Black & Decker HPB18-OPE 18-Volt Slide Pack Battery For 18-Volt Outdoor Cordless Power Tools

Black and Decker has at least 7 versions of the Slide 18v battery pack. You have no guidance which is better than the other as B&D absolutely refuses to publish the ampere rating or number of contacts of any of them.

Battery identification is poor: Every battery I have seen is marked "244760-00." What good is that in identifying the battery? There are some molded-in numbers but B&D absolutely refuses to tell you what they mean.

On the blister pack for the HPB18-OPE you read "25% more power than the standard battery*" Finding the "*", it says "Compared to the HPB18." Both are the same price on Lowes shelves. B&D absolutely refuses to divulge how these two compare to each other or the FireStorm series.

A Factory Store manager has said two Firestorm versions were once better but have been downgraded this past 12-18 months and are usually worse than the HP18 units. B&D absolutely refuses to divulge any history of the FireStorm 18V batteries...Read more

B&D doesn't really tell you the whole story about their batteries...

In my experience, this battery has 1.5 Ah cells, and unless HPB18 to which it is compared to has 1 Ah cells (which I doubt) it cannot have 50% more capacity. 25% is more likely and it was marketed as such for a while.

Adding to other review, I think I figured out number near the battery lock. First, you have manufacturing year and week along with some letters. And then there is three digit number, which tells you cell manufacturer (first digit) and capacity (two last digits). This is what I encountered:

412 - 1.2 Ah cells marked BD (most likely specifically manufactured for B&D) - usually FS18B and HPB18 batteries, but also some 244760. These cells are actually short Sub C (or 4/5 SC) and B&D puts plastic pad inside the battery, so housing has the same exterior size.

115 - 1.5 Ah cells without manufacturer identification

415 - 1.5 Ah cells marked BD...Read more

Bought a string trimmer with 2 HPB18 batteries two years ago. The batteries never did last more than about 10 minutes on the job (BIG disappointment) but at least with the two of them I could do MOST of my very small yard. This year the batteries are both dead (won't hold a charge). I broke down last night and went to HD to buy a replacement battery. Then I read the review here that talks about the code underneath the battery clip, so I decided to check it out. My two old batteries have the code "415" (Black & Decker, 1.5 AH) while the new battery I just bought has the code "410" (Black & Decker, 1.0 AH)!! GREAT - if two of their 1.5AH batteries wouldn't hold up to do my yard, I'm sure that one of their 1.0AH batteries will handle about 5 blades of grass before dying! I guess I'll be returning this battery today!

Does anyone know where you can get HPB18 batteries with 1.5 AH (or greater) capacity? I'm leary about ordering over the internet, for fear that I won't...Read more