Dewalt 18v NiCad Battery Life

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Dewalt 18v NiCad Battery Life

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I have this sticker across the back glass of my Silverado.

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Two are probably 10 or 12 years old. The other two are maybe 8 or 9 years old

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You got lucky. They usually don't have that long of life. 5 years is good. 8 years is great.

Beware from what I've heard is that the new lithium batts don't have near the life as a NiCad.


eta: They make an adapter to run your old 18v on the new 20v dewalts so you don't necessarily need to throw out your old stuff. Or you could just buy new 18v batteries. New Dewalts cost about $50/pop and aftermarket cheapos about $20. I've had decent luck with the cheapos.

Trade them in at DEWALT factory store on airline

Interstate Batteries can rebuild the ones you have for pretty cheap. But do yourself a favor and just get new Makita stuff

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Or you could just buy new 18v batteries. New Dewalts cost about $50/pop and aftermarket cheapos about $20. I've had decent luck with the cheapos.

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I didn't realize the price had dropped that much. They were $99 for years. I remember getting excited when I saw a replacement battery for $79 once.

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Trade them in at DEWALT factory store on airline

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For what? A discounted rehabbed battery?

Airline in Metairie?

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Dude. You got a decade out of them. You got your moneys worth.

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More than his moneys worth. I'm just happy if I can get a battery to last more than a couple of years.

FYI, the parent company that owns Black and Decker now owns Dewalt. Or vice versa. The new Black and Decker tools are no longer the Walmart special.

I’ve had poor luck with Rigid cordless tools, had two superintendents send in multiple tools within the first 6 month or purchase. The Porter Cable stuff breaks easily. I personally have never been a fan of Makita. Ryobi is junk.

I’m a huge fan of dewalt because I’ve used them professionally and have seen what you can put those tools thru and still have them perform. I purchased a set at the beginning of a three year project and they were used daily without having a single one fail. I’ve converted most of my personal tools over to dewalt 20v from the craftsman set I had since high school.

But if you’re on a budget, there are other quality options.

Dewalt or Milwaukee are my go-to's.

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I personally have never been a fan of Makita

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I will say, though, I have a Makita miter saw that is damn near as old as I am and it still works like a charm. On the flip side, I bought a Makita grinder that was way on sale at Home Depot and the first time I went to use it the power switch popped off. Maybe that's why it was on sale...