Dewalt battery question

cbxjeff

I'm converting my tools from 18 to 20V as I can't justifying buying new 20V tools. Any thought on buying 6 or 8ah models? Does the weight become a problem? What size do you use?

Butchdog3

Run 20 volt and some with 20/60 volt. Don't pay much attention to the extra weight.

I think most everything is either 4 or 6 amp hour.

paul b looney

How long do you want them to run? The 2ah that come with the kit may be fine around the house drilling a few screws here and there. But if you're on a slab running pvc pipe all day, every day, using a Sawzall and impact, you may want to invest in a little bit bigger battery so you're not constantly draining and recharging. Take into account the bigger batteries take longer to recharge. I run 2 10ah in a lawn mower and it takes about 6 hours to recharge.

Mark G

I feel very little difference between the 2ah and 5ah batteries.

Mobuck

I no longer use DeWalt. Based on Ridgid batteries, I find the batteries bigger than 4 AH are heavy for my use. I have numerous 2 & 4 AH batteries for those lighter duty/shorter duration jobs-drilling a few holes, grease gun, or driving a couple dozen screws. The bigger 6 & 8 AH batteries are reserved for the angle grinder, circular saw, or impact wrench. In fact, the smaller batteries just can't meet the power draw of the angle grinder/circ saw for more than a few seconds.

chris8X57

I am using a DeWalt 20V drill with a 6ah battery for my ice fishing auger. It will easily drill an 8" hole through 16-18" of ice and I've made 9 holes in one day without even slowing it down.

After switching to this great setup, I threw my old hand auger into the scrap heap!

NeoBlackdog

The more amp hours, the more run time. I have some 2 AH batteries that I throw on when I've got a small job and would like to keep the tool a bit lighter. Also have some 6 AH's for longer run times or to run the 7" compound miter saw (Thanks Idahobound!)

If you do a little research you'll find that what they are selling as '20 volt' batteries are really only 18's. When they reconfigured them they figured it would cause too much confusion to have 2 lines of 18 volt batteries and thus the '20 volt' was born.

https://www.protoolreviews.com/20v-max-vs-18v-battery-power/#:~:text=20V%20MAX%20is%20the%20Same%20as%2018%20Volts%20Nominal%20%E2%80%93%20Proven%20by%20DeWalt&text=Look%20for%20the%20DeWalt%20asterisk,their%20packaging%20marked%2020V%20MAX*.

Gregor62

I have a full line of DeWalt tools and several of each size battery. Can't add to what others have said about the weight as I do the same with the batteries, the job drives which one is on the tool.

I will add that the price of DeWalt brand batteries is shocking if you have never purchased one. I have four of the knockoff 8ah batteries from Amazon, and they last just as long as name brand at a fraction of the cost.

buddyb

I bought an adapter to run 20V batteries on my 18V DeWalt tools,but there is a tool outlet nearby that sells Ryobi,Ridgid and Milwaukee tools and I now have more Ryobi 20V than Dewalt.I saw a tool review that said Ryobi was the AK-47 of tools.Buy them cheap,negelect and abuse them and they still work every time you need them.

Warbirds

I can give a shameless plug/endorsement to these knock-off brand batteries for Dewalt tools- bought on amazon.

I have 4 of them in the rotation & they are solid.

Mr. Perfect

The smaller AH batteries are definitely lighter, but you can't really use them long enough to get that benefit.

cbxjeff

Thanks for the info guys. I ordered a couple of 6ah batteries last night. I didn't mention in my original post was the reason I want the change has to do with the way the 18v batteries are retained in the tool. I have a hard time squeezing the release buttons. The 20V retention should be easier for me.