# Question about Dewalt 20V cordless batteries



## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

That’s correct. Although some folks claim more power from higher aH batteries I haven’t found that to be the case. My Milwaukee impacts and saws and what not seem to run the same whether I have my 4.0 or my 9.0 aH batteries installed.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

I have many 20 volt tools and batteries. 
I have the 1.3, 3 and 5 AH batteries. 
The 5 AH come with the yard tools, blower, weedeater, and chainsaw.

The only difference I see is the run time and the weight.


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

Amp hour rating is the battery's reserve power, or how long the tool will run on a single charge. The amp hour rating has little to no effect on the power output of the tool. It might seem to help very slightly on high draw tools because the larger cells can better handle the high drain conditions under full load. Your impact driver is really only rated at about 150 lb ft of torque and you'll actually lose some of that because the little 1/4 driver bit will flex quite a bit which consumes some of the torque. 

This same impact driver is also sold as an actual impact wrench with a 3/8" or 1/2" anvil instead of the bit drive. It has the same motor but does a better job because the larger diameter, shorter anvil provides better power transfer to the fastener. The 1/4" impact driver is meant for driving screws or small bolts. 

When you need to break loose larger fasteners you need a heavier tool. These will have larger and heavier hammers inside and a much higher torque. For comparison the big 1/2" drive brushless impact is rated at around 1200 lb ft for breakaway.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

Bigplanz said:


> A 1.3 ah battery might need to be recharged more frequently than a 3 ah battery, for example, but their power output is the same. Is this correct? Thanks!



In theory yes. In practicality it's another story. I have 1.5 and 4AH batteries in my line up. Whenever I have demanding tasks, I always reach for the 4's.


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## PatentPending (Aug 7, 2018)

Yodaman said:


> In theory yes. In practicality it's another story. I have 1.5 and 4AH batteries in my line up. Whenever I have demanding tasks, I always reach for the 4's.


My knee-jerk reaction is to be skeptical of this, but thinking about it I could imagine a couple of ways in which it could be true.

Strictly speaking, amp-hours are the maximum amount of _charge_ stored in the battery (pedantry: charge, energy, and power are three different things, and there's no such thing as "stored power"). So people are correct in that, if we view the battery as a monolithic "black box" with only a voltage and an amp-hour rating, the only difference will be run time.

However, a battery isn't a monolithic "black box." An 18V-- or "20V MAX" if you're a marketing douche from Stanley (the actual voltages are the same)-- battery is made of individual (if I recall correctly) 3.6V cells. The cells are arranged in strings of 5 to get the nominal 18V, and then a number of those "strings" are wired in parallel to get the desired capacity.

If we ignore, for the moment, the electronics in the tool and the battery and just view the battery/tool combination as the cells connected to a static load, then you absolutely will get more power from a higher capacity battery. The reason for this is that having more 18V "strings" in parallel reduces the total equivalent resistance due to the internal resistance of each cell.

That being said, we shouldn't ignore the electronics. There's a fair amount of wizardry going on there. It could be that the battery is controlled with some sort of magic PWM scheme or something (boost converter?) in a way that makes the internal resistances moot, I really don't know (batteries are expensive enough that I haven't been willing to risk breaking one opening it to poke around). On the other hand, it could be that a larger battery communicates to the tool "hey, I've got all this extra energy so it's okay to turn it up to 11." 

There's a lot of anecdotal evidence floating around the Internet to support either position, both sides having people who are absolutely adamant that it does/doesn't make a difference. As far as I know the manufacturers are silent on the issue. Maybe somebody has done actual testing?


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

^ This. Just remember that Dewalt's 20v batteries are the same as others' 18 v batteries due to their creative rating that uses hot off the charger voltage instead of nominal voltage which is 3.7v per cell. Some other mfgs play the same game like EGO "56v" which are nominally 52v.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

Yeah, I know about the marketing department's 20V scam. Sheesh!

This was a kit, priced at $100 for the tool, charger and the smallest battery they make. More marketing, to get you in their tool line. Works fine though, and I can get a 4 aH dewalt battery from Amazok for $60 if really feel the need.


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

Don't forget that Dewalt does still maintain the old 18v tool line that is incompatible with the new 20v slide on packs. It would be pretty confusing for consumers if they had called both 18v but they don't fit together. The new style, slide on batteries CAN be used on the old tools but requires the help of an adapter. The 20v Max name may be a bit of a marketing ploy, but the name change also differentiates the two lines. They don't hide the fact that they are still 18v tools. 

