EASY - How To Modify 12 Volt Power Wheels To 18 Volt power tools battery. Jeep 18 Volt Upgrade

This is a step by step guide to installing an 18v lithium power tools battery into your 12v Power Wheels ride on car with a variable speed motor control.
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NOTE: do not leave battery in the car when you are not using it. If you leave it in for several days, it will drain the battery too far and kill the battery. A long as you take it out after each use, you’ll be fine!
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EASY - How To Modify 12 Volt Power Wheels To 18 Volt power tools battery. Jeep 18 Volt Upgrade
• EASY - How To Modify 1...
Dude Dad
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[@kevinrichardson1806]

SPEED CONTROL: There is a switch on it (OFF, STOP, RUN > use Run and you should see a red light on) I was confused about hooking up the Motor Speed control until studying it more. Why 4 wires? 2 from the 20V Battery side which is Input "P+" (RED from the Battery) and the Negative is Input "P-" (BLACK from the battery) This is from Left to right on the speed control. Next the wire from the Motor hooks into the M+ (Red) His red was black and M- (Black) his was white. DEWALT BATTERY POWER ADAPTER: The one I bought had an on/off switch. I finally realized this after a half an hour of trying to figure out why the car wouldn't power up. Hope this helps.

[@Stealydan10304]

I did this with a 18v makita battery, thanks for rhe vid. One note too add though is although we added a 30amp fuse , the voltage controller came with a 15amp fuse inside, that poped pretty fast so i replaced it with a 30amp fuse. Just a tip for anyone looking to do the same

[@brandont1714]

Did you do your fuse before the regulator or after? I put mine after per the illustration on the website.

[@Stealydan10304]

@@brandont1714 i have it before, (30amp) but it was the smaller 15amp inside the speed controller that blew, I put a 30 in and it has been running great since kids love it. Plus I added a led spotlight with light switch too

[@brandont1714]

@@Stealydan10304 Do you think it truly matters if it’s before or after I put a 30 amp in line to use after with a 20 V 5mah battery pack in my kids been using it all afternoon

[@Stealydan10304]

@@brandont1714 it shouldn't matter if the regulator has its own 30amp fuse. It will protect it. If its anything smaller it will blow before the other 30amp fuse. Depending on draw of power ie: weight and speed, uphill etc. If it dosent have a fuse built in the regulator I would put it before and that will blow before the regulator.

[@brandont1714]

@@Stealydan10304 Awesome thanks for the advice I’m rewiring it now to clean everything up and I will put the in-line fuse before the regulator

[@davidddaniel]

As soon as we bought one for the kids this was my first thought. Our one already had variable speed so I just mounted the battery slot on the side and I take a couple of batteries with me when we take it to the park. Never needed the second yet thankfully. I was so worried I would ruin the thing but it’s easier than it seems.

[@Xzacktly22]

Does your have a control box? The stock circuit board thing? Do I bypass that? Mine has high and low speed stock and don’t know if I’d lose that feature

[@jaybarber68]

You make me wish my boys were little again! I gotta invite the grandkids! ❤

[@hanaspicer9200]

@DudeDad I have been looking for a video or website that literally explains step-by-step how to do this, and I FINALLY found your video! It made me chuckle for a couple of reasons🤣 One being that I am laughing at myself now for not thinking of your KZbin page SOONER!🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 I have been a fan for a few years now, and I chuckled when I seen that this video was FIVE years old!! I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS on how far you & your wife Heidi have come with building not only your Dude Dad brand, but also building your family & adding 2 more into the mix! It had been such a joy watching the Dude Dad family & I've honestly learned so much from your videos! I hope you continue to have nothing but success for your business! Can't wait to see where the next 5 years takes you!

[@batyalarrivee479]

My son just got a ride on jeep for Christmas but it dies within 5 minutes of use so I’m so glad I found this video! Will definitely do this!

