A reader wrote in:
My Dewalt sales rep said that they will be phasing out the 18 volt tools and batteries. He said that the 20V will now be the new system and it’s too costly to keep both.
Advertisement
I think he’s blowing smoke, because his next words were… Why not buy the 20V system?
Not that it’s a huge deal, but if they screw the 18V guys over by not making batteries, i’m going Red. This would be like a slap in the face after I gave them my [money and] support. I’d also like to sell my 11 [18V] tools while I still can.
He also asked if I could check with my contacts at Dewalt, but I already know what they’re going to say. If I asked Dewalt for an official comment, their reply would be crafted to avoid lost sales or friction with their distributors. They couldn’t or wouldn’t say anything otherwise. And since I already know the answer, I’m not going to ask.
The short answer is that Dewalt will continue supporting their 18V cordless tool platform for years to come. If you need or want an 18V battery tomorrow, next month, next year, or even five years from now, you shouldn’t have any difficulty finding one.
However, there are high costs associated with fully supporting 18V and 20V Max tool lines. Because of this, you will probably see fewer and fewer 18V tools in stores, especially now that the 20V Max cordless power tool lineup is expanding at a steady rate. Right now, 18V kits have dropped in price, and many remain on store shelves as less expensive pro tool options. But expect to see more 20V Max tools filling in those spots.
Eventually, distributors will probably only carry minimal Dewalt 18V offerings.
Advertisement
In short, you can still find Dewalt 18V batteries, bare tools, kits and combo kits. It is my expectation that certain bare tools and kits will become a little harder to find, at least at brick-and-mortar stores. The situation might be different online, but it will become difficult even for online vendors to successfully promote and sell these tools.
Eventually, 18V tools will be discontinued, but only Dewalt knows when that will be. For now, and even after the tools are eventually discontinued or phased out, Dewalt 18V batteries will still be available.
Of course, I could be wrong. It is my belief that Dewalt has no intention of phasing out their 18V line – at least not completely – in the very near future
Javier
We all know this day is coming. I now this stinks because I’ve seen many with a ton of dewalt 18v tools and having that many tools ain’t easy to make a switch to a new platform financially. It gets expensive replacing all those xrp tools to 20v max. But that shouldnt be a reason to jump brands. If you really like dewalt then stick with them. Eventually big red will phase out their 18v line for a new one. Will someone feel betrayed then and then switch to let’s say Bosch? What about when Bosch phases out their line? Would you switch again?
Stuart
These days most brands are thoroughly invested in the “slide pack” form factor. I wouldn’t expect that to change anytime even remotely soon.
tt
It is not just battery packs where this is happening, either. It is even seen in clothing too. Many of the companies that made waist high hosiery for men, for example, have either closed or discontinued making the product line. Right now, I am using only 1 single brand, with nothing decent being available with most other remaining brands. Constant change is on everything, in life. You just have to keep up with what is available.
Hornelius DaCome
Your absolutely right. Its not right when you be one accustomed to certain brand or type of for example: I use a certain type of material for a product I bought for years.it holds air and is meant to withstand or hold up to many variables such as certain fluids, lotions, and forcable impact. Now they sell it at the same price but the quality is sub par.i cant even finish.
My project with something so flaccid and limp. When you really go at it hard it just becomes unlike like.theres not even any kick back to warn you that your going too deep.So Im left to search for a stranger’s help that I hire to get the job done for me since doing it myself isn’t doing the trick. DIY isn’t the same anymore unless you have the right materials .
Joshua Latham
With all battery operated tools this is an eventuality. I can still find batteries for my 7.2 volt Makita drill, they are hard to find, but still available. With expanding technology tool manufactures just need to make the upgrade really worth while.
skfarmer
dewalt made its name by offering a lot of tools that used the same battery and used it as a marketing tool. very successfully i might add
i stand by my opinion that they could easily make an adapter to allow 18 volt tools to accept the new 20 volt max batteries. i am a huge believer in dewalt tools and would have some 20 volt max tools in my arsenal if they offered such an adapter. the vast majority of 18 volt users would make the jump to 20 volt max to continue to use their existing tools. if i switch platforms i have no reason to continue with dewalt and probably won’t. makita looks very tempting.
i know, i have heard the line, can’t be done, won’t work and every other excuse. the only reason it can’t be done is because someone chose not to do it.
i wish a third party mfg had the balls to make one, i would buy it and start upgrading.
