Can You Use A Craftsman 20V Battery With Other Tool Brands?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

The Craftsman name has now been a fixture in the tool game for the better part of a full century, and it's clear the iconic Stanley Black & Decker-owned brand is positioning itself to be around for many more years to come. Of course, the Craftsman brand as modern DIYers know it is considerably different than it was when the company was founded as Sears' in-house shingle back in 1927. So too is the brand's current lineup of tools, which likely features more powered gear than at any other moment in Craftsman history.

Like most of the major power tool manufacturers, Craftsman has turned to lithium-ion battery packs as the primary source of energy for its powered devices. In particular, Craftsman has come to feature the V20 lineup of powered tools as a solid option for any DIYer that might be looking for power, versatility and durability at an affordable price. Those V20 battery packs are, naturally, shareable between other V20 tools bearing the Craftsman brand, and that fact has led some in the tool community to wonder whether they can be used to power 20V tools from other manufacturers.

The general rule of thumb with lithium-ion battery packs is that, without the use of a battery adapter (more on that later), they are not compatible with tools from other brands, even those running at the same voltage rating. But there may be exceptions to that rule, as some off-brand devices being sold online do claim V20 compatibility.

In fact, during the brief search we performed for V20 compatible tools on Amazon, we were easily able to conjure three different devices making those claims. Among the items we found are Edtran's Cordless LED Flashlight, HaopkZapyr's Cordless Paint Sprayer, and a Cordless Soldering Iron from QSDXNYDC. Yeah, we haven't heard of those brands either. But if you're interested, there are likely plenty of other devices from lesser-known brands that also claim compatibility with Craftsman V20 batteries. 

To be clear, we've little reason to doubt the claims made by any of those companies, as we have not personally tested each of them out to see how well they actually work with V20 batteries. What we do know is that it is not always advisable to share batteries from one brand with tools from another. There are a couple of reasons for this, as proprietary designs very rarely match up precisely. That can not only lead to potential safety issues, but undercut the power and longevity for both the battery pack and the device you're using it on.

Just for the sake of clarity, those same issues carry over to arguments concerning the use of an adapter to retrofit a tool with a battery from another brand. While there are pros to that approach, a case can easily be made that the cons clearly outweigh them, particularly if you're using an adapter from a third-party manufacturer. So, in the end, it might be wiser to just pay a little extra for official Craftsman V20 tools.