[@tamorajr3773]

You grew up watching "tool time with Tim taylor" dintcha?🤩

[@jcross52583]

Grunts with a grin

[@donrudy]

Powerrrr

[@pacman531984]

Arrrggh arrrgggh arrrgh Arrrghhh

[@ericcollins5534]

Huuuuuuuuuuuhhhh

[@markothevrba]

Man, I love watching these videos, you're all amazing dads. I hope I get to do this one day! ^_^

[@dcrutch13]

Youre kids are so lucky. They have the coolest dad.

[@louielouie7806]

Amazon sells the adapter with the wires and 30 amp fuse ready to go, as well as 3 pre-drilled holes for mounting!

[@keltik9187]

I wish I knew someone growing up who could teach me even 10% of the cool stuff you know.

[@DudeDad]

One thing to note with this set up. Be sure to take your battery out when you aren't using it or else the battery will continue to drain while the car sits and it will kill your battery completely.

[@chuckieDM007]

Did you find this out the hard way?

[@worldwar208]

You can save it by using a good milwaukee battery most of the time

[@garrenbutcher7154]

Just got my kids’ jeep hooked up using this tutorial. Thanks so much!

[@smallmanoncampus]

Thanks Dude Dad! Finished my conversion tonight! Used all the same parts!!

[@joanbennett9954]

Yeah, thank you times a million! I just got a 1991 Suzuki quad off the side of the road and i need to rewire it to a different battery since the wires are toast. I ordered a conversion kit and was scared to put my 16 month old on a fast quad since almost every drill battery is 18v or 20v . Now that i know theres a such thing as a motor speed control it will be delivered on Saturday 😂 I cant wait to order the battery and see if it works! If not onto the next problem! But i cant complain since it was FREE, and its vintage!

[@timothyfischer5160]

You're going to want to add a low voltage cutoff, while the Milwaukee battery knows when it gets too low it sends that signal to the tool to cut power. The battery itself will not cut its power, and you'll over discharge and ruin the battery. Edit, I suppose it's possible the USB charger you have has a cutoff built in, but if so I would find it unlikely it's rated for 30 amps.

[@elie2011]

I did thanks to you. Working about two months ago. Remember to do wheel rotations, because it's powerfull.

[@togo3624]

Thx for the motor speed controller tip. Exactly what i needed to know.

[@gotchurebeacons-gaming9023]

Great tips and the links in the description for the gear I’ll need was incredibly helpful! I’ll be using this concept to power the LED lighting for my beach cruiser bicycle lighting array.

[@nonie1281]

upgraded my son's as well but after a while riding it the gear motors started getting to hot , so definitely have to upgrade the wheels motors at some point as well.

[@eddie10191]

Can't wait to see what you have done with a drone.

[@PTucker0864]

Awesome! I'm about to get my grandson the John Deere Ground Force tractor. 👍

[@schase10353]

Yes, but how long does it last? Does it last as long as the original battery?

[@hawaiiantimes7702]

Of course not, that’s why we modify it. The extra power will wear out gears and everything else faster compared to OEM. Just the fact that you need to add an extra fuse should let you know that you might be strapping your kid up to a fire rocket… AWESOME!!! lol

[@jasonlamendola1407]

This is so awesome thank you so much I just installed this in my kids power wheel. I didn’t think that it was so easy.

[@gtdodgeviper]

1:18 the boy is like I im going to slide too

[@TheFarm001]

I really like this idea!

[@DudeDad]

Sorry all! Just found that yt had turned the comments off on this! got them back on for you.

[@gamrdud-hv6nz]

Such a good dad 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@raharodriguezOBJ]

i modified my nieces' power wheels. and i'm now driving it HAHAHAHA thanks

[@RichardBaran]

To fancy... Growing up my dad just ripped out the old battery and thew in a led acid car battery... Did I get burnes yes. But it was the 90s so that's how it goes.

[@kellyrw9865]

Love it you're a great dad. I'm going to convert my sons

[@michaelchan6681]

I wish you can post all the actually parts, where to buy them and cost?