Stuart
It can be done, but not without heartache for both brand and user.
For the newest tools to offer best performance and ergonomics, the slate had to be wiped clean. This is also why Porter Cable launched their 20V Max platform last year, because they can offer better products if they don’t have to engineer them to work with both NiCd and Li-ion battery chemistries.
skfarmer
i know you don’t agree with me but this is great conversation.
what heartache for the user. i bet you would have to look pretty hard to find a user that would not want to add a new platform yet still support his older tools. an adapter may stick out of the tool farther but the new pack would weigh less than the older packs. dewalt could also completely phase out the 18 volt batteries. package an 18-20volt max adapter and a 20 volt max battery and charger and away you go. you then have the user hooked for his next tool.
as far as chargers go. i am pretty sure that something could be added to the adapter so that it could not be used to charge a 20 volt max on an 18 volt charger.
Stuart
My impression is that users might experience poor ergonomics and lower performance.
Take the Zebralight LED headlamp I recently reviewed as an example. Yes, a 1.5V AA alkaline battery will physically fit, and yes, it will power the emitter. But performance and runtime will be a lot lower than if NiMH or lithium battery is used. Zebralight could have designed the flashlight to work with alkaline batteries, but they would have had to have made a lot of design sacrifices.
The difference between 18V and 20V tools are not just the physical form factor – there are significant changes in how the tools pair up with each other. An 18V battery with 20V Max tool wouldn’t have a proper handshake, if that makes sense.
There is no argument that an adapter would be wonderful and would please a lot of users – in theory. Dewalt’s marketing team was probably thinking that an 18V adapter that leads to lower 20V Max tool performance would frustrate more users if they didn’t make an adapter.
Some of their tools, such as the new 18V/20V Max vac accept both battery form factors, so it is possible.
Maybe Dewalt’s motivation for not creating an adapter is profit-driven, but the other pro brands did the same exact thing when they made similar changes a few years ago.
skfarmer
who cares or wants to put an 18 volt battery on a 20 volt max tool? i doubt anyone does. if an adapter makes an older 18 volt tool a little more clumsy so be it it would wet our appetite for the new improved model the batteries came with.
we as end users want to invest in the newest whiz bang gizmo whether it is some new and yet unknown tool or a new brushless drill or driver. that is a tough pill to swallow when we have to ante up 100+ dollars on 18 volt batteries and then plunk down another 2-300 or more on a new system.
the first rule of any business is keep your existing customers. dewalt already had us with 18volt but forced us to look at other brands because of the platform change.
when they have lost market share i wonder who the first one to ask where all of the old 18 volt customers went? i would bet alot of them when faced with a platform change have already jumped ship.
Stuart
So you’re talking about wanting to put a 20V Max battery on an 18V tool?
My understanding is that this would be even harder to do since the 18V tools would be lacking some of the control circuitry that’s built into the 20V Max tools.
It would be easier to plug adapt a dumb battery to a smart tool than adapt a smart battery to a dumb tool.
Who knows, maybe it is possible and they just don’t want to create an adapter.
I just had a thought – maybe there can’t be any adapters because the tools would then have to undergo UL certification all over again? It’s hard to say.
Brian
Readers should note that the 20V Max battery pack is just that, 20V maximum, after charging with no load. This is DeWalt marketing that I find insulting. The nominal voltage is the same as everyone else’s 18 volt system. Lithium cells are fully charged around 4V. all lithium battery packs for 18V tools have 5 cells connected in series. (Including the 20V Max) 4V x 5 = 20V. Keep in mind that “maximum” Voltage values are near useless. Try running your tools with 2 (or even 3) 9V transistor batteries.
I really liked my DeWalt 18V tools. I made the switch to Red because of the really bad batteries DeWalt made and their attempt to recover a reputation by marketing with the 20V Max.
