Smoked a Dewalt Battery

[Matt Meiser]

I went to use my Dewalt impact driver yesterday and it was running really slow like the battery was dead. I pulled out the second battery from the charger popped it in and tried again with the same result. A few seconds later I heard a hissing sound and saw smoke coming out of the battery pack. I took it right outside and it really started smoking bad and even in the rain it was still warm to the touch a half hour later.

I knew the driver was nearing the end of its life since the batteries weren't holding a charge as long and I've dropped it from the ceiling (12') a few times while hanging stuff causing the glue on the battery pack tops to come loose. I did NOT expect this kind of failure though. Anyone know what could have caused this?

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I've worn out a few DW batteries, but never seen one smoke. Do you have a DW service center close?

[Jeff Monson]

Think its kind of common, I've had 2 bad 14.5 volt dewalt batteries in the last couple of years, really sucks as they arent cheap.

My local WW store sells a ton of dewalt products and they have a battery recycling bin and its always full of dewalt batteries. Dont get me wrong as I love my dewalt tools, just think the batteries should last a little longer.

[Ken Garlock]

Matt, contact battery builders (http://www.batteryrebuilders.com/). They might be able to tell you if the problem is in the batteries, or if you have an internal short circuit inside the drill. If it is only the batteries, they can rebuild a pair for less than buying a new battery across the counter. And to boot, it will be a more powerful battery.

I had my two DeWalt 12V batteries rebuilt, and the drill works great.:cool: IIRC, it was less than $70 for the two batteries.

[Russ Massery]

I second Ken Reply.;)

[glenn bradley]

I guess I do less work than I thought. My DW batts are about 5 yrs old and are finally starting to show their age. 9.6v

[Matt Meiser]

The more I think about it, I think something must be wrong with the driver too since neither battery worked right and it doesn't seem like both would fail suddenly. I had planned for its demise and picked up one of the Bosch 10.8V Litheon drivers which is generally great but doesn't have the same power for big stuff. So I'll probably end up replacing the impact at some point.

[David G Baker]

Matt,
A contractor friend of mine bought a Dewalt set off of Ebay. The tools were great, very little sign of wear, but the batteries lasted him about a month before they started failing. He had one battery smoke and fry like you described. I have heard good things about the Rigid tools and batteries that Home Depot sells. The batteries are supposed to have a life time guarantee and will be replaced if they ever fail. I have the Ryobi tool set and so far it has served me well for the past 4 years. I like the feel of the higher quality tools better but my Ryobi set has taken a beating and kept on ticking.
David B

[Doug Shepard]

... I had planned for its demise and picked up one of the Bosch 10.8V Litheon drivers which is generally great but doesn't have the same power for big stuff....

How do you like that thing so far? I've been keeping an eye on the after Christmas specials hoping somebody runs a sale, but no luck so far. Still debating about the I-handle type vs the regalar grip though.

And stop smoking those DW batteries. Before you know it you'll have to use the patch to quit.:D

[skip coyne]

I like the feel of the higher quality tools better but my Ryobi set has taken a beating and kept on ticking.

and a two pack of replacment 18volt battries is 39.00 ;)

I had a dewalt before my ryobi and I had both battery and charger problems .

[Jack Dickey]

I bought the 18 v DW cordless kit when they first came out , and they have been used and abused for quite a few years now .. I havent had any problems yet ..

[Matt Meiser]

How do you like that thing so far? I've been keeping an eye on the after Christmas specials hoping somebody runs a sale, but no luck so far. Still debating about the I-handle type vs the regalar grip though.


It is really nice. It doesn't have the same power to drive a 2-1/2" screw without drilling a hole that the impact had, but for smaller screws or pre-drilled holes it is really nice. The light weight is awesome and you can fit it into a pocket when you are on a ladder.

[Neville Stewart]

Have you guys heard of "restarting" a battery that wont hold charge with a mig welder. I saw a tutorial on it but cant remember where. It burns out chondrite shorts in the cells if I remember correctly

[Mike Holbrook]

I bought an 18v Dewalt Drill to suplement my old 18v Makita when I was driving lots of screws. Both Dewalt batteries went out in about a year.
They were so expensive, the drill is still sitting on the shelf in almost new condition. The Makita had several years on the Dewalt and lasted several more years before the batteries got to the point that they did not hold a charge for a resonable period. The Makita batteries were Ni-MH and the Dewalts were Ni-Cd.

I have read some of the batery info. sights which state that the Cd bateries will last longer. If you read the fine print though you will find that the statistics assume that the user does "battery maintenance", which involves fully discharging and then recharging the batteries. I believe that Cd batteries do not like being left on the charger a large amount of the time either. Since I can not seem to remember to fully discharge or take charged batteries off the charger, I get the performance I described above instead of what testing would suggest.

I think there are chargers out there these days that turn themselves off after charging the batteries. Better chargers may provide other performance enhancing duties too. I am sure that better chargers also prolong the life of batteries. The capability of the charger may even be more important than the type of battery or whether maintenance is performed or not. Unfortunately I have not found anything that discusses all the factors in one place, providing me the information I need to make the best decision for my situation.