It is a great solution for using an 18V battery in a 20V drill machine. Most batteries and chargers are separately available. If you have many tools, you will need to buy several battery packs related to tool requirements. But if you can interchange and use what an amazing idea. There are ways that you can know properly after referring to this guide.
18V Drill batteries can be used in 20V drills easily using an adaptor. Any kind of 18V battery can be used with interchanging brands such as Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Bosch, and Blac and Decker, except RYOBI. As well as Ni-Cd batteries can be used for Li-Ion batteries using the adaptor.
DeWALT manufactures 20V batteries. It is a general question to use those with interchange. There are ways to use an 18V battery in a 20V drill using special adaptors. You can buy it in the market. Let’s see what kinds of adaptors available in the market and what is the effect of that. So let’s read on!
What is the Difference Between Dewalt 18V and 20V Drill Batteries?
Dewalt is one of the leading manufacturers of power tools. They produce types of drills, and drivers are the main product that they do. Cordless drill batteries are with 18V and 20V different voltages. So we have to think about, is 2V matters? let me explain you all in detail.
Normally 18V battery is 10% below the 20V battery. Therefore there is no slight difference in their power when it uses. 20V batteries are sold in the USA, and 18V batteries are sold in out of the USA. Simply in the USA, they call it 20V Max. In Europe, it’s called 18V XR.
So let’s check the true fact behind this,
Normally battery pack comes with 5 batteries which are 3.6V nominal voltage. So you can have the 18V as below.
3.6V*5=18V
When it charges fully, it can have 4.0V per each. Therefore fully charged battery pack voltage is 20V.
4.0V*5 = 20V
But when you use this, suddenly it drops to 3.6V per each. That will remain, and 4.0 V will not remain in the battery. Therefore 20V battery is just a branding name and does not affect the performance of the tool. It is exactly 10% voltage difference.
When considering the DEWALT 20V MAX, DEWALT 20V XR, and DEWALT 20V ATOMIC are more compacted, and their weight has been reduced for usage. Some are optimized for the tool. These are not a bigger problem for the user.
Can You use DeWALT 18V Charger for 20V Battery?
Dewalt 18V charger (DCB105) can be used for charging the 20V battery. Although batteries are with different voltages, they can be charged by interchanging. You can use 20V (DCB101) charger for an 18V battery without any problem.
Although its branding is different, the final task is the same. You can use a charger as well as batteries with changing for the tools.
How to use Drill Batteries With Changing the Brands?
There are mostly 18V batteries are available in the market. Dewalt has 20V also. If we buy a tool we need to buy a battery which is recommended. But it is more costly for the user. So there are ways for using the drill batteries with changing brands. That means use Dewalt battery in Milwaukee, Makita battery in Milwaukee etc. There is so many brands.
These brands can be used with changing the batteries by using a special adaptor.
There is no common way for the charger design. So each brand designs it as it needs. So users can use directly batteries by changing. So there are adaptors in the market according to the brands you need to interchange. You can check and buy it on Amazon.
These are the available adaptors in the market.
Dewalt 20V &
Milwaukee M18 Batteries
(accepts both brands)
to Makita:(DM18M)
to Ryobi: (DM18RL)
to BOSCH
to CRAFTSMAN 19.2V
to 18v Old Dewalt Nicad
DeWALT 20V Battery
to M18 Milwaukee
to OLD 18v Dewalt Nicad
to Hitachi
to USB charging ports
M18 Milwaukee Battery
to 20V Max Dewalt
to Old Milwaukee NICAD V18
to USB charger and power source
20V Porter Cable, Black and Decker, Stanley batteries(18V Bostitch)
to Makita 18V
to 18V OLD DeWalt Nicad (BPS18D)
to Nicad 18v Black & Decker
to 18V Nicad Porter Cable
to Craftsman 19.2V-BOSCH 18V
to RYOBI 18V
Makita 18V Battery
to 20V Max Dewalt
to M18 Milwaukee
to 20vMax PORTER-CABLE Black Decker
to 18v Nicad Makita
to Bosch 18V
to Ryobi 18V
to 18v BOSCH
to 14.4V Nicad Makita
to 20V WORX
to USB charging ports
BOSCH 18V
to Makita 18v
to Twin USB charging ports
Read More About – How Long Does It Take to Charge a Cordless Drill Battery?
Can I Change Li-Ion Batteries with Ni-Cd Batteries?
Li-Ion batteries are the most using batteries in the drills. If we need to replace a Ni-Cd battery instead of a Li-Ion battery we have to use a Ni-Cd adaptor for the tool.
This adapter will cost about 15$-20$ in the market. I can fix the Ni-Cd battery without any loos and is perfect for usage
Will a Interchangeable Battery Cause the Battery Performance?
Interchanging the same voltage same current batteries will not affect the performance of the battery. Adapter act as just a holder. There is no mechanism to reduce or increase the power of the battery. Hence using an adaptor will not affect the performance of the battery.
But don’t interchange the chargers. Each charger is designed for a specific voltage and current. When these are not received properly its performance will be changed. Therefore don’t use chargers by changing
Conclusion
If you need to use an 18V battery in a 20V drill, you just need to use the adaptor according to your brand except for RYOBI. An adaptor will not affect the performance of the battery as well as using Ni-Cd to Li-Ion will need an adaptor.
According to your brand and battery brand, you will need a suitable adaptor.
