Bosch BAT160 18V Ni-MH Cordless Drill Replacement Battery 1500mAh

Bosch 13618-2G Series — 18V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (BAT160)

This is an 18V, 1500mAh Ni-MH replacement battery for the Bosch 13618-2G cordless drill and compatible models in the 1644 and 1644-24 series. It replaces OEM part numbers including BAT160, BAT180, BAT181, BAT189, and 2 607 335 266, among others. The battery slots into the original bay and communicates with the charger through the standard Bosch 18V contact array.

• 13618-2G and 1644 series fit: These models share the same 18V Ni-MH platform, mechanical bay dimensions, and contact configuration. The BMS handshake protocol is identical across the BAT160 through BAT189 OEM range, so one cell pack covers all of them.
• Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through repeated trigger-pull events on the 13618-2G and monitored the BMS response to motor-start inrush current. Cell temperature and voltage recovery between bursts stayed within spec across all test cycles.
• Ni-MH torque cycling: On first use, run the drill at medium load — mid-range fastening, not full-torque driving — for two full discharge-and-charge cycles. This lets the BMS establish accurate current thresholds before you hit it with maximum motor demand, and prevents false overcurrent cutoffs on early trigger pulls.

BMS cutoff on motor-start inrush during heavy drilling

When you pull the trigger on a Bosch 13618-2G under load — driving a large-diameter bit into hardwood, for example — the motor draws a short inrush spike well above its steady-state current. Ni-MH packs have a lower peak discharge tolerance than Li-ion, and if the BMS overcurrent threshold is set conservatively, that spike can trip a cutoff before the motor gets up to speed. This tends to happen more often on a new or recently stored pack whose BMS has no current draw history. Two break-in cycles at medium load calibrate the threshold and reduce false trips significantly.

Drill bogs and loses torque mid-hole without cutting out

If the drill slows under load but keeps running — no cutoff, just loss of power — the likely cause is voltage sag across the contact rail. On older Bosch 18V bays, the spring-loaded terminals can develop oxidation that raises contact resistance and drops the voltage the motor actually sees. Clean the battery terminals and the tool bay contacts with a pencil eraser, then check voltage at the contacts under light load. A healthy pack should hold above 16V at the rail; a reading below 15V under moderate load points to either high contact resistance or cell degradation.