DeWalt 18V Batteries

andybuildz

Is it my recent distain for DeWalt tools lately or are their 18V batteries getting worse too?
The two pack I bought about a year ago seem to be dying already.
Thats a pretty short battery life if you ask me being I don't use it every second of every day. Wouldn't ya say?
I think I paid $100 on sale for the 2-pack which actually was a great price being I could only find one for about $80+ dollars.
HAven't checked lately at t he cost but only a year on two new batteries seems to be a pretty short life span.
Wondering how long Bosch batteries last and the cost being thats the company I'm going to be buying all my replacement DW tools from as soon as they conk out and the DW Jig saw is now history...the cordless saw I have sucks...the saftey button by the switch always seems to be somewhat of a pain to depress from day one.
God I'm hating DW!!!! The only decent tool I have of theirs is the SCMS and even that...paid $35 for the dust bag when I bought it which was a TOTAL joke...not one drop of dust goes in it !!!
The new 36V cordless batteries are a fortune...WOWWWWWWW
Anyone experiance those bad boyz yet?
Be well
andy

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Tonkadad

I have been feeling the same way. Seems like my DeWalt 18's aren't holding a chargre very long either.

Of course now that I have 5 drills, 2 saws, 2 lights, 6 chargers, 1 impact, 1 grinder, 1 sawzall and 10 plus batteries you know how eager I am to change brands.

Anybody need some yellow and black paper weights?

andybuildz

Tonka
I was looking on Amazon last night at reviews. Seems we're not the only ones. One guy said the same thing as you about using his yellows for paper weights as well.
Might just sell my tools on Ebay. The batteries for Bosch are a fortune as well. Checked them on Amazon as well but no reviews to check out.
Also...I do use the "tune up mode" button on my charger but that doesn't really seem to have helped. Wonder what that actually does....spose to pacify us??LOL
The batteries I use are the good ones too for whatever thats worth.

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Mike Finley

Like I said, what do you want to sell? Been using Dewalt for over 3 years all 18vt cordless and corded, no problems to speak of. What do you want to get rid of?

King of Crown

I am a Bosch guy all around, but Their batteries aren't much better, and are twice as much. Though I don't have any of the blue core. I am extremely impressed with the DW and i only hove two of their tools. Both of them are their cordless finish nailers. They are amazing.

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andybuildz

I'd love to sell the jig saw b/c its busted but I think all it needs is the pin that helps hold the blade in tight and DW said its discontinued so they can't help me. I had it fixed 2x at $40-50...maybe thats why its discontinued!
The cordless saw I'd love to sell b/c the saftey button gets stuck.
The drills I'll keep b/c I do still have 4 batteries and have no idea when they'll finally give out but to tell you the truth I see the drills and the saw on ebay pretty cheap w/o the battery.
Actually thats how I bought the hammer dill for $75 so its not worth really selling cause what could I get for it at this point? It's worth hanging on to for a spare or for one of my guys to use if they need to in an emergency.
You can have the dust bag for the SCMS cause the saw collects zero dust in it ($30-35)...maybe it'd fit my original..Makita...hmmmm, never thought of that : )

I'm definatlly going Bosch because I've heard far too many complaints about DW as of late. Not a year or two ago mind you...just as of recent...maybe in the last year. Same thing happened to Crapsman. They used to be a tool you could always count on...at least for a DIY'er.
Go into Fine Homebuilding's "Breaktime" (see my website then click Andy in the News) and talk to most all the guys in there.

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Mike Finley

So after all that you have a dust bag to sell for $35? I thought you had a couple thousand dollars worth of tools from the way you made it sound. Carry on, take your Dewalts out back and drink some beers and shoot em up with a shot gun, you'll get more fun out of em and then get yourself some Bosch stuff.

andybuildz

Never said I had thousands of dollars worth of "DeWalt Tools". Thats YOUR interpatation. I said I had thousands of dollars worht of "hand tools".I said I had a cordless DW saw that I WILL SELL
Said I had a busted for the second time DW jig saw I WILL SELL
Said I had a SCMS that I had no real problem with although the elctric brake IS broken but I can live with that. The dust bag was a total rip off.
And 2 drills that aren't worth selling cause whats anyone gonna pay for them w/shipping anyway. Theyre 3-4 years old.
My main complaint was that DW tools were starting to go down hill the past year or so and their batteries seems worse than the originals and customer support was a joke.
So what was it you didn't understand? Is English not your first language or do you have stock in DW tools?

