Will Dewalt batteries cross over?

[BigE]

I have a Dewalt drill/sawzall kit that uses 18V NiCAD batteries. I'm looking to pick up the DW059 impact which can use either a NiCAD or Li Ion battery. I'd like to pick up the impact and another battery but leave the charger as I don't need another. However, this only works if the batteries are interchangeable. My current drill is a DC759. Will both batteries work in both tools?

Thanks in advance

 

[ijroorda]

DeWalt's 18V motto is "if it clicks, it works." Any DeWalt 18V battery, NiCAD (XRP or standard) or Li-Ion battery will fit in any DeWalt 18V tool. The exception to this rule is the chargers - the Li-Ion chargers (usually yellow) will charge NiCAD batteries, but the NiCAD chargers (usually black) will not charge Li-Ion batteries. The worksite radio may be an exception too, since it can act as a charger - I'm not sure about compatibility with the latest iteration of it. Other than that, all 18V batteries and tools are completely compatible.

 

[rsanter]

should work no probs

bob

 

[wxm]

I don't have Dewalt, neither am I an expert on this. They might be working for both tools, but usually not with the same chargers. You will have to live with two chargers.

 

[sk farmer]

I don't have Dewalt, neither am I an expert on this. They might be working for both tools, but usually not with the same chargers. You will have to live with two chargers.

false. true that the old charger will not charge the new lithium batteries but the new yellow chargers will charge all of the older batteries with that style base all the way back to the first 18 volt dewalts.

 

[wxm]

false. true that the old charger will not charge the new lithium batteries but the new yellow chargers will charge all of the older batteries with that style base all the way back to the first 18 volt dewalts.

Good to know. Thanks

 

[sk farmer]

Good to know. Thanks

no problem. i have an old drill. approx. 15 years old and i just purchased a new recon lithuim drill. my old batteres fit in the new drill and the new batteries fit in the old drill. the old battereis fit all snug and warm in the new charger also. my only issue is that not only will the new batteries not charge in my old radio they will not fit in or power it either. not a huge issue but i see myself changing 100% over to the lithium and being forced to replace my radio.

 

[robertwhite]

no problem. i have an old drill. approx. 15 years old and i just purchased a new recon lithuim drill. my old batteres fit in the new drill and the new batteries fit in the old drill. the old battereis fit all snug and warm in the new charger also. my only issue is that not only will the new batteries not charge in my old radio they will not fit in or power it either. not a huge issue but i see myself changing 100% over to the lithium and being forced to replace my radio.

Any tool made since I believe 2006 will accept either type of battery. Your 15 yr old drill will not work with Li-Ion batteries as far as I was told directly from Dewalt a couple weeks ago.

The newer radio/charger 012 WILL charge both current types of batteries. (NOT 20V) Again, not sure about a 15 yr old battery though.

 

[BigE]

Thanks, all! I know what Santa will be bringing me this year.

 

[sk farmer]

Any tool made since I believe 2006 will accept either type of battery. Your 15 yr old drill will not work with Li-Ion batteries as far as I was told directly from Dewalt a couple weeks ago.

The newer radio/charger 012 WILL charge both current types of batteries. (NOT 20V) Again, not sure about a 15 yr old battery though.

your dewalt "rep" does not know their *** from a hole in the ground then. i can and will post pics of my old vs new drill and batteries. pics up shortly.

 

[robertwhite]

your dewalt "rep" does not know their *** from a hole in the ground then. i can and will post pics of my old vs new drill and batteries. pics up shortly.

That was not a rep. That was from the tech line lead support guy. But feel free to prove him wrong.

 

[sk farmer]

these pics clearly show a dw995 wich came the xr2 style battery. near as i can remember i bought it in 1996 or 97. the new drill is a dcd970 purchased in the last two weeks and it came with the latest version of the li-ion battery. i cannot show it in picures but i can assure you that each style of battery works in my light, circular saw, recip. saw, right angle drill, three drills right, angle drill. impact driver, compact and full size impact wrench vacuum and angle grinder, you do need a yellow charger vs. the older black chargers to charge li-ion batterys but the yellow will charge all previous batteries. the only things that will not work with li-ion are the older chargers and charger/radios. if it uses the 18 volt post style battery it will work.