Bob
looking to the shape of the DeWalt old-style 18 V battery there is enough space to make an adapter that fits perfectly in the old-style equipment and that can accept the 20V Max battery pack, while recharging of the 20V Max pack would require a real 20V Max charger.
seems logic to me.
However…
if it would be easy to make such an adapter, I guess 3rd party solution would become available… but where are these 3rd party solutions???
Jerry
But you CAN buy lithium batteries for the 18V tools, if you want to pay through the nose for them, so we know they work with lithium batteries. If running too much current through one of the new lithium batteries would overheat it, put the limiter in the adapter.
Brian Johnson
Dewalts 20v Max is marketing to recover from their failed 18v battery reputation, any 18v, 20v battery will measure 20v after charging and/ or without a load hence the term MAX.
The *nominal voltage for a lithium cell has been 3.6 for years, (LiPo now 3.7v) every cordless tool manufacture uses 5 cells. 3.6×5 = 18v
Maximum values mean little as they do not consider a load or work. Voltage has to drop as a load is applied, if it doesn’t no work can be done.
* Nominal voltage is the default, resting voltage of a battery pack. This is how the battery industry has decided to discuss and compare batteries. It is not, however, the full charge voltage of the cell. LiPo batteries are fully charged when they reach 4.2v/cell, (MAX) and their minimum safe charge, is 3.0v/cell. 3.7v is pretty much in the middle, and that is the nominal charge of the cell.
Mb
What a load off crap it all about money…..
Stuart
ALL cordless power tool brands are out to make money. Show me a cordless power tool brand that has been able to offer competitive developments on an outdated 18V NiCad platform.
Paul
There is an adaptor for the old 18v batts to the new slide ones.
mike
Hi
I can speak for Europe/Germany
yes, they are;
in the annual catalog 2013, there is already four tools listed for end of avail July 2013
this is for example the dc330 jigsaw and the dc411 grinder
2) the batteries like de9180 have gone from “product mode” to spare part mode;
they went up in price immediately more than 30%
in spare part mode the law is here that they have to be available for 3 years minimum
cheers from Munich, Germany
by the way worlds orig. / biggest Octoberfest is starting this Saturday
should I rather say ” PROST” !!”
LORDDiESEL
WOW! That’s an eye opener for sure! Thanks for the info!
fifi waters
It a gimmick to make you buy more stupid tools you don’t need there is a company in ohio that rebuilds batteries for half dewalts price google em next time you need a battery
Clayton
Yeah, I’m certain you’ll be able to get 18v Dewalt batteries for a pretty long time… heck, I still see a Makita 9.6v stick batteries at Home Depot. Those tools probably haven’t been made for 10 years or more.
Hang Fire
For one of the most successful tool lineups in history, I don’t think its a stretch to expect not only a long, slow phase-out from deWalt, but also a good amount of aftermarket off-brand batteries available for a long time. Anyone not able to wear out their deWalt 18V tools before batteries go away entirely won’t be trying very hard.
I have two LiIon systems, deWalt’s 12V and Bosch 18V (same as “20V Max” but with more honest marketing). I would never want to go back to NiCad, or even old pod batteries. (I wouldn’t have bought both systems, but got the 12V for a song).
Noah
You can always take DeWalt batteries to your nearest Batteries Plus and have them rebuilt for a bit more than half the price of new batteries. They don’t do Li-Ion rebuilds, just Ni-cad.
Greg
Noah,
What batteries plus are you using? I just called and got quoted 49.99 for a nicad change. I can buy 2new for 99.00 at Lowes . What price are you paying to have them rebuilt?
Dave Wittmann
Costs about $30 give or take to have them re-built.
Unofficial Dewalt Rep (off the clock)
18v is not going away any time soon. Dewalt is still selling more 18v currently than they are 20v. It would be pretty dumb to drop a line of tools that make up a majority of such a large product segment. My apologies to the reader who got bad information from one of our reps.
Stuart
Thanks for the info!
