Converting a DeWalt 12V Cordless Drill from NiCad to Lithium LiFePO4

My DeWalt DW927 cordless drill uses 12V nicad batteries. I'm getting tired of replacing them with new expensive nicad batteries only to have them degrade after a year or two and stop holding a charge. I decided to try rebuilding one of them using lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4).
WARNING: Lithium batteries are dangerous and can result in fire! This video is NOT intended to be instructional or a "how-to" lesson. I am not a professional. Do not attempt anything you see here without first contacting a certified and/or licensed professional.
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[@LithiumSolar]

Alight, so a few people asked how I plan on charging this battery and I responded that I was going to use the original charger. That wasn't a very good idea, as some of you suggested. The charger I have is for 7.2-14.4V batteries and it doesn't look like it's correctly detecting the new battery as 12V, so the BMS keeps shutting it off. I will need to investigate an alternate way of charging...

[@ericeric5306]

I had a bad charger for a 9v battery. I did a similar thing 4 weeks ago. Why doesnt the bms charge until done? Idk why the bms doesnt make it work.

[@LithiumSolar]

@@ericeric5306 The BMS disconnects the battery when the voltage rises too high or drops too low. It has over-charge protection.

[@jamest.5001]

Maybe the open circuit voltage is too high for the BMS, ??? I'd get a CC CV DC converter, and use a laptop power supply or something, let us know what you do! The charger may be detecting the low resistance of the LiFePo cells, I don't know if the resistance of nicad is different, the LiFePo cells may be pulling too much current, from the lower resistance, you could replace the internals of the charger with a cc CV DC converter, and modify all the batteries, but I guess the DC converter would charge both types! I may do this, to my charger, since it's the only old dewalt tool I have, I do have a hobby charger, but requires ballance leads, I'll probably use my DC converter to charge, or the Hitachi charger, I'm thinking about paralleling another series of 18650 liion cells to the Hitachi batteries, for longer run time, it's only about twice my dewalt batterys, let us know how this works out!! Great video!!

[@innocentidiot9521]

I'd recommend DC-DC converter to charge. I have done same thing but with lithium cobalt battery and 4s2p configuration (14.4v). I don't even know where charger is so I'll just charge it with DC-DC step up. If you have charger, you could disassemble it and put DC-DC converter here or modify it to charge it some other way? I have disassembled 3 of those nickel cadmium backs and to be honest they looked really much similar to yours. Also I'm using adapter from drill to use 4s quadcopter batteries, that way I can go whole day.

[@peterg.8245]

Just buy a 14V DC charger off Amazon and remove the old charger circuitry. 3.5VDC per cell x 4 = 14V

[@paulmccoy2908]

The 18v “XRP Lithium Ion” 18v batteries that DeWalt used between the 18V NiCd and the 20V Li-Ion tools was actually a LiFePo4 pack. The DC9310 charger can charge both the NiCd and LFP packs, and determines the chemistry by detecting a neodymium magnet in the battery case.

[@the.real.ipatch]

did you take apart the xrp battery or the charger to figure that one out, and if not, how did you figure it out? and if this info is accurate this comment should be pinned

[@georgekrivosic5094]

Well done, I have the same drill and its over 25 years old, Black & Decker made a cheap version of the same drill that doesn't have the same power but could use the same De Walt batteries.

[@georgesackinger2002]

Love this video. I've done this kind of upgrade to solar lawn lights. It use to be imposible to find Lithium ion lights. Keep up the good videos!!!!!!

[@guruoo]

For a few years now I've been using 18650's culled from old laptops to rebuild battery packs for my portable tools. I've also been stepping up the voltage whenever practical. Have observed no ill effects so far, in fact the tools now perform as though they've discovered the fountain of youth! Greatest jump taken was couple years ago with a trash picked 14v Briggs & Stratton drill that I stepped up to 18v. It's still working, w/better performance, and still charging, but with a longer run time. Next projects will involve converting two ancient Ryobi 2.4v battery powered twist drills to 18650 w/USB port for charging.

[@jnewman5378]

Do you have a video or instructions?