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Murphy

I try to stay completely in the dewalt family. I have had really good luck with all their stuff.
Batteries arent meant to last for ever its the convenience you are paying for.
Once in a while you will get a bad battery when this happens just take it back to blows and get a new one. I have bought probably 10 batteries in the last three years and probably had trouble with 3 of them. Blows takes em back and gives me a new one everytime. Even when they are a year old. They have a two year warranty.

Never had a problem other than that.

How could you justify switching just because of a bad battery. Do you throw out your walkman when the batteries go bad. These things aren't meant to last for ever.
I found that if you leave them on the charger for any extended amount of time usually that battery wont last. Maybe this is the problem.

Mike Finley

I've said similar things Murphy. Some people have false expectations on these things, cold weather knocks these batteries by 50%, every day sitting in a bag knocks em down 2% a day, not using the conditioning version of the chargers doesn't help them either.

When people complain about the batteries, I say, buy some more, get a dewalt radio charger, get your guys in the habit of keeping those batteries changed out. Sure it would be nice if you could run all week on one battery, but that's like wishing you could run a nail gun without ever having to throw another stick in it.

I used to run into this stuff all the time back when I was a photographer, it was always a doctor or a lawyer, they would see me using Nikons and the questions would start - which cameras take the best pictures? I can't tell you the number of these guys who would buy an entire system and then sell it all and buy another manufacturers system, they just kept rotating through them in search of the elusive camera that would take a good picture. Never getting it through their skulls that it's all about the operator.

house bldr

I have a lot of Dewalt cordless stuff and have found I don't have many problems with drill batteries but when I use high power items such as my saw or sawzall they eat batteries quick.They get hot and don't take a charge until they cool (which is an eternity on a kansas summer day)I go through probably 2 batteries per year if I use those tools heavily. But as I understand it pretty much all brands have those same problems.A Dewalt rep once told me all cordless batteries were made by the same company except the panasonic brand.

andybuildz

Its not so much the batteries as it is the customer support which IMO is real important. I understand batteries get used up although unless its my imagination they don't seem to be like the ones I orginally bought which seemed to have lasted me much longer with the same amt of use.
I've had several of their tool brake on me...more than most of my tools of other brands and that is of late.
Stuck switch on my cordless saw, broken brake on my SCMS and the repair place said its well over a hundred to fix so I live with it.Then the switch itself broke.
My $150 jig saw broke twice and now its been discontinued.Hmmmm..
If customer support were more helpful I might feel differently but when I hear how Bosch bends over backwards even after the warrantee is over it wakes you up....all things considered.
Sometimes you get lucky w/tools, sometimes not, so customer support is way import IMO. For me...too many of their tools broke to be a coincidence and I've heard a lot of other carps say the same things.
Their best cordless tool is probably their drills.

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Mike Finley

Andy I hate to say it, but the world of throw away has invaded tools too. It used to be that a professional would buy tools that were so expensive that repairs made sense and some still do, doing a brush replacement on something is one thing. But tools are so cheap now that a lot of them have entered the throw away zone. The tools keep getting less expensive, labor keeps getting more expensive, they are reaching a point where like a toaster or a TV, it is now more cost effective to toss it in the trash and buy a new one.

When I can buy a Dewalt recip saw 18vt without the batteries just the bare tool for less than a hundred bucks, there is no way I'm going to spend anything repairing it. It's too bad you are having so many problems, that sucks.

