Batteries

Once a Dewalt battery starts to fail, it’s pretty much useless, beyond repair? Have a couple batteries which aren’t holding a charge for as long as they used to. They are a few years old. So I’ve been shopping for new ones. Finding best deal for the 18 volt XRP would be 2 for $119 at Home Depot. 1 alone is $89 which is crazy. Kind of limited to HD because I have $75 in gift cards. Anyone know anywhere else I can find 2 for a better price? 

Prices r pretty much on target. Welcome to the forum

chadlanthier wrote:

Prices r pretty much on target. Welcome to the forum

I come on here and there. Thanks. 

the cells inside the battery start to deteriorate with time and use.. i dont know of anything you can do to bring them back..

Ebay has tons of aftermarket batteries at deep discounts to OEM,  rebuild kits that allow you to replace the cells yourself and even services where you can send them your battery and they will rebuild it for you… but you wont be getting genuine dewalt parts (not like dewalt actually manufactures its own battery cells though) 

I know with new tools and lithium ion batteries its sometimes risky to go aftermarket with the batteries because the manufacturers put in computer chips that control the battery limits and lets them talk with the charger/tool but i dont think those were present in the older tools and nicad batteries so you might be fine

i personally dont have any experience with aftermarket batteries but im just giving the cheaper options that i know of

NERemodeling wrote:

the cells inside the battery start to deteriorate with time and use.. i dont know of anything you can do to bring them back..

 

Ebay has tons of aftermarket batteries at deep discounts to OEM,  rebuild kits that allow you to replace the cells yourself and even services where you can send them your battery and they will rebuild it for you… but you wont be getting genuine dewalt parts (not like dewalt actually manufactures its own battery cells though) 

I know with new tools and lithium ion batteries its sometimes risky to go aftermarket with the batteries because the manufacturers put in computer chips that control the battery limits and lets them talk with the charger/tool but i dont think those were present in the older tools and nicad batteries so you might be fine

 

i personally dont have any experience with aftermarket batteries but im just giving the cheaper options that i know of

 

Oh when it comes to tools I’d definitely go for name brand over aftermarket stuff. Rarely do I buy power tools at the cheap stores like Harbor Freight. Actually I just go there for cheap handtools that I don’t care if someone steals or they get lost. 

 

Probably will try to get some extra funds and get the 2 pack at HD when I can. 

Amazon = 2 for $99

My Depot has 2 for $99 also.

Best I have seen lately is two for $93 on Amazon.

You can open up the batteries and find out who makes the actual cells and repack them your self with the factory style cells I have heard its a lot cheaper when using NiCd with if i heard you correctly you said you  used 18V XRP so if you want a project you can do that.

Or I have one friend who isn’t the most honest person and his personal favorite option is too buy 2 new packs at Home Depot take them home use them after 2 months he takes out the internals and swaps the shells on them with his old dead batteries then returns them looking next to new on the outside but a few years old on the inside, he also gets cheap knock off drill batteries swap the shells with new ones then returns them and says he decided to switch to another brand, I always shake my head and tell him to get some morals and some money.

i would quit wasting money on the 18 volt line.  the nicad/nimh batteries just dont last long or have much run time.

get newer cordless with lithium-ion batteries, like the dewalt 20v.

framer wrote:

i would quit wasting money on the 18 volt line.  the nicad/nimh batteries just dont last long or have much run time.

get newer cordless with lithium-ion batteries, like the dewalt 20v.

Wait didn’t they have lithium ion batteries that are compatible with the 18V XRP line.

They did but they are only 2.2 or 2.4 ah and are fairly expensive too. The compact lithium battery runs about $100 and the XRP lithium battery runs around $129 plus you need the charger capable of charging them.

Samuel L. wrote:

Wait didn’t they have lithium ion batteries that are compatible with the 18V XRP line.

oh yeah, i forgot about those. lol  

but the tech isnt as great as the tools designed for lithium-ion.

NicholasShetley wrote:

They did but they are only 2.2 or 2.4 ah and are fairly expensive too. The compact lithium battery runs about $100 and the XRP lithium battery runs around $129 plus you need the charger capable of charging them.

plus the lithium batteries wouldnt work in all the 18 volt tools unless you did some modifcations to the tools or cut some tabs off the batteries.