OT: DEFECTIVE Dewalt 20v batteries...cases cracking.

david n · Jun 13, 2021

Slowly phasing out the ol 18v stuff..............I have maybe 5 or so 20v batteries and all but one is cracked and falling apart...............WTH? They range from 2 AH to 5 AH units ..............................Some have only been used a few times................... plastic seems to be very brittle.............Talk about junk. I'll be calling Dewalt to see if there's any way they can replace them. They are definitely defective ......................Any one else have issues with this? I'm pretty PO'd.............if they don't make it right(I doubt they will), all my yellow junk goes in the trash and I'll switch over to Milwaukee or Makita or ?................................

Bill D · Jun 13, 2021

I thought they have free lifetime guarantee on batteries.
Bill D

L Vanice · Jun 13, 2021

Bill D said:
I thought they have free lifetime guarantee on batteries.
Bill D

Some years ago, I had a rather new DeWalt 18 V NiCad set off the failure flashing alert on the charger. I called their customer service and was told the date code had to be within a certain age for them to replace it. I forgot exactly what he said now, but they did replace one battery. I have had plenty of other DeWalt NiCad batteries fail, but they all lasted several years.

I have bought a couple of Chinese 14.4 and 18 V NiCad battery copies on eBay and they seem to last OK. But I dropped the14.4 V drill onto carpet once and the housing of the Chinese battery broke. I don't think I ever dropped one of the DeWalt batteries, so I can't say if they are equally fragile.

I have not had any trouble with my DeWalt 18 V Lithium batteries. I did have a B&D (same company as DeWalt) 40 V lithium battery stop taking a charge.

This DeWalt 20 V Lithium battery has a 3 year warranty, probably typical of that product line. 20V MAX* Oil-Resistant 2.0Ah Battery - DCB203G | DEWALT

Around here, we are supposed to take bad batteries and electronic devices to a recycling facility, not toss them in the trash.

Larry

Garwood · Jun 13, 2021

I haven't had that problem, but I recently disassembled a few 4000 bushel grain bins. I went armed with my assorted 20V dewalt impact guns with 6 extra batteries and two friends brought their newer Milwaukee cordless tools.

The Milwaukee tools had DOUBLE the torque of my Dewalt stuff and they both went all day on the battery they started with.

I went through 6 batteries in the first 3 hours and switched to corded tools while the Dewalt batteries charged.

I also brought two chargers with me. One charger died while I was there.

So, I will not be buying any more dewalt tools. IMO, they suck enough to cut my losses.

On a regular basis I find the ambient temp in my shop is too hot or two cold for the Dewalt batteries to function and or charge. I have to keep the batteries and chargers in my temp controlled office or they won't work. My buddies shop is just like mine and his Milwaukee tools always work great.

idacal · Jun 13, 2021

I was a makita fan didn't have a whole lot of tools though. I just didn't like battery tools. one of my guys brought his milwaukee impact to work it outworked my wore out air impacts no problem and my makita tools wernt even in the same ball park. I switched over to the Milwaukee's (have to make sure you dont buy the box store ones did that with one of the grinders it would barely caress paint off of metal) have an impact and grinder in each of the work trucks with an auto charger it makes life a lot easier. if a lot of grinding will pull out the corded grinder but one or 2 cuts to clean up the batterie grinder works okay. impacts I have only had to use the 1" air gun once or twice since I got them

david n · Jun 13, 2021

All five are cracked.................One 5 AH batt came with a cordless weed whipper, bought a year ago.............cracked...................two 5 AH batts came with a drill, bought about 16 months ago.............both cracked...................two 2 AH batts came with a drill & 1/4 impact combo, bought 6 months ago........both cracked. Looks like Duwalt has a 3 yr warranty on the batts................we'll see what they do come Monday................... :rolleyes5:

I have heard from a few heavy mechanics that most of the Milwaukee toys are the most reliable(ish)..................

eKretz · Jun 13, 2021

I probably have 8 or 10 DeWalt 20V batteries, none are cracked. I am generally a little more gentle with my tools than most people I've seen. I always set mine down gently, never drop them.

I have a couple Milwaukee tools also, they are good in my book

Gordon Heaton · Jun 13, 2021

Mine have been fine for 5 years or so, but like eKretz says, I don't drop or toss my cordless tools! By the way, 20V Max batteries and tools are still 18V units. Its just an advertising ploy as that's what they measure right after being topped on the charger. Sort of like the 6hp shop vac from a 15A 120V circuit. Pure gimmick.

Big B · Jun 13, 2021

Gordon Heaton said:
Mine have been fine for 5 years or so, but like eKretz says, I don't drop or toss my cordless tools! By the way, 20V Max batteries and tools are still 18V units. Its just an advertising ploy as that's what they measure right after being topped on the charger. Sort of like the 6hp shop vac from a 15A 120V circuit. Pure gimmick.

I have a ton of DeWalt 18 volt tools. I have been using mostly 18 volt DeWalt batteries in them but as they have been failing I've tried a couple of other things. I ordered a lithium ion chicom battery and it was great. So I ordered a couple more of them and a few month later one of them failed. No sign of the seller anymore so no warranty.

I just ordered a couple of DeWalt 20 volt batteries with an adapter to use in most of my 18 volt tools. So far I haven't seen any cracks but I haven't used them much yet so don't have much history on those. I will be keeping an eye on this thread with great interest too.

partsproduction · Jun 15, 2021

As freaked out as the gov't seems to be about freight and disposal of Li-on batteries we might think there would be higher standards, but there is huge money being made fulfilling our demand for bad batteries. So when everyone sells batteries that may or may not work or hold up we the "Marks" begin to think they are very hard to make right so they work and keep working.