[@elvindekle9835]

You can boost the voltage to 18vdc . So you can use 3.7v (4.2 v ) cells . That will give you up to 17v . Lasts much longer and gives for power throughout the useable load . I used 18v on my 12v black and decker back in 1994 . The commutator was burning but with 18v the drill lasted for more than several years . I learned this trick from makita .

[@saddle1940]

Thank you for the video. Next time, consider using a piece of dowel to replace the battery in the shaft. You can then screw it into position with a countersunk screw from the side or hold it in using a flat plate on the bottom. Buy a cheap charger for some other brand 12v lithium drill. Where I live there are a couple to pick from for less than $20. Remove the electronics and put it back into the original ni-cad charger plastic case.

[@jasonmckain3812]

Hell Yeah Dude, That's a bad ass upgrade!! It would be nice to share pics of how I did mine (without making a video of my own) I did that with LiOn to one of my old 12v DeWalt drill batts & it worked OK. However I gutted the NiCad Attached to the connector that plugs into the Drill/Charger with a cut off wheel on a Dremel. Used the the shell of the battery for a support to hold the connector in the top of the battery pack & hot glued it in at the bottom of the gutted cell, also I used the gutted cell to solder the NEG wire to. works great!! The other battery I wired it up with 15 feet of 2 conductor #14 OOSJW cable (High Strand Cable For Flexibility) & soldered 20 amp clamps on the other end so I can use it of a car battery if need be. Drill works great on a car/12v AGM or Lead Acid battery as well.

[@JoshuaJoshua0]

I was just wondering if this was possible and what was involved with doing this and then I stumble upon this! I love your channel!

[@davidkirby3667]

Great video. I would like to have seen you do the spot welding. What spot welder o you use?

[@Langdon10]

Very informative video. Thank you. I used hot glue when I did some battery packs.

[@dtvking]

Nice job. Would be good to see how you overcome the charging issue. Thanks

[@SenselessUsername]

That's an understatement... a bit useless without! I couldn't figure it out so I turned my Nicad machines (mostly, drill) into cabled machines (marking their needed voltage clearly, so able to use one supply that has variable voltage; one tool at a time but better than throwing away).

[@pixelpatter01]

Nice job, thanks for all the details.

[@romanykemp9042]

Great video. Easy to follow steps - what's not to like...

[@TurboHommy]

Love seeing things fixed rather than thrown away and copious amounts of money being wasted while all ppl do is stress about money. Educate yourself and learn to fix everything. Saving money is more important to happiness than overworking and making it. I swear id have a full time job dumpster diving and fixing things ppl dont have the capacity to fix or care to even try if i could.

[@joeabad5908]

Nice build.. Im also doing a similar conversion with my old 18v Bosch Drill..

[@marlonbramble2485]

My experience with that BMS it does not balance the batteries but the low voltage cut off works

[@mohammedjaffer8522]

Nice, clear and concise 👍👍👍😊

[@CodyT362]

Finally, someone on KZbin who can actually solder properly 😂😂

[@LithiumSolar]

LOL

[@GFTP100]

Sorry but I don't agree. LS needs to or at least should look into some pro soldering lessons to up his game. Cleaning the iron tip before each joint, adding a little liquid rosin flux (at times), always tinning the wire strands and opposing conductor, using a wide chisel tip with more thermal mass (faster heat transfer), plugging the mating XT-series connector into the one being soldered (to keep the connection pins from drifting due to heat soaking the Nylon housing) and more. Yes, the joints are better than many I've seen elsewhere but could be better. Sorry to point at you LS but Cody gave me that jab in the ribs and I had to say something. Carry on...

[@P46345]

I've got some older 18v Dewalt tools that started their life with nicad batteries, when the lithium ion craze hit Dewalt was the only company that didn't make you buy all new tools to use lithium ion batteries. I found out that the nicad charger I had would not work with lithium ion batteries, so back in around 2010 to update to two 18v Dewalt lithium ion batteries and a charger was going to cost around $230. I found a refurbished 1/2" 18v Dewalt hammer drill with a charger and two lithium ion batteries for $180 on ebay. The batteries work in all my old tools and everything is still functioning.

