Makita Batteries

[Tony Pisano]

I have a drill and impact driver set from Makita, that I got a fair while back. They are 18V and take the BL1830 batteries. One battery started giving the error code and the charger won't charge it.
I thought, I'll buy new batteries, but they have been discontinued. They've since come out with 1840s and 1850s with longer durability, but according to what I read, they will only work on the older tools if the tool has a star on it.
So question is, has anyone bought aftermarket batteries for their Makita tools, and if so, have you had any issues? Reccommendations?
I did see a short video where a guy chiseled off a small plastic square that prevented the newer batteries from sliding on all the way and it worked fine.

[Christopher Giles]

Try Batteries and Bulbs. They might have something that fits, and I've had good luck with them.

[Tom M King]

I had one Makita battery that wouldn't charge. I set it in a window, expecting to throw it away later. It got hot from the Sun, and while it was hot, just for curiousity, I put it back in the charger, and it's been taking a charge for several years since then. Every Makita litium ion battery I've ever bought still works, including the small ones that came in a white, and black drill/driver pair that I forget how old they are-maybe even more than 10 years.

I bought a 1/2" impact driver that really needed a 6 ah battery, and I think the largest I had were 3's. I ordered some aftermarket battery off ebay. It started smoking after being on the charger a few minutes, so I threw it out in the field. The seller sent me another battery, but that one did the same thing. I broke down, and bought a couple of new 6 ah Makita batteries.

That's about the total of my experience with Makita batteries. The white 18v drill/driver pair still works.

[mark mcfarlane]

Hi Tony. One option for discontinued battery packs is to have the old battery pack rebuilt. Some do the rebuild themselves. You can buy new cells online and there are Youtube videos of the process. Requires a Dremel tool to cut off the bottom of the old battery pack, a soldering iron, and some epoxy to glue the case back together.

If the problem is simply aged cells its not a big deal to refurbish but if an internal circuit board went bad, well I don't know.

In 2005 I paid $50 to have a NiCad battery pack for a 'circa 1990' Dewalt 9V drill rebuilt. I got another 10 years out of it before giving the 25 year old drill to my son. $50 was the price of a new battery pack at the time, but they were discontinued.

I don't remember what company I used but this is one that rebuilds tool batteries: https://www.mtobattery.com/collectio...build-services

[Dave Sabo]

One option for discontinued battery packs is to have the old battery pack rebuilt.

No, not for LiIon packs. And the price for NiCad and NiMh has increased to roughly the cost of a new OEM pack if your a good shopper.

I'm afraid the sun has set on battery rebuilding for power tools.

[mark mcfarlane]

No, not for LiIon packs. And the price for NiCad and NiMh has increased to roughly the cost of a new OEM pack if your a good shopper.

I'm afraid the sun has set on battery rebuilding for power tools.

Dave, actually the link I provided was to rebuild LiIon batteries. Here it is again: https://www.mtobattery.com/collectio...build-services

It doesn't appear that Makita is currently on their list.

[Dave Sabo]

Mea culpa.

This is news to me. Could have sworn they didn’t do LiIon last time I checked.

I’ve used MTO Back in the NiCad days for rebuilds of some Panasonic and Festool packs. They were first rate, which is high praise considering Pany had some of the best battery tech at the time.

A quick scan of the prices though; still bears out my comment of cost being close to a new OEM pack. Which, doesn’t make it a good value for me. And that’s before shipping costs both ways. It’s great to have options though.

[Mike Kees]

It is a good thing if you can not buy batteries for a tool because they have been discontinued.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I’ve removed that square of plastic with a sharp chisel and everything works fine on the older Makita tools I own.

[mark mcfarlane]

And the winner is...

I’ve removed that square of plastic with a sharp chisel and everything works fine on the older Makita tools I own.

[Mikail Khan]

New batteries work with my 10 year old drills and drivers. Won't work with old circ saw, grinder and Sawzall unless u cut off tab as described above.

MK

[Tom M King]

One thing you have to watch with tools you modify. I forgot about the battery I burned up by doing that with a grinder. At that time, I only had the kit with the small batteries, and bought a returned tool only side grinder for $15 from Home Depot sale section. I cut that piece out so I could use the batteries I had. I think the tool drew too much current for that small battery (don't remember the ah, but may have been something like 1.5). The battery got really hot, and would never take a charge again. I think that was in 2009, 0r 10. I did get that job done with the grinder though. I only use the right battery in those tools since then.

It's probably not bad for short jobs, but I pushed that battery through a whole charge in one session.

With Black Friday sales now, and coming up, it will be worth watching for the batteries to be on sale. I think the best prices I've found on them was for Black Friday.