Cheap Black & Decker 18Volt Battery

So if you're like me with several aging batteries for you cordless drill and to cheap to pay the full price for a replacement
Then check this out.
 I have several Black & Decker 18 volt batteries, part #244760-00, that were at least 5 years old and only 1 good one.  I decided to try and find a cheaper alternative to the 35-45 dollar new battery price. I just happened to be at Harbor Freight one day and noticed there line of 18 volt cordless power tools.  The battery they use is Drill Master part # 67029, and is only 10 dollars.  I decided to just buy one, since it was cheap and took it home to do a comparison with a B & D battery.  They batteries are very similar in size and the way it is wired. 

Step 1: Comparing the Batteries.

Step 2: Inside the Packs

Even though the Harbor Freight Battery was only 10 bucks the battery is only rated at 1300 mAhr, while the B&D battery is rated at 1500, so there is a little bit of a trade off.

Step 3: Making Changes

Even though both packs use the same connector, they are not arranged the same way so some adjustments will have to be made.  On the Harbor Freight battery wires there is a right angle bend on the bottom of the connection wire that needs to be removed, if not the positive and negative wires will touch during final assembly.

Step 4: Wiring the Connector

This step you will put the Harbor Freight wires into the B&D Connector.

Step 5: Install and Reassembly

This isn't an exact fit so on the final assembly you will have to be careful when you put the new pack in.  The top of the pack will be a very tight fit.

Step 6: Finishing Up

Before testing I like to Check Polarity of any battery work, as you can see it was 18.52 volts. The old battery was 11.5, bad.  You may also find that when charging the battery it may be a tight fit because of the additional wiring in the new battery pack. 

Comments

[k4rgd]

Has anyone tried to simply gut a battery and put an 18v AC-DC block in to make an AC adapter for these tools? I’m thinking I can find a laptop battery charging cable around here somewhere and put it inside the shell of an old dead battery. That way, if all my good batteries do die out (as they always do, I’ll be able to finish my weed eating or leaf blowing without having to wait several hours for a charge. The amperage shouldn’t be much of an issue, I wouldn’t think.

[DIY Hacks and How Tos]

Yeah. I have done similar things with small battery powered electronics.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-Battery-P...

These are lower powered devices but the principle is the same.

[GhengisKhan1981]

gonna try this tomorrow. thx. i have boxes full of these that i've always wanted to get to, to "fix". this will get me off my procrastinating butt :)

[insanehognutt]

Great info!
I have several of the 18V Black and Decker power tools and a few bad batteries that I need to replace. I can fix the 2 bad ones I have using this idea for less than the cost of one replacement battery. I had already replaced 3 others with NiMh batteries I ordered online and they are fantastic but pricey and took 3 months to get here (ordered from need battery dot com and they shipped from china, slow to get here but cheaper than anywhere else). They look like the grey one in the background on your 1st picture. This will put a couple of the others I was holding onto back to work!
Thanks!

[insanehognutt]

OK, I rebuilt my two battery packs and they work perfectly. While I was there I saw an 18 volt drill master 1/4 impact driver on sale for $19.99. I have been wanting the Black and Decker one but it is 3x's that much so I decided to see if I could get the Black and Decker battery to fit it and I was with a little rewiring and a little grinding of plastic with my dremel tool!

If you already have the 18 volt Black and Decker batteries the Harbor Freight line of 18 volt Drill Master tools can be made to receive the Black and Decker Batteries and they have some pretty decent stuff to choose from. Here is what they have that can be made to work with the Black and Decker batteries:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-quarter-inch-18-volt-cordless-impact-driver-67028.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-reciprocating-saw-67027.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-sander-67046.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-cutout-tool-67042.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-cutout-tool-67042.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-flashlight-67032.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-cordless-jig-saw-67044.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-3-8-eighth-inch-two-speed-variable-hammer-drill-67025.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-3-8-eighth-inch-cordless-right-angle-drill-67043.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-5-1-2-half-inch-cordless-circular-saw-67026.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-volt-3-8-eighth-inch-cordless-drill-with-keyless-chuck-67024.html

Here is the one I did:

[lousiezhang]

cool!

[PhilS.]

Hi Judy72649

I use a Dewalt 9.7 to 18 volt charger for everything. It says it's a 9.7v to 18v charger.. I just opened it up and soldered wires to the positive and negative terminals inside and drilled a hole for the wires to exit then put alligator clips on the other end and marked them for polarity, then hook to any battery in that voltage range and you got it.. Works for me!!!!!! Phil

[lousiezhang]

we have replace battery for this 18V BLACK & DECKER 244760-00 battery pack.

[prbokelman]

Well, it has always worked for me anyway.

[PaulR165]

I just exchanged the cell package from Harbor Freight battery 68413 into the B&D 18 volt battery case. Soldering the wires was the most time consuming step of the swap. Batteries from HF only cost me $10.40 each using a 20% off coupon. Batteries were at 19.0 and 19.2 volts before using. I use these B&D string trimmer and leaf blower.

[MarcoP76]

I did the same thing, but noticed that the fully charged "HF retrofit" battery can't spin my leaf blower as fast as the original ones (it's fully charged). I'll probably try this hack with the 68860, which is 1500mAh like the original B&D packs.

[VICPETERS]

I have concerted several of these and they work fine. Now however another after market company is making Nimh batts for B&D that have 3000 mh. They are about $32. They hold charge longer on shelf and run tools twice as long as the nicad. They should last longer too with no memory.

[TomG82]

You can buy a Harbor Freight 3/8" drill with a battery for $16.99 with a coupon. For four bucks more why even bother trying to fix a B&D battery? I have one of the HF drills and it works fine for me.

[trapped1]

I have a shed full of B&D powertools that I've bought over the last 10 years because they all use the same batteries. I'm down to one battery amongst them all, when that battery fails, I'll have 6 orange useless bricks. That's the reason I'm looking for alternatives.

[Crantson99]

Where's the fun in that?

[jeff.sternberg2]

I just bought two drillmaster 18 volt batteries item #68413 they do not look like the ones in your video can I still convert these for my black and decker batteries

[kiff1]

Jeff, were you (or anyone else) able to get the 68413 battery (see image below) open and determine if the internal batteries would transfer (fit) the BnD 18v battery? Thanks!

[Crantson99]

Only way to know is to open the battery. The outside of the battery shouldn't matter as much as how the cells inside are arranged. I see there only 12 bucks right now. Good luck!!

[BillS45]

I too bought new batteries from harbor freight and was trying to do this today, but I am having trouble getting the old covers off the black and decker batteries. I have taken the 4 screws out but it is still hanging up. My black and decker batteries are the orange 18 volt, not sure if that matters or not. Any suggestions?

[screaminscott]

There are actually 6 screws. There are the 4 screws on either side of the battery and two screws near the front where the terminals are. They may be under a sticker.