This is Very Cool — 18V Battery Adapters

[foakes]

Thanks to Joe, I now have 8 more usable cordless 18V DeWalt tools!

The replacement batteries for the DeWalts are around $130 to $150 a pair —- and are usually shot after 2-4 years of usage.

I have been steadily switching over to Ridgid since it is a top quality brand with a LIFETIME guarantee on the tool AND also the Batteries.

Have around 12-13 Ridgid tools, and (10) DeWalt tools.

And, (9) 18V Ridgid batteries from 2Amp to 6Amp.


The DeWalts were going to have to go away —-

Joe told us about these adapters for 18V tools.

I bought (3) to try them out.  About $17-$18 each, free shipping.

They just snap on between a Ridgid battery and the tool.

Works perfectly.

I felt really wasteful and bad about getting rid of the DeWalt's.  They are a top quality brand that has never let me down except for the batteries.  One of the 1/2" HD drills cost my wife $300 20 years ago —- when she bought it for my birthday. 

Now, I will purchase (5) more adapters.

In theory, I will never need to buy 18V batteries for the rest of my life.

Since it has been so cold & snowing some (5") a day ago.  14° Saturday night, 15° last night.  I have been working out in the shops since returning home a few days ago.  Organizing wrenches, sockets, mechanic tools, benches, and readily accessible storage.

Getting rid of a lot of stuff.

Plus fine tuning everything for the blasting and powder-coating room.

Thanks again, Joe!

Best, Fred

[MarkT]

3 adapters sounds like plenty. How many Dewalts can you use simultaneously?

I have Makita 18v tools. If I got a Milwaukee or Dewalt I'd get an adapter so they could use the Makita batteries.

[foakes]

3 adapters sounds like plenty. How many Dewalts can you use simultaneously?

I have Makita 18v tools. If I got a Milwaukee or Dewalt I'd get an adapter so they could use the Makita batteries.

Seldom more than 2 at a time, Mark.

However, I have an upstairs inside reel shop, an outer reel shop, a metal shop, (2) wood shops, a gardening shop, a truck, a travel trailer, and a cabover camper.  Plus 3 travel tool boxes for jobs away from home for others.  Each has pretty much their own set of tools at hand, to a certain extent, so that there is no wasted motion when working on a project

I just like things to be in readiness.  Don't want to get out on a job or in a vehicle and realize the "adapter" is back on another tool in a shop at home.

And these are so cheap and easy —- it just makes sense for me.

I am going to get them so that when I spin-off my tools to someone else —- they will be complete and operational.

I don't even like screwdriver bits if avoidable —- I prefer fixed blade drivers that I don't need to fiddle around with changing out bits.

Plus, you are talking to a guy that got rid of 1500 reels in the last 3 years —- and still has nearly 2000.  😄😄😄

Just my style and preference.

Best, Fred

[JasonGotaProblem]

I have a dewalt 18v cordless drill. Surprising amount of torque on It. It came with 2 batteries. One died within 18mo the other is 10yrs old and lasts a shockingly long time between charges. Luck of the draw it seems. But i noticed the battery case is held together by screws. Can't help wondering if I'd find a replaceable standard-ish sized lithium battery in there.

[MarkT]

Most of the batteries from all the mfg's use 18650 cells in their 18-20v batteries.

[jtwill98]

I use adapters for some old Ryobi tools like a caulking gun.

The one thing I will say about adapters is be cautious of the fact that the adapters don't have the wired connections to pass on monitoring events to the power tool from the sensors in the battery. Some manufacturers use the power tool to monitor the battery thermal and/or battery pack voltage and some have this capability in the battery and pass it to the power tool. 

The older blue Ryobi tools will drain the battery pack below the voltage recommended for charging and may prevent the battery from being able to recharged. Most chargers won't charge a battery if it's below a certain voltage. I don't believe this is only true of Ryobi.  I think it's true for any manufacture's tool using adapters. 

[oldmanjoe]

   There are some battery hacks to get them to charge up .  U tube has a bunch from jumping batteries  to  rapidly plugging and unplugging the charger to trick it .