[@nlo114]

For charging my 2P3S mini-bank I bought a £6 wall-wart for RC model battery charging, constant current, constant voltage thing. Plug it in, 2 1/2 hrs later, red LED goes green, mini-bank does another 4 days hand-portable radio use. My AEG NiCd batteries went the same way, so lap-top battery time!

[@Crftbt]

Was curious if you happen to have any advice on how to do the spot welding. :)

[@a2cryss]

I have had a similar issue with my Dewalt 18v batteries always going dead. Eventually the brushes in the motor went bad so no conversion for me. Strangely, My older 12v Skil drill did not have as many battery issues. I now have Ryobi because someone gave me a Chop saw/case with a bunch of blue tools and I have been adding the new green tools with chargers and batteries.

[@PaulHughes4983]

You mentioned spot welding the nickel strip to the cells, what do you use as a spot welder?

[@arthurdent8091]

Good video. Me being a "More Power" type of buy ( Think Tim Allen ), I would have liked to see an inexpensive led voltmeter across each of the cells. Maybe for the second pack.

[@torstenhein531]

Thanks for your detailed video on this topic, also the comments are full of helpful information! Good stuff! Did anyone ever try to fit a Dewalt DC9144 (14.4V Lithium battery) to this generation of tools? It looks quite similar and might just fit "plug 'n play" along with a specific charger.

[@cybercapri]

Just FYI in case you didn't want to epoxy the other battery you could always use a dowel rod in place of the top most battery used to keep the connect in tight. That way should you ever need to replace the Lipos again that connector would easily slide out again... I have a Bosch NiCad that I've wanted to do this too for decades now but just went Ridgid and called it a day. Something else to consider, but I think this is more an 18v options vs 12v, they make an adapter to use the base of the old style battery and adapt it to accept the new style Batteries in case you already had the newer style batteries... Cheers...

[@Sabastianspreadworth]

I was going to suggest the dowel rod.

[@thezfunk]

How do you weld the nickel strips to the cells? I am very comfortable with electronics but the welding I don't know how to do.

[@thumperman8490]

You could have screwed the charging plug in place with a very short screw to biind onto the fitting. With apoxy it is a oone shot. Good video well done.

[@chucktrotter9699]

6.6.20 Nice video thank you. What do you use to charge with? I have a 18 volt that uses the same sub c batteries. Will this idea work to replace the 18V using more or different Lithium batteries?

[@joeabad5908]

Are you using the same old NiCad charger to charge the replacement LiFePo batt?

[@douwkuhn8930]

I like your wire holders

[@TXDIRT67]

Instead of gluing the connector, I used a piece of an old broomstick, or a dowel would work too so you can service the pack in the future

[@LithiumSolar]

Thank you. I was hesitant to do that afraid of putting pressure on the cells, but in reality, there should never be any force exerted on the contacts. I may do that for the other 2 batteries. I'm still waiting on more of the BMS boards I ordered.

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

@@LithiumSolar Maybe the cork of a wine bottle works too, for pressing the piece in place, perhaps with some cutting it to shape. If to thin, take champagner cork. :)

[@jfarinacci0329]

Really good video. Thank you.

[@nicolasparadis1407]

Very interesting, I've just learned many things thanks to you. So thank you very much for the clarity of your teaching . Can you tell me around how much you think this project cost? Thank you

[@donaldandersen8043]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for not making us watch you loosen and tighten every screw. I have tried combining "good" ni-cad cells from two battery packs into one, but that never seems to work as well as when they were new. The circuitry of that little board is well beyond my pay grade, but an interesting video nonetheless.

[@SuperVstech]

Does a 26650 fit into the connector? Maybe 3 in he base, and he 4th in the connector would fit?

[@sszzt]

I am really interested to see the charging solution you come up with.. I have a number of devices I'd like to convert to 18650's. But from what I understand these BMS boards are not capable of charging, but are definitely required for safety of the battery such as preventing over-discharge, short circuit, etc.. I have an iSDT Q6 300W hobby charger that would work great, but getting all the connections and balance leads out is the challenge.

