power tool battery cross compatibility

[lil_Blue_Ford]

honestly if you've got tools with dead batteries that are discontinued, take the battery to a place that will rebuild them.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/ does exactly that.

This whole thread is why I only buy Milwaukee for work. Even snapon has gone and changed their battery tools and screwed everyone up that had already bought them.

I have a bunch of Craftsman 19.2v stuff at home that luckily still works, bought the lithium batteries 7 years ago and they've held up well. I'll rebuild them when they finally die.

I ended up giving the Craftsman 19.2 stuff that still worked to dad that I had, he uses it in his wood shop and projects. My trim saw detonated (literally broke around the bearing for the blade shaft) and the sawzall overheats and locks up if you use it for more than a minute or two at a time. I had a few drills, hammerdrill, light, and a couple impacts. I replaced everything with Milwaukee.

 

[ZMan]

I ended up giving the Craftsman 19.2 stuff that still worked to dad that I had, he uses it in his wood shop and projects. My trim saw detonated (literally broke around the bearing for the blade shaft) and the sawzall overheats and locks up if you use it for more than a minute or two at a time. I had a few drills, hammerdrill, light, and a couple impacts. I replaced everything with Milwaukee.

I had a drill and circular saw, then bought a bunch of stuff on marketplace for $40. Then was given a few more things by friends. The drill and half inch impact have been really useful, but I only use them at home. I'll only use milwaukee at work because they truly are the best.

 

[Ranger850]

I've got DeWalt, Rigid, Ryobi, Kobalt, Hyper Tough, B&D, and a few other brands of rechargeable batteries. The other day I ran into a situation where the batteries I had charged were NOT for the tool I needed. I looked at 5 or 6 different brands and each one seemed to be different enough to NOT cross over to other brands. The Ryobi Looks like the old DeWalt style but I don't have any of the old Dewalt tools to check. I've got chargers for batteries I don't even have anymore. I have a problem with throwing things away.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Ryobi and old deWalt dont interchange.
I'm a ryobi user, only because they were the only manufacturer at the time that would sell a tool by itself. The drill and impact driver is what I use the most, and are great. Some of their stuf is crap, some is OK, and some is really good. And I think they have the broadest range of tools of any manufacturer. And the tools I bought 25 years ago still use the some battery packaging as the newest tool sold today. Their battery technology is on par with all the others too.

 

[4x4prepper]

The only problem I really had with the HF red button tools was that the charger did not automatically shut off and nukes batteries. So, I had to put the charger on a timer (2 hours). For about <$75.00 I bought (3) drills, (2) flashlights, (3) chargers, (3) batteries. They made me money!

I bought the Ryobi package deal for $139. The sawzall was worth the price, I used the sawzall with a metal cutting blade last weekend to cut through a 3" axle tube (1/4" wall) with some oil so I could fit a log splitter frame, 16" high x 9 feet long into my rented U-Haul trailer. When in the middle of nowhere with no 120v electric, having that Ryobi car charger is big plus. I had considered Milwaukee, but, the charger alone was $120 from HD for their 18v/12v stuff.

 

[Shran]

I have some of the Milwaukee M18/DeWalt 20v to DeWalt 18v adapters that are sold on Amazon and eBay under various brands - think the ones I have are Waitley. They work fine and really bring some life back into my old 18v tools.... BUT... do NOT use them on high demand tools! Angle grinder in particular, circular saw and sawzall maybe as well... the adapter will get hot and melt inside the tool!

For what it's worth, Milwaukee is expensive, but Home Depot and a couple other companies have stupid good deals if you are patient. For example they recently had the M12 Fuel Hackzall kit for $179, plus a free rotary tool, plus another free tool. So I ended up selling the battery and one rotary tool for $80, the hackzall kit for $100, and kept the second rotary tool - basically got it for free. Slickdeals.com has been my go-to resource for finding deals like that, you just have to be ready to jump on them within a very short period of time.

 

[mikkelstuff]

I've had my Milwaukee sawzall 18V battery pack die. I did buy a replacement but then disassembled the dead battery pack out of curiosity. The pack contains ten lithium 18650 3.6V batteries (18mm by 65mm) and only one is dead - will not hold a charge.

I wanted to replace just the single dead 18650 but geez all I've found cost about half the price of an entire replacement battery pack!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So awhile back I had a chat with a Milwaukee rep who explained things to me. Milwaukee owns Rigid and Ryobi. Ryobi is basically “homeowner” grade and has the most tools but not the best technology. Rigid is the entry level contractor grade and as such the tool selection is pretty limited but it’s cheaper than Milwaukee. Milwaukee is the flagship/pro grade. Best tools, best tech, more variety than Rigid but not quite as many tool options as Ryobi typically.

As Milwaukee had the tools I was really interested in and the quality, that’s what I started replacing my aging Craftsman’s with. I try to snag sales and clearance and stuff as much as possible, but it’s still expensive. But what I can do with those tools is valuable to me too.

 

[superj]

i no longer do anything that requires contractor grad tools so harbor freight tools last me 4 to 5 years. i might build a fence, about 12 feet at a time, or cut some pipe, but thats it

when i did construction, we used only milwaukee or porter cable saws and drills.

 

[4x4prepper]

> I try to snag sales and clearance and stuff as much as possible,

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