 

[njride]

dewalt really did the right thing when they upgraded to li-on batteries on the 18 volt. I have a slightly older 18 volt xrp set and am so happy I can upgrade when I want to the li-on batteries. Props to them for not gouging us with some ridiculous different battery post setup to make the new batteries incompatible with the old tools.

 

[rlitman]

While the new Li-ion batteries will fit the old tools, and the old NiCd batteries will fit the new tools, the outline of the new vs old batteries is -slightly- different.
As you can see in the truly excellent pictures sk_farmer provided, the batteries fit fine, but look a little funny.
Oh, and the Black and Decker Firestorm PS145 NiCd battery also fits these tools (with the tiniest bit of modification) and also works in these chargers. This was back when the Firestorm line used the post style batteries, before they changed over to the slide in type, and these batteries are MUCH cheaper than an XRP pack if you need a replacement.

 

[robertwhite]

these pics clearly show a dw995 wich came the xr2 style battery. near as i can remember i bought it in 1996 or 97. the new drill is a dcd970 purchased in the last two weeks and it came with the latest version of the li-ion battery. i cannot show it in picures but i can assure you that each style of battery works in my light, circular saw, recip. saw, right angle drill, three drills right, angle drill. impact driver, compact and full size impact wrench vacuum and angle grinder, you do need a yellow charger vs. the older black chargers to charge li-ion batterys but the yellow will charge all previous batteries. the only things that will not work with li-ion are the older chargers and charger/radios. if it uses the 18 volt post style battery it will work.

OK, Thanks. I could only go by what the tech guy told me which was the Li-Ion won't work in older units. I haven't had a Dewalt cordless in many years (before last week) as the batteries were just horrible. Hopefully, they have resolved that.

Props to them for not gouging us with some ridiculous different battery post setup to make the new batteries incompatible with the old tools.

As MANY of the other brands did. Want a new tool, get a new battery. Neither of which are backwards compatible. Screw that.

The tech guy had also told me that the new 20V (slide) batteries/tools were only made to be competitive with other brands in that style. They will still use 18V as their standard. Funny thing is that as soon as you pull the trigger on a 20V, it drops to 18V, so no more power than the 18V. That's why it is the 20V Max (as in Maximum charge it will hold)

 

[kythri]

OK, Thanks. I could only go by what the tech guy told me which was the Li-Ion won't work in older units.

Yeah, that's just sales lies, even from a tech, to get you to buy new stuff. It's all DC. Any DC power source of the right voltage and sufficient amperage, regardless of battery technology (NiCad, NiMH, LiIon, LiPo, whatever) will work. If it fits and the poles are appropriately aligned, it's good to go (and that holds true to any brand).

It's the charging technology for the batteries that's the issue. Battery input, not battery output.

It'd be real nice if we could get a unified battery interface for the various brands, so we could use whatever batteries we wanted, and pick-and-choose the tools to fit our needs.

 

[sk farmer]

While the new Li-ion batteries will fit the old tools, and the old NiCd batteries will fit the new tools, the outline of the new vs old batteries is -slightly- different.
As you can see in the truly excellent pictures sk_farmer provided, the batteries fit fine, but look a little funny.
Oh, and the Black and Decker Firestorm PS145 NiCd battery also fits these tools (with the tiniest bit of modification) and also works in these chargers. This was back when the Firestorm line used the post style batteries, before they changed over to the slide in type, and these batteries are MUCH cheaper than an XRP pack if you need a replacement.

thanks for the compliment. i knew about the b and d connection but was unsure of the necessary mods so i skipped it. enough misinformation in the world the way it is.

for those wondering i needed a couple new batteries. i wanted to get more of the li-ion bateries to replace my old ones but the price of two batteries and another charger to go with the two li-ion batteries and charger i already had was a little scary. i found a deal on a recon drill kit and it ended up cheaper than just the batteries/charger. same warranty as a new one and i inspected it before purchase. all pieces looked unused except the case wich was scuffed up.

 

[BigE]

Just in case anyone is curious, it does crossover. I got the Dewalt impact I asked for. It came with two li-ion batteries and a charger. The li-ion batteries do work in my 5 year old drill. Also, the new charger works with my old NiCad battery. Those are the only two tests I did, but I can verify that it works in those two cases. Merry Christmas to me!

 

[2manytoyz]

I just picked up one of these Lithium Ion batteries this week. I tried it in a few tools, and assumed it would fit all the 18V Dewalt tools.