[@drewynucci9037]

I am also interested in seeing the charging solution

[@turboimport95]

I rebuilt my matco cordless ratchet, with new 18650's because the old ones failed in the battery pack, I had 2 battery packs failed, And a new battery is like 70 bucks, I actually bought a cheap battery for something else and harvest the cells. I had enough to rebuild both bad battery packs. The point is I don't charge mine with old charger, I Actually use a current limiting bench top dc power supply, and hook up directly to the main Pos and Neg on the battery and charge it that way, using wire etc, I use low current at 12V and they charge up fine. I have charged them a few times this way and no issues so far, The power supply shows me current draw and when its near 0 they are done. They also got a power meter light deal and it shows full when done. My battery packs each hold 3 cells.

[@jamest.5001]

I have a 18v version I'm about to do this to, I only get about 6, 1/2" holes in 1/2" aluminum, before I can tell it's about done, my Hitachi 18v lithium battery drill is only slightly better, I may put xt60 connectors on my Hitachi charger , so I can charge both batteries after the conversion, I don't want to use the nicad charger with liion, I do have high current 26650 lifepo4 cell though, I may use, since I have more room in the 18v xrp battery case, how does the charger work with the cells?

[@MarkHenderson-fc4by]

Excelente inversión

[@matspierzyna4563]

Minute 1:01 just a tip on the side, if you don't have a torx safety bit, you can also simply use a flat-head screwdriver to break the pin out of the screw head and loosen the screw with an ordinary torx bit

[@jacklogan2973]

Mats Pierzyna please I need this guys direct contract

[@theprepperfrog167]

Good job sir, thank you.

[@WagonLoads]

What wasn't stated is how you charge the pack. Or does the BMS (+) (-) contacts @ 8:21 he stated as charger/appliance work as both a charge input and a load output output?

[@elvindekle9835]

If you have a 12v trolling motor. Go to 18v . You'll thank me . Been doing that for more than 20 years myself . Same for old 12v tools . SUPERPOWER .

[@1981dasimpson]

i have recently just done the same thing with my 24 volt dewalt drill i swaer it is way more powerfull now then it ever has been on ni-cads

[@markh2005]

Same here

[@iqinsanity]

Probably is, due to less voltage drop

[@countryside_guy]

How are you charging it?

[@1981dasimpson]

@@countryside_guy IMAX b6 and balance Leeds battery is in 6s config

[@markh2005]

@@countryside_guy my bms has a charge input...

[@deankay4434]

How do you spot weld these? I have no 0.15 mm Nickel strap laying around. I have Li-Ion batteries already, that all ten are dead. This is version #1 for Craftsman Pro Series tools sold in the late 2000's, but these have good cells & bad but has the battery management system on top inside the batteries case. They use a PTC thermistor placed on top of the pack. As an auto tech, long retired, is the BMS board battery management? And is 4S2P meaning 4 in series and 2 in parallel? I am guessing. Also orange batteries that must be Sanyo with orange cover and tiny blue cap. Also, if a good cell is disconnected from a bad cell, that may have discharge a perfectly good one, can a single cell be charged by itself?

[@maxximumb]

I came to ask the same question about spot welding. A quick search showed me dedicated machines from $110 - $2000+ or sketchy looking circuit boards for under $20.

[@kevinthomson6324]

I’ve got a industrial grade makita drill and impact driver set with ni/cad batteries that don’t hold a charge and cost $200 to replace. Some day I should really look into replacing the cells. I’ve just always worried about how to get the charger to work. I’ve always assumed the original charger wouldn’t be compatible with lithium cells

[@hectorpascal]

Nice build! But I would have liked to see the BMS checked out too.

[@SuperBrainAK]

Thats awesome! I have a slightly newer DeWalt drill that used the 18v Ni-Cd batteries. I got one of the adapters that converts the OEM Li-ion 20v packs to the old battery connector. I actually added an XT-60 and balance lead to the adapter to check voltages (but you cannot actually balance due to resistors internal to the battery). That works fine but I went the cheap route and bought a pair of chinese Li-ion packs. The first pack was dead the first time I went to charge it after using it the first time. then the second one just went out on me recently. It seems the cells were complete junk and popped the CiD's and started leaking. Anyway I am torn on what I want to do. Do I want to buy a spotwelder and continue with my project of building a tiny powerwall with recycled 18650's from laptops, ive been thinking I will just solder them but a good spotwelder is probably best. Or do I save a lot of time and buy the OEM 20v packs made by DeWalt?

