I came across what looks to be a new Dewalt 20V Max 5Ah battery with Bluetooth connectivity and Lanyard-Ready tether attachment point.
The battery, model DCB205BTLR, is essentially a standard Dewalt 20V Max 5Ah battery pack that’s built with added features.
Dewalt says that the battery connects to smartphones via their Tool Connect app, for tracking and management purposes, as well as alerts and diagnostics.
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The Bluetooth connection is described as forming a secure system, where once a battery is paired to a phone, no other phone in range can pair to it.
The battery also has a Lanyard-Ready tether attachment, which can be used with compatible Dewalt accessories.
Shown above is a Dewalt 20V Max cordless impact driver and battery (non-Bluetooth), both with Lanyard-Ready accessories.
The Bluetooth connectivity and Lanyard-Ready attachment are both specialty features, but essential in certain work environments.
Price: $185
If you don’t need the lanyard or tool tether attachment, a Bluetooth-only version of the 5Ah battery is also available. Acme has the 2-pack for $249.
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Andrew
I’m struggling a bit to understand the purpose of the lanyard. I just can’t see how it adds anything that isn’t already accomplished by the attachment to the tool.
Ct451
I guess the thinking is a battery can drop by itself and still do damage.
Scott K
I agree. I was thinking it would be an added safety feature if you are working near water or high up and need to carry multiple batteries on you.
Stuart
If you’re working at heights, everything that can potentially drop and do damage below needs to be tethered.
JoeM
I thought that was implied, Stuart… I saw the Lanyard and instantly thought “Well, it’s about time they did that!” and then continued to think “Now, if they made a Bluetooth Lanyard… Then I’d say it’s a step too far.”
Nice to see a revisit of the Bluetooth batteries though. I’ve had both DeWALT official apps on my phone for over a decade now, and it’s going to take Bluetooth connectivity to make any really good use of one of them.
Stuart
Not necessarily – theirs was a good question.
If a battery is attached to a tool, and a tether is attached to a tool, does the battery need a tether? There’s not a lot of info or tethered cordless power tool batteries out there.
Digging deeper, this isn’t Dewalt’s first tethered battery; one was included in the DCK299P2LR combo kit that came out in 2018. Most people wouldn’t know it unless they were specifically in the market for such a product.
Al
Metabo released a few batteries in 2021 with DropSecure tethering compatibility.
If your protection plan already tethers detachable electric cables and pneumatic/hydraulic hoses that power tools, it’s reasonable to look at a dropped battery and say, “you knew this could happen”.
I personally use the “don’t look up, dummy” rule at home. Probably wouldn’t hold up in court, though.
JoeM
Well, I didn’t mean it to deride the question… the question just caught me off guard, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. It shocked even me that the question had to be asked. This is one of those “I never thought about it before, but yeah! Good Point!” moments.
But, I also wanted to trim down how much I type as well, so… that got left out. Still love this return to Bluetooth, and the addition of Lanyard attachments to go with it! I’m going to keep an eye out for them going forward!
Stuart
The handoff of tether accessories is also a deeper consideration.
I was first introduced to the concept when Proto came out with a new system 10 years ago, and it’s still not intuitive to me.
In this case, I visualized a battery in a zippered bag and then swapped, but I didn’t think deeply enough about the mechanics. I’m not familiar with SOP for working with cordless power tools and batteries at heights. George laid things out plainly, where a spare battery could always be attached to an anchor point every step of the way.
Something I learned 20 years ago is that there are no obvious questions. If one person asks a question or is confused about something, there are others who aren’t speaking up.
Andrew
Okay, and how do you swap batteries? At some point during the swap the battery needs to be off the tether, unattached to the tool, and potentially droppable. The only time it’s not going to be attached to the tool is when the battery is being swapped, and at that point you need to disconnect the tether, or have it hanging off the tool while the other battery is added. That’s why I’m really struggling to understand the purpose of the tether on the battery. Having a tether on the tool makes perfect sense for working from heights as you said.
George
If it’s like climbing, I assume the process to ensure no drops is something like: ensure tool is tethered, untether battery and tether to storage location, remove battery from tool, install new battery, untether new battery from storage and tether to tool, continue work.
Ct451
Yes, both batteries need to be tethered before a swap. Both on the tool like you said or both on your belt (or other anchor point) or one on each.
But why do you assume “the only time it’s not going to be attached to the tool is when the battery is being swapped”? Where did the second battery come from? Batteries will exist at height independently of tools and they should probably be secured to an anchor point. People will kick things with their feet just as they will drop them from their hands.
Andrew
Because there is only one tether and one tether point. Send like you’d need two.
Mark
Once a battery comes lose from a tool 12 stories up on a swing stage and splatters on the concrete below, the purpose of the lanyard becomes very clear and required.
Jronman
Didn’t see anything mentioned about vac activation. If I got one of these I would probably remove the lanyard attachment to be honest. Serves a very specific user, and I am not that user.
Big Richard
This battery will not automatically turn on a vacuum. It works with their Tool Connect app so you can see charge and temp of the battery, disable it when out of range of your phone, etc..
And you can get the same Bluetooth battery without being Lanyard-Ready, model DCB205BT has been available for 6 or 7 years maybe.
Kingsley
That would be a very good feature as it could detect use with all dewalt tools and tell the vac to start.
I’d love this with my older circular saw that doesn’t have Bluetooth
Koko The Talking Ape
“…once a battery is paired to a phone, no other phone in range can pair to it.”
I’m assuming that the original phone can unpair it, so it can then be paired to a new phone? I change phones more often than I wear out batteries.
Nathan
At first I thought tether battery to tool and then tether assembly to platform.
But you know. If you run 2 batteries then sure tie one on. Seems like this should be on the compact battery too. And the new power stack
Harrison
Though the layer of redundancy has its advantages, (if you unclip in the correct order it cannot fall) the real win here is the potential to lanyard a spare battery to your harness while aloft. I can see the appeal.
eddie sky
This. I can see having a toolbelt with a clip to secure a spare. Or clips in a truck/van or self to protect them from fall. And with outdoor tools or on a roof, there is the change over period to spare battery and dropping/losing grip on exchange.
I just want lower price/deal on a set of 2Ah/5Ah Stack packs. My one 2Ah is starting to run short now. I refuse to pay $300 for two batteries though. Might as well just get a new tool w/battery… I see what you are doing there DeWalt!
Graham Howe
It looks as if the lanyard clip is simply attached through two existing screw points. I wonder if that means lanyard kits could be provided as an upgrade to existing batteries? Having a 5Ah battery land on you would be bad enough, one of those big FlexVolt batteries could be even worse!
Graham Howe
Looks like there is/was an upgrade kit, DWB-N547085, seems very difficult to source at the moment though. Also it would appear that this lanyard ready line has been around for 5 years or so with the DCK299P2LR kit popping up in 2018.
Michel
Missed opportunity. It makes more sense to really update and have a Powerstack with bluetooth capability.
The lanyard seems like a bracket that is screwed on to the bottom. Might as well just sell that as kit so people can mount it on any DeWALT battery they own/want instead of buying new batteries just for that feature.