Thanks to a reader tip from Jason, we’re reminded that Dewalt is coming out with two new cordless power tool battery chargers.
The first new charger, DCB1106, shown above, can charge Dewalt 12V Max and 20V Max batteries with a 6-amp charging rate. It can of course handle FlexVolt batteries as well.
Dewalt describes the new charger as being versatile for a wide variety of charging needs, and says that it can charge a 5Ah battery to 80% capacity in under 45 minutes.
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Both chargers have “Stage 1” and “Stage 2” LED indicators, with the first blinking until the battery is 80% charged. Once the battery reaches 80%, the first LED turns solid red and the second stage LED indicator starts to blink. Both LEDs are solidly illuminated once the battery is fully charged to 100%.
Price: $79
ETA: Spring 2020
This new charger will be available as an accessory purchase but will also be included in certain Dewalt 20V Max cordless power tool kits.
The second new charger is the DCB1112 Fast Charger, which is capable of charging Dewalt 20V Max and FlexVolt cordless power tool batteries with a 12-amp rate.
Thanks to the faster charging rate, Dewalt’s new Fast Charger can charge a FlexVolt 9Ah battery to 80% capacity in under 45 minutes.
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As with the new 6A charger, this 12A Fast Charger also has 2-stage LED indicators, showing users when a battery has reached 80% and 100% charge capacity.
The 12A Fast Charger also features fast-assisted cooling, through-hole mounts, a latch for transporting the charger with a battery installed, and double insulation that meets UL compliance.
Price: $99
ETA: Spring 2020
Dewalt says that the Fast Charger will initially be offered as an accessory only, but there are plans for future kit offerings.
Additional Information
Are there any 20V Max batteries that won’t benefit from these chargers’ higher charging rates?
All 20V/FlexVolt batteries are compatible with both chargers. 12V batteries are also compatible with DCB1106.
- DCB203 are limited to 4A max charging current; all chargers will limit current to this level for this battery.
- DCB204 are limited to 8A max charging current; all chargers will limit current to this level for this battery.
- DCB240 are limited to 4A max charging current; all chargers will limit current to this level for this battery.
Will the DCB1106 charger rapidly charge 12V Max batteries as well, or are they charged at a lower rate?
12V MAX batteries are limited to 4A max charging current; all 12V compatible chargers will limit current to this level for these batteries.
Will the DCB118 fast charger be discontinued and replaced by the DCB1112?
DCB118 will be discontinued as an accessory but will still be sold in kits.
Summary: There are only a few batteries that won’t benefit from the higher charging rates, 12V Max batteries are limited to a 4A charging rate, the new Fast Charger is replacing the previous model as an accessory/add-on option.
What can you say to convince me that these fast chargers won’t damage my batteries or shorten their lifetimes?
All Dewalt chargers are designed to properly identify Dewalt batteries and limit the current to charge them safely and reliably.
Discussion
What’s not to like?
I’m on the fence about the 2-stage LED charge indication feature, but that seems like a “better to have it” kind of feature. Although rare, there are times when I need a cordless power tool battery charged fast and would be happy with a 75-80% charge capacity rather than taking it to 100%. Plus, according my understanding of optimal charging rates, final charging often takes longer than initial charging, due to increasing internal resistance and higher temperatures.
I think about it this way: You have an empty elevator that can fit 10 people. Those first couple of people can pile in quickly, but what happens once you’re at 8/10 capacity? Those last 2 people are going to have to push in a little in order to fill the elevator to top capacity. And if it’s a hot summer day where everyone is a little hot and sweaty, it’ll take a little longer. Sure you can still fit those last 2 people, but things are calmer and safer if they find their places on the elevator a little more slowly than those first 8 people did.
There’s always a popular question regarding higher cordless power tool battery charging rates: will the faster charging rate damage batteries or shorten their lifetimes? Dewalt says that their new chargers will charge their batteries safely and reliably.
Personally, I am inclined to believe that cordless power tool brands have done sufficient testing to know the limits of their battery packs. With faster charging rates, controlling the heat is probably the most important consideration. Charge a battery too fast and it heats up, potentially causing damage over time – at the least. This is probably why the 12A charger has active fan cooling, and why both chargers potentially have different charging rates for the first 80% and last 20% of charge capacity.
Whether you’re eager for the faster charging rates or not, it’s good to have choices.
It’s worth noting that we’ve seen the new DCB1106 charger included in the updated FlexVolt circular saw kit.