[@rickeyl.mcspaddenii4729]

I am interested in converting my 18V NiCd to LiFePo4. Would it be the same since I have a DC9310 which charges Lithium batteries?

[@offgridwanabe]

CoolI have one of those old Dewalt drills maybe I will do it too.

[@MrMartwy]

There are dozens of them, coz this design was copied and sold under several brands. F.e. I have the very same model but branded Black&Decker.

[@lnxpro]

17.8 Wh on the new battery pack. If the old NiCd cells were 1700mAh then the old pack was about 20.4 Wh so not too bad and not that much lower however the life cycle could now be measured in decades as opposed to mere years. lol.

[@LithiumSolar]

Exactly what I was thinking. Less Wh but will last much longer. The problem is I now have to wait another 2 months for another BMS. I should have just ordered 3 at once lol.

[@healeydave]

@@LithiumSolar Ahhh, that old dilemma. Why is it when you try to plan ahead and order multiple items for future, they turn out to be junk and you have buyers remorse and when you try to be cautious, you end up wishing you'd ordered more 🤔

[@electrojessy4270]

daly bms ship fast from china only i don't know if the fit in youre case

[@WorldChampInfinity]

@@electrojessy4270 Nothing is shipping fast from China these days. Ordered a daly bms from Aliexpress a month ago. It's not here yet.

[@iqinsanity]

Got a Daly 150a, took 2 months My 90ah cells, lets just say I don’t wanna talk about that 😒

[@americafirst3965]

They actually sell updated lithium ion batteries to replace the old nickel cadmium batteries for older Dewalts . I just recently replaced some old nic cad batteries from a 18 volt Dewalt kit I picked up cheap that was new. A 2 pack of Dewalt 18 volt litium ion batteries and charger was 99.99 at Lowes.

[@LithiumSolar]

Maybe for the 18V drills but don't think they do for the 12V drills. If you find one, can you share a link? That would be a much easier route to take!

[@toknowlj]

yup a bit less on scamazon and fleabay, but you cant pick it up until it arrives. :O Iam thinking of trying that lith pak on my 18v dewalt. the natt pak has a charge indication too. www.amazon.com/Powilling-Innovation-Lithium-Ion-Replacement-Batteries/dp/B07RBMG4WP/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=cM6ED&pf_rd_p=96894308-003d-47e2-95f7-e4f2f97a8c14&pf_rd_r=ZSRP0KNHZE52TN17GR97&pd_rd_r=a6073b79-a0d1-4abb-a37c-ec7beb3a1ede&pd_rd_wg=dw4dS&ref_=pd_gw_hlp13n_t4im take a peak ;) [folks claim our dewalt chargers (mine a 9116) are able to charge the lith bat pak] (if not - return bat pak or buy a new charger)

[@americafirst3965]

@@toknowljI have a old DW9116 charger and it wouldnt charge the lithium Ion batts, for me anyways . If you find a DC9310 charger it will charge both styles and you can pick them up cheap cheap used . Best feature of replacing with lith ion is the weight difference and its alot 😂

[@ftshinanigans]

You can get a good impact driver for around $40.. might be worth picking one up : )

[@pulesjet]

I've done a few like this. Wish Makita Batteries came apart so easy.

[@JackRussell021]

It was just 6 weeks ago that I had a similar dilemma when my last 12V battery died. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of throwing away money on another 12V battery, so I went the easy way and just bought a new 20V tool. I still have the 12V one in the garage. The 20V version is smaller and lighter than the 12V tool it replaced. At the end of the day, I guess the question is, was it worth the effort? How much did you spend on the new batteries and the BMS circuit card?

[@ajmckay2]

Super good point! I got a basically new 12V DeWalt drill for free from a good friend to play with. Because vaping is so popular Samsung INR 18650 cells (6 of them) was about $25. The BMS for 18650 cells (almost exactly what LithiumSolar used) only cost about $1.50 each. I also bought a charge indicator light and those were about $1 each. So materials for me to rebuild two 12v packs was just under $30. I'm not doing it for the fame though - more something fun to experiment with and if I can keep a good tool from ending up in the landfill I'm happy.