I wonder if the higher 18V sales are due to lower prices, more mature selection, or a combination of the two.
skfarmer
offer an adapter to make your 20 volt max batteries work on 18 volt tools and you would see an overnight increase in 20 volt max tool sales.
matt
A adapter would have to have onboard battery cutoff circuity Exploding lithium packs would not be good for anyone..
A simple cutoff less adapter would be pretty easy and cheap. But add in the needed safety of cutoffs and I am thinking it would become priced out of usefulness.
Seems to me Guys just need to get over it the platform is changed things are moving on better tools are coming why hang on to those clunky packs so hard??
skfarmer
i am not sure if i am out of my mind or what but i don’t know of anyone who wants to try and run 20 voltmax tools with 18 volt battery. a simple adapter that would plug into older cordless tools with the pod style battery and accept the sliding 20 volt max battery (which is basicly an 18 volt battery with a max voltage of 20 volts). to my understanding the danger is not in using the pack to power your tool, it is improper charging. i am not proposing trying to charge a 20 volt max with the old style charger, just power the old tools. i may be over simplifying this but when powering a tool a volt is a volt. it doesn’t matter if the battery is the size of a pop can or a tanker truck. as long as the the voltage is within specs, usually + or – a volt or so there should be no issues. the tool could care less if it is running on ni-cad, li-ion or the the correct combination of d cell batteries.
Stuart
Voltage is not the issue. 18V == 20V Max.
It’s power and current control that is the issue. Modern Li-ion power tools don’t simplify down into motor + mechanical switch + voltage source, today’s tools and battery packs are “smart.”
Going back to the Zebralight LED analogy, the flashlight will not operate properly with a 1.5V alkaline AA cell; it requires a NiMH or lithium AA cell for optimal performance. Alkaline batteries simply cannot handle the current draw of the LED emitter.
In a same sense, you cannot just map out electrical contacts and wire a 20V Max battery to an 18V tool.
I misunderstood your point before, but my arguments are mainly unchanged.
Think of it this way – an adapter that allows users to use Dewalt’s 20V Max battery packs to power their 18V tools would be akin to an adapter that allows Milwaukee M18, Bosch 18V, or Makita 18V LXT batteries to work with Dewalt’s 18V tools.
Fred
I don’t know how reliable either piece of information is, but I do know this for sure. Everything DeWalt did right with the 18v platform, which was significantly better than everyone else for many years and at many different stages during those years, over and over demonstrating they were the top dog, is exactly how they’re doing it wrong with the 20v.
It would make sense to start phasing out the more common kits and only sell bare tools & batteries separately, to stem the 18v ‘cannibalizing’ (not forcing users to the new platform) the 20v tools sales. But then again, the 18v has what 3-4 times the variety in tools compared to the 20v. Who needs yet another 20v impact driver or drill? They’re behind on batteries too. Too many 18v tools have not had a 20v equivalent come to market; the cutout tool, nailers/staplers, impact wrench, and bandsaw just off the top of my head.
Taking the vacuum for example, it would be nice if they really did redesign every tool from the ground up and make a big noise for each one individually, but I’ve seen plenty of guys go from dewalt 18v to M18 after choosing against the 20v platform. I would say its about 50/50 now, instead of what used to be about 80% dewalt 18v even as recent as a few years ago.
Jason
You hit it on the head with that comment it’s taking too long to fill out the range of tools in the 20V line. I know Dewalt want’s to use the redesign to the 20v platform to improve the tools, but it did leave some holes in the product line it’s pretty well filled out now a year or so they were still missing some key tools though. I went with the Dewalt 20v kit first, but after trying the M18 fuel I went into the Milwaukee camp the amount of tools in both the M12 and M18 lines is just insane. I know I will probably never need some of the special tools in the M12 or M18 lines but its nice to know you can get them.
skfarmer
cost prohibitive to to have an adapter someone says? i have a saw, recip saw, flashlight, 3 drills, right angle drill, grinder, 3 impacts and a vacuum. throw in 2 radios, and a bucket full of chargers and batteries and you can have 1500-2000 dollars invested in a system. it may sound like a lot but i am sure there are many with just as many items and contractors who have many times that amount. investing in one or two adapters is not cost prohibitive. supporting multiple battery platforms is.
