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<blockquote data-quote="jeallen01" data-source="post: 1045007" data-attributes="member: 176704">It's not just Dewalt - all of the tool suppliers do the same sort of thing (certainly Bosch do) - but the important thing is that either those suppliers still supply appropriate batteries for well-after tools that are replaced by new types, or/and that knock-off clones are available from other sources. That's sometimes true for large brand name tools with a long sales history (I have some pretty old B&amp;D 14V drills for which I was able to get half/decent clone replacements a couple of years ago) but rarely true for tools from smaller brand names &amp;/or with shorter sales lives.Also, you probably stand a better chance of getting of getting both batteries and other spares for the big brands' &quot;pro&quot; tools than for their &quot;consumer&quot; versions because the suppliers want to keep pro users buying their tools &quot;brand loyal&quot; for a long time.For example, my 10-15 yr old (or even older!) Makita palm sander finally &quot;died&quot; last year after heavy use.&nbsp; On stripping the tool down, I found it was just the switch that had failed, but that it could also use some new brushes, and a replacement for the rubber block around which you wrap the sandpaper or glass paper. Did some searches and found that Makita still supply a virtually identical tool now, and that many of the parts for the new one are just upgraded versions of the old parts and will fit the older machines - and that some of the tool spares suppliers could provide all the bits (and the exploded diagrams!) for me to repair the tool back to nearly &quot;as new&quot; condition. Got the bits and rebuilt the tool, and it now runs &quot;like a train&quot; again - for about 1/3rd the cost of a new sander.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jeallen01, post: 1045007, member: 176704"] It's not just Dewalt - all of the tool suppliers do the same sort of thing (certainly Bosch do) - but the important thing is that either those suppliers still supply appropriate batteries for well-after tools that are replaced by new types, or/and that knock-off clones are available from other sources. That's sometimes true for large brand name tools with a long sales history (I have some pretty old B&D 14V drills for which I was able to get half/decent clone replacements a couple of years ago) but rarely true for tools from smaller brand names &/or with shorter sales lives. Also, you probably stand a better chance of getting of getting both batteries and other spares for the big brands' "pro" tools than for their "consumer" versions because the suppliers want to keep pro users buying their tools "brand loyal" for a long time. For example, my 10-15 yr old (or even older!) Makita palm sander finally "died" last year after heavy use. On stripping the tool down, I found it was just the switch that had failed, but that it could also use some new brushes, and a replacement for the rubber block around which you wrap the sandpaper or glass paper. Did some searches and found that Makita still supply a virtually identical tool now, and that many of the parts for the new one are just upgraded versions of the old parts and will fit the older machines - and that some of the tool spares suppliers could provide all the bits (and the exploded diagrams!) for me to repair the tool back to nearly "as new" condition. Got the bits and rebuilt the tool, and it now runs "like a train" again - for about 1/3rd the cost of a new sander. [/QUOTE]

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