[@whateverrandomnumber]

You need a 3D printer, bro. Congratulations, BTW! Love your videos since I saw the solar generator.

[@en2oh]

3D printer could add another 4 cells :)

[@RodneySolarCircuits]

good video.

[@zippywalker6406]

I have a 4s 40a BMS for standard 18650 batteries (non LiFePO4). Will that work or is the voltage too high?

[@terrytexas8257]

Nice Job bud!

[@LithiumSolar]

Thanks! Do you ever get LiFePO4 cells in?

[@terrytexas8257]

@@LithiumSolar Working on a deal to start getting some (New) 26650 cells. I'll send you some pics of the tests I did with them.

[@efdawahfan]

can i put 20v battery in 12v makita drill ? its working with 4s bms but i prefer 5s

[@bjl1000]

I did the same thing to my 14.4 volt Dewalt, but used my string trimmer 20volt lithium ion pack, as it is. They were $35 for two packs, a heck of a lot cheaper than the Dewalt packs. I use the string trimmers charger also. I plug two wires into the pack and velcro it on to the drill. Works great.

[@hvacworkshop4791]

This sounds a little crazy, 20v battery on 14.4v drill

[@MrMad1966sChannel]

Is the motor not burnt out by now ?

[@cadillacescalade1]

How you will charge the battery pack my dear

[@rcari0687]

I have a question, i recently repair 2 battery packs, one was makita 3ah and bosch 2.6ah, i used old laptop cell checking of course the amps after discharged and make sure they were all the same(or close, more or less), and kept the original bms of each battery, they charge full but when i use them on the drills under heavy load they shut down, i let it rest for 2 secs and works ok until i drill a long screw and/or heavy load again and i don't know why it does that, any thoughts?, anyone?, thank you.

[@chrisbrett1857]

The cells used in laptop battery packs have a much, much lower continuous/peak discharge capacity than those manufactured for power tools (makes sense, doesn't it? Nothing in a laptop is suddenly going to start drawing 20/30amps all of a sudden). So when you put a heavy loan on the tool, the motor will try to draw more amps than the cells are capable of delivering. I guess the BMS is detecting some sort of problem when you do that (?undevoltage?), and shutting down the battery pack. When you take the load off, it will reset itself ... until the next time.

[@mikeflanagan2189]

How do you charge the new battery packs?

[@TheGrimshaw]

Do you think that new ones can be used for a sola power wall

[@donnierodriguez4442]

Why wouldn't using two dual battery holders for 18650 battery, solder in a series and connect them to the battery spades? I have a 12v Ryobi battery I was going to try that with as the NiCd battery is shot and only used to turn over a starter motor on a weed eater. Recharging with a wall charger for deer feeder batteries.

[@prasadvn524]

I also have a Dewalt 12volt Nicd drill.Thank you for the video.By the way how do you charge the battery.I think you cannot use the old charger.

[@LithiumSolar]

I have been using the old charger, I just have to watch when it shuts off and remove the battery, otherwise it keeps trying to charge it. It's a bad idea so I wouldn't recommend, but it works for now while I figure out an alternate solution.

[@GadgetReviewVideos]

LithiumSolar It’s good you recognized that trickle charging with the NiCD/NiMH chargers final charging stage. It seems to me the only solution might be to get a proper charger board and replace the current charger board with it. Or if you can find a BMS charger mix board and put a DC jack on the side of the battery for charging it, but most of the combined board have a slow current charge. or if the chargers microprocessor firmware can be modified to turn that trickle charge off, but that can be a complicated way of doing it and your videos seem to show simple ways that most people can do.

[@nigeltegg]

5S li-ion, is a good equiv. to18V (15s nicd/NiMH) and if there's room can be made 5s2p or 5s3p (15cells, same number as before)

[@kaanerdem2822]

Would be good if you had compared the lithium performance to the nicd ones. Ive seen alot conversions but no one did ever a comparison of it. I have an ol nicd drill with good batterys im interested in it but i still clues if its worthy or not

[@LithiumSolar]

If you have good batteries, I would just leave them alone. I wouldn't have done this if my NiCad battery was working. I guess the only way to do performance testing would be apply a heavy load and see what the discharge capacity is NiCad vs Lithium.

