DeWalt 18v Battery Replacement Options

[HCM]

Questions for the PF Hive mind:

I have a DeWalt cordless drill which uses 18 volt batteries (DC9098), one of which is no longer taking a charge. The drill itself runs fine so there seems to be three options for keeping it going:

1) buy a new DeWalt 18V battery at at about $115 for 2

2) buy a DeWalt converter to run the 18v drill on the newer 20v batteries - also about $120 for the adaptor and two batteries.

3) buy the aftermarket 18 volt replacement batteries off Amazon at about $39 for 2

Is 20v replacing 18v going forward ?

Also what is a good way to dispose of the old battery ? Can they be refurbished ?

[mark7]

I've been running the Amazon replacement https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
batteries in my DeWalt 18V since the fall of '18. They appear to be on par with the original DeWalt batteries. I don't use them daily, but as a weekend warrior they've been good to go for me.
I also considered buying the 20V converter, but when I could buy 6 batteries for just the price of the converter I pushed the converter off the radar.

[Jim Watson]

Can they be refurbished ?

I saw the guy at Batteries Plus with a tool battery pack opened up and replacing the cells, so it is possible. But I didn't ask the cost, it might not be economic for your drill for which substitutes are available.

[HCM]

I saw the guy at Batteries Plus with a tool battery pack opened up and replacing the cells, so it is possible. But I didn't ask the cost, it might not be economic for your drill for which substitutes are available.

No but that is good to know as I have an older craftsman (13v?) that needs batteries too.

[schüler]

Agreed there are indeed decent aftermarket options, often the best option on short notice.

I still prefer to buy New genuine off of fleabay - some great deals there. I avoid offshore shipping origins.

Pack rebuilding is a thing; some battery packs have intelligent controls that require resetting. Respect the power of unregulated (bare) cells.

If you plan on adding new tools that only come in 20v form then a 20v batt investment is logical. Otherwise stick with what you have, no real difference in power. And the 18v battery support will be around for a long time.

Recycling - I think you're in a metro area, see if you can just drop off the bad batts at a local dealer.

[UNK]

No but that is good to know as I have an older craftsman (13v?) that needs batteries too.

Plenty of vids online about replacing the cells they are ordered specific to each battery. One thing I would be concerned about is the quality or know origins of the cells. The last thing you want is a battery that overheats explodes catches on fire etc etc.
The battery replacement cost is exactly why i use electric or pneumatic at home. Ive found at work the Milwaukee batteries last about as long as the warranty.
Also there is at least one vid out there about applying I think 120 volts to the battery to give it more life.

[Hawker800]

I've gotten several DeWalt batteries from these people.
https://www.vanonbatteries.com/

[serialsolver]

Replacing batteries is why I got a power converter for my truck. I don’t know if that’s an option for you but it saved me a lot of money in batteries.


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[HCM]

So my son notice the 18v are NiCad batteries with the 20v are Lithium Ion. The Lithium Ion won’t burn out if left in the charger and should out last the drill. Seems to be the buy once, cry once solution.

[couchpotato013]

Plenty of vids online about replacing the cells they are ordered specific to each battery. One thing I would be concerned about is the quality or know origins of the cells. The last thing you want is a battery that overheats explodes catches on fire etc etc.

The batteries in an 18v Dewalt drill are called Sub-C batteries and are Nicad. They require electric welding or similar, no regular solder iron as it won't stick. I gave up on putting mine back together with new cells, and friends with electric welders are hesitant to do it on a battery. Batteries Plus will do it though, but by the time I found out they did I lost track of where all the batteries went.

The flashlight guys over at CandlePowerForums get their batteries from BatteryJunction, which is also where I got my Sub-Cs that couldn't be put together with a soldering iron.