   Where this battery adapter  shines is that Ridgid is the only one at this time that replaces the battery for free .

[thorhammer]

3 adapters sounds like plenty. How many Dewalts can you use simultaneously?

I have Makita 18v tools. If I got a Milwaukee or Dewalt I'd get an adapter so they could use the Makita batteries.

Been rebuilding a deck; have three DW's lined up at once: torx driverr for screws, drill bit, and hammer drill to drive lags in banding. Spare batteries for each (and got the adaptor for 18V). Also needing circular saw and palm sander on the bucks cutting to get lumber to the other three, so yeah, lot of batteries. Plus jigging post notches.

[MarkT]

3 adapters sounds like plenty. How many Dewalts can you use simultaneously?

I have Makita 18v tools. If I got a Milwaukee or Dewalt I'd get an adapter so they could use the Makita batteries.

Been rebuilding a deck; have three DW's lined up at once: torx driverr for screws, drill bit, and hammer drill to drive lags in banding. Spare batteries for each (and got the adaptor for 18V). Also needing circular saw and palm sander on the bucks cutting to get lumber to the other three, so yeah, lot of batteries. Plus jigging post notches.

I often have multiple going at the same time but anything I was using with an adapter would to fill in a slot that I didn't have covered in my main lineup.  Why go with 3+ Milwaukee's with adapters if you're a Dewalt guy?  Just to use something different? I'm not that fond of Makita's multitools so I may go for a Dewalt/Milwaukee with an adapter.

[ExcessiveAngler]

These are a good idea and have been around for a long time, besides other manufacturers, selling knock off batteries, that fit the same tools. If anybody has a tool battery that will not charge, all you do is hook it to a much stronger battery, you'll need a jumper wire, to jump it though!
 Go positive to positive, negative to negative, then arch it a few times. You also can hook it to a battery charger, put nails in the terminals and keep contacting the battery,  pos-pos, neg-neg until there are no more arc sparks!
Then pop the battery in the charger and should take a charge. No problem!
I'm still using the original old ni-cad batteries here, that are about 20 years old
Not sure, if you can do that with lithiums or not, but probably a hack for them too, as well lol!

[ExcessiveAngler]

I have a dewalt 18v cordless drill. Surprising amount of torque on It. It came with 2 batteries. One died within 18mo the other is 10yrs old and lasts a shockingly long time between charges. Luck of the draw it seems. But i noticed the battery case is held together by screws. Can't help wondering if I'd find a replaceable standard-ish sized lithium battery in there.

Why not just rebuild your other battery?
Plenty of videos on YouTube of them hacking Harbor freight batteries up, To put the cells in other tool batteries.
Just an idea?
Although, the rigid battery deal, is starting to look pretty appetizing lol!

[Midway Tommy]

I hate battery operated tools! I can string out a cord and be done with the job before a dang dead battery charges up. I have one battery operated drill, a 12v Bosch, and the battery ends up being dead everytime I think about using it. Replacement batteries for that thing cost more than I paid for the stupid drill did when I bought it. I wish they made some type of decent replacement for it, the drill is actually pretty nice if it wasn't for the battery always being dead.

[Brewcrafter]

I wish I understood this stuff better.  I have a really nice Dewalt 20V drill.  But I still find myself grabbing first my Dad's old Makita 9V that is probably older than most of our forum members...I have 3 batteries for it, only one of which still actually charges and holds a charge. - john

[Gobi King]

Fred,

those adapters are nice, one word of caution:

please be mindful of the state of charge of your batts or temp. The adapters use only 2 pins to convey power and does not have the other pins for other functions.

You are ok as long as you use Ridgid, Milwaukee etc batts with onboard BMSs.

Dewalt is batts do not have true on board BMSs.

[MarkT]

I wish I understood this stuff better.  I have a really nice Dewalt 20V drill.  But I still find myself grabbing first my Dad's old Makita 9V that is probably older than most of our forum members...I have 3 batteries for it, only one of which still actually charges and holds a charge. - john

Those old Makita's with the 9v nicad stick batteries are what started the cordless tool revolution many moons ago!