I replaced that 12 volt dc cordless drill with a DeWalt DC 720 18 volt DC NiCad 1/2 inch drill/driver.  I believe the next DeWalt cordless tool was the DW960 3/8 inch right angle drill.  My next DeWalt cordless tool was the DC725 1/2 inch cordless hammer drill/driver.

My last DeWalt cordless tool was purchased in 2019 was a DC385 variable speed reciprocating saw.

Below is pix of the DeWalt cordless tools:

Up until this point, I was well pleased with the DeWalt cordless drills, however the DC385 was a disaster.  With a fully charged knock-off battery, it would last only a few seconds at the most and it was becoming very difficult to find genuine DeWalt replacement 18 volt DC NiCad rechargeable batteries; e.g., XRP DC9096.  I purchased several imported knock-off batteries advertising 3 or 4 Ah of capacity and only one of 3 purchased was any good and definitely not 3 or 4 Ah capacity.  One of the knock-off batteries was about impossible to remove from the drill and threw it in the trash after getting a refund from the seller via EBay.

I was needing the DeWalt reciprocating saw to replace my hand meat saw, however that did not pan out because of the battery problem.  If I am not mistaken, the DC385 variable speed reciprocating saw pulled about 4.5 amps. DC current which will drain a battery very quickly, especially those imported knock-offs.

GOING ON A RABBIT TRAIL

Back on April 19, 2021, I broke my right arm and before our 2021 Archery season opened in September, it was apparent I was going to have much difficulty quartering a deer up since I use a manual hand operated meat saw to sever the head from the neck, the neck from the carcass, sever the carcass from the hind quarters and split the hind quarters in two.  Knowing this, I purchased a Bauer reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight; although I am not a big fan of Harbor Freight tools and you definitely need to do some serious product reviews before purchasing their tools and equipment.

NOTE:  I did find a DeWalt XRP DC9096 battery on line at Home Depot, but it was local pick-up only and with a price tag of $ 100 dollars, therefore, the Bauer reciprocating saw was the way to go.

To my surprise, the Bauer 20 volt lithium ion battery powered reciprocating saw has been a winner.  I processed four (4) deer with it and trimmed back three (3) trees/bushes and only used 1/3 battery charge!

DEWALT CORDLESS TOOL UPGRADE CONTINUES

As stated, I got on a rabbit trail aka side tracked and back to the DeWalt cordless tool upgrade.  I watched many YouTube videos about upgrading and/or converting the 20 volt DC DeWalt Lithium DC204 or DCB 205 or DCB 207  battery to operate in their 18 volt DC cordless tools that use the DC9606 or equivalent battery.  It was found that DeWalt makes an adapter for such a purpose, however there were many negative reviews about the difficulty of the adapter to be installed and removed from the tools.  Also one review reported that he had burned out three (3) of the DeWalt adapters, and went to an adapter DCA1820 by Biswaye which worked fine and no trouble to install and remove from his DeWalt drill.

The circuit board that is in the adapters are for protection/overload and several YouTubers bypassed the circuit claiming that the battery slowly discharged while attached to the adapter.  I plan to leave a battery attached to the tool and adapter to see if in fact it does discharge the battery within three (3) days as claimed.  I know, I am a Doubting Thomas on some things.  If it is a problem, a simple fix; just remove the battery from the adapter, rather than risk personal safety by bypassing the circuit board.

NOTE:  As of 02-10-2022, the battery has not discharged while in place with the Biswaye adapter and drill!.  I checked the terminals of the Biswaye adapter and they do not show any voltage as the older DC9606 battery and their imported clones.  I checked the 18 VDC NiCad DeWalt drills internal battery contacts which reads an open circuit with the volt/ohm meter and when the trigger is depressed, reads a closed circuit.      

The adapter does not change the 20 volts to 18 volts, but allows the 20 volt lithium battery to be used versus the 18 volt NiCad battery.  This additional two (2) volts does increase the speed (rpm) of your tool some, but apparently it is no problem since DeWalt supplies an adapter with their name on it being made in China as much of our tools and equipment are manufactured there due to the Cooperate Greed of American Investors.  The DeWalt knock off adapter will run from 13 to 16 dollars +- depending on the seller.

I ordered two (2) more adapters and plan to leave them in two of the driver drills.  The adapter is available on Amazon and also on EBay.