Nothing wrong with the compact batteries, they certainly have their place. They are desirable and work great for low demand tools to make them both lighter and more compact. Also a little more budget friendly for homeowners that may not need to own the big contractor grade batteries. 

They offer compact batteries in 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0ah, full sized packs in the 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0ah batteries and oversized batteries in 6.0ah. You can also step up and use the flexvolt 20/60v batteries in 6.0, 9.0 and 12.0 ah. You can choose the batteries that work best for you, the way you use your tools and the tools that you own. They also sell your impact driver kit with the larger batteries if you had chosen to go that way, it just costs a little more.


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## ront02769 (Nov 28, 2008)

I run the makita cordless line. My drill and driver came with the 1.5 ah battery, ran fine. My skil saw came with a couple of the 3.0 ah battery and wouldn’t run on the little ones. Just for consistency, I started using the larger battery for everything...and I now use the same for the angle grinder, planer, recip saw, etc. actually gave the two little batteries to a friend last summer. So, not being up on the details of how they work, I never have the wrong battery at hand and have no concerns about run time.


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## 007noob (Sep 17, 2018)

With Li-ion batteries a larger capacity battery can discharge more current. So in theory the 3.0 Ah battery can delivery more current to the drill's motor which translates to more power. Again that's in theory. Just my 2 cents.

May be some can try that out and chime in to confirm  

As others pointed these batteries are by no means 20 V. It's a marketing gimmick. It may be 20 V momentarily one first use after charging. But the nominal voltage is 3.7 V per cell in the batteries. A true 20 V systems would delivery a bit more power.

I currently have the dewalt '20V' impact driver and drills (the ones with the brushless motor). IMO they are way over-rated for the price but for they do the job  
Prior to this I had the much cheaper Ryobi unit. They did the job too.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

I have the Porter-Cable 20v drill and impact driver kit. It came with 1.3 amp batteries and I have since bought 4.0s. As others have pointed out, I get longer run time but no increase in power.


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## Bent Nail (Mar 22, 2017)

ront02769 said:


> I run the makita cordless line. My drill and driver came with the 1.5 ah battery, ran fine. My skil saw came with a couple of the 3.0 ah battery and wouldn’t run on the little ones. Just for consistency, I started using the larger battery for everything...and I now use the same for the angle grinder, planer, recip saw, etc. actually gave the two little batteries to a friend last summer. So, not being up on the details of how they work, I never have the wrong battery at hand and have no concerns about run time.


I did the same think. After daliances with the other colors of tools, I finally returned back to the brand who began the cordless tool revolution... Makita. One of the neat things about Makita batteries is that their 3.0 ah, 4.0 ah, 5.0 ah, and 6.0 ah batteries are all the same exact physical size, where the 6.0 is no bigger in any physical dimension than their 3.0. 

So I got all 6.0 batteries, and kept one 2.0 battery (which is smaller, about half the height) just to use in tight spaces. The consistency of having all the other batteries be the same ah makes it easier to know what the battery meter means when it says 2 bars vs 3 bars. And no matter which battery I grab, the performance and predicted run time is the same.

I also like Makita's X2 (pair of 18v batteries) over the huge honkin 12 ah red battery or the giant 60v yellow battery. To run Makita's higher voltage tools, I can still grab the first two 6 ah batteries I run across in my mess, stripping them off of other tools that aren't being used in that moment, rather than waiting for the one big giant battery to charge.

One of the benefits to higher amp hour batteries (especially if they are the same size as the lower amp hour batteries so there is no size or weight penalty) has nothing to do with the magic inside the black box of the battery.

It has to do with LOAD.

Some people say they see no performance difference between a 1.3 ah battery vs a 4.0 ah battery. Well, when driving 6" long self drilling Timberlok screws, where the friction is so hot that a wisp of smoke floats away from the penetration juncture... that higher amp hour battery doesn't argue like the little battery does. Higher loads tax the smaller batteries much quicker. This could account for the discrepancy in anecdotal reports. No account is made of the loads being driven. Higher loads demand and therefore deplete available current quicker.


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## PatentPending (Aug 7, 2018)

Bent Nail said:


> One of the benefits to higher amp hour batteries (especially if they are the same size as the lower amp hour batteries so there is no size or weight penalty) has nothing to do with the magic inside the black box of the battery.
> 
> It has to do with LOAD.
> 
> Some people say they see no performance difference between a 1.3 ah battery vs a 4.0 ah battery. Well, when driving 6" long self drilling Timberlok screws, where the friction is so hot that a wisp of smoke floats away from the penetration juncture... that higher amp hour battery doesn't argue like the little battery does. Higher loads tax the smaller batteries much quicker. This could account for the discrepancy in anecdotal reports. No account is made of the loads being driven. Higher loads demand and therefore deplete available current quicker.


