Dewalt battery question.

Looking at a Dewalt cordless impact and it is $60 more for the Li-ion batteries over the Ni-Cd batteries. The 1/2 wrench comes with charger and two batteries and says it is rated at 300ft/lbs. Is the Li-ion worth the extra coin? Thanks for any information.

If you are an intermittent user and not making a direct living with it, I would think not. On the other hand the Lithium bats will out perform the NiCad by almost twice in operating time, and charge faster as well. Your call. Jim

Lithium batteries hold the charge better than Nicad and they are also lighter in weight. They are a better battery by far.

I vote for the lithium ion. Have an older dewalt set with standard batteries and a bosch impact set with the lithium ion. While I use these on sites, they are my punchlist tools and as such see intermittent use. Sometimes once a week, sometimes several times a week. Or maybe not at all that week. But, every time I reach for the bosch, it"s got good charge and is ready to go. The dewalt - usually dead or close.

Tony

The other posters have described Nickel Cadmium vs Lithium Ion as well as it can be stated.

NiCad chargers won't charge LiIo batteries and vice versa. If you'll be getting another similar tool in the future, charger clutter can be reduced by choosing one battery type and sticking with it.

You seem willing to turn loose of the $60, so I vote Lithium Ion.

The 18v Makita 'hybrid' is my first LiIo and was bought about a year ago. It's a combo drill/impact driver/hammer drill. The Hitachi 12v impact was bought 2004 - great NiCad battery performance, just recently had them rebuilt. Other cordless drills and impacts going back to the '80's are all 12v B&D before they turned DeWalt yaller, and 12v Dewalt's which batteries interchange with the B&D's. Great NiCad battery performance with them, too.

Before that, a couple of 9.6v Makita's - they weren't much and are long since retired.

Thanks for all the information. I do already have some other 18v dewalt tools and I have two Ni-Cd batteries but it does seem they don't hold charge as well as they use to, and I figure this impact wrench takes quite a bit of juice. Pricing out the Li batteries and chargers and it seems it would be cheaper to buy a tool that comes with them than to buy them separtately. I could use my old Ni batteries and charger for back up or sell them. Thanks again for the information.

I don't have a dog in this dog fight, but check out Milwaukee warranty on line. Couple years back they gave life time even on cordless batteries.

Tip of the day that I paid to learn - Iffinn you have a low or possible bad batteries - charge for only two minutes and test the voltage. Must read at least or more than the voltage marked on the battery - if not battery is bad - trying to charge a bad battery will destroy the charger - free to you.

(quoted from post at 02:37:35 04/02/11)
NiCad chargers won't charge LiIo batteries and vice versa. If you'll be getting another similar tool in the future, charger clutter can be reduced by choosing one battery type and sticking with it.

Click to expand...

From the DeWalt website,

Product Features•DC9180 18V XRP™ Li-Ion Battery Pack is compatible with DEWALT® 18 Volt tools
•XRP™ Li-Ion extended run-time battery provides long run-time & battery life
•Lightweight design- 1.5 lbs; same weight as an 12V NiCd battery
•No memory and virtually no self-discharge for maximum productivity and less downtime
•DC9310 Charger Charges all DEWALT® 7.2V - 18V NiCd/NiMH/Li-Ion batteries (except Univolt batteries) so users need only one charger for multiple cordless products

I'd go with Li-Ion, for the extra performance. HTH. Mark

I have almost all the De Walt tools in the 18 volt series, none are the Li. The biggest reason I chose not to go for the extra is my tools are often high in the air, and subject to going to ground level and bouncing at any given moment.

You will like the impact, other than the revering trigger, and forwrd trigger are backward in my opinion.

(quoted from post at 04:40:21 04/02/11)

(quoted from post at 02:37:35 04/02/11)
NiCad chargers won't charge LiIo batteries and vice versa. If you'll be getting another similar tool in the future, charger clutter can be reduced by choosing one battery type and sticking with it.

Click to expand...

From the DeWalt website,

Product Features•DC9180 18V XRP™ Li-Ion Battery Pack is compatible with DEWALT® 18 Volt tools
•XRP™ Li-Ion extended run-time battery provides long run-time & battery life
•Lightweight design- 1.5 lbs; same weight as an 12V NiCd battery
•No memory and virtually no self-discharge for maximum productivity and less downtime
•DC9310 Charger Charges all DEWALT® 7.2V - 18V NiCd/NiMH/Li-Ion batteries (except Univolt batteries) so users need only one charger for multiple cordless products

I'd go with Li-Ion, for the extra performance. HTH. Mark

Click to expand...

An old lesson relearned for the umpteenth time: never assume without first doing vast and extensive research.

It's been a long while since reading they weren't interchangeable and I assumed it was universal.

Another assumption not to make is that all battery-type chargers and batteries are interchangeable.

From the DeWalt 18v cordless trim gun manual:

Take it apart and reverse the wire from the switch to the motor and that will reverse the switch / rotation. Can't do it ahead of the switch because the battery plugs directly into the switch base.

I've had dewalt 18v tools for 15 years. You couldn't give me an XRP NiCd battery. They won't last, junk! I have Li batteries, which require a different charger. This charger will charge Li ion, NiCd and Ni metal. Li batteries weigh less and don't have the punch that a Ni metal has. It is difficult to tell when a Li battery is running on empty, it just quits. I purchased my Ni metal battery on ebay. At the time dewalt didn't sell Ni metal batteries. I think you can get a Ni metal battery with shipping for around $70. Ni metal batteries are used in Hybrid cars. Li batteries are used in cell phones. I'm lucky to get 3 years on a cell phone battery. I use my tools almost every day, drills, grinders, impacts, saws, sawsall. Haven't had any of the newer batteries for 3 years, but I can tell you they hold their charge and seem to be as good as the day I bought them. I tend to think the Ni metal battery may be the better battery in the long run. It will hold up longer in the saw and sawsall than the Li ion. The dewalt charger you need are only around $30 on ebay.

I like dewalts tools, just don't like the XRP NiCd.

George