as far as smart tools and batteries. build the adaptor with the brain in it to protect the battery. it should not be that hard.
the 20 volt max tool may need to talk with the battery but i don’t know of any special features that the old 18 volt tools need. an adaptor would only need to supply power from a 20 volt max battery to an 18 volt tool, it would not allow using an 18 volt battery on a 20volt max battery.
i fully understand needing enough capacity in the battery to run the tool as described in your flashlight scenario. my rebuttal is this. are we to believe the 20 volt max batteries don’t have enough “UMPH” to run the old 18 volt tools? i highly doubt it.
everyone tools about these tools as being smart. i am pretty sure it is nothing more that some simple curcuit to protect the battery. i think this whole smart tool thing is more hype than fact.
as far as adapting other brands to dewalt. i don’t think i have ever heard anyone propose that. my idea is to keep yellow customers yellow. as fred and jason spoke of above, past dewalt users are jumping ship because dewalt has failed at keeping it’s core customers happy by not supplying a better tool in the new format and the basic tools in the new format that users want and need.
Jerry
I’m with you on this one. I think it would be simple to make an adapter with the necessary circuitry in it, to do one task, and one task only, and that would be to use the new 20Vmax batteries in the old 18v tools. Add a couple 10 cent diodes, so you could not use the adapter to try and charge the new battery in the old charger, and you’d have me. Any new tool, would be the 20V, as would any new battery/charger, yet I could wear out my old tools, and still get by with one battery/charger. As for the adapter being cost prohibitive, I checked locally in the hardware store (but not online, just when I last browsed the tool aisle) and noticed the 3 AH 20V Max batteries were $15 cheaper than the 18v lithium batteries ant not much more than an XRP NiCad.
Instead of buying 2 new 18v batts, I’d gladly pay around $25-$30 for the adapter, and use one battery for everything until my old tools give up the ghost.
Stuart
Cost prohibitive for Dewalt, not users.
There are 3 potential reasons why a 20V Max to 18V adapter does not exist right now.
1) Dewalt wants to drive users to the 20V Max platform and profit from new tool and battery sales
2) Dewalt conducted cost-benefit analysis and determined that it would be too costly to offer such an adapter. Remember each product costs time and money to develop, test, manufacture, and support.
3) There are major limitations or others barriers that would need to be overcome
If there are no technical barriers, there might be others. As mentioned, maybe creating a 20V max to 18V tool adapter would require that the combination undergo UL recertification.
What I meant by mentioning other brands’ batteries is that the 20V Max batteries are as different from the 18V batteries as other brands’ li-ion batteries are. The 20V Max batteries and tools were designed to be completely independent of the 18V system.
Regarding the “smartness” of the tools, when the 20V Max tools were first released an engineer mentioned that the tools log information about usage habits. Collected data can with troubleshooting at service centers and aid in future product development. I don’t recall whether this was in regard to testing prototypes or production models, but since “service” was mentioned it might have been in regard to production models.
skfarmer
stuart, i have a tremendous amount of respect for you but your response sounds like a dewalt canned answer.
i think jerry from the comment above gets it. we are being taken to the cleaners on 18 volt batteries. if the 20 v max has all of this smart features like you say they would not be cheaper than the 18 volt. i think users would spend almost as much on adapter as a battery. certainly more than the 30 dollars he mentioned.
Stuart
I’m just trying to look at things from an outside POV and with focus on what’s practical and what’s not.
Dewalt hasn’t given any explanation in the past, just a brief mention that there won’t be any 18V-20V Max adapters.
Yes, my arguments tend to excuse and and explain Dewalt’s actions (and inactions), but it’s my honest stance. I’ve tried not to make a big deal out of it, but I’m still in no mood to do Dewalt’s marketing team any favors.
In other words, I would LOVE to lambast Dewalt and say that there’s no adapter b/c they want to instead squeeze every penny out of their users as they can, but that’s not how I feel. Just like I won’t unfairly exalt or praise a brand when feelings are good, I won’t bash them when the feelings are bad.
