DEWALT DW9116 7.2-Volt to 18-Volt Pod Style 1 Hour Battery Charger Reviews

• "Tune-Up" Makes this the Better Choice

  
  By A1J0GL9HCA7ELW on 2000-09-26
  I traded up to this charger after one of my old ones quit. The "tune-up" mode really does make a difference. I tried a side by side test with my remaining old non-tune-up charger. I charged two depleted 12v batteries for 10 hours, using the "tune-up" mode on this charger. I then ran them in the same drill, and there was a noticable increase in rpm and torque with the "tuned-up" battery. The "tune-up" mode does take 8 hours, but it is only necessary every 8-10 charges. As DeWalt explains, the cells in the battery are wired in series and the "tune-up" charges the downline cells completely, where fast charging only fills the first few cells. All cordless batteries are a series of 1.5v batteries enclosed in a case. To get a full charge, all the individual batteries need to fill completely.

  If you have older batteries, this charger will give them new life. It is a worthwhile upgrade even for new batteries, as it will give them better performance and perhaps, extend their life.
  
  

• Throw away your old charger!

  
  By A3GF5SXE8O9MXS on 2004-01-19
  I purchased this charger at the same time I bought my 14.4 cordless drill (Firestorm). This charger fully charges your Dewalt or Firestorm batteries in less than an hour (depending on how low they are when placed in the charger). My two batteries are still going strong after more than three years of frequent home use (the tune-up mode definitely helps).

  Never use the 6 hr battery killer that comes with your cordless tools. This charger is definitely worth the money, considering I would have spent at least twice as much on new batteries.
  
  

• It tunes them up

  
  By on 2001-06-24
  Replaced my old charger with this one. Made a big difference with my older batteries that would not take much of a charge. Gave some new life to them. If you are a user of cordless tools, you know that batteries are the big maintenance expense. While my figures are not scientifically valid, my best guess is that this charger will extend the life of the batteries at least 20 percent
  
  

• Excellent Quality and Peace of Mind

  
  By A2013JDMPUV6D9 on 2006-08-29
  For over 10 years I have been using DeWalt cordless tools and I have always used the standard 1 hour battery chargers that came with each tool. Like everyone I have noticed that as the batteries get older they don't hold a charge as long. All of the woodworking magazines I read have at one point or another promoted the value of an upgraded charger that has a tune-up mode. For the longest time I looked at the DeWalt 2 battery charger, but for nearly a hundred bucks I couldn't stomach the cost. I am glad I kept looking because this little charger fits the bill PERFECTLY.
  
  In use I have found that this unit charges just as it should in one hour, but the real benefit is the battery tune-up mode. In just 8 hours you can re-condition your tired batteries and give them some new life. I also appreciate that once this charger has run its one hour cycle, it is designed to deliver a trickle charge - allowing you to leave a battery in it indefinitely without fear of overcharging.
  
  For the price this product cannot be beat.
  
  

• Firestorm owner

  
  By A239EGH0Q2VFOK on 2007-09-13
  I bought this battery charger hoping that it would work with the firestorm batteries of the same type because the chargers sold by black and decker are hard to find and the ones that offer multiple voltages are even harder to find for this type of battery (i.e. post-type). I would like to reassure any other people in my situation by saying that this charger does, in fact, work for the firestorm batteries. As mentioned in previous reviews, it also functions well to restore the battery to better functioning.
  
  
• Works well--but don't expect miracles
  By A1GALZCXD8FHOR on 2007-05-11
  Several reviews here note that the Dewalt DW9116 battery charger has brought seemingly dead batteries back to life. Initially, I thought the same thing.
  
  But a closer look shows that while old Ni-Cad batteries may indeed come back to life with the charger, that life is short. Dead B&D Firestorm Ni-Cads that wouldn't recharge on B&D's chargers DID recharge on the Dewalt, thanks to its deep-charging mechanism. Yet those newly resurrected batteries won't hold that charge for more than a few minutes.
  
  Simply put, old batteries are old batteries. All rechargeables have a shelf life of about three or four years. Anything beyond that is gravy. Dewalt and B&D stamp a date into a battery's plastic. If yours is more than three years old and doesn't seem to work, don't expect this charger to work miracles. You may think you have one when your battery powers up a device, but if you only get a handful of minutes out of that "rejuvenated" battery, don't be surprised.
  