Our diminished expectations justify the whole scam. Was (Is?) it planned? I've owned many different brands and have always been disappointed eventually, and always on that one failure point, batteries.

The laws of supply and demand should fix this but it may be made more complex because it seems like every year there is a new contender for battery confidence, NiCad now to Lithium Ion and huge amounts of R&D ongoing.
We love them though because we don't have to run a cord.

gregormarwick · Jun 15, 2021

If all your batteries are cracked, have you checked the condition of the cells?

LiIon cells can swell if overcharged. Never seen it on a cordless tool, but it's a reasonably significant problem in phones and laptops.

There might be a problem with your charger.

MilGunsmith · Jun 15, 2021

partsproduction said:
As freaked out as the gov't seems to be about freight and disposal of Li-on batteries we might think there would be higher standards, but there is huge money being made fulfilling our demand for bad batteries. So when everyone sells batteries that may or may not work or hold up we the "Marks" begin to think they are very hard to make right so they work and keep working.

Our diminished expectations justify the whole scam. Was (Is?) it planned? I've owned many different brands and have always been disappointed eventually, and always on that one failure point, batteries.

The laws of supply and demand should fix this but it may be made more complex because it seems like every year there is a new contender for battery confidence, NiCad now to Lithium Ion and huge amounts of R&D ongoing.
We love them though because we don't have to run a cord.

The Home Depot brand, Rigid, claims a lifetime battery replacement guarantee. Has anyone tried it? Might be the way to go for next tool, although I still have lots of old DeWalt 12v an old 18v tools.

jaguar36 · Jun 15, 2021

gregormarwick said:
If all your batteries are cracked, have you checked the condition of the cells?

LiIon cells can swell if overcharged. Never seen it on a cordless tool, but it's a reasonably significant problem in phones and laptops.

There might be a problem with your charger.

I've never heard of anyone else's Dewalt batteries cracking like that. I've even seen someone drop them off a ladder without breaking. To have all of yours crack, particularly in the middle of the battery like that, I'd certainly be looking at the charger, or they all got severely overheated at once or perhaps exposed to some weird chemical that embrittled the plastic.

Milwaukee seems like they make the best cordless tools these days, and they have a huge range on both their 18v and 12v tools. Sadly they are not only all made in China, but Milwaukee is a Chinese company too now.

BT Fabrication · Jun 15, 2021

MilGunsmith said:
The Home Depot brand, Rigid, claims a lifetime battery replacement guarantee. Has anyone tried it? Might be the way to go for next tool, although I still have lots of old DeWalt 12v an old 18v tools.

I have ridgid, I don't quite care for them, and actually getting a battery warrenty is a pain in the ass, its never easy, i just changed brands to milwaukee, 10X better for everything. and i drop things from 8+ ft etc. im still surprioed the ridgid held up, even being left in the rain etc. just the torque has died off on the old stuff and kills the batteries too fast.

Homebrewblob · Jun 15, 2021

My dewalt stuff has been fine, it’s apples to oranges comparing brands.

The multi tool packs you buy (saw,drill,light,impact kit) have lower grade tools then the stand alone “tool only” tools.

Check the model number on the specific tool in question for the real story.

My dewalt impacts would smoke the Milwaukee impacts we had but my buddy had a brand new Milwaukee impact that smoked all out used tools red and yellow.

Age on the tool and battery really slows them down.

And for the cases? I’ve seen literally EVERY brand battery case crack on job sites. (Red,yellow,orange,blue,green)

Just but a China battery CASE for your battery online and pack your guts into it.

The marketing BS is annoying and convoluted

crossthread · Jun 15, 2021

You might want to look at Metabo. I have tossed all my other junk and this is all I buy now. They are really nice.

SRT Mike · Jun 15, 2021

We have dozens of the Dewalt 12V batteries at work being used on screw guns and small drills to load parts in fixtures. I think just about every single battery is cracked. I've never seen anyone actually drop one but the batteries just fall apart. I have no idea what is going on but I agree 100% there is something defective about them. I started buying the red and black knockoffs from Amazon and haven't had a single one of them break yet. So it HAS to be the OEM batteries from Dewalt that are the problem if knockoff Chinese ones don't break under the exact same conditions.

MilGunsmith · Jun 16, 2021

SRT Mike said:
We have dozens of the Dewalt 12V batteries at work being used on screw guns and small drills to load parts in fixtures. I think just about every single battery is cracked. I've never seen anyone actually drop one but the batteries just fall apart. I have no idea what is going on but I agree 100% there is something defective about them. I started buying the red and black knockoffs from Amazon and haven't had a single one of them break yet. So it HAS to be the OEM batteries from Dewalt that are the problem if knockoff Chinese ones don't break under the exact same conditions.

How do those red & black knockoffs hold up for charge length? I bought some knock off 18V Dewalt copies and the charge only seems to last half as long.

RC Mech · Jun 16, 2021

MilGunsmith said:
The Home Depot brand, Rigid, claims a lifetime battery replacement guarantee. Has anyone tried it? Might be the way to go for next tool, although I still have lots of old DeWalt 12v an old 18v tools.

Rigid will replace batteries but you must register the tool on their website referencing the receipt when you bought it. There is a limited window to register the tool. Their Canadian support is terrible FWIW.

DrHook · Jun 16, 2021

I have decided the only thing worse than the chucks on a F'n Dewalt drill is their batteries.

OT: DEFECTIVE Dewalt 20v batteries...cases cracking.

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Diamond; Mod Squad

Titanium

Diamond

Titanium

Diamond

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Titanium

Stainless

Titanium

Stainless

Stainless

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Similar threads