DEWALT GUY
We have no plans of phasing out 18V, it is the most successful and longest running battery platform in tool history. We are actually adding tools to the platform with the introduction of our compact radio(DCR018) and the new cordless vacuum(DCV580) which take both 18V and 20V MAX packs to power them. As we always do, we will let our customers and end users tell us when the time is right to step away from 18V and that will probably be a very long time before that happens.
OhioHead
I can only speculate with my comments………..DeWalt for years used the fact against their completion was the fact “was” the competition changed their battery pack style (stick, 1 +,slide, etc) while the voltage increased over the years, DeWalt did 1 migration (stick to +1) years ago and stuck with the + 1system for over a decade, when others did not.
DeWalt missed the upgrade to Lion (any buddy remember “nano” (based off of A123?)) MKE, Makita, Bosch all switched battery tech platforms without changing interface styles (slide vs 1 up) or did without much fanfare because they had less users…..you have to remember during this time that DeWalt lost a ton of product managers to MKE with TTI hiring Joe Galli……..DeWalt (in my opinion ate major crow with a battery platform style change without having new cool tools en que like MKE did)
Just my $0.02 worth…..
OhioHead
Sorry folks didn’t catch all my grammar errors……hope you get the “sense” of my post…..the # of ex B/D & DeWalt folks @ TTI/MKE tells the tale……
Sandersonville
Coming from behind with a Li-ion tool lineup in comparison to Milwaukee, I think the biggest thing Dewalt could do now to retain existing customers such as myself would be to release their product road map. I have an extensive collection of Dewalt 18v tools and batteries and am looking to upgrade many of them and will be buying into a single Li-ion system. Lately I’ve purchased a large and ever increasing number of Milwaukee’s M12 tools and batteries and have been extremely… extremely happy with them. I’ve also been extremely happy with my current Dewalt 18v tools however have no idea what the future holds for 20V MAX if I were to start purchasing into that ecosystem today. With Milwaukee there are no uncertainties in their M18 line and I’m sure Dewslt will eventually catch up, I just don’t want to be waiting 2 years to but new tools for them to do that!
If I knew Dewalt was coming out with a desiresble number of new 20V MAX tools in the next 0-6 months, I would likely hold off purchasing a few new M18 tools I’ve had my eyes on knowing I can soon get them in yellow . Once I have 4 or 5 tools and a collection of batteries, I’ve committed to and bought into an ecosystem and will continue purchasing into that line of products for a long time to come as I did previously with Dewalt’s 18v tools.
Throw some M18 Fuel recip/circ saws, and a couple Fuel drill/impacts into my toolbox and there will be no going back. I could be an impulsive trip to Home Depot away from a new favorite color and have already started donating some of my 18v tools to make room for the new. What say you Dewalt?
Anyone notice how a lot of the tools seen on HGTV shows and the like have recently gone from yellow to red!
Jerry
Thing is, you can buy lithium batteries from DeWalt, that fit the old 18v tools, you just need to get the Li charger to recharge them.
My thoughts are that an adapter to use the 20v battery on the 18v tools would be fairly popular, but I read something about circuitry in some maker’s batteries that ‘talk’ to the tool, so to speak. Perhaps the new 20v batts have such circuitry that would cause them to not work efficiently with the old tools, and adapters, to have the circuitry would have to be tool specific, requiring a different one for each tool. No idea if true, but just speculating on maybe why it doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
industry
Most of the new dewalt lithium tools are the same old tools with new batteries.
like engine,gearbox,housing,parts,same torque and power.
They are currently losing market share where i live.
Mark
Li-ion battery technology is not new…and there is a real reason for dewalt to moderize thier tool line. You still have the great quality that Dewalt always puts in their tools but you don’t see Ford making factory 1970’s cars. Your going to replace your milwaki or mikita 2 or 3 times as the Dewalt still troops on and thats the truth. I left the XRP for weight…not function, ripped threw 3 mikitas in a year before tossing them to the side and going back to the same XRP. They are still great tools but do not touch the 12/20v line.