[@momma2thewilds88]

Look in the description box, everything is there!

[@donaldsandlin1051]

Love your videos! I'd like to do the same to both of my kids' power wheels. As well as the 36v minimoto electric pocket bike I recently have acquired. But the bike is more for me until they get older. 😂 but I know NOTHING when it comes to electricity so I don't even know if it's possible to wire a couple 18v lithium ion batteries together. 🤷‍♂️ or fuse sizes to use.

[@schroderrealestategroupllc2053]

Great conversion!

[@GhostGazcoyn]

Won’t placing 18V thru a 12V rated motor burn the motor out?

[@jacksonblack9408]

That's what I'm thinking. These things have some tolerance in regards to voltage, but not 50% higher that rated. It would be different if the speed controller was a buck converter that actually dropped the voltage. But its not.. Its a pwm. The way it works is to turn the full voltage on (in this case 18v) for a fraction of a second, and then turn it completely off for the rest of the second, and repeat that. If the 18v is on for 2/3 of a second, and then its 0v for 1/3 a second, it averages out to 12v, which is why the multimeter reads it as 12v, but its not really 12v. I think this project is a case of "It works as long as it continues to work"

[@derekyates43]

It works my grandson is running 20 volt

[@dadgonetired2306]

Out of curiosity, will the 12v motors eventually burn up?

[@tugainbristolgaming]

Nice video and thank you for the advice! I just got a really nice ride for my daughter and I'm going to order these parts.. just have a question. How do you charge the battery? Do you charge it directly in the car or do you just take it home? What is the most appropriate way of charging one of these? Being a 18v battery, should it be how many amps? 4A is enough?

[@drummerdoingstuff5020]

The drill battery you will ultimately be using has a charger or should, you can purchase one and they are made to slide right on and charge up Quick. You aren’t altering the battery at all just the USB adapter

[@drummerdoingstuff5020]

@@kirbywebb267 what’s up? Im not sure I know what that is supposed to mean. Could you elaborate

[@kc6442]

Now you really have to try to use the AA for sure lol 👀

[@ufsta]

Doesn't the wheel motors max out at 12v? Wouldn't you have to upgrade the wheel motors?

[@togo3624]

I upgraded my wheel motors to 24v. Replacement is on amazon

[@ufsta]

@@togo3624 I actually tried just adding a 12v battery. Went much faster but eventually burnt out the mainboard

[@masterblaster2733]

Gonna do this for mine when he turns 3. Already got a helmet.

[@brendanm7336]

Thanks for this. Have you noticed any issues with the motor since doing this? Wondering if the extra voltage Will burn the motor out faster this way.

[@lilfidgets4028]

I love this idea!

[@sabrinabeatty4205]

So my husband and I are literally going to follow your video step by step next weekend can you tell me exact name of the USB adapter so I can order it on Amazon and exact name and place for the fuse??? Please

[@Christian-tb1dc]

Quick question, can the motor control go any lower than 12 V? I’m trying to swap this into a device that doesn’t need to move fast. Basically walking pace but I have no experience with electronics.

[@jamil420]

Will it mess up any electronics or motor or mainboard with this increased power....

[@ericgerwin]

Great Video. Looking to do this conversion. Question: How much drive time do you get out of the 18V Lithium battery?

[@ericgerwin]

@oh no the fives So you have gotten close to 4 hours of usage on 1 - 18 V Lithium drill batteries with the Power Wheels? That would be amazing!

[@chunkybones668]

Ours is a 3 Ah 18v and only lasts about 30 mins. Idk if this is due to something that needs to be fixed or just due to the battery itself.

[@StarFox31]

@@chunkybones668 That sounds normal. There is no way the other guy is getting 4 hours out of 1 battery. You can’t even run a drill for 4 hours straight, let alone a power wheel weighed down with a kid or two.

