Silly advice needed on 18 volt tools

OK I have an 18 volt drill driver, Impact, and sawzall. The drill is probably 15-17 years old and used all the time. The impact gets less use but is used often. I have the worlds smallest welding shop and use the tools often. The batteries are not holding a charge any longer. I also have a a Ridgid 18 volt circular saw 2 batteries and a charger. The ridgid is Lithium -ion
I can purchase batteries for the old Dewalts or move over to the Ridgid line. The Dewalts are the old style NiCd battery.
Money is tight

 

When my Porter Cable battery operated NI cad batteries died I changed over to lithium batteries. I have had good luck with Biswaye batteries. You need to get a new charger for them as well. They are on Amazon and Evilbay. They come in my 1,2 and I think 4 Amp hrs. Worth taking a look at as they don't break the bank.
Other solution is to look at some of the new higher am tools, but I couldn't justify it based on my use.

 

When my dewalt batterys lost there poop. I when to Lowes to get new bats.. 2 new dewalt batteries were more than a the porter cable 20 volt impact driver drill motor 2 battery & charger combo. Bought the sawmill same time.. said and done IIFC. I saved 2 dollars. Plus the new PCs are much lighter and more power than the old dewalts...

If it come to a tool brand war.. They are all made in china so who cares what brand you buy..

 

I had old style Dewalt NiCad 4 pack system (Hammer drill, circular, saw zaw and light). I purchased new NiCad's every few years. Lasted me about 12 years. The final time, I decided to upgrade to Lithium. I didn't have any issues with Dewalt, I was able to sell them and then purchased new Li Ion. I have some Milwaukee and Ryobi stuff.

Afterwards, I will say, I saw that they make an adapter so that you can buy New Li Ion batteries and plug into the old school Dewalt tools. This way you only have to buy batteries and not tools. Just make sure it works in your application.

https://www.dewalt.com/products/acc...chargers/batteries/18v-to-20v-adapter/dca1820

 

The battery tools have come a long way in the past ten years, you cant beat the new Milwaukie stuff for power and battery life, not cheap but none of them are.

 

A year ago I bought a set of the Makita 18 volt brushless impact driver and drill. Came with 2 batteries, charger, and a case. Very very powerful and I can use them for 3-4 hours before the battery dies.


Keith

 

I had been reading up and watching for deals for about 2 years before finally pulling the trigger this year on Ridgid. The prices are lower than Dewalt/Milwaukee/Makita and the performance MIGHT be a bit below the big 3 cordless names but the lifetime service agreement including batteries was what sealed the deal. My old Dewalt 14.4 nicad tools all got tossed 10 years ago because of battery availabilty issues. The set of Skil 18V L-ion stuff I got afterward were good while they lasted but the tools are woefully underpowered compared to modern stuff and batteries are either old stock or unavailable. The ridgid brushless stuff has great power and if you watch a bit, great deals at home depot pop up frequently. A word of warning on the LSA. Ridgids web site is a bit of a pain to get tools and batteries registered, not the end of the world but they don't make it as easy as they could. Also the LSA for batteries requires you to buy them in a kit (at least that's how I understand it) so you need to use a bit of strategy to get all the tools, chargers, batteries you want and have them all covered under the LSA.

 

Had a complete set of DeWalt power tools and a handful of dead batteries. Was able to find new Chinese knockoff batteries on e-bay really cheap. They work fine. I would check ebay first since they are probably about a quarter what they will charge at Lowes or other places.

 

I've got a porter cable set that I've been very pleased with, though I dont use them daily. But they're plenty powerful and the li-ion batteries work well. I did buy 2 knock off batteries from Amazon to have a few extras and one was DOA. Wouldn't charge. So I sent them back and spent a few bucks more on PC brand batteries, all's well.

I bought these to replace my old nicads when the batteries went TU. I thought about having them rebuilt by batteries plus, but for not much more I got more modern tools that are more powerful.

 

...we were using several brands on deck boards building 900sf deck on MIL's house a while back, and this one was like energizer bunny, so I bought one. Really like Li-ion "star" batteries and charging system. Just bought companion 1/2" wrench. Almost looking forward to doing son's Audi control arms...

 

Me too, except I bought mine years ago. Great set with the Ni-Mh batteries. I picked up a used Makita 6349DWDE 1/2-Inch drill 2 years ago - what a horse!

 

One of the guys at work uses the adapter. His older tools are 18v, while newer ones are 20v. Adapter lets him use old tools with new 20v batteries.
I use Porter Cable tools, 20v and bought 2 of the biggest aftermarket batteries, 20v 6.0 ah for $70, thru Amazon when the storebought small batteries went south. Work great.......JIM

 

Thanks guys I never thought of ebay and batteries

 

On a related question does a one make a 14.4 volt Lithium ion battery that takes the place of the old style Makita Ni cad?

 

May have been Amazon... one of those 2.

 

I was a Milwaukee tool guy until they changed the battery design to be forced into buying new tools. I had several complete sets that need batteries all at the same time. Screw them! Went out and replaced everything with Dewalt. Few years later they did the same crap. Lately I'll just buy a replacement set for less than what new batteries would cost. Shame that things dont last.

 

I have the Porter Cable little 1/4 impact and it (I) keep twisting the drivers off because it has too much ummph.

 

Briz
I agree they could change the batteries and tools but design them to work with old tools. I think Ridgid claimed at one point there batteries will interchange from new to old

 

I bought these a couple yrs ago and they have pretty good power for only being 12v. Came with two batteries, charger, drill, impact driver and flashlight and a bag to hold em. Nice and light, keyless chuck on drill and the 1/4" drive on the impact. I really like em.

https://bigskytool.com/hitachi-kc10dfl2-12v-cordless-combo-kit-reconditioned-1.html

 

Dave I live in Boston area. Around here there are some professional shops that refurb the battery packs. The trades guys swear by them as the packs are upgraded with better batteries that perform better. Perhaps that's an option.