[@KermitFrazierdotcom]

I've seen these conversions before! Older Brand New NiCad Drills can still be found cheaply. Looking for the next one I find!

[@WorldChampInfinity]

Cool build. You could have skipped the epoxy with super glue and baking soda combo. Also, I thought Lithium batteries needed chargers that had the CC/CV functionality. Do Ni-Cad chargers do the same thing?

[@LithiumSolar]

I just used jbweld epoxy. I didn't use super glue or baking soda? Was there a better way to attach the terminals? I still have two more to do and can do it differently if there's a better way.

[@WorldChampInfinity]

@@LithiumSolar You did a good job. I was just saying the super glue + baking soda is almost instant, so you wouldn't have had to wait the night like you did with the epoxy. But if you weren't in a hurry then it's not a big deal.

[@stinkycheese804]

@@WorldChampInfinity Super glue is too brittle and going to fall apart. If you want faster setting epoxy, get fast setting epoxy.

[@andreykldjian]

@LithiumSolar Nice work, but there is some errors to your ways. Firstly, you used the wrong batteries. For this application, you don't look at pulse discharge. You must look at continuous discharge. You want your batteries to be rated at least 20A. I've seen Ryobi use 15A continuous discharge, but they seem to be the only ones. I would have used a 4S Lithium-Ion cells with 20A continuous discharge (or more). You also want your cut out for your BMS current discharge to be at 20A. You don't want to allow your BMS to allow the battery to go above it's rating or the battery can overheat, specially in such a small confined space. Other than this, great job and nice video.

[@BlissfulOfLife]

you could use a plastic tube as replacement from the battery to hold the conector on top and pass the wires on the center of the tube

[@Newman81964]

I have some 19.2 volt Craftsman Nicad batteries for the 19.2 volt tools (C6 batteries) and Craftsman makes a C6 Lithium Ion battery that will plug right into the tools, but it has to use a completely different charger. They Nicad charger will not charge the Lithium Ion cells even though the battery connector is exactly the same. It even states in the paperwork for the new batteries and the new charger to only use the new charger with the new batteries as using the new charger with Nicad batteries will ruin the charger and to use the new batteries with the old Nicad charger will ruin the new batteries.

[@gordbaker896]

Can I use the original 12V DeWalt charger? What is the cost of the new items needed?

[@allenscott228]

Where can I buy the completed battery? Or is there an aftermarket 20v li-ion to 12 nicad adapter?

[@LithiumSolar]

I'm not aware of any lithium replacement batteries or adapters for this model drill.

[@healeydave]

Awesome video Mike, what happened to removing the cardboard though 🤫 Was that a test to see who was observing properly 😃

[@LithiumSolar]

I removed the cardboard, put an insulator disc on the positive end, then put the cardboard back on.

[@healeydave]

@@LithiumSolar Ah, I see, my mistake, I thought your were intending to discard the card and heatshrink them or something.

[@Chris-nw6ql]

What’s the cost of rebuilding that battery and they also have a link to where you bought the battery cells and the board

[@andystuk8354]

if you sand off the chrome on the spot weld plates and sand the cell surface, you can then simply solder.

[@Bonswally]

Novice here. Could you just use pouch cells to solve the space/form issue?

[@CAOHnutrition]

What was the cost of your modifications? About $60 right?

[@Alex300zxTT]

Is the drill/ battery pack still operational? Also battery link is not working, I was try to get some good cell for same project, any recommendations? (Link please)

[@LithiumSolar]

Yep, still works great. I wish I would have used higher capacity batteries though. Unfortunately, I don't think eBay allows 18650 cells to be sold on their site anymore.

[@hammershigh]

I suppose you have to mechanically rebuild a Lipo charger since there is a difference in the charging profile for nicad and LiFePO4 batteries. Regarding the lack of space with LiPo 18650, couldn't you have 3D-printed a small layer to be placed in between?