Are you suggesting that driving a single 6" Timberlok will deplete a 1.3Ah battery? Otherwise your statement would seem to _support_ the hypothesis that the higher capacity batteries actually put out more power.


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## Bent Nail (Mar 22, 2017)

PatentPending said:


> Are you suggesting that driving a single 6" Timberlok will deplete a 1.3Ah battery? Otherwise your statement would seem to _support_ the hypothesis that the higher capacity batteries actually put out more power.


Higher capacity batteries DO actually put out more power... over a period of time. And the higher the loads, the shorter the time. The smaller the battery, the quicker it depletes.

Low, light duty, non demanding loads would not reveal any practical performance differences between battery sizes in real world usage.

And that's the key... and the problem... with anecdotal reports about whether or not battery size makes a difference. These are construction tools used to build and repair stuff in homes and job sites. We are not talking about instrumented tests in a controlled laboratory. Who knows what the state of charge or rate of depletion was for any given person reporting experience. _And when I'm in a situation where I'm needing to drive 6" TimberLok's, it's never just one._

As a practical matter, if I bring tools to a task that can be constructed or repaired with say, a dozen TimberLoks, I'm going to slide on a fat battery, because the probability is higher that the skinny battery will run out of juice before the job is done. Been there done that, and made the round trip down and up the ladder for it.

The higher workload accelerates the time to battery depletion, because more energy is being demanded, and *the demand is continuous duty, due to the long length of the screws. With continuous loads, heat dissipation, heat distribution over the number of individual cells, and thermal measurement and management by the electronics within the battery enter into the equation*. But none of that is my concern. I just want to get all the screws in, all the way down, so I'm going to pick the fat battery from the get go.

On the other hand, if I'm installing a little shelving system with 1 1/2" screws, I know that the neither the tool, the battery, or even the screws will heat up much. Any size battery will do, and neither size battery will reveal any apparent difference in performance over the time period of that job.


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## PatentPending (Aug 7, 2018)

Bent Nail said:


> Higher capacity batteries DO actually put out more power... over a period of time.


This statement makes almost zero sense, so it's hard to figure out what you're trying to say. Power is, by definition, the first derivative of work with respect to time. If you take power "over a period of time" you get work/energy. So... you're saying that bigger batteries store more energy? Okay cool, and water is wet, what's your point?



Bent Nail said:


> And the higher the loads, the shorter the time. The smaller the battery, the quicker it depletes.


Smaller batteries die faster, I think we can stipulate to this.



Bent Nail said:


> Low, light duty, non demanding loads would not reveal any practical performance differences between battery sizes in real world usage.


Ditto.



Bent Nail said:


> And that's the key... and the problem... with anecdotal reports about whether or not battery size makes a difference. These are construction tools used to build and repair stuff in homes and job sites. We are not talking about instrumented tests in a controlled laboratory. Who knows what the state of charge or rate of depletion was for any given person reporting experience. _And when I'm in a situation where I'm needing to drive 6" TimberLok's, it's never just one._
> 
> As a practical matter, if I bring tools to a task that can be constructed or repaired with say, a dozen TimberLoks, I'm going to slide on a fat battery, because the probability is higher that the skinny battery will run out of juice before the job is done. Been there done that, and made the round trip down and up the ladder for it.


Wait, was all that just to say that smaller batteries die faster? That's not what this thread was about. Some people maintain that a fully charged big battery and a fully charged small battery will put out different amounts of _power_ which theoretically should not be the case (as I explained above, power is an instantaneous quantity). For example, if you're finding that both a big battery and small battery can drive these big screws, just that the small battery can drive fewer, that's merely a capacity issue and is unrelated to power. On the other hand, if you're finding that the big one can drive them _faster_ than a small one, then you are getting more power out of it compared to the small one (assuming both are fully charged, nobody disputes that voltage drops as the charge depletes).



