Can i use a different ah drill battery

[Fallingstar_lulu1]

Hello,
I have a makita drill, a few years old now and one of the batteries will not charge, it just flashes up red on the charger and I therefore want to find a new one. The original makita battery is a bl1813g 18v 1.3ah.

However I am really struggling to find a genuine replacement. Would a bl1815g 18v 1.5ah work? It looks to be the same shape/size in order to actually fit, but would it matter if the ah is slightly higher?

 

[Spectric]

The only things you must ensure are

A) It fits correctly
B) It is the same voltage

The capacity or amp hour rating is not a problem unless you have a very large machine and fit a small capacity battery otherwise replacing a 3 A/h for a 4 A/h is not a problem.

Before buying a battery for an old drill look to see if there are any deals on a new drill as you often get two new batteries with much higher capacity and not for a lot more considering you get a new drill.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hello,
I have a makita drill, a few years old now and one of the batteries will not charge, it just flashes up red on the charger and I therefore want to find a new one. The original makita battery is a bl1813g 18v 1.3ah.

However I am really struggling to find a genuine replacement. Would a bl1815g 18v 1.5ah work? It looks to be the same shape/size in order to actually fit, but would it matter if the ah is slightly higher?

There are firms that will re cell the existing battery.

 

[Orraloon]

Higher amp hour lasts longer. There are options to re cell but I have not found any that I would call cost effective. A few tools I have got new batteries with matching chargers as a package deal. They will or should list the tool model numbers they suit. My Makita 14.4v drill is on it's second new set. 2 batteries and a charger so one is always ready to swap. Higher amp hour batteries are bigger and heavier so sometimes think about the work you want to do. Of course if new battery package is looking to cost as much as a new tool then go do some head scratching.
Regards
John

 

[Fallingstar_lulu1]

The only things you must ensure are

A) It fits correctly
B) It is the same voltage

The capacity or amp hour rating is not a problem unless you have a very large machine and fit a small capacity battery otherwise replacing a 3 A/h for a 4 A/h is not a problem.

Before buying a battery for an old drill look to see if there are any deals on a new drill as you often get two new batteries with much higher capacity and not for a lot more considering you get a new drill.

Brill, thank you!

 

[TheUnicorn]

have to agree with spectric, for the cost of new battery you are half way to the cost of buying a new drill, screwfix have a dewalt with 2 x 2ah batteries for £100 at the moment

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...i-ion-xr-brushless-cordless-combi-drill/420pu

part of my logic is that if one battery has died and the other one is the same age it seems logical that the second battery may fail soon too

 

[BillHoughton]

Worth contacting Makita. I've got an older impact driver, and there are specific batteries still in production that fit, but not all. I think it has something to do with the contact points for the charging function. I found their online customer service quite responsive.

 

[Kinz]

If you already have batteries from another manufacturer, which are of the correct voltage, then maybe a Badaptor is available to allow you to utilise one of your existing batteries. Much cheaper than a new battery, and available from Amazon.

 

[TheUnicorn]

If you already have batteries from another manufacturer, which are of the correct voltage, then maybe a Badaptor is available to allow you to utilise one of your existing batteries. Much cheaper than a new battery, and available from Amazon.

if you go down this route make sure you know where the over discharge protection circuitry is, i believe for instance that dewalt batteries have no over discharge protection, instead relying on circutry in the tools, and I believe makita have circuitry in the batteries but not in the tools, so if you were to use dewalt batteries on a makita drill there is no protection in that setup and the battery could be drained to the point it would no longer take a charge. just be aware of the issue and do your research on whichever brands you might be using

 

[John Hughes01]

I use an old Makita drill and did the dreaded thing - I bought two new batteries from China for £38 rated at twice the ah rating but no difference in physical size. I have had them for a few years now and they are great. OK, to begin with I didn't charge at night and watched it watched it carefully but now I leave the charger plugged in. The higher ah means a charge lasts longer. I was going to see if they had batteries for my 30+ year old Bosch but never got around to it. It does seem a shame that when batteries are no longer available a tool is scrapped.

 

[Lard]

if you go down this route make sure you know where the over discharge protection circuitry is, i believe for instance that dewalt batteries have no over discharge protection, instead relying on circutry in the tools, and I believe makita have circuitry in the batteries but not in the tools, so if you were to use dewalt batteries on a makita drill there is no protection in that setup and the battery could be drained to the point it would no longer take a charge. just be aware of the issue and do your research on whichever brands you might be using

I've converted my makita drills to use ferrex (Aldi) batteries using a 3d printed converter.

As you correctly point out I have to ensure I check the level of the ferrex battery (button/led on the front) and swap it out when I gets to one light. They work a treat.