, self discharge (except for later cell chemistry that came out just before Lithium Ion's took over.)
Lithium Ion: Finite shelf life regardless of charge cycles (this may have been addressed in the last decade or so.)
Lithium polymer: Fires. Lots of fires. In truth it's a small percentage when you look at the number of these things out there, but be very careful with selecting a charger for these, and make sure they're not damaged. (I may be a little on the paranoid side, as I lost a couple of friends in the Conception dive boat fire.)

 

[shoobe01]

Unfortunately DeWalt is not the quality product that it used to be...

DeWalt always had two lines. We summarized as plastic gears vs metal gears though other things also.

When comparing in the store, many would buy the plastic as quieter, and we didn't mind as while lower cost also higher profit per unit.

If memory serves, they more or less ditched the pro line and went all consumer grade. They are /fine/ just the best are not great anymore.

I do mostly Bosch, because being German there's no halfassing anything, and have done a smattering of other tools. I have even repaired my Bosch stuff as you can get the parts, it's simply not that hard to take them apart (cracked a switch dropping it, but a week and $20 later it is back in service).

Milwaukee does well also, have actual tradesmen friends who like them when they get a choice, but mostly these tools when used really really really hard simply wear out and break as tools do.

 

[drover]

I've had good luck with off brand high capacity batteries from Amazon for Dewalt, Porter Cable & Ryobi tools.

What brand are you using? I am going to order a couple and I may as well go with a brand that you have had good luck with.

drover

 

[john 800]

I run several 18 volt systems on 20 to 18 volt adapters with no issues. The old style 18 volt batteries can't hold a candle to the 20 volt batteries.
Since I have a PHD in being a tight ass, I tried this adapter out. It's every bit as good as the dewalt brand for half the cost.
If anybody has found an aftermarket battery as good as dewalts, please share with us. I haven't had any luck.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082YVWQS8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I have not found aftermarket dewalt batteries that are comparable to oem dewalt, BUT I have found home depot to have a little better deal than most places in a multipack, an dthose multipacks are not in the store you must order online.

My suggestion for the op is to price out chargers and adapters on ebay and Amazon as well as bare tools amd oem dewalt batteries on Home Depot s website. (I think a 2pack was $10 more than one battery in the store) Beware of batteries on ebay there are alot of fakes out there, but tools are usually from a company that split up a combo. Last time I priced stuff I was able to get a better deal on everything buying separate vs a combo.
Another couple things to be aware of: to replace that drill you have, the 20v 7 series in most low cost combos aint gonna do it, but their 9 series will and then some (model no starts woth a 7 or a 9) depends what you need. Also look at the specs on chargers whether you get a combo or pieces some charge significantly faster than others. If all you need is an entry level charger for the 20v shoot me a pm, I probably have an extra one you could have for the cost to ship it