Holding battery charge on 12v DeWalt batteries
I have both 12v and 18v Dewalt drills. The 18V is outstanding, but the 12V will not hold a charge on either battery. I can charge it up and it works fine for a while, but even on a full charge, the next morning it is down...both batteries act the same....the 18v drill holds the charge just fine.
Drills - Dewalt - 12V XRP Battery Pack
Answers & Comments
Are batteries for the dewalt cordless drill interchangeable? Will an 18 volt battery fit in a 12 volt drill?
Time to replace the batteries. Some batteries will not last very long. My original ni-cads on a Ryobi lasted only 1yr, and the replacement ones are 2yrs old and are still OK. You might be able to check the manufacturing date on your original batteries and that will give you an idea of how long they sat on the shelf before you started using them. Rechargable batteries have limited shelf life.
That is because of the battery type. The batteries are nicd Nickel Cadmium and after 24 hours lose a good percentage of their charge. The Dewalt batteries should be left on the charger, if you read the manual you will discover this is what Dewalt recommends. It not only does not hurt the batteries it allows the charger to put the batteries through maintenance cycles.
I have read somewhere that running the battery down, and then shorting the battery, putting a wire acrooss +/- termanals. This interrups the recharge memory within the battery.
If this does not work the a cell my be gone and you can get these repaired