Dewalt Li-Ion - Electrician Talk - Professional Electrical Contractors Forum

ElectricBill · 10-26-2009, 11:28 PM

Has anyone heard any feedback yet on the the Dewalt 18v Lithium-Ion battery tool series. I'm not sure how long they have been available. I would assume they are a lot better than the previous XRP batteries.

JPRO2 · 10-27-2009, 01:52 AM

Hey i have the new nano kit and don't really find the batteries to last much longer then the Ni-Cads also they take jsut as long to charge I wasn't overly impressed with it but they are alot lighter so I guess thats the bonus

nolabama · 10-27-2009, 09:08 AM

they cost more

a friend of mine picked up a brand new li ion drill in the pawn shop for the ni cad price (dewalt) i can not remember if it has a battery gauge like our cell fones and the milwaukee - if it has that its worth the price in my opinion

gilbequick · 10-27-2009, 06:47 PM

I've used them and they seem completely hit or miss. A couple are great and a couple really suck. Don't waste your money, they're not worth it.

BryanMD · 10-27-2009, 07:26 PM

As a long standing B&D stockholder with family employed by and retired from them...
my views on their relative quality are suspect.

JPRO2 · 10-27-2009, 08:34 PM

Oh they don't have the battery guage either i forgot to mention that

sparkysteve · 10-27-2009, 09:36 PM

I'm due for a new DeWalt set. I go through batteries faster than tools, but at $85 for a new battery, I opt for new tools. I was looking at the Nano batteries, but was wondering how well they charge and work in cold weather. I don't think that they are supposed to be more powerful or charge faster, they are supposed to offer more charged, and won't die if you leave them sit for a day or 2.

robnj772 · 10-27-2009, 10:17 PM

They definetly have more power.I can tell a signifcant differance .I like mine,more power and lasts longer before a recharge.

jrannis · 10-28-2009, 01:21 AM

I bought a 18 volt replacemnt battery for 40 or 50 bucks from this place.
http://www.g-batteries.com/index.php...FRdc2godp2nDMA

It seems to work just as good as the $85 ones

PhatElvis · 10-30-2009, 12:02 AM

On the upside the Dewalt LI batteries will fit the old drills, and if you have one of they wont work on the Dewalt service center will do the modification for free so that it will. This is something Makita completely missed the boat on, they completely redesigned the battery and you have to buy the new tools too.

Frasbee · 10-30-2009, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhatElvis

On the upside the Dewalt LI batteries will fit the old drills, and if you have one of they wont work on the Dewalt service center will do the modification for free so that it will. This is something Makita completely missed the boat on, they completely redesigned the battery and you have to buy the new tools too.

Bosch did the same.

I'll stick with the NiCd for now.

When I do upgrade, I'm not only upgrading to lithium, I'm upgrading to 36 volts.

BigJohn20 · 10-31-2009, 09:32 AM

For the guys that have DeWalt sets already, they're coming out with a compact Lithium Ion combo kit that has the Impact Driver and Drill/Driver.

Here's a link to their site:
http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/to...roductID=22892

Cost is going to be $279. From talking to the DeWalt guy, the batteries should fit on all DeWalt tools (unlike the Makita where the compact batteries won't fit on certain tools like the reciprocating saw, which require the full 3.0Ah batteries). It's already available on a couple of websites and should be available locally in the next week or two.

BigJohn20 · 10-31-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparkysteve

I'm due for a new DeWalt set. I go through batteries faster than tools, but at $85 for a new battery, I opt for new tools. I was looking at the Nano batteries, but was wondering how well they charge and work in cold weather. I don't think that they are supposed to be more powerful or charge faster, they are supposed to offer more charged, and won't die if you leave them sit for a day or 2.

Can't speak for cold weather usage, but my father has let them sit for 2 months at a time and they still hold a very good charge. Personally, I'm a Makita guy so I don't have too much experience with the DeWalt.

DeWalts charger won't let you overcharge them if you leave them in the charger. It does a drain on them and recharges.

Like the rest of the Li-on batteries, they give you full power until they're completely dead and then the tool just dies. It doesn't act like the NiCads where you lose power over a couple of minutes and then the tool dies.

Fair warning though, the battery prices on the DeWalt Lithiums are brutal. They used to be $150 locally and just got dropped to $130 at Big Orange. They used to have a 2 pack of the 3.0Ah Makita Lithiums for $130 here but stopped carrying them, but you can still get them online for that price.

The DeWalt won't charge any faster with the Lithium batteries (yes, you do need the new charger), but I know the Makita charges in 1/2 hour instead of the typical hour.

PhatElvis · 10-31-2009, 09:54 AM

BigJ- I was a Makita guy too for my personal tools, but am having some heartburn over the battery changes. I may become a Dewalt guy soon, and Dewalt is all I buy for my crews and business so it wont be a hard change to make.

sparks134 · 10-31-2009, 10:46 AM

i use ridgid lithium ion tools!