I buy almost every Dewalt tool from Tool King, we have local stores and they almost give this stuff away. Funny thing too is I always buy the reconditioned versions if they have them, that makes a lot of people nervous, but I've had so little problems I can't see paying the difference for a new one.

dougchips

I swore 2 years ago that I would never buy Dewalt again....Then the home creapo had a after x-mas sale, the small cordless saw, a drill, 2 18 volt batteries and a charger for $150. I bought 20 or so of them, figured they would last me for life. I made the mistake of selling most of them to friends. Once the last one goes I will switch brands.

andybuildz

I agree about reconditioned tools especially from a reputable company such as WWW.CPOBOSCH.COM .
From what I've heard from a lot of other carps and from my own experiance is that reconditioned tools can be "better" than new ones mainly b/c they're gone over witha fine tooth comb.
As far as throw away tools. Well, thats true to a degree. I used to think that when I bought Crapsman years ago because they "were" really cheap tools but now a days if you really wanta quality tool like my new Festool orbital sander or Fein vaccum and Fein Multimaster there's no way you want those bad boys breaking down to throw away but for the most part...THOSE brands are superior tools and don't usually give you trouble.
I agree about DW in that regard how ever b/c you're 100% right about the bodies of these cordless tools. I myself have bought them on Ebay dirt cheap like the hammer drill. Makes you feel not-so-bad about the batteries I spose'. And if you reallyyyyyyyyy don't wanna feel bad about the cost of the 18V batteries check out what the new 36 V'ers cost...whewwwwwwwwwwwww.
But once again....I love buying tools that are in fact NOT throw away tools like DW. I love a rock steady tool especially when the company stands rock steady behind them...like Bosch does.
I get a lot of my info on these boards as well as in Amazon's reviews but I'm careful to expllore where people are coming from that review them. I find people really just WANT TO say good things about their tools especially when they're fairly new. No one WANTS to bad mouth a tool if it serves them well.
I can't say enough good things about my Williams and Hussey Molder/shaper I bought over 15 years ago. That thing just never goes bad...its way worth what I paid for it ten fold as is my 5HP Powermatic table saw. Good tools ,make life a joy
Hey...I spend more time with my tools than I do with my family
hmmmmm

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pitbull

I dont know, but I use the same batterries as yourselves, and when doing decking, i use the impact to drive 4" and 6" fasten masters in and also the decking screws, and 4 batterries will tend to do the job for a day that includes the circular saw, and the 1s that come out the tools go into the radio for about 2 hrs.
I dont use frill drivers anymore apart for drilling. any screwing is done by impact.

bluestone

Don't charge batteries hot, don't charge batteries right after heavy use, don't charge batteries that are below 32 F, don't run batteries down completely. All tips for long life. DW=junk

andybuildz

Amen brother!!!!
DeWalt...soon to be Crapsman's running mate.
If you really wanna laugh..try tech support if yer in a bind...
Mwahahaha
I hear more'n more people are saying the same thing as you.

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LNG24

I have found that the circular saw can't go a minute without the battery dying on me. The sawzall and drills (hammer and right angle) last just fine even when using the hammer mode on the drill. But put a freash batter into that circualr saw and try to cut either decking or a rip cut on 3/4 - 4x8 ply and it is dead!

I bought a new pack of batteries in Dec. since I added more tools. so I am using the original 3 yr old batteries right along side of the new ones with the yellow bottom. Those new ones DONT last 1/2 as long as the original ones. I have a system to keep track of the last charge. I charge them in the radio until the 10th charge and then I run them through the Conditioning Charger. Works fine on the old batteries, but not the new ones.

I think I will try to return them and see if a new set is better.

Any ideas as to why the Circular saw eats them up?

Mike Finley

Those are the same tips for all 18vt systems.

Here's a tip - Dewalt makes a number of chargers - buy the smart chargers for 10% more and all you do is stick the battery in it, hot, cold, right after use, below 32... the charger figures out what to do with the battery, it will charge it when it is ready to be charged and condition it at the same time, you just put another charged one in your tool and go back to work.

Another tip - if you are running out of batteries because of waiting for these to charge you can buy more. They don't have any limits on the numbers you can own.