During another household project, I used the battery as a power supply for something else. Low draw, was not getting hot. Discharged down to 17 volts. Now when I plug it in, charger just shows "bad battery".

Another just shows "bad battery" on the charger when I plug it in. It's practically new but I have no insight on that one.

Anyone familiar with how these opperate that might have a fix at least for the first one? My suspision is that somehow the battery knows it was used for something it should not have been. If that's the case...can it be reset?

Same problem with older 18 volt "Firestorm" battery. This could be age...but every battery (3) shows bad?

⟐ Commented July 02, 2026 at 9:27 MST

Using a bright light, I see no screw, nor hex nut to remove. The base of Chuck has two flattened sides so as to accept an incredible thin wrench 🔧. The wrench might have come with the drill when bought, but is presently absent, and local tool stores carry no such wrench.

What do you recommend ? Can I lock the Chuck on a 90° HEX wrench and strike it hard in a CCW direction ?

⟐ Answered July 01, 2026 at 17:21 MST

Does anyone know of a compatible alternative trigger switch or a substitution part number that works for this specific model? Are there generic 20V variable speed switches that are known to fit the housing and handle the current?

I am comfortable with soldering if needed, but I want to make sure the replacement will physically fit and function correctly with the Matrix system. Any advice or sources would be greatly appreciated!

⟐ Answered June 14, 2026 at 7:55 MST

⟐ Answered June 13, 2026 at 19:15 MST

⟐ Commented May 17, 2026 at 10:50 MST

⟐ Answered April 19, 2026 at 13:10 MST

Translation Hindi-English

My motor is getting hot and it smells too

⟐ Edited March 30, 2026 at 19:35 MST

Despite having the higher end tools, I still want to keep this one around for jobs I do not want to run my good XR drill on. I have the DCA1820 and 4x 5Ah packs (18650-based) and 2 PowerStacks (5Ah/1.7Ah), so I am wondering what the sweet spot for the older 18V tools is. I did look into a brushless 20V entry level drill on sale for the batteries, but I looked into that years ago before I got 6 20V batteries. I don't think that plan makes as much sense now unless I get some insane deal on a 20V Brushless with 2 2Ah batteries.

⟐ Answer accepted March 08, 2026 at 0:54 MST

⟐ Answer edited March 07, 2026 at 21:55 MST

⟐ Commented February 26, 2026 at 15:25 MST

So I opened up the case on my DeWalt DC970 18V drill and of course, wasn't careful enough and stuff spilled out when I separated the two halves. I caught the motor assembly in time, but I could hear at least a couple parts hit the ground, never to be found again. One of these days I'll retain what I learn....

Anyways, I'm trying to reassemble and I'm stuck on a mystery part

Based on the next image, I'm thinking it's a part of the speed shifter. You can see the bend of something metal holding up the shifter with the motor out that looks very close to the mystery part. Unfortunately though, any image I can find of the shifter online is a picture of just the top of the shifter, nothing of the bottom. Every parts diagram I can find does the same thing; it's sold as a single part.

In the image above, it looks like the part attaches to the motor assembly farther down than the shifter does. But I can't find anywhere for it to attach to anything.

The hole in the center of the part does fit snuggly into the shifter bottom, but of course I don't know which direction it's supposed to go.

Am I missing another part that helps this attach to the motor?

Is this mystery part just a random doohickey I found on my floor and has nothing to do with the drill?

Answers and advice greatly appreciated.

-Art

⟐ Commented February 02, 2026 at 12:25 MST

⟐ Answered January 31, 2026 at 5:13 MST

⟐ Answered January 28, 2026 at 22:44 MST

⟐ Answered January 01, 2026 at 7:14 MST