power tool battery cross compatibility

[91stranger]

So I'm hoping to get a lot of replies on this topic. Me and a friend were trying to see what batteries will work with other brands. I have a few 20v stuff that he doesn't have so I brought a battery over to see if it would work with anything he had. It didn't, but I'm sure there's some peeps on here who know what tools are interchangeable. I can post pics of the batteries I have if people want to get serious about this. There's SOOO much 20v stuff anymore there's got to be a few that are interchangeable. I've read about a few online like black and decker fitting craftsman or something like that. I know you can BUY a conversion that changes the old 18v dewalts to the new slide in style batteries but that's a horse of a different color and not what I am talking about. I'm wanting to know what batteries and if mods are needed like re-wiring or filing tabs down. I figured by now there would be an awesome cross reference site for this but there is not one that I found to be worth while. I have 18v dewalt stuff (older stem style), 20v earthquake (harbor freight), 20v hyper tough (Walmart), 18v Chicago electric (old maroon/yellow harbor freight tools). I will get pics tonight of the batteries and post them if people want to do the same.

 

[PacificGreen1998]

Dewalt and Portecable are one in the same company, portercable is just a poor man's DeWalt cuz DeWalt owns last I checked Portercable, I've always figured since the battery tabs and connecting mechanism look similar they may be interchangeable....hopefully someone else adds to this thread.

 

[Dirtman]

Lots of tools use the same voltage 18-20 volts. But I've never seen any 2 companies offer the same connection. Even the same company will often change their battery connection style over the years essentially for no other reason than to get you to buy new tools.

Dewalt is one that has kept the same battery connection while upgrading battery type (nicad to lithium) over the years which is why I am a dewalt fan. Even their new 20 volt batteries work on the old 18 volt tools since they make an adapter for them.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Ryobi is the only battery that has truly stayed the same since inception. They are a decent make, and have a very wide range of tools. Their drill and impact are top notch. Some other tools not so much. The small lithium ion batteries are junk, but their 4.0Ah batteries are great.
I seen people online that make their own adapters from dead batteries.

 

[91stranger]

I'm well aware of adapters and how to make adapters. Just wanted to see if anyone knew of any cross breeds that work with one another. Obviously you wouldn't want to charge a battery with a different MFG charger but I've read about a few tools that are compatible without any mods and then there are some that require minor mods like filing tabs down. I figured the plethora of mechanics with powers tools on here had some input. Dewalt batteries fit some Ryobi stuff. We had a Ryobi nailer that we could put a dewalt battery in when the Ryobi battery died.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Dewalt batteries fit some Ryobi stuff. We had a Ryobi nailer that we could put a dewalt battery in when the Ryobi battery died.

That's cool to know. I guessing that was awhile ago as deWalt has changed their battery profile. I will have to try that with some old deWalt batteries.

 

[Tanman]

So has anyone else provided cross compatible batteries?? I'm really trying to find anything to fit my Chicago Electric 18V! Please help. I think HF discontinued the wireless tool sets/ batteries..

 

[Dirtman]

I was at ace today and saw a bunch of dewalt adapters. Ryobi, Milwaukee, and black and decker....

 

[Suede wilson]

I've had a porter cable battery and drill for the longest time without a charger. One day found a Black & Decker charger at Walmart on a huge discount, the pin layout was the same. All I have to do was shave down the plastic on the battery just enough to get it to fit on the charger and it works

 

[Suede wilson]

I want to know if I can take the hyper tough battery I have open it up and switch it inside the shell of the Black & Decker and get that to work though

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I've see many adapters on fleabay. Got one for my old style makita circular saw so that it accepts their 18V current batteries. Works great!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

For the most part, batteries don’t interchange among manufacturers, there is a rare few that do, but mostly they don’t. Better off using adapters if you want to go that route because it’s safer. If you have to change the pin out of a battery pack, now you can’t use the original battery charger unless you modify that, then what happens if you forget and use a non modded with a modded…

 

[4x4prepper]

> I'm really trying to find anything to fit my Chicago Electric 18V!

You used to be able to take the red button packs and adapt them to the yellow button packs. There are basically no converters for the HF stuff.

On many of the newer battery packs, they communicate with the tool, to manage power and heat levels. Using DRM they make it just about impossible to swap one battery pack to another line of tools without risking inferior performance or a melt down. HackAday featured a few articles about people defeating the DRM to rebuild packs, but, defeating the DRM to use another OEM's (lithium Li-Po) battery in your tool, pretty much impossible. I noticed on the HF 80V Atlas batteries I took apart to check them out that they slathered the circuit board in epoxy so it can not be cloned as easy.

I noticed when repairing a Dewalt Type 1 18V charger last week for a friend that the circuit board had a clearly laid out connector for a communications header, I doubt they have that in any of the newer chargers.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

> I'm really trying to find anything to fit my Chicago Electric 18V!

You used to be able to take the red button packs and adapt them to the yellow button packs. There are basically no converters for the HF stuff.

On many of the newer battery packs, they communicate with the tool, to manage power and heat levels. Using DRM they make it just about impossible to swap one battery pack to another line of tools without risking inferior performance or a melt down. HackAday featured a few articles about people defeating the DRM to rebuild packs, but, defeating the DRM to use another OEM's (lithium Li-Po) battery in your tool, pretty much impossible. I noticed on the HF 80V Atlas batteries I took apart to check them out that they slathered the circuit board in epoxy so it can not be cloned as easy.

I noticed when repairing a Dewalt Type 1 18V charger last week for a friend that the circuit board had a clearly laid out connector for a communications header, I doubt they have that in any of the newer chargers.

Ugh find a trashcan. I'm a tool snob. I won't even buy Ryobi or Rigid, which are fine, but crude compared to modern name brand options. HF brand are meant for trash after one time use breakage. Hence the price. The only thing I buy from HF is tarps or furniture dollies. It's sad because a badass name brand tool that would work ten times better isn't even twice as much, yet majority of people would rather save a buck and just struggle the whole time with a crappy tool doing a crappy job. Milwaukee even sells battery case rebuild kits should you damage the exterior of an otherwise good battery pack.

 

[ZMan]

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.
EDIT: Batteries plus doesn't rebuild lithium ion batteries I learned last year! (2023). Had to toss my craftsman 19.2 batteries and go aftermarket.

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.