Bent Nail said:


> The higher workload accelerates the time to battery depletion, because more energy is being demanded, and *the demand is continuous duty, due to the long length of the screws. With continuous loads, heat dissipation, heat distribution over the number of individual cells, and thermal measurement and management by the electronics within the battery enter into the equation*. But none of that is my concern. I just want to get the screws in all the way, so I'm going to pick the fat battery from the get go.
> 
> On the other hand, if I'm installing a little shelving system with 1 1/2" screws, I know that the neither the tool, the battery, or even the screws will heat up much. Any size battery will do, and neither size battery will reveal any apparent difference in performance over the time period of that job.


Okay, I'm still not sure what you're adding to this discussion other than "smaller batteries die quicker" (which nobody disputes). It's still unclear whether you're asserting that you get more power (as opposed to just more energy) out of bigger batteries. Your bolded section brings up some interesting potentially relevant factors... but then you dismiss them as not your concern and don't discuss how that could affect the battery's power output (which, again, is kinda the whole point of this discussion). So, running with that for a bit, I wouldn't be surprised if the smaller batteries had thermal protection mechanisms that did limit the power output compared to larger batteries, since the larger ones, with more cells, would have a greater capacity for heat dissipation.


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## Bent Nail (Mar 22, 2017)

That's why I highlighted the sentence in bold.


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## NotYerUncleBob2 (Dec 29, 2017)

The higher amp batteries will give you more real power under two scenarios...when the battery is losing charge just before quitting, and when you're in a high torque scenario where the weight of the battery is beneficial. Both are minor advantages but they are advantages so that's why we hear those anecdotes about better performance from the big batteries.
Remember that little batteries get to that depleted state sooner so you feel that performance lag more often than with the big ones. Side by side with the batteries fully charged and the tool bolted down? Identical performance. But in hand while working you might just feel a difference at some point because of the weight and getting close to that depleted state.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

My little battery works fine for the short jobs I do. For professional "working at a job" situations, yeah, a higher ah battery would be better.


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## u3b3rg33k (Jul 17, 2018)

there's a few things going on. 

at the same voltage, bigger packs have more "ampacity". a 4Ah 18V battery has twice the instantaneous output power of a 2Ah 18V battery due to there being a second parallel string inside the battery of the same type of cells. it'd be like if you could plug your table saw into two outlets instead of one - there's more AVAILABLE power. But it doesn't matter how much power is available if you can't make use of it. 

The other side is the tool. wether you put a 2Ah (older, one string) or a 9Ah battery (newer, three strings) on a regular cordless drill, it doesn't make much difference because the drill only pulls so much power. 
if you try running a 7 1/4" cordless saw with a 2Ah battery and try running it through a 4"x4", the saw has no torque and the pack gets hot. do it with the 9Ah battery and it cuts it like it ain't no thang.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

This is an easy one. Higher capacity batteries simply have more parallel sets of cells so the total instantaneous current they can discharge is higher. Whether a tool needs or can even draw max current is a whole other question. For commercially sold tools you won't see any difference in performance. They aren't going to sell you a tool with a battery that is too small for it to run at full load. A bigger battery won't make it stronger. It'll just last longer.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

The half size batteries provide a third as much power to the drill motor but they make the drill seem lighter and so more people buy the "lighter" drill. The amount of amps is not the issue but how much current the battery pack can provide the drill motor while it is in operation. 

If all one is doing is driving #8 screws in pine then a smaller battery pack works fine. But if one is drill 1/2" holes in concrete or PT lumber then the smaller battery pack will last a third as long as a full size battery pack. 

That is why I love that DeWalt switched to selling bare tools so I can use my 5 AH battery packs with all of them. I only use the tiny battery pack with my 20v oscillating tool where the charge is "good enough" for most tasks.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

The half size batteries provide a third as much power to the drill motor but they make the drill seem lighter and so more people buy the "lighter" drill. While at the national tool show that is in Las Vegas each May I would see guys pick up the Makita 1/2" cordless with the half size 2 Ah battery pack and remark at hour light "the drill" was compared to those from competitors, ignoring the size and weight of the battery pack. 

The issue but how much current the battery pack can provide the drill motor while it is in operation and the 5 Ah battery packs provide a great deal more initial current and continuous power to the drill motor which enable it to provide more torque or power to a drill bit or hole cutter. 

If all one is doing is driving #8 screws in pine then a smaller battery pack works fine. But if one is drill 1/2" holes in concrete or PT lumber then the smaller battery pack will last a third as long as a full size battery pack. 

That is why I love that DeWalt switched to selling bare tools so I can use my 5 AH battery packs with all of them. I only use the tiny battery pack with my 20v oscillating tool where the charge is "good enough" for most tasks. 

