I own/run a low voltage company in St. Louis. We pre-wire houses for phone/TV/networking, install intercoms, security, and central vacuum systems, and home theatres as well. We currently have 20+ DeWalt 18volt cordless tools and at least that many batteries. We are constantly asked by carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and competitiors how the tools hold up.
We can drill 100+ 3/4 holes on one battery every day with no problem. We can drill 10+ 2 1/4" holes with a DeWalt self feed bit on one battery. The recip saw, the circular saw, the angle grinder, and the flashlights all work flawlessly. We even have the vacuums so we can clean up after ourselves.
Now the old batteries (all black) last about 1 year for regular use. We have a few new batteries (yellow top) that are a little over a year old that show no sign of slowing down.
We have found that when it is cold they do not last as long. Also the charge needs to be in a semi warm area (not in a garage). Also, the battery needs to be drained most of the way before charging. Repeated recharging of a half dead battery dramatically reduces the life. But any battery manufacturer will tell you that. DEWALT DC9096-2 18-Volt XRP 2.4 Amp Hour NiCad Pod-Style Battery, 2 Pack
I'm hearing a lot of complaints about the batteries. Face it, the batteries are based on NiCad technology. NiCad are not known for infinite shelf-life, has a memory, and absolutely hates to be placed on a charger for extended periods of time.
Now knowing all the good and bad things about NiCads, these batteries are absolutely no different than you will find in any other system using NiCads. If you don't understand the why your batteries are dying off so quickly, it most likely can be explained by researching the things to do and not do to NiCads.
I've beat the hell out of the tools and the batteries and still manage to get an excess of 2yrs of service out of these batteries. If you open one of these up, all you find is a series of sub-C NiCad batteries in them. Count them up and just go price sub-C NiCad batteries with the same Amp-Hr rating. You will soon fine that even if you tried to replace the batteries into the existing battery case, it is still cheaper and easier to buy replacements.
Rechargable batteries of any technology do NOT have infinite life. With absolutely following standard practice care of the battery type, you can extend this life to the theoritical max. That is hard to do on the job site when you need to get the job done quick. I use the 15min. charger, which is great but at a significant cost in service life of the batteries. You are never supposed to charge the batteries while they are hot. This means if you run it down at the job site, you shouldn't be placing them into a rapid charger. You should have enough spare batteries to get you busy while letting a natural battery rotation occur that insures they are cool when you charge. Slow charging extends the life of the batteries as well by getting internal temperatures lower. You should never leave a NiCad on a charger. You should run down the NiCad battery before charging to help avoid memory.
You can mention any battery technology and there are do's and don'ts. I've had Lithium Ion batteries in a cell phone last less than 1yr.
It all depends on your battery usage habits. Once you understand what you are supposed to do to extend the batteries life, you can usually figure out pretty quickly why you are not getting the life you expected.
Good solid product. I'd buy them again without hesitation. And I have yet to see any group of cordless tool manufacture's use a standard battery interface so that you can use the same battery in different brands of cordless tools. So being locked-in to a particular cordless tool manufacturer is a given.
This is all the price you pay for being cordless. The only way around all this is to pull out the ole 50' extension cord.
IMHO
If you expect to buy these new in the package, you will be disappointed. ToolKing offers cheap prices by reselling you returned merchandise (I suspect)from their retail stores. I received my batteries used, you can tell by the brass connection points being ruffed up, and not in their original packages. One of the batteries takes forever to charge and this may be why it was returned. I also ordered a charger (not in the orig Package) where they were nice enough to place a crappy ToolKing inventory sticker over the vent holes. You know, the kind that peels off flake by flake. They dont return emails or phone calls. I was ripped off, so beware!
I wasn't going to bother to write a review for a couple of replacement power cells, until I saw some of the other opinions, here. I am very pleased with all the DeWalt equipment I use. The batteries do a fine job of powering everything except the circular saw - that one lacks guts.
I used my original power cells for a couple of years before they died of old-age and recharging. I am confident that they lasted for the number of rechargings that DeWalt promises. I followed the guidelines, and only occasionally hit the reconditioner button on the charging cycle. The people who get such short lives out of these power cells may not be bothering to use that feature of their DeWalt charger.
Yes, I am pleased with these replacements. They work well, and are the genuine DeWalt parts. Yes, I've had a really good experience with these power cells. Yes, I'd recommend them.
I have used Dewalt 18 volt tools for several years and a 24 volt saw for the last 3 years. Out of 5 18 volt batteries only one died after 2 years of use and it was used when I got it. The 24 volt saw has only one battery and it works as good as the day I bought it. These tools are used almost daily and I dont do a good job of taking care of them.'
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