In all I want Dewalt to discontinue the 18v dinos and push the new better 20/12v line of tools. I want more of um…and will be better priced with out the geezr 18v.
ole Bat
The comment about niMH etc “optimized” for new LED lights is likely inaccurate; for years, basic filament bulbs worked with either, but rechargeables put out slightly lower voltage, so the bulbs were a bit dimmer, but might last longer. LEDs have a range for proper input, but are not likely to be affected much as long as the battery input is not completely off base.
All batteries typically are built up from cell combos which explains how the older types had discrete “steps” in available size/voltage. Lions are likely no different in power output, aside from voltage, and so could have easily been retro-designed to seamlessly run all older tools with a few solvable issues. The chargers may in fact have to be a bit different, but even so the cost to commercial users would have been far less than the cost for an entire new arsenal of tools (which incidentally noone will guarantee won’t be made obsolete next year by the next ‘breakthrough’), had the manufacturers taken this route and created new batteries compatible with previous tools.
Nicholas
They are going to release a new 18v grease gun soon.
alex dryden
i have cured my problem with my old school18 v dewalt tools
i bought a busted makita drill,charger+ 2 x 3ah li-ion batterys from a car boot sale for £30
i removed the internals from an old dewalt 18v nicad battery and cut the base of the handle off the makita drill and fitted it into the empty dewaly battery case and wired it up accordingly and the results were instantly noticable
as i have more powerfull and longer lasting li-ion batterys for my dewalt tools now with makita power batterys and quick charger
my 18v dewalt tools shall live on for many years to come
Charlie
I was considering unloading all of my non-Dewalt tools and buying Dewalt 18V versions so I can eliminate all the battery chargers and have one set of interchangeable batteries. So now when I see the 20V Max line is replacing the 18V line, you know exactly what I’m going to do — nothing. So it’s a lost opportunity for Dewalt in my case.
David
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBehZbptnCw – same battery
Stuart
No, they’re not.
Dewalt 18V stem-style batteries are physically incompatible with their 20V Max and 18V XR battery packs.
dan
hopefully there will be an adapter to solve the problem:
http://youtu.be/H7WAmsNcSfI?t=5m40s
ken
I could not give a s*$t all you have to do is open up the casing and go and buy cells (they are easily found) and replace the old ones, have done that for my wifes sw02 vacuum works even better than the original batteries
Wayne
The 18v platform will be phased out. The batteries will be supported for a non specific period of time. This support will be based on sell through and newer platform growth. There were over a 100 million batteries in the market but it is shrinking at 5-6% rate YOY.
There will be no adaptor for many reasons but one is platform scavenging.
Eric
Just so you all know. Dewalt’s so called 20V MAX is the exact same battery as 18V!!!!
It is just a marketing trick they’re using to make it look like it is more powerful than the 18V.
When your 18V battery is fresh off the charger it actually contains around a 20.3V charge. This is the same with every 18V battery out there, and the tools are designed to handle that extra 2-3 volts of charge when the battery is fresh off the charger.
Therefore porter cable, Dewalt etc are saying that their batteries are 20V MAX. For like 2 minutes of use, then the battery goes back to normal 18V.
Eric
I do understand that the actual connection and design of the battery differs, therefore the need of an adapter.
Karl
I was just wondering why Dewalt stopped making tools in the 12v line? Milwaukee and other tool companies have several more tools available in there 12v line. I really like Dewalt but may be forced to switch.
Stuart
I wish I knew.
They didn’t stop making new 12V Max tools, it’s just that expansion of the lineup is very, very, very slow.
John
The Dewalt 12V Screwdriver (DCF610) is one of my favorite tools in my garage. I use it very often doing woodworking, especially with pocket hole joinery. I think it’s the last 12v tool they still make. Maybe there’s a 3/8 drill out there too.
Yet when I need to tighten up a screw somewhere in the house, or drill a quick pilot hole, the 12V screwdriver is the first tool I grab. It’s perfect and lightweight.
dave
There’s really no reason for a 12V line to exist, it’s all marketing because consumers can’t understand the finer details.
