Convert Power Tool Batteries From NiCad To Lithium Ion
jimmiem
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I have a DeWalt Drill and a DeWalt Impact Driver. Both are 12 volt and use NiCad Batteries. I rebuilt the battery packs a bunch of years ago and it looks like time for another rebuild. I’ve seen a lot of articles on converting the tools to Lithium Ion. Anybody do this? If so, can you point me in the right direction for buying the parts and instructions.
Thank You.
Replies
It probably is time to upgrade to 18 or 20 volt tools.. More power and less weight, and the number of tools available on the higher volt platforms will make the upgrade worthwhile.
Very dangerous. The Lithium Ion charging system is much more advanced (smart chargers) than NiCad, so that they aren't overcharged.--a very dangerous situation. Have you not read about the fires from Lithium batteries, even with correct chargers?
NiCAD batteries are best when used regularly and charged regularly.--properly cycling them. An electric shaver, for example, was a good use of them. A drill that's used infrequently by a homeowner isn't a good application for them. ..but you could always put new NiCads in if you really wanted to. Otherwise, strip that keyless chuck off for future use (maybe you have a corded drill) and properly dispose of the rest.
I bought the tools approximately 20 years ago. I rebuilt the battery packs about 10 years ago. Although they don't get regular use I do recharge them on a regular basis.....approximately every 3 months based on the non-use discharge rate. I was looking to rebuild them again but there are fewer sources for the rebuild kits. I saw some articles on the Lithium conversion and was curious about it. I also see that NiMh is being used as a replacement for NiCads. The NiMh will fit my tools but my charger is for NiCds only. So my choices seem to be dump the tools, buy a NiMh charger and get NiMh batteries, or keep looking for NiCds.
Yes, I have seen the Lithium Ion fire problems and would not do any modifications unless I throughly felt I knew what I was doing.....like working on a Microwave.
Lots of NiCad batteries on Amazon. Each cell is only 1.2V. You'd need 10 of the right size. Solder them together... That gets a bit steep. Here in Canada, we can get a new 20V Dewalt drill, a driver, 2 1.3 Ahr batteries and charger for about $150 CAD regular price and much less when heavily discounted. I have a theory that they get you onto their "cordless system" at a loss and then you keep buying the rest of their brand of cordless tools. I'm a cheap SOB but even I wouldn't be bothered rebuilding those NiCads.