This morning I got ready to install a ceiling fan in the garage, so I grabbed the 18V fluorescent light, and tried installing the new battery. Won't fit!

Upon closer inspection, there's a slight difference in the two batteries. The new one has fins, which probably prevent it from fitting in non-compatible chargers. But they also prevent it from fitting in the fluorescent light, and the vacuum cleaner.

If you look up inside the tool, you can see a shoulder on the one on the left, and not on the right one.

There's a couple of ways of making these batteries fit. The proper way would be to open the tool, and remove the plastic shoulder.

Repeat for the other side of the tool, reassemble.

Works!

The easier fix, but potentially dangerous, is to simply cut the fins off the new battery. If you do this method, just know you stand the risk of a fire as this battery will now fit in chargers NOT designed for Lithium Ion batteries.

I plan on getting rid of my NiMH charger anyway. The new charger will charge either type. The way the charger distinguishes one from the other is the new Lithium Ion batteries have a magnet inside the case, which triggers a switch inside the charger when the battery is put in the cradle.

I stuck a drill bit to the case to demonstrate where the magnet is.

Point being, the fins have no purpose in the new charger. It's the magnet that's important.

 

[Greatbear]

Try the LiIon pack in the wet-dry vac. It most likely won't fit in there either. I have two of the lights and the vac, and I had to mod both to make the new batteries fit. DeWalt has a statement on their site that says the new cells won't fit these two tools, but a service center will modify the tools to make them compatible (I believe at no charge?). I disassembled the light as you did to modify it, I used a rotary burr to do the deed. I used an extended burr to modify the vac, since the battery mount is made differently.

I believe the newest versions of the vac and the work light are being made to be fully compatible.

 

[2manytoyz]

Try the LiIon pack in the wet-dry vac. It most likely won't fit in there either. I have two of the lights and the vac, and I had to mod both to make the new batteries fit. DeWalt has a statement on their site that says the new cells won't fit these two tools, but a service center will modify the tools to make them compatible (I believe at no charge?). I disassembled the light as you did to modify it, I used a rotary burr to do the deed. I used an extended burr to modify the vac, since the battery mount is made differently.

I believe the newest versions of the vac and the work light are being made to be fully compatible.

The new battery wouldn't fit the vac either. Mine was a long post, sorry, easy to miss that I posted that detail. Nice that Dewalt would modify older equipment, but as you know, it wasn't difficult to DIY.

 

[PCO6]

... The newer radio/charger 012 WILL charge both current types of batteries. (NOT 20V) Again, not sure about a 15 yr old battery though.

A little off topic but I was told by a DeWalt rep that they are bringing out a 20V radio/charger in 2012. It will also charge the 12V batteries.

 

[Beowulf]

Anyone ever tear out the guts of the new 18v Lithium and stick it in the case of the 18V NiMh? This would be for aesthetics only. I guess it would also make it instantly compatible with the vacs and lights.

 

[stage20]

I have 2 old fluorescent stick lights and one new one. Li ion fits in all of them

Curious to the mods to the firestorm batteries I see these for cheap at sales all the time.

 

[LordPsychon]

What is this, Night of the Living Thread?

 

[kctyphoon]

i think most of us have established and come to terms that ultimately its money better spent just upgrading to newer tools.. i was in the same situation, having many older 18v dewalt tools and a TON of battereis that would all be dead if they sat for a few months not being used, and it cost about the same money to buy 2 18 lithuim batteries, and a new chanrger as it did to just start upgrading and get a new drill and impact kit on refurb. i took the opportunity to switch from dewalt to Milwukee too, which was a wise choice IMO.

still - im amazed its been this long, and in the age of 3d printers making their way in the mainstream, SOMEONE has not made an adapterrr plate to use the new dewalt slide packs in the 18v tools.

 

[babaluba]

I know this thread is OLD, but if anyone reads it looking for ways to keep their old 18v Dewalt tools alive after finding the horrid prices on XRP batteries, I would just like to mention that I recently came across some good news.

Dewalt has a 20V MAX to 18V adapter coming out. They planned to release late 2015, but something did not work (with the radio/charger unit I think).

Part no is DCA1820, it will also come in a set with charger and two batteries, number DCA2203C.

Oh and also, there is a company in Denmark making an unofficial adapter: http://www.a-link.dk/. I guess they probably will ship to anywhere if you ask nicely...