  Other than that, there's not much else to say about this charger. It does what it's supposed to do quickly, easily, and well. The price is right, too. Just keep those expectations in check and you'll be fine.
  
  
• So far so good
  By A2KGWTMNTW3ZIA on 2006-03-22
  I bought this over-priced Dewalt charger to charge my Black & Decker Firestorm 14.4v batteries, since all three of my Firestorm chargers failed after only a few months of use (one of them after 2 weeks (and can't seem to buy just the charger). Hopefully this one will hold up. The Dewalt charger is working like a champ for now. I would have given it 5 stars, but I'm a little angery at Black & Decker (who also makes Dewalt). So only 4 stars.
  
  
• Works Great for 14.4 FireStorm
  By A3HX9RBRQ7302U on 2007-05-31
  I purchased this unit from Amazon, because my Black&Decker Charger died. To my dismay I found the 1hr charger that my drill came with didn't seem to exist now or in the past. Black & Decker's policy of changing battery types as often as possible left me trying to decide if I wanted to buy a whole new drill rather than buy there over priced all in one charger and possibly new batteries since may batteries didn't work well anymore. I took a chance and purchased this instead. My drill is now working as good as when I got it maybe better, with the old batteries!
  
  
• Works with Black & Decker 12V batteries
  By A193NY8WYI9GDW on 2007-07-10
  I was hesitant to purchase this not sure if it would work with my Black and Decker 12V batteries. I was amazed, I let the first battery charge overnight and wow it was like having a new drill. More power and longer run time. I love the tune-up. These batteries I have are about 8 years old and I use them often. Everyone needs one of these. I have purchased 8 of the Black & Decker brand and they only last about a year and stop working.
  
  
• Fantastic Price
  By A2CB7PH4FED5C2 on 2007-09-15
  I purchased this product to replace my sorry Black and Decker charger for S140 FireStorm 14.4 battery. Reading the reviews were correct. This blows away the B&D charger. My batteries are now like brand new. But the biggest Pro of all is the price. This same exact charger sell for $69.00 at Lowes. This is a real steal, trust me you can't go wrong.
  
  
• Barry - General Contractor
  By AVBCWKOMKONN0 on 2005-07-03
  This new charger is great. I like the new tune up feature.
  
  
• manual please
  By A282QDYSUE17YG on 2006-02-07
  5 stars for now because of the name! Amazon didn't send a manual with the charger and I'm female and have to read everything. I just feel better knowing whats best and what not to do with different products. Thanks anyone who takes the time to do this.
  
  
  
• works for black and decker
  By A1QGXXA5GQ7RYN on 2006-07-09
  Was needing something to charge my black and decker 12 volt battery PS130 because their charger went out on me. this worked perfectly. Later I got a dewalt 18 volt circular saw and again no problems.
  
  
• Great charger even for B&D 12V batteries!
  By A2TVO0Z5Y3THU3 on 2006-11-09
  After researching the Dewalt DW9116 charger I discovered that it will also charge the Black & Decker 12V firestorm drill batteries as well. I do not have a Dewalt cordless drill, but my 12V B&D cordless drill batteries charge in this same charger in less than one hour! The batteries also seem to hold a longer charge than before when I used the B&D standard cheap charger. The Dewalt battery charger is far superior to the standard B&D battery charger. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Revived my old batteries
  By AFUFDE2IK9KF1 on 2007-01-03
  One of my two batteries had developed a low impedance, as batteries can when they start to die, to the point that it killed the charger that came with them. I ordered the same charger I had from B&D, and the bad battery killed it as well. B&D told me about this charger, and said that this charger could not be killed by a shorted battery, but instead would indicate if it was bad by the indicator on the charger. So, I bought the charger from Amazon, and amazingly, both batteries charged perfectly, and I have more power from them than I recall having when I first bought the 18V drill about six years ago.
  
  So, yes, I highly recommend this product. It is true that it does not come with a manual.
  
  
• Works well, nice features
  By A2RM2PPMDMFWFT on 2007-04-01
  The blinking light status indicator is a simple, but effective way of communicating battery status. It also charges the battery packs (I'm using the B&D Firestorm 14.4V packs) amazingly fast. With this charger and two battery packs, you should never have a dead battery interrupt your work again.
  