[@LithiumSolar]

A 3D-printed spacer to use the 26650s would be pretty epic! Unfortunately, I don't have a 3D printer or know anyone who has one :(

[@GadgetReviewVideos]

LithiumSolar Reach out to me if you want, email in the youtube about page. i can always 3D print you the spacer.

[@experienceprecision5406]

You'll have to use a plug in style of charger that plugs into a port on the battery . You can use the same board you have .

[@user-en9rc1lj3z]

شكرا اخي

[@chrisdawson6380]

Each cells maximum voltage is 4.1 volts and 4 cells give a maximum charge voltage of 16.4 volts absolute. You need an accurate stabilised dc charger and a nicad charger won't cut it. There are plenty of adjustable charger modules on ebay-for a few pounds or dollars Adjustable voltage/constant programmable current and programmable constant voltage. You will just need an initial supply of at least 4 volts over your programmed output voltage. I use a kodac printer psu -(its a switch-mode psu)-output 36 volts and my programmable module lets me charge a range of converted power tools of different voltages. Made my batteries from scavenged lithium laptop cells.

[@walidzahran601]

When using 3.7v batteries should I use 4?

[@williequinlan4946]

Thank You ✅👍

[@mustaphaezhar2995]

Hi I used bms 4s 40A can not satar drill??

[@godsnejk]

What about a recharging a converted battery. Can you use a original charger?

[@dwightcarlson7136]

Excellent tutorial! May I ask what spot welder you use and where did you purchase it and all the other components including cells, nickel 'wire'?

[@mysterytechknowledge3664]

I'll bet that you could just run standard Li-ion cells with a appropriate BMS, and the charger shouldn't over volt it. also those older brushed motors are pretty forgiving jumping up a few volts, if DeWalt even used a lower voltage motors in the 12v vs the 18v. (you could go to a thrift store and grab a cheap drill to test it out.)

[@nicolamuzz9385]

Hello ! do you think a 30A bms is enough for a 20v hammer drill?

[@LithiumSolar]

It should be. The only sure way to tell is to put an amp meter on your current battery that supports inrush and see what kind of current it's pulling.

[@nicolamuzz9385]

@@LithiumSolar thanks i'll try

[@brandonrodgers2479]

Next you should do, "how to convert ryobi drill to Lithium ion" ....oh wait. Just buy a lithium battery. 😄 in all seriousness though, awesome video! This is so cool

[@LithiumSolar]

I know, and they're very reasonably priced. I just really like this particular drill lol

[@brandonrodgers2479]

@@LithiumSolar i just had to fanboy a little bit. Dont mind me! Thanks for making the video.

[@jefftuckercfii]

@@LithiumSolar Ryobi Li-Ion batteries are reasonably priced? How about a link to these "reasonably priced" batteries? The reason I'm watching videos like this are because I'm staring across the room at 4 dead 18V Ryobi batteries and have 2 others that are heading toward death. I also have an old Skil 14.4V and an old Ryobi 9.6V that are both dead. My 18V Ryobi tools are numerous. I love all these things as they are so handy, but the constant changing of batteries and waiting for charge drives me nuts.

[@joetakayama1866]

Great job and nice work! My only concern is charging. Is it safe to use the NiCd charger on Lithium batteries?

[@LithiumSolar]

A LiFePO4 battery should only be charged on a LiFePO4-rated charger.

[@joetakayama1866]

@@LithiumSolarAgreed. Will pick one up on eBay and convert my OEM charger for lithium.

[@deanbunnell4822]

When you say spot weld do you mean just soldering with the solder gun and solder?

[@LithiumSolar]

No. Spot-welding is a type of actual welding. It puts a large amount of current through two tiny probes close together that melts the nickel strip and bonds it with the steel battery casing.

[@zolytas]

Isn't BMS continuous operating current too high with batteries connected in series ( battery continuous discharge current 21A, BMS board continuous operating current 40A)?

[@zolytas]

Maybe it was better (or worse) to use 4 pairs of batteries(two batteries in paralel) and connect those 4 pairs to BMS board?

[@martineastburn3679]

Replace the series cell with a round of wood and then the assembly would be held in. Broom stick length... :-) Maybe a car battery charger.