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Dewalt battery rebuild?

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dave_dj1

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Anyone ever tear apart an 18 volt Dewalt battery and replace a cell or two to get them back in working order? Is there a common issue? How do I test each cell?
I tore one apart today just for shniggles, it would only make the charger flash rapidly so I figured it was junk anyway. Now that I have all cells separated, I don't know how to test them unless I charge them one by one and do it that way. They all test good for continuity, none have any life in them.
Or should I just scrap them? I have had 5 batteries give up on me in the last month, all are between 5-6 years old, I write the date on them when I buy them.
thanks,
dave
 
#3 ·
Some places rebuild for 50$, but Lowes sells two xrp packs for 99$, and they are slightly Better than the rebuilds. There is supposed to be a trick by spiking the packs with a high amp battery charger, it is supposed to get you a little more life. It would allow them to charge, but only lasted about half life, in my experience. google it for more info..
 
#8 ·
You got 6 or 7 times the life of a Makita battery so I would be happy with that!

I have one that is 8 or 9 years old and still kicking pretty hard. The other one that came with that drill hasn't been with us for a few years.
 
#10 ·
I checked around and found a site that you can buy a DIY kit. I had mine rebuilt at Batteries Plus and got more amp hours than Dewalt offered. Cost was equal to new batts. So far more than happy with the rebuild. The battery that got rebuilt was from 05/09 I guess it ran a good life.
 
#11 ·
I stopped using Dewalt along time ago. In Florida the heat kills batteries. I was going through a Dewalt drill and battery a week. Now my crews are not gentle, as a matter of fact they are abusive. I switched to Rigid because of the warranty. That was in 2004 we still use some of the original Rigid drills today. The nice thing is they never changed the mount so all the batteries are interchangeable.
So my answer is through away the Dewalt and buy a new drill.
 
#12 ·
FlyFishRI said:
You got 6 or 7 times the life of a Makita battery so I would be happy with that!

I have one that is 8 or 9 years old and still kicking pretty hard. The other one that came with that drill hasn't been with us for a few years.
Click to expand...
My experience has been the Makita batteries out last the Dewalt. It seems I only get a year or two out the the Dewalts when regularly used. I tend to get twice that (or more) with the Makita.

This leads me to ask the opinions of others regarding what has been the best performing battery offered with your cordless tools? I love the Dewalt stuff, but the battery always leaves me a bit disappointed.
 
#13 ·
FSCROB said:
I stopped using Dewalt along time ago. In Florida the heat kills batteries. I was going through a Dewalt drill and battery a week. Now my crews are not gentle, as a matter of fact they are abusive. I switched to Rigid because of the warranty. That was in 2004 we still use some of the original Rigid drills today. The nice thing is they never changed the mount so all the batteries are interchangeable.
So my answer is through away the Dewalt and buy a new drill.
Click to expand...
Ridgid, huh? Very interesting!
 
#14 ·
Builder Butch said:
That's funny! I date my batteries also. There is a guy online
www.voltmanbatteries.com I've never used him but have thought about it a lot. I've been catching tools on sale with 2 new batteries and accumulating batteries that way.
Click to expand...
I had several Milwaukee ni-cads rebuilt through them (voltman) a number of years ago. Didn't get much more than a year out of them after the rebuild. Not sure why, but I have to say it didn't impress me.
 
#15 ·
When the batteries start to go I toss the set and buy new. Everytime I've replaced a battery or two it means everything else is going to go to **** real soon.
 
#16 ·
There was a system floating around, several years back on the internet about "shocking", or "voltage tapping" them back to life, using a car battery.

This was probably already addressed years ago so excuse me if this is a repeated question.

Anybody ever tried that?

Or was that found to be an internet rumor or hoax?
 
#17 ·
Jeff G said:
Ridgid, huh? Very interesting!
Click to expand...

I still have a set of Ridgid 18v that has to be 10 years old. The batteries suck, but as long as they are registered, they get replaced when you toast em. The Home Depots here will not service the Ridgids that are under warranty.

The new Dewalt lithiums have a 5 year guarantee. The date is stamped on the battery, so even if you don't have a receipt, they will still honor it. I have only burned up one lithium so far in about 4 years.
 
#18 ·
tenon0774 said:
There was a system floating around, several years back on the internet about "shocking", or "voltage tapping" them back to life, using a car battery.

This was probably already addressed years ago so excuse me if this is a repeated question.

Anybody ever tried that?

Or was that found to be an internet rumor or hoax?
Click to expand...
Yes, I've done it. It gave me a little more life on some batteries. Others were just too far gone to be saved.
 
#20 ·
Warren said:
I still have a set of Ridgid 18v that has to be 10 years old. The batteries suck, but as long as they are registered, they get replaced when you toast em. The Home Depots here will not service the Ridgids that are under warranty.
Click to expand...
Is this due to the number of failures that come into the store under warranty work, or some other reason that you may be aware of?

The new Dewalt lithiums have a 5 year guarantee. The date is stamped on the battery, so even if you don't have a receipt, they will still honor it. I have only burned up one lithium so far in about 4 years.
Click to expand...
I was not aware of that. Thank you!
 
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