  
• Replacement for Black & Decker charger
  By A12YXSGDQU83DP on 2007-04-21
  Top of the line product. This product comes highly recommended. It cost $70.00 at Lowes plus tax. I got it for $25.00 total price. I burnt up two original chargers for my Black & Decker cordless drills, Firestorm. This charger will handle all B & D batteries as well as Dewalt.
  
  
• Dewalt DW9116 - Awesome Charger!
  By AGRODRTUCIY2J on 2007-05-12
  Much better than the cheap charger that came with my Black and Decker Cordless Drill. Battery fits perfectly in it and it charges it in a fraction of the time! Even conditions the old batteries. Great purhase!
  
  
• DeWalt battery charger
  By A3E30KQC24SD3Q on 2007-08-06
  Product came quickly and worked fine. It did not come with an instruction manual or guarantee form. Had to go to deWalt web site for guarantee information and customer service of the supplier to get a link to their pdf file of the instruction manual.
  
  
• As promised
  By AJ57MNXY0RF06 on 2007-10-10
  This product was exactly the product promised. I am using it with an older B&D 18v Firestorm drill that had a bad charger. This product works better than the original and doesn't seem to be so finicky about overcharging.
  
  
• Not for Firestorm batteries
  By A3GLA1UH3M0N80 on 2006-05-24
  According to DeWalt, this charger doesn't work with Firestorm batteries. I can confirm that it doesn't work with either of my 9.6 volt Firestorm batteries.
  
  
• Works Much Better
  By A38E7JNR5CUXST on 2006-08-23
  Great to know it works with my Black and Decker "Firestorm" Batteries. Much better quality than the original from B and D.
  
  
• Great!
  By A3D2XL4VTCC0E9 on 2007-01-18
  I bought this to replace the charger that came with my Black and Decker Firestorm drill. It worked great. A full charge from a completely dead battery in less than an hour.
  
  
• It works
  By A3QHEIMXVE41U0 on 2007-02-13
  I have various Dewalt and Black and Decker batteries. It charges them all. My Dewalt batteries were very tired and I believe that the tune up mode has increased their capacity. I haven't actually measured it, but my drill seems to last longer between charges.
  
  
• Revived my B&D PS130's
  By A15R2TREPMONC0 on 2007-04-25
  Ordered this charger in an attempt to revive 2 12volt PS130's I had sitting in my garage for almost 2 years. The Dewalt charger with it's conditioning charge worked wonders!! Batteries charge in less than 1 hour! Great buy!
  
  
• more power and work time with this charger
  By A2K24T32R6FCDK on 2007-05-01
  I purchased this charger since my factory Firestorm charger died after 4 years of use, and just now I can see how much more power and charge time my batteries can provide. I would reccomend this charger to anyone even if their factory provided charger works.
  
  
• dewalt charger
  By AQQP8USEHS0F5 on 2007-05-12
  I have had great luck with this charger, much better than the old firestorm one that quit working after about 5 times. this charger works great and got it at a great price. would highly recommend.....
  
  
  
• Great multicharger!
  By AAGX7729ATKKC on 2007-10-24
  The charger works great! The old Firestorm chargers are known to burn out quickly. This should take care of that.
  
  
• Great charger!
  By A3U0F6LECH6BEQ on 2007-11-07
  I was happy to find out that this charger would charge my Black and Decker battery and, in fact, it charges it much better than the original charger that came with my drill.
  
  I am extremely happy with this and I would recommend this to anyone. It's a great deal.
  
  
• Excellent charger for my Black & Decker batteries!
  By A2FGWEATG4YH3I on 2007-12-12
  I have a B&D Firestorm 14.4V drill with two rechargeable batteries. I had used my drill quite a bit in the past, but only used one of the two batteries regularly. A few weeks ago, I went to charge up both batteries with the stock B&D charger. The one I regularly used charged up OK, but could tell it had lost some of its "oomph" over time. I went to charge up the second (less used) battery and it completely killed my charger! Turns out this is a regular problem with the B&D charger. That's when I picked up this DeWalt charger. It couldn't revive my dead battery, but it certainly breathed new life into my other battery. It now holds a longer charge and seems to provide more power to my drill. I recommend you get this charger if you have the older pod-style tool batteries!
  
  

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