[@hartsnag]

@@StarFox31 mmm im a roof plummber i use 6amp drill milwauuke lasts atleast 6 hours of constant screwing in screws.so im sure a 10amp or even 9 amp would last easy 4 hours

[@nathanjohnson2744]

We use a m18 8.0 hd battery and we get about 50 minutes steadily driving full speed with both kids in it. That is at the full 18 volts. I got a voltage regulator that I’m going to add so the motors don’t burn up from over working. That should also extend the drive time significantly

[@chrisbamberger4438]

Followed your video and it work out great on my sons jurassic park power wheels jeep. How did you put in the lights in the front of it?

[@bigworm1978]

does it still have reverse. also how does it know your pressing the pedal

[@tonyaponte8552]

Dont cut it. Get a old charger phone plug. Cut of the prongs, or what ever its called the metal that goes into the wall. And Soder them on to the battery wires. And they will fit tight and perfect into the powerwheel battery plug. Or even drill into the slots with a small screw and leave them half way in. It will be so tight they will not budge. And for a little added Security just rap a little electric tape. So that the wires dont move around and cause the car to sputter!

[@pharris1015]

I did the same thing with a 20v dewalt but caught the wires on fire for the motor. No I have to rewire everything for the power, forward, natural, and im going to upgrade the motors.

[@BUELL-vf6jo]

What are you upgrading the motors to? My son has a 4 wheeler I did this upgrade and it Fried the motor pretty fast

[@pharris1015]

@@BUELL-vf6jo m.l.toys

[@brycering9358]

My only question is Doesn’t it overvolt the lights and media etc if your cranking the volts up

[@chrislewis101]

Did you get an answer to this? Want to know before I convert mine

[@ConorOKeefe99]

If I have a 24v power wheel how would you go about connecting two 18v Makita batteries together to make it work?

[@jonon1989]

When you open that usb adapter is there and obvious positive and negative lead. Where to soder the new leads?

[@SaporeDue]

Hi. Thanks for the great video .I’m trying to update my boy’s car. Do I need to keep the old controller or I just leave the new speed controller? Thank you

[@adamkostan8671]

Nice work 💪 Sub + 👍 Keep more video's coming 📹

[@cevatalagoz2525]

Do you have a link for that connection you made I like to buy and do it as well very helpful video

[@diyopedia4709]

I used a 60v dewalt flex volt it goes like 25 mph with no one on it

[@jeguim123]

Do you have a video of it ?

[@diyopedia4709]

@@jeguim123 sadly no the file got corrupted

[@MonsieurSingh]

Would this work for kid trax vehicles?

[@jenniferm6140]

This is awesome 👌

[@arismorales2626]

My motor control keeps burning out. I changed the Circuit but keeps happening. Any suggestions?

[@e.vasquez9946]

I bought the controller and had mo luck with the controller...not sure if its defective or what

[@corysaunders3010]

We have a sky5506. It has head lights and an fm radio. Will this upgrade effect anything with those considered?

[@brycering9358]

I recon yes cause your overvolting the lights and media etc

[@jacobgregory4082]

On your amazon buy list a few items are no longer listed can you tell me what exactly I need for the battery adapter?

[@lbmsy23]

Hi I can't find the adapter in your link. Can you possibly please send again?

[@domgrat1761]

What type of wires did you use to solder, does that make a difference

[@user-fc3gd3mg2u]

I read on some of the Amazon reviews/questions this doesn’t allow reverse to be used any more- is that true ?

[@TennisMan93]

Wonder how long it lasted??

[@n8errific]

They make adapters for this now. You don’t need to get the USB adapter and modify it.

[@mikem8475]

I wonder if you can add two 18 volt lithium batteries??

[@adorabellaaguirre3717]

So would the battery die fairly fast or no ?

[@maumuse2211]

Soo I swapped mine out but my 30 amp fuse keeps blowing within just a few seconds should injust put in a higher rating like 40 50?

[@dubzymcgee6692]

I have a power wheel that already has variable speeds, will this continue to work after the upgrade?

