# Dewalt Li-Ion



## ElectricBill (Aug 14, 2009)

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 (Dec 17, 2008)

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 (Oct 3, 2007)

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 (Oct 6, 2007)

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 (Dec 31, 2007)

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


----------



## JPRO2 (Dec 17, 2008)

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


----------



## sparkysteve (Jan 23, 2007)

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 (Jan 15, 2008)

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


----------



## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I bought a 18 volt replacemnt battery for 40 or 50 bucks from this place.
http://www.g-batteries.com/index.php/cPath/5_97?gclid=CNix9p7x3p0CFRdc2godp2nDMA

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


----------



## PhatElvis (Jan 23, 2009)

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 (Apr 7, 2008)

PhatElvis said:


> 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. :thumbup:


----------



## BigJohn20 (Mar 23, 2009)

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/tool_detail.asp?productID=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 (Mar 23, 2009)

sparkysteve said:


> 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 (Jan 23, 2009)

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 (Jan 30, 2009)

i use ridgid lithium ion tools!:thumbsup:


----------



## mikeg_05 (Jan 1, 2009)

So will the dewalt radio charge the lithium ion batteries??


----------



## PhatElvis (Jan 23, 2009)

> The DC011 & DW911 radio chargers can not charge the DEWALT Lithium 18 volt batteries.


http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=8042#BVQAWidgetID


----------



## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

BigJohn20 said:


> 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.


Bosch's 18 volt 2.4 amp Ni-Cads charge in half an hour.


----------



## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

sparks134 said:


> i use ridgid lithium ion tools!:thumbsup:


As much as I despise the Home Depot, I might give the Riggid stuff a go when my current set of cordless tools are on their way out. Their warranties on some of the tools and track record of honoring them simply put all the others to shame.


----------



## PhatElvis (Jan 23, 2009)

I agree on the Rigid warranty issue....BUT they weigh a lot more than other cordless tools.


----------



## =Josh= (Oct 29, 2009)

btw dewalt not only has its Li-Ion. But even the new NiCad 18v Batteries have slimmed down in weight and size.


----------



## Johnpaul (Oct 2, 2008)

After a lot of testing we decided to put DeWalt DCD970 drills in all our trucks. The 3-speed gearbox makes a big difference in battery charge life if you use it correctly and not try to use a cordless the way you would a corded drill. Our experience has been that we can recharge the DeWalt Li-ion batteries on average in 15 minutes. With the Makita and Hitachi it takes more than 30 minutes with the full size batteries, and with Milwaukee M18 batteries it takes about 45 minutes.

Not sure why but Milwaukee M18 drills can only use M18 batteries while the V18 drills are supposed to be fine with NiCad or V18 batteries. One thing nice with the Milwaukee chargers is that the plug accepts another plug so you can daisy chain chargers and use just one outlet or extension cord. 

Brute strength has its place but with the right approach a 4 lb. drill can easily take the place of a 7 lb. brute with no loss of performance. Only Ridgid, Hilti, and Dewalt make drills with 3-4 speed gear boxes and based on our testing I would never buy a 2-speed drill for serious work anymore than I would buy a truck with a 2-speed transmission. 

Our drill cost is less than a dollar a day per truck so we are a lot more concerned with how quickly we can get the job done and move on. Our cordless drills have been a lot more reliable than our corded drills with the exception of the battery packs which are easily replaced. With Milwaukee there is a 5-year battery warranty and with Hilti and DeWalt it it is 2 years, and with Ridgid it depends on the person at the service center.


----------

