Anyone know if a Dewalt 36V battery will fit a 28V tool?

[Mark Burnette]

It looks like the base is the same, except for length. Has anyone tried to see if it'll fit? Now that 28V is discontinued I'm looking for an option to power my tracksaw, without having to support 1 bastard battery.

[scott vroom]

Have you tried calling DeWalt customer service @ 1-800-4-DEWALT? I think the manufacturer is in the best position to respond to your question and to advise you of potential damage to your tool or battery by doing as you suggest.

[Mark Burnette]

I should elaborate...I scored a 36V pack from a recycling bin and am looking to see if it'll physically fit on the tool. I will replace/remove batteries as needed to get 28V from it.

[Van Huskey]

Am I missing something? You have the 36v battery the saw and the 28.8v battery correct?

[Matt Meiser]

Why not just rebuild your existing batteries when the time comes?

[Greg R Bradley]

All decent LiIon tools have sophisticated electronic controls in the battery and/or tool and/or charger. I don't think you will want to change anything. About the only modification that has been successful is using the Makita 18v LXT battery, which has the extra electronics in each battery, in a 18v LiIon tool from another manufacturer.

Your solution is an extra battery or two and having them rebuilt as necessary.

[Mark Burnette]

You guys are reading too much into my request. I bought a 28V tracksaw--which is discontinued--new for $150. That's about $300 cheaper than the corded version that's been on my wish list. It's only a bargain if it works. I bought it without batteries or charger. The plan is to be patient & wait for a bargain on those, too. But I want to verify the saw functions before it's too late to return it. Like I said I scored a free 36V pack and it turns out to be a good pack with 31V charge still on it. With a 6 amp resistive load the voltage drops to 29 volts so either the pack only needs recharging or there's a dead cell in there (3.6V per cell). I made the pack slide into the saw by shaving off a rib on the base of the battery that the 28V pack doesn't have.

Now to the point--the saw doesn't run. I don't know if it doesn't "like" the 30-ish volts I'm feeding it, or if the saw is digitally asking the pack "Are we made for each other?" or if in fact the pack batteries are good but electronically it's dead. These things have gotten so complicated you can't simply jumper in power & know that it will work. I've also tried that--jumpering in 28V from a power supply by connecting to the 2 big terminals on the saw (there's also a thin edge connector for all the other "smart" functions so possibly the saw won't run off substitute power).

28V batteries are discontinued so I can't try one in the store so to test the saw with the right pack will cost me ~$150 to order and I bet I can't return the battery if it turns out the saw is a POS.

That's my dilemma.

Anybody live in Oakland or Macomb county, MI with a good 28V Dewalt battery I can use to test my saw??

[Greg R Bradley]

There should be lots of them out there on the used market. Two years ago there were lots of companies advertising the kit of 28v track saw, 2 batteries, charger, and track for $299 plus at least two specials of $228 and $250.

Perhaps you could look for a deal on a different 28v kit with batteries and charger. I think you will get another tool for free that way instead of buying batteries and charger individually.

[Mark Burnette]

Last year I had never heard of a tracksaw. It was all the discussion here & another forum about the great price Amazon had on a complete kit that caught my attention & I looked into it. I saw it too late to get in on the limited quantity and I haven't seen a price that low since. I've been buying the pieces bit by bit for cheap at the service center near me but Amazon (and everyone else) still wants more for just the saw than the whole kit was on sale for.

I'm too deep into this to back out completely but I'll jump on a good price on the corded version. I'm *this close* to rewiring my saw & 36V pack to bypass all the BS electronics. It really shouldn't be this complicated.

[Van Huskey]

YOu explanation makes sense now, and I can't help you. When you said "fit" I thought you meant physically as opposed to will it work.

[Mark Burnette]

Actually I DID mean physically--I thought I could modify it to provide the right voltage but now it looks like the saw & battery "talk" to each other so modifications aren't possible. Looks like I'm stuck buying a new 28V pack & charger.