I’m sure everyone else knew this but I had no idea. I got all my dad’s Dewalt 18v tools and batteries when he died. Bought an adapter that lets me use 20v batteries a few months ago but the adapter is a bitch to remove. Old batteries can be rebuilt by a local place for $40 each.

Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?

The good news is most of them use the same internal battery (in different quantities and series/parallel configurations) in the case, but most of them have the strips welded to each of the individual batteries inside the assembly.

Batteries with multiple outputs and monitoring circuitry (think HD remote camera batteries used for broadcast sporting events) usually are rebuilt for a hundred bucks or so.

The price of it is mostly labor and to pay for the welder to rebuild the batteries with.

An associate of mine rebuilds laptop batteries for his own use using common 18650 LiON rechargable cells. He also revives B&D VersaPaks which are getting hard to find.

For anyone considering arrempting something similar, please note that you will be wasting your time trying to solder batteries due to their zinc plating, tack welding is required.

I sent several battery packs for rebuilt with these guys. It been about fours years and still going strong. Prices are much better than buying new, if you can even find the right battery. MTO Battery

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
Bought an adapter that lets me use 20v batteries a few months ago but the adapter is a bitch to remove.

I picked one and they are definitely not easy to remove.

Batteries cannot always be rebuilt. My old Makita 12V batteries, for example.

I was in the same situation, bad batteries. I looked into betting them rebuilt, but I ended up ordering new batteries.

Let's face the fact, 99% of these tools and their batteries are made in china. Just the way it is.

I was advised to go to eBay and order new ones. I made sure the seller was in the USA, but the batteries are made in china.

The price was excellent, I got new batteries for several tools for around $17 to $30, even got a pair of batteries for about $30.00

The thing is, you have to look at the sellers ratings. I found sellers with thousands and thousands of 99+ percent positive feedbacks.

The batteries I bought fit perfectly, worked fine in my existing chargers, and "seemed" to be longer lasting and maybe a little more powerful.

I've had no issues and would do the same thing again when needed.

Good luck to you.
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When I was a maintenance Foreman the Safety guy talked me into sending a bunch of DeWalt 18v batteries off to be repaired . The guys said the rebuilds wouldn't hold a charge so I just went back to buying new .