Also important is the drill bit and hole cutter being used. With a fully charged battery pack on an 18v drill and using brand new Lenox bi-metal hole saw it would take 40 seconds to cut a single 2-1/8" hole in 3/4" thick plywood and it would take more than 20 minutes to get the battery back to a 100% charge state. With a Blue Boar TCT large tooth cutter where there is no sidewall contact I could cut the same size hole in 3 seconds and could cut hole after hole before needing to recharge the battery pack. 

The basic design of bi-metal hole saws dates back more than a century and their inefficiency with most materials is not nearly as apparent with a cord drill running off 110v AC but is quite obvious when using a drill powered by a battery.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Late to the party, but I have a Dewalt 16 gauge angle 18 volt nail gun and a jig saw, both using XRP batteries. Well Dewalt came out with a 20 volt conversion kit allowing the use of 20 volt LiOn batteries. Don't bother. Save some money. I got about 5 good long cuts out of a battery before they died. I was constantly changing batteries. I believe the XRP motors make an excessive draw that the small lightweight batteries can't keep up with.

I gave the batteries to my helper who has 20 volt brushless tools and bought two more XRP batteries. Much better.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

It depends on the load on the tool. For my oscillating tool and my cut-off tool the small 20v batteries work great. For the reciprocating saw and drills where a lot more power is needed the 18v Lithium battery packs in a 4 or 5 amp hour rating last the longest and I can get through any job with at most two battery packs. 

But I use the right blades or hole cutters and this makes a tremendous difference. When there is excessive friction at the work piece the motor draws a lot more current which is OK with a corded drill but ends up severely cutting short battery life. When the first 18v cordless drills appeared on jobsites I would see guys bringing 4 to 8 batteries so they could make it through the day and had a battery charger as well, just in case it was needed. Using self-feed drill bits and bi-metal hole saws on their cordless drills was hobbling their performance.


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## fireguy (May 3, 2007)

iamrfixit said:


> Don't forget that Dewalt does still maintain the old 18v tool line that is incompatible with the new 20v slide on packs. It would be pretty confusing for consumers if they had called both 18v but they don't fit together. The new style, slide on batteries CAN be used on the old tools but requires the help of an adapter. The 20v Max name may be a bit of a marketing ploy, but the name change also differentiates the two lines. They don't hide the fact that they are still 18v tools.
> .


I bought one of those adaptors. Save your money, It is a piece of crap, as was the second adaptor. The battery slides on the adaptor, the adaptor slides on the tool. The adaptor does not slide off easily. 
I have 18V and 20 Volt De Walt. I still have a 14V for sheet metal cutting. It has not been use for at least 3 or 4 years.


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

fireguy said:


> I bought one of those adaptors. Save your money, It is a piece of crap, as was the second adaptor. The battery slides on the adaptor, the adaptor slides on the tool. The adaptor does not slide off easily.
> I have 18V and 20 Volt De Walt. I still have a 14V for sheet metal cutting. It has not been use for at least 3 or 4 years.



That's pretty typical with any of the plug in style battery packs, they could be really hard to remove. Get a little debris in the buttons and they get even worse. Can't count the number of times I had to hold the tool between my knees and use both hands to get the battery off. Either that or start using it only to have the battery drop out of the tool. The slide on battery packs are a MUCH better design. 

I've used the adapter and it's not an ideal situation. Biggest problem is it doesn't fit all tools that great. Not only looks odd but changes the balance and makes the tool feel different. The adapter is more to ease transition to new style than an actual long term solution. Some people have trouble abandoning old tools that still work when they change platforms. I never had that problem this go around. The 20v stuff was such an improvement that it made the 18v obsolete for me.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

I first bought the 20v hand drill from DeWalt for testing and became a big fan as the tool really lives up to the marketing hype. I have 18v drills from DeWalt (standard and hammer drill versions), Milwaukee, Makita, Panasonic, and Rigid, that I have been using in a hole cutter testing program, and the 20V provide as much of a gain as going from 12v to 18v did. 

What I love is the DeWalt line of 20v tools that are sold as a bare tool. I bought the drill kit with the charger and two 20v batteries and have been using them with two bare tools that I later bought and save about $100 a tool when I can buy just the tool alone. 

Something that few people appreciate is that the cordless drills' performance is greatly affected by the gearing in the drill. DeWalt provides 3 gear options with a low, middle, and high gearing with the middle range that is perfect for driving even very large 6" hole cutters through OSB and plywood subflooring. 

