Anyone use aftermarker 18v batteries in their cordless tools? How do they hold a charge? Life expectancy?Considering buying some rather than OEM which are getting hard to find provided they are not counterfeit. I have a few older 18v tools and needing new batteries for them. I have considered replacing with 20 volt tools for work and keeping the 18v for home use.
Aftermarket batteries are tough...its so hard to determine between "less expensive, and cheaper...if you get what I'm saying...
Not looking for them to perform like OEM, just dont wanna spend big money for them as they are obsolete. I recently purchase 6 amp batteries (replaced 2 amp) for my 20v tools at a $100 each and am impressed with the duration. I have a 20 to 18v adapter but the 6 amp batteries dont fit!
Right...I guess you need to decide if half price and half life (potentially) as far as per charge, and maybe even half the overall life span is worth it to you...I know I have bought aftermarket batteries of various types and some of them absolutely were not worth screwing with...others, meh, I guess I would buy them again if I had to...
My brother tried 2 different off brands 18v. Neither held a good charge for long and both wouldn't charge after 6 months. He went to 20 amp tools and sold all his 18v on CL.
Ive considered both a 20 volt circular saw and drill/driver to replace them and keep the 18v for home use. Also have 18v impact driver, right angle grinder, jigsaw, and three flashlights that i seldom use. I just realized ive owned them for 15 years plus. Maybe time to upgrade!
I went full 20v last year. The 18v stuff was breaking and I was down to 2 OK batteries. Spent a lot of time researching the tools on Dewalt website and found the ones I wanted based on the work I do. Shopped around and HD ended up having a combo kit on sale that had a lot of what I needed. Ended up getting an upgraded sawzall, chainsaw and sds drill at decent price. I still need to add a few but I'm glad I made the jump.
I dont think I'd spend any money on obsolete tools. Sell off the obsolete stuff and start building up your supply of 20v stuff.
Still with the 18v here. I picked up a couple new batteries a couple years ago...as long as I can find them, I'll not update. Updating is still more spendy than new batteries, for the moment. Not sure of availability presently though. Sca
Im running two 18v batteries and one no longer keeping charge. Have 3 20 volt 2 amp with the adapter and they are dying. I have a 20 volt "shorty" sawzall and oscillating saw. They dont get used a whole lot on the job but handy when needed.
I had a pair of aftermarket 18v Makita NiMh batteries. Worked and lasted about the same as original. I was going to get more but the charger died to. So I got an adapter to go to the newer Makita Li batteries in the older tools.
I've tried different aftermarket batteries. It's a crap shoot. You can usually get a two pack of new Dewalt batteries at Lowe's for a 100 bucks.
OEM 18V XRP stuff is not hard to find. It's just not cheap. You have a couple options. You can rebuild your battery packs with quality Sub-C NiCad cells. You can buy 2 new 18V XRP batteries for $150. https://www.homedepot.com/s/18v%20XRP?NCNI-5 If I was 100% set on sticking with my old XRP tools, I'd probably buy the 18V Lithium batteries as they will last and perform much better. But they are $150 EACH. You can run 20V Max batteries on the old 18V XRP tools. https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-...Battery-Adapter-Kit-2-Pack-DCA2203C/206526033 You can buy just the adapter from above for about $35 and then pickup a new 20V tool kit that gives you a much lighter and usually more powerful drill/driver, impact driver, a couple batteries and charger. You'd be in for under $200, and your old tools would still work. You could spend as little as $135 to $200+ depending on the size and quality of the tools you want. Unless you are going super cheap and rebuilding the packs, it's probably better to just start buying 20V Max tools. Picking up the $35 adapter to keep some of the old workhorses running while you shop for newer stuff makes sense too.
During the big covid shutdown and product rarity I bought an electric screw gun. The last one in Ct . Then I couldn’t find enough screws for the project I needed to do. Found a barely used battery screw gun with buckets of screws on FB. Bought it just for the screws. Batteries shot and unavailable. There’s a video on YouTube explaining how to take them apart and replace the individual cells inside with new ones. Considered it but ended up throwing the thing in the trash. I got no time for that stuff.
IMO buy 2 adapters and a few 20v batteries. You can interchange them with your new stuff. Then after about a year of using the new stuff you will throw out all the 18v because you will realize how inferior it is. You will then have plenty of batteries and only need to buy bare tools.
I've got a couple of those adapters. They work OK, but if you leave the battery connected to the tool while not using it, it'll die. I got a couple adapters that'll mate Milwaukee batteries to Dewalt 18's and they work well. They'll adapt the 20v Dewalts as well.
The aftermarket batteries worked ok on short uses.... But they were horrible for an all day deck build. Charged both of mine up and took the charger. Both batteries were dead within an hour. Used another guy's Milwaukee that went all day on one charge. I went out and bought a new screw gun