Joatman
First off, I hope everyone is safe and healthy.
I see these targeting the professional. For most of us DIYers, in my opinion, it’s just another charger and wouldn’t consider spending the $70 or $100 just to have my battery charged an hour sooner. Most of us have more than one battery and one charger already. For that cost, I’d rather buy a new tool, which may or may not come with a battery.
For someone out in the field I can see where this may be beneficial…..but I think I’d still consider buying another battery before another charger.
Planegrain
To me the price is sort of fictional. These chargers have become more of a throw in with combo kits I doubt many get purchased separately. Not sure if I’m right, but that’s impression.
Stuart
Generally, standard/basic chargers are included in most kits, more premium chargers are included in the more premium and higher-priced kits.
It’s my assumption that you’re not likely to get the 6A charger in most combo kits or the Atomic tool kits.
Robert Adkins
I think you’re right. As a home projects user, I always said if you need a fast charger, what you really need another battery pack.
I don’t know about the newest battery tech, but 2-3 years ago, all the experts said it was harmful to quick-charge your packs. I have 4 DeWalt chargers, ranging from 1.5A to 4A. I only use the 1.5A.
I’m pretty sure Pros welcome the faster chargers and don’t mind forfeiting a few dozen charge cycles.
ToolGuyDan
Your last link, confusingly, goes to this same post??
Big Richard
It’s a late April Fool’s joke. They got you good!
Stuart
Thanks! Sorry, copy-paste mistake, now fixed.
andy
The 80% indicator is nice. It’s a better level to store your batteries at, compared to full, and it’s an optimal time to remove your battery from the charger if you want the most capacity in the least amount of time and you have a line of other batteries waiting to be charged.
Clay
Looks cool, but I don’t need anymore chargers.
Chris
I’m in the market for a new charger. But I’d rather have a dual charger. As in two batteries at once. I like the new indicator light design. And I’d like it to have a fan.
Nils
Agreed. I wish that power bank could take four batteries of any size, fast charge and provide backup power.
That’d be worth it.
As it stands, like most of us I have a handful of chargers rattling around together in an untidy way and don’t really need more single into ones.
Big Richard
DCB104 has 4 ports @ 8 amps.
https://www.dewalt.com/products/accessories/batteries-and-chargers/chargers/multiport-simultaneous-fast-charger/dcb104
However, it is not a power supply like the DCB1800 you mentioned. That only does 2 amps.
Stuart
Yep – the 4 port charger came out 2 years ago. It doesn’t provide backup power though, that’s the power station, which charges at a lower rate.
https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-20v-max-4-port-rapid-battery-charger/
Corey Moore
Check out the 4 port parallel rapid charger, I’ve been using mine for a couple months now and it’s great.
John
I kinda like the DCB1106 because it does everything. Even if it doesn’t fast change the 12v its still okay. I wouldn’t buy it separately but if I got it with a kit i wouldn’t sell it like i usually do with new chargers. I have too many.
Peter
I wish they would get into the habit of including usb ports.
Steve
Agreed! I can’t imagine this new tech costs that much more. Seems to me a few little tweaks to chargers like a couple USB ports, dual battery support on all chargers and fast charge capability combined would create chargers that stand out as real features in tool combos influencing decisions of both pro and consumer users.
Neil
Reading about battery charging, battery life, and battery temperature reminds me of a YouTube video that popped up on my phone recently.
A contractor in Pennsylvania named Vince often posts tool videos for something called Very Cool Gang and he showed cooling your battery in a chilled cooler.
He took a small brushless Milwaukee drill with a 3 AH battery out of a cooler and it seemed to outperform a non-chilled larger brushless Milwaukee drill with first an 8AH and then even the 12AH battery. All batteries seemed to be fully charged.
Is it good and safe to refrigerate Lithium Ion batteries? Will it extend their life?
Will it boost their power?
Stuart
Not really.
If you refrigerate batteries, that also increases the possibility of condensation and moisture, which isn’t a good idea. I would recommend against it.
Consider computer processors. Sure, you can overclock some lower-clocked CPUs to perform faster than pricier higher-clocked processors that aren’t overclocked, but it requires control and cooling.
It used to be that cold temperatures greatly hampered Li-ion performance.
Big Richard
That guy is a snake oil salesman. I would not take anything he says seriously.