There is no reason a compact, lightweight tool that some want as 12V, can’t be made as 18V instead and take both the high capacity batteries, the regular low capacity batteries, or even have a super light and small new battery for the weight weenies that demand small size and weight, using 14500 cells instead of 18650 or 18500 cells.
They could make all the packs interchangeable with all the tools and chargers. Yes a small pack would give poor performance to a larger tool, but anyone who can’t figure that out, is the last person who should try to demand a 12V set based on pseudo-merits.
On the other hand, customer choice is good, so even if their reasons are misguided, if enough people want to buy into the 12V myth to make it profitable for a manufacturer, let them exploit that space and those clueless buyers so long as everyone is happy.
Hilario
The 18v line stinks. When 20v came out, all you 18v guys should have started phasing out those garbage tools. If you kept buying them when it was clear they’re old technology than that’s your fault. I think dealt has done plenty to keep you guys in the loop. Fair warning is fair play.
Jacob D.V
You have no idea what u r talking about… 18v is the exact same as 20v MAX
Do your research on the difference… and u will realize it is nothing more than marketing mumbo jumbo.
Wayne
The 18V lithium battery by DeWalt has been gone for a year now. They have an 18V ni-cad as a replacement. I am not pleased with ni-cad performance but will need to go that route or replace my 18V tool. If the ni-cad’s last a year, perhaps a better tool offering will be available then.
This is almost the same decision process when considering purchasing or repairing a TV, or PC.
Jacob D.V
Wayne u have no idea what u r talking about. 18v has to do with the pressure of the charge distributed between 5 battery cells. (3.6v x 5 cells = 18v) The type of battery has nothing to do with voltage. Also, 18v is not phased out – It is still alive and well, and being marketed by companies who stay true to the name. There is no such thing as 20v… only 20v MAX… which is the maximum voltage that an 18v battery pack can hold when fully charged (4×5=20v). The nominal voltage for both 18v and 20v max is 3.6v… totallying 18v.
20v max is nothing more than a marketing technique used by some companies to sell more tools.
Jacob D.V
18 v still going strong 5 years later. Unless you are tricked by the new 20v marketing gimmick, 18v is still the same as a 20v.
I axed all companies that label 20v… because they are labelled to deceive customers. Technically they have to label it 20v MAX, because the “max” charge of a 5 cell battery (both 18v and 20v) is 4v per cell (4×5=20v). However once a battery has been ignited it is no longer 4v. The nominal voltage per cell is technically 3.6v per cell (3.6×5=18v). This is the same for tools labelled 18v and 20v max.
20v max sounds like a big breakthrough compared to 18v… but it’s not… and these companies have made a boatload of people’s ignorance. The companies still labelling 18v (Milwuakee, Ryobi, Ridgid) are staying true…. and why I will continue to give my business only to them.
Btw, Dewalt is the most overrated, overpriced tools I have ever purchased. $400 driver/impact combo for ther brushless xr series, and it has less power, and less features than my Brushless Ryobi set that cost less than $200.
People arent buying the tool for the job, theyre buying the name on the tool.
HandyFrank
All these years later, 18V batteries are still being sold and my 18V tools are still going strong. Hard to justify a new 20V set when the 18V’s are still holding their own. I just bought a 2 pack of genuine Dewalt 18V batteries off of amazon for $70 on sale so my tools will be living on a few more solid years from that alone.
I would imagine eventually Dewalt will phase out the 18V batteries, but aftermarket ones will always be available if people want to keep their old tools alive.
Long live the 18V battery!
Jen
This is an old post that I stumbled upon, but there don’t seem to be many others on this topic. I was told at the hardware store today that the 18v battery was discontinued a year ago, and that what’s left in stock right now is that last that they’ll be. He also mentioned that if I took my old 18v tools into a DeWalt service centre, they’d exchange them for a refurbished one. Anyone know anything about this? My tools still work well (I just use them for the occasional home use), so I’d like to keep them as long as possible, but not beyond any exchange deadline if there is one.