Rigid provides 4 gears but they are a low and and an ultra low and two high speed. Milwaukee and Makita only provide a high and a low speed setting with their drills, and it is like the old days when cars had 2-speed automatic transmissions and their performance was very poor. I get better performance from a 3-gear 18v DeWalt drill than from a 2-gear 20v Milwaukee drill in most situations.


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## rusty baker (Feb 13, 2009)

I have two of the Dewalt 20v drills. I don't like them at all. If you use them as a drill driver, when you back a screw out, the bit loosens. I have never had that problem with cheaper brands. Also, when drilling a hole, if the wood is a little hard, the drill bit slips in the chuck. Just junk IMHO. I quit using mine.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

With the DeWalt chucks I get the drill bit tight in the chuck and then tighten the chuck and one hears a ratcheting noise as something inside tightens it further. Even with 1/16 inch drill bits there is no loosening if I do this 2-step process. 



Drill chucks vary a good deal. With the 18v DeWalt chucks I would have to use a channel lock pliers to loosen the chuck the first few times. With the Makita chuck any vibration while using a hole cutter would loosen the chuck and the arbor adapter and hole cutter would fall to the ground. The Bosch drills have chucks that are very refined and no like one would expect to find on a power tool, but the rest of the Bosch 18v drills I have used were lacking in power.


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

Never had that problem but I've heard others complain about it. All my drills are the premium hammerdrill models, 2 are brushed and one is brushless, all of them have the ratcheting chuck. I snug up the bit while holding onto the chuck and pulling the trigger, but then I"ll grip the chuck and give it a final cinch tight without running the motor. I'll always hear 2-3 ratcheting clicks and the bit never comes loose under any condition or use. These drills have easily the best chucks I've ever owned or used, WAY better than my old 18 or 14.4 had.

Think I remember reading somewhere they used a lesser chuck on some of the earlier, lower-end 20v models and they weren't the ratcheting chuck. The brushless motor accelerates so rapidly that without the ratchet it could actually jar the chuck loose when used in reverse.


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## rusty baker (Feb 13, 2009)

iamrfixit said:


> Never had that problem but I've heard others complain about it. All my drills are the premium hammerdrill models, 2 are brushed and one is brushless, all of them have the ratcheting chuck. I snug up the bit while holding onto the chuck and pulling the trigger, but then I"ll grip the chuck and give it a final cinch tight without running the motor. I'll always hear 2-3 ratcheting clicks and the bit never comes loose under any condition or use. These drills have easily the best chucks I've ever owned or used, WAY better than my old 18 or 14.4 had.
> 
> Think I remember reading somewhere they used a lesser chuck on some of the earlier, lower-end 20v models and they weren't the ratcheting chuck. The brushless motor accelerates so rapidly that without the ratchet it could actually jar the chuck loose when used in reverse.


 I have a couple old Black and Decker that work better than the Dewalt. I have been really disappointed in the quality.


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## iamrfixit (Jan 30, 2011)

rusty baker said:


> I have a couple old Black and Decker that work better than the Dewalt. I have been really disappointed in the quality.



As with anything you"ll find folks on either side of the fence. I've spent many thousands on DeWalt stuff, only ever had one dewalt that I would consider a dud, it was a lower end (all plastic/no metal gear case) 14.4 drill. The old B&D pro models are where the modern yellow DeWalt tools originated from. Been owned by B&D for 60 years.

We've built grain bins since the late 90's, that work is extremely tough on tools. They often fall to the concrete, get wet or end up in dirt or mud. We have about 8 cordless 3/8 and 1/2 impacts, used for moving the bin jacks, building roof sub-structure, installing roof panels and general equipment assembly. Also in cordless we have 3 or 4 drills, a couple recip saws, couple grinder/cutoff tools and probably 24+ batteries. 

For tightening the thousands of bolts that assemble the tank we run 2, 3 even 4 half inch corded impacts at a time depending on the size of the crew working that day. Work the heck out of all the tools every single day and have very few failures. If one does fail it was usually due to dropping and physically breaking something or getting them wet. We buy a couple new each year and retire the old as they die. Date every one and usually get 3-4 years out of them.

Lots of love for makita on here, but two of the worst tools I ever owned were makita. We used to run a few cordless milwaukee but the cordless 3/8 impacts were too fat, heavy and just run too slow, no matter the setting the drills always seem at the wrong speed for the job. They were consistently the last tools still in the box, the crew would argue over who got stuck with them. The grinder and recip saw both worked good, still have a couple around. The 1/2 corded impact was pretty universally hated, did not work well for our application.


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