Bill Sung
If your someone like me who has about 14 batteries around the house, tool shed and 4 of these standard chargers that come in a kit, buying a faster charger does some attractive.
High & Mighty
The vcg videos are a joke. Those guys are some of the worst actors I’ve seen. Definitely highly questionable. Especially when the kobalt saw miraculously starts smoking. Just horribly obvious that they were selling snake oil in that video. As for the new chargers from Dewalt, it will definitely help to speed up the process of getting work done. Anything that charges batteries faster is a winner and the more compatible they are with platforms, the better they are. Although it would be great if they could go ahead and implement this as the standard for all Dewalt battery charging.
Bob
Lack of a USB was a miss but who doesn’t like more amps when charging.
Hopefully they have a better wall mounting system. The current yellow fast charger only had two litle screw pockets on the back. Doesn’t work worth a damn. I screw a band clamp to the wall then tighten the clamp around the middle of the charger. Very sturdy.
The old 18volt chargers had a hole you could screw down through the charger into the wall below. Very nice. Never had one move.
2 pass through holes or better yet one on each corner of the 20/60 volt chargers would be sweet.
Also a 4 x 12ah fastcharger/inverter would be sweet!!! Rival a small gas genny. This time dewalt make it true sine wave and you will get guys running sophisticated electronics off them. Ps those types of guys in my experience usually have huge budgets too so don’t cheap out lol
Nathan
So it’s close to a feature I would like to see. A stop point at 80%. It would be nice to have a switch or button whatever so I could tell the charger to stop at 80%. This was be nicer to my batteries.
you can do this to a limited degree to your smatphones and it is the normal operating mode for most electric cars. IE the Lithium chemistry (either) seems to like charging short of full capacity – and discharging short of 0 capacity. Ideally you run the batter between the 80 and 20 % bands. When it come to power tools for most of us that would be fine. I still however want the ability to wring it out fully when I need all capacity.
t
Battery tech has come a long way. Stop perpetuating false battery naratives. When you charge your battery to full and it stops charging (it’s actually only at 80%.) When you use your tool and the battery dies (it’s actually only at 20%) The only real way to damage a battery is depleting it down to the 20% and then leaving it sitting for a few months as it slowly depletes down to REAL 0%.
Edward Hermanns
Is the 6 amp charger slower then the dcb118? Kinda confusing because the dcb118 is supposedly an 8 amp charger but then states to only charge a 6 amp in 1 hour.
dstblj 52
8 amps is the maximum rate it is capable of applying ie if your battery was completely empty the entire time you can push 8 amps into the battery. But as you fill up a battery, your charging rate falls those over an hour your only going to get 6 amps on the battery they tested. (Bigger batteries charge faster for longer because they stay emptier for longer)
Will
So the DCB118 has dual stage charging too, just not the dual indicators?
Boggsy
DWE46066 – seemingly non-existent right angle (I guess) angle grinder, which would have been a cool design change for a flexvolt model.
Less fatigue/less awkward if you’re cutting all day. And use any of the thousands of other identical grinders for surface grinding.
I thought the flexvolt battery design change meant they’d be the oil resistant models from the pipe threader, but I guess they just like the Fisher Price look? It does state the AH rating clearer at least.
I just can’t believe there was yet another angle grinder addition, and still 0 variable speed battery grinders from dewalt. Which really is just about safety, especially when you have no other option but to go one handed–shutup, you know it happens.
Big Richard
That’s actually a cut-off tool, not a grinder. But I agree it would be a great to have a cordless one, 20V, 60v, or both. Milwaukee has a really nice M12 Fuel 3″ cut-off tool, but I wouldn’t mind a larger more powerful version that uses 4 1/2″ wheels, whether its M18 or DeWalt.
I’ve actually even used DeWalt’s DCS571 Atomic circular saw paired with a 4″ Lenox Metal Max diamond wheel as cut-off tool, which is not recommended at all.
Boggsy
How about a two port fast charger/mini power station when using two flexvolts… Seeing as it clearly needs fewer inverter electronics when you basically match the voltage: just look at the flexvolt chop saw 120v adapter compared to the metabo 18 to 120v cinder block.
Tony Davis
Anyone have an idea on how far into the Spring before we get the new fast charger?
Jeff
Regarding the charging current limits per battery you listed. I can’t seem to find that information anywhere on the web. Where did you come across that?
Stuart
I did not come across it anywhere.
I had a conversation with my Dewalt PR/media contact, and they provided detailed answers to my questions.