DeWalt 18V Power Tool Batteries

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
My son's two batteries won't charge. I was about to apply a rejuvenation therapy to them, but then realized I don't know if they are NiCd or NiMh.

Anyone know? Anyone have any success restoring or fixing these?

Thanks,

jv
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,038
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Pop on the reading glasses as there should be some mention of the battery chemistry on the unit.

That, or tear into the batt pack itself. Never had any real success repairing them, as a new complete unit would cost close to the same price as a rebuild.

Love my Milwaukee M12 so far.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Thanks. No mention of chemistry on the pack. A new DeWalt is about $90, a new clone about $18. Maybe the clone is the way to go?
I am only interested because I have some sophisticated charging and cycling equipment for various battery chemistries, and I know NiCds can get "stuck," and be rejuvenated.
 

SG

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Feb 11, 2017
1,670
J/Boat J/160 Annapolis
I don't think they are NiCds. The 14 volt ones, as I recall, were (for a while).

The challenge is that the replacement battery packs are almost as much as new "package" with the drill and everything (if you can still get the same battery packs).

If you've burned through both battery packs, you probably need brushes replaced, etc. anyway? They'll have "Christmas" deals shortly...Merry, merry.
 
Nov 6, 2006
10,019
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
If the tool is older than 4-5 years, I think it would be NiCd.. I had 18V Ryobi batteries from before that which were all NiCd.. They made the 18V Li batts backwards compatible and had a sale of two batts and a Li charger for $100. The cool thing is that they work on all my Ryobi stuff.. and immensely improve performance. I did look at opening the NiCd packs and found that they had used "C" sized batteries. I was going to rebuild using NiMH then I saw that the new Li-ion batts were just a tad more than the cost of all the "C" Li batts.
 

Gene S

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Nov 29, 2015
181
Delphia 37 Tacoma
I have 18v Dewalt and they are nicd. The 20v are lipo. Might say on the label or call a dealer.
 

JCall

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May 3, 2016
66
Macgregor 26D Ceasars Creek
Batteries + will replace the worn cells in the battery packs. I am on my fourth cell replacement set in my Snap-On 12V battery pack set. 20 years of good service from that drill. Batteries + puts the date on their label so I can remember how long that set of cells lasted. About 1/3rd the cost of a replacement battery pack. If it is a cheap drill just buy a new one. My newest drill is a 20V DeWalt, I like the light weight and quick recharging of the battery packs.
Soon they will make drills that are 120V. We can then plug those drills into a standard wall socket and never have to fret over battery life or state of charge!
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,038
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Soon they will make drills that are 120V. We can then plug those drills into a standard wall socket and never have to fret over battery life or state of charge!
That's funny!
 
Jun 7, 2004
350
Oday 28 East Tawas
"This item: DC9096-2 18-Volt XRP 2.4 Amp Hour NiCad Pod-Style Battery (2-Pack) ."
Took this information off the Amazon web site. The ad was for the DeWalt batteries.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
7,089
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
"This item: DC9096-2 18-Volt XRP 2.4 Amp Hour NiCad Pod-Style Battery (2-Pack) ."
Took this information off the Amazon web site. The ad was for the DeWalt batteries.
Thanks. The dead ones I have on hand are DC9099. I will try to determine if they are essentially the same.

What I am hoping to accomplish first, is to "jolt" these into accepting a charge. There is a NiCd phenomenon where they won't accept a charge if they've been discharged to far, and can be brought back to life, Frankenstein-style, by briefly applying the full charge voltage.
Found this: DeWALT DC9099 vs DC9096 Review:
http://ahsaws.com/dewalt-dc9099-vs-dc9096-review/
 
Last edited:
Jun 2, 2004
3,469
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
DeWalt makes an adapter to use the new 20 volt Lithium Ion batteries on the old 18 volt stuff.

That is the way to go. I hated to do it but I gave up on my 14.4 De Walt stuff and went with the new 20 volt and was thrilled afterwards they go and go and go. They are also MUCH lighter.