Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: New Makita 18V batteries

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Upland CA
    Posts
    5,547

    New Makita 18V batteries

    I recently bought a Makita 36 V (two 18's) chain saw to prune my trees. It came with four 5AHr batteries that have the fuel gage on the back. I also have some year old new type batteries with the star on them, that came with the track saw.

    Almost 10 years ago I got the then new 18V LXT combo kit with drill, impact, jig saw, sawzall, and grinder. The batteries are still in use, but finally losing power.

    The year old batteries, 3AHr, work fine in the old tools, but the brand new ones have a strange problem. They work fine in the drill and impact gun, but will not fit into the other tools in the kit.

    I can see that a very small quarter inch square rise on one side of the old tools slide in area is blocking their fit. Obviously I can grind it down easily with a Dremel and it would work.

    Nothing on packaging for the newest batteries at HD that says they should not be used in old tools. The package just says it fits 18V LXT tools.

    I can't see any reason to not do this, and am thinking mine are probably Type 1 or whatever, and there probably aren't that many left out there.

    1: Anyone else run into this problem?
    2: Am I missing something?
    3: Why would they fit two tools and not the other three?
    Last edited by Rick Potter; 11-23-2019 at 2:31 AM.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  2. #2
    Go for it Rick.

    What could possibly go wrong?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    I don't remember the reasoning, but I ran into the same thing. I bought a big, 1/2" impact driver, thinking the old batteries would fit. Rather than risk the old batteries, I ordered a generic battery off ebay for something like $28, and it's been working fine, just like the name brand.

    edited to add: I did a bit of Googling, and found this. It's kind of old information, but think it's to protect the lesser amperage batteries from a tool that requires a higher amperage.:
    So here`s the basic`s,

    MAKITA MAKE DIFFERENT BATTERIES FOR THE 18 VOLT LXT LI-ION TOOL RANGE,



    • BL1815 - A SLIM, LIGHT WEIGHT COMPACT 1.5Ah BATTERY
    • BL1830 - A LARGER, FULL SIZED, 3.0AH BATTERY


    The first thing people assume is that because the BL1815 looks like its just a smaller version of the BL1830 that it will fit all the 18V LXT tools.
    This is not correct the two batteries are different and BL1815 does not fit a lot of the 18 volt tools that makita makes. This is simply because a 1.5ah battery in one of the bigger tools, will discharge very quickly and overheat too easily.
    When batteries discharge they get hot. When they discharge really fast they get really hot.
    Heat is the ultimate enemy of a li-ion battery, the more times you get it too hot the less charges it will accept before failing.
    It`s difficult not to discharge the 1.5ah battery really quickly since it has such a small capacity, so not over heating them is a challenge and they tend not to last very long.
    The BL1830 battery on the other hand will fit all the tools in the 18 volt range and this is the battery i recommend to people since it operates every tool and has the largest capacity.

    To put it simply the BL1815 is a light duty battery designed to make some of the smaller tools a bit easier to use and reduce the total weight of the tool for more precise or overhead work where a lighter tool will be an advantage. It couldn`t operate the bigger tools for long even if it did fit simply because heat would cause it to fail quickly as it will be regularly overheated.
    Yes i`ve heard all about removing the lug to make it fit the bigger tools. I highly recommend unless you want to be forking out for new compact batteries in a very short time, that you do not do that. You will reduce the life of the battery dramatically.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 11-23-2019 at 7:20 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    490
    Makita has Star labeled batteries currently while the older full sized packs don’t have the Star label on the top of them. To use a Star labeled battery on an older tool you have to cut off a small nub on the base of the tool. There is no issue I can find with using the newer batteries with the older tools and I have done this with a few old Makita drills and impacts. These are tools that came with the full sized 3 amp hour batteries.

    I don’t totally understand why they did this. Yes Makita makes the slim thin batteries for the lighter lower priced tools but I find I can use full size batteries on those. Might be something to do with so many of the newer Makita tools being higher current draw tools. I can fit the older full sized batteries on the Star labeled tools with no problem. Really is weird. Only an issue if you have older Makita tools and easily remedied.

    Some of their latest tools come with 5 amp hour batteries like my double battery blower and chain saw. They do not like using 3 amp hour batteries as it will only run at full speed for a couple seconds and shut down as those batteries can not handle the high current draw.
    Last edited by Peter Kuhlman; 11-23-2019 at 8:34 AM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
    Posts
    4,680
    Dewalt did something similar on a tool I've got, or well rather had. I had a new 18 volt sawzall when I decided to switch to the new 20 volt system, which is a completely different shape of battery. They offered an adapter though, so I bought it to use that 18 volt sawzall with the new batteries. Well, as I gradually updated batteries, I began to get flexvolts. They are much more powerful, 6, 9 and 12 amp hours, compared to the 4 I'd been using. The flexvolts wouldn't fit in the adapter though because of a tab issue. Sawzalls are power hungry, so I thought, what the heck I'll make it happen. Worked great, that sawzall would run all day on a demo job and had noticeably more power. However, it wasn't long for this world. Within a year, it destroyed itself.

    Just saying, they engineer these tools for different duty cycles, if you hot rod one, odds are pretty good that you'll kill it quicker. No big deal in my opinion, cordless tools are disposable with what I do but it may matter to you. For me it's the batteries that matter, bare tools are cheap, batteries are not. BTW, a 1.5 amp hour battery??? What good is that?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Wenatchee. Wa
    Posts
    769
    I have encountered the same problem the OP noted. And simply grinding off the offending tab allowed the new battery to fit older tools. But a further question along this line needs to be answered, does using large amp hour battery on a older tool harm the tool or battery?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Upland CA
    Posts
    5,547
    Thanks for the answers, guys.

    To clarify, all my batteries are at least 3AH, no compacts. Two of them are BL 1830's (3Ahr) that came with the original 10 year old kit. There are two more BL 1830's I got on sale at HD for $99 for a pair at Christmas time a couple years ago. and they have the star on the bottom.

    Got a track saw a year ago which came with 4 batteries, all BL1850 (5Ahr) with star and fuel gage.

    Recently got the chain saw which also came with 4 BL1850's with star and fuel gage.

    What I am taking away from this post is that I will only use the 1850's with star and fuel gage in the track saw, and chain saw, to be sure I never take a chance with any computerized components in them.

    I will also use any battery that is charged in the simpler older tools. I view the higher Ahr batteries as being fine for them. They are not higher voltage, it just equates to having a larger fuel tank in a car.

    When I get some free time, I will grind down that little square lug in the drill and others, and report how it works out. My only concern there is that the battery might not be securely attached, but I doubt it.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •