Can an 18v battery be used in a Hitachi 14.4v tool?

Can it be done? ..an 18v battery in a 14.4v Hitachi tool skin. Yes and no. Here's why. Obviously this particular hack only applies to Hitachi or Hikoki tool 14.4v tool skins.

[@alanerickson3075]

I personally have a crap ton of old 14.4 volt power tools (saws drills impact drivers grinders etc.) that I am currently running on modern Li Ion 18 volt batteries. Most of these old tools were made to run on Ni Cad or NiMH batteries and they generally have the old 775 or 550 Johnson motors which were built to run at anywhere from 12 to 24 volts. Most of these tools have been running like this for more than12 years with no problems but you need to realize that the higher the voltage the faster they spin and the more torque they have so the quicker they will wear out. Most of the older Ryobi's, Makita's, Hitachi's, Craftsman, DeWalt's, Milwaukee's, bosch, etc. were well built so they generally handle more power with no worries.

[@proto4975]

Agreed.

[@matthewcaughey8898]

I’m probably going to do this with a black n decker sawzall. The warranty is a dim memory and there’s an adapter to stick a 20v battery to it. Since it dies too fast I’m probably going to do so

[@proto4975]

Worth a try. Worst case is you may need to buy a shiny brand new replacement after the fire dies down. :-)

[@Alexandreclazaro]

Parabéns, tirou minha dúvida sobre usar bateria 18v na 14.4v . Thanks 🙏

[@proto4975]

Very glad to have helped.

[@vhpsimon7941]

thanks for solving my doubts

[@proto4975]

No problam at all.

[@johnnguyen2376]

I had conversed 14.4 Nicad to Lithium ion series of 4(4s) , 16.8 v but it ran no good! Slow or not even running ! I checked the voltage at 14.4v Nicad charger, the out put of the charger gave out 19.5v to charge for 14.4v Nicad batt pack( the old pack) , so i realized that the out put from 14.4 Nicad must be at around 19v .So i at one more cell 3.7 lithium to make up 5s plus changing to 5s BMS too . The result is good .Drill runs a lot better than before even when on new 14.4 Nicad in the old day

[@proto4975]

I'm glad it worked out.

[@JohnDoe-qb6yh]

can you do one with a makita 14,4v tool?

[@MrDexi87]

Nice!

[@proto4975]

Thanks!

[@jacksonroad9263]

hey mate, can you do the other way? i can run a 18v hitachi drill on a 14.4 battery, the only downside is the Battery level indicator doesnt work. does the battery indicator work on your drill?

[@proto4975]

I dont have an 18v drill to test with. But I do get the same result on other 18v tools if I use a 14.4v battery... the battery level indicator doesnt function. Ths may be due to different sensing circuit connections in the 14.4v battery vs the 18v battery. Not really something I've looked in to. The man reason for the video was to look at the practicality of using an 18v battery in a 14.4v tool.

[@jacksonroad9263]

@@proto4975 Great thanks for that i thought something was wrong with the indicator.