CHARGER AND BATTERIES

I purchased a DeWalt 20V MAX Lithium Ion 4.0 Ah battery (DCB204) and charger (DCB115), plus an additional DCB204 20V MAX Premium XR 4.0 Ah Lithium Ion battery on line from significantservices.com

Significant Services shipped the order the same day the order was placed and received the order within 3 days via UPS!  Their prices are very competitive and highly recommend their services!

TESTING THE CHARGER AND BATTERIES

I charged both batteries and there is a test button on the back of the battery when depressed, it will indicate the charge, which has three (3) LEDS showing the amount of charge in the battery.

The acid test was using the DeWalt DC385 reciprocating saw, of which I stated early was a battery killer for sure.  I cut about 16 pieces of pine wood with it and the tool never slowed down and the battery pack was still showing fully charged.

So far I am stoked with the adapter, charger and batteries and consider it a good investment, rather than using imported knock-off batteries that will not power the reciprocating saw, but briefly, however they do a decent job in the drills, but in my humble opinion you have to change the batteries far too often and they die quickly.

The weight of the adapter and 4Ah hour DeWalt battery is slightly less than the weight of the standard imported 3 Ah battery.  The adapter and 20 Volt Lithium Ion battery does increase the total height of the drill and has an upward angle, but this is not a problem for me.

The larger 4 Ah battery would not be the way to go if you were hanging drywall all day, whereas a smaller capacity battery would be better, even though you would have to change it more often.  Two of my DeWalt Cordless drills weight about five (5) pounds with the 4 Ah battery and using that hanging dry wall all day would definitely fatigue you.  Milwaukee makes a cordless dry wall screw drill/driver at around 2.5 lbs. # 2866-20 M18 and would be great for someone on production work.

For my shop work and projects, the heavier DeWalt drills are not a problem since I only use them intermittently and if I get tired, I definitely know how to take a rest period; retirement is great................grin if you must!

In my humble opinion, It appears that DeWalt is apparently phasing out their 18 VDC NiCad batteries and tools and pushing their 20 VDC Lithium Ion batteries and tools as evidenced by the unavailability of the XRP 9096 NiCad batteries!  Of course, China is benefiting from all of this with their knock-off batteries.  "Most of the time, you get what you pay for."

Web page published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-03-2022.

DEWALT KNOCK-OFF BATTERY

I have a couple DeWalt imported knock-off 18 VDC NiCad batteries, of which one (1) will not operate the drills, etc.

Below a few pixs taken when I took the battery pack out of the case:

Although there were 10.32 VDC, no load, the battery pack would not start a drill.  Voltage is present at the connection terminals all the time on this type of NiCad battery.  The only protection for this battery pack is some sort of heat overload protector as depicted in the above pix by the two smaller leads.

I plan to keep the NiCad battery packs, but I doubt I will ever rebuilt them..........I know I am a pack rat for sure!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-11-2022.

ADDED DEWALT 20V CORDLESS IMPACT DRILL DRIVER

On 02-23-2022, I added a DeWalt 20V cordless impact Drill Driver model number DCF885B which is variable speed; 0-2,800 RPM to my DeWalt cordless tool collection.  Also, I added an assortment of 1/4 inch drive accessories and have an adapter set for 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch drive sockets, etc. on order.

So far, I am well pleased with the DeWalt DCF885B variable speed impact drill driver.  I was impressed how fast it removed some rusty bolts that had 1/2 inch hex nuts.

I watched one YouTube video where a man removed lug nuts from his truck that were torqued to 100 ft-lbs, whereas the above tool is rated at 150 foot pounds.  However, he stated that continued usage might break the 1/4 inch hex adapter to 1/2 inch socket drive which is understandable.  For lug nuts, he recommended the 1/2 inch drive DeWalt impact drill driver.

My next tool will probably be the DeWalt model DCG412B 20V 4.5 inch side grinder for dedicated usage with a thin cut-off abrasive wheel, whereas I use my Milwaukee Cat. No. 6140 Heavy Duty AC 4.5 inch side sander/grinder for wire brushing and other needs.  I am bringing out either a hacksaw, Milwaukee PortaBand Saw or reciprocating saw for cutting metal.  I am like Norm Abram, I would rather change routers than router bits, especially when doing dovetails and pins.  I believe I counted nine (9) routers from 3 1/4 HP down to small air die grinders/routers...............grin if you must!

NOTE:  When using any type of grinding tool that generates metal particles, it is imperative that you wear eye protection; preferably a full face shield or wrap around safety glasses!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-25-2022.

IN GOD WE TRUST - GOD BLESS AMERICA - "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE"   JOHN 3:16 KJV