[@TuanTran-th7xo]

Can you charge it with the wheel or you have to take out the battery to charge separately?

[@davidcallaway1319]

I'm trying to hook one up to my RC car can you show me how to do it please

[@kwez211]

How long do the batteries last va the originals?

[@Pearl-hs4zh]

Bro is it any toy car I upgrade to 18v shud be OK right? Won't fry the motor or chip?😊

[@anythingoutdoors4482]

Could you use a 48v and do the same thing?

[@joshhudgens1520]

I got my kid a jeep with a remote control because he is only 1. The battery burned out so I did everything like the video says but can’t get any control through the controller? Help!

[@snowboardenvy]

Awesome, how much longer does the battery last

[@JdmhatchR]

I have a 9Ah battery (DeWalt) and my kid can drive 3hrs with that...

[@ivandaniel2596]

so neat!

[@leahrodriquez1349]

I did this on my kids dune racer, and just like it was doing with the origybattery it's doing with this mod too, it will go for barely one minute and stop and not work for a month or maybe it will in a minute. I don't know what to do to fix it.

[@Jp-gd3jy]

I can't find the part where you slide the battery into

[@johnmeyers2286]

Hooked mine up the same way and light on the speed controller is on so it has power but the power wheel will not move. Any ideas?

[@NEWYORKBOZ]

Mine keeps blowing the 30A fuse constantly. Using M18 6amp hour battery. Any suggestions?

[@KindaKevin]

Where’d you get that usb dock for battery

[@danzkyvlog6074]

hey man what did you connect to the +p and -p of your volume speed control? is it from the board?

[@Serge0329]

Hi, please update the amazon links

[@daycallmechuck]

I blew the 12v RX11 control board on my sons car. It’s a regular 12v weelye. Should I replace it with the same thing or go for a 24v panel? I only blew it because I didn’t have to control Module and fuse in (ordered them both!) thanks for the advice!

[@brittanyjenkyns7820]

@daycallmechuck hello, I am running into the same issue, wondering if the 24 control board worked for you?

[@daycallmechuck]

Yeah never got it to work again. Ended up buying him a rosso sport ATV. It’s a 36volt and he loves it.

[@Pearl-hs4zh]

Nice vid

[@ronaldo23425]

Thanks. Great video. My Porter cable 18v drill has a nickel cadmium battery. Will it still work even though it’s not lithium ion battery?

[@timrushing81]

It should still work if you can find a battery holder like this guy had with his Milwaukee battery. The only difference is that the Li Ion batteries will typically have longer battery life/better depth of battery discharge. But they'll still operate the same as they're both 18V batteries.

[@jorgel1686]

Where to buy the parts ? The housing for the battery. I followed link in description but only one item is what you used the others are not useful 😭

[@85nscarola]

How did the 12v motors last against the 18v? I just did this but used a voltage regulator and turned it down to 12 volts. Burned up my regulator immediately. Now I just wanna throw 18v right at it

[@strikenryken]

How many amps was the regulator?

[@ihate4413]

Where did you get the motor speed control from?

[@guillaumerioux8466]

but the battery life has to drop a lot vs the original battery?

[@Daisyvaladez8106]

Yo dude dad i got a question bro hopefully you can help me out I upgrade my sons 12v car to the Milwaukee m18 battery the fist time i burned out the mother bored by connecting the Bluetooth control and it burned out the second time I connected my phone to play music and it burned this time the kids where playing with the car and all of a sudden it doesn’t turn nothing burned out in the mother bored the fuse is fine but the motors or not working I think I blow the motor

[@DpiKt]

Did you get the power control off of ebay by chance?

[@JasonAlex1984]

Picking up my son’s first power wheel today and was curious how long does the charge last on these going the 12v?

[@pharris1015]

They don't haha

[@brianvalen6083]

Where can I get that battery adapter it’s not in your links

[@jobsyoutube]

is it possible to replace the chips on these things with something aftermarket? i tried to run 2 18v in series and it blew also welded my battery terminal shut :/