Cordless Drills

[DougM]

voltmanbatteries Home Page

This is where I get my drill batterys re made for 1/2 the cost of buying them...

 

[om21braz]

A friend of mine, who is a contractor and uses his cordless daily, gave up on the DeWalts, Porter Cables, etc. and bought a Hilti (15 point something volt) a couple years ago and has been well satisfied with it. I think it has lithium type batteries. It was'nt cheap though.

 

[Steve C]

This is the post I was searching for for some time today...Im saving it to try now LOL

I think that in my case I just needed to bring the voltage up from zero to the threshold voltage to make the charger think it wasn't junk because my battery was almost new and had not been cycled enough times to suffer from diminished capacity due to internal crystals.

There is another post on the shop tips thread that details bringing back a battery that has suffered diminished capacity due to crystalization of the internal cells. It is similar to the post above suggesting multiple momentay higher amperage contacts using a 10 amp battery charger for a power source.
In theory that disolves the crystals and rejuvinates the individual cells

 

[RichZ]

I know some of you guys have said you get what you pay for, but I can't seem to get a cordless drill that will work for more than 2 years. Besides my Hitachi, I've had several DeWalts, a Porter Cable (when they were still quality tools), a Bosch, a Black and Decker and several Craftsaman. Since none of them lasted more than 2 years, I'm looking for a cheap 18 volt cordless drill that should be able to do the job for my usual 2 years. I'm not gonna pay a few hundred bucks to just throw it away in a couple of years. Being a farmer I often use my drills in the rain, snow and mud. I always clean them off and dry them after every use, but maybe most cordless drills are just not built to withstand farm abuse.

 

[Steve C]

They are all just dc motors with gear boxes attached on one end and batteries attached to the other. What kind of failures are you experiencing, mechanical or electrical.

Most of the contractors that I know are getting good service out of DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee.

A friend of mine recently smoked his 18 volt black and decker. His is the only drill that I have seen that has suffered electrical failure. I haven't managed to kill any of mine yet, although the 14 year old Craftsman Industrial smells a little funny if I work it real hard. It seems to have a lot of sparking going on in the brush area. Perhaps it has injested a little to much dirt and dust, but it keeps going.

 

[EddieWalker]

... I often use my drills in the rain, snow and mud. I always clean them off and dry them after every use, but maybe most cordless drills are just not built to withstand farm abuse.

It may be that you are the exeption to the norm, and like you said, they are not built to withstand what you do to them. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that if you buy lesser tools, or those that just cost less money, you'll probably only get six months out of them instead of your two years.

Maybe because of my age, or what I do for a living, but I consider all tools disposable. It's just a matter of time and usage until I have to replace them. With that knowledge, I buy a tool that will do the best job possible for the life of that tool. While some die quicker then others, most of the better named brands last long enough to get my money out of them, and even more importantly, to make me money.

While most of the brands you mentioned are on my "AVOID" list except Bosch. I'm suprised that it failed, but then I burned up a Bosh Hammer Drill before buying my SDS and SDS Max drills.

Let us know what you end up buying. I'd be interested to hear how it works out for you.

Eddie

 

[Duffster]

Rich,
Do you keep the batteries on the charger all the time?
Do you keep them outside where they freeze or bake?

I have some De Walt batteries that are 5 years old and still very healthy considering the age and usage...But I never do either of the things above...

I just threw away my last original Dewalt battery from 12 years ago.

And I do all of the things you mention.

 

[RichZ]

None of the batteries on any of my drills lasted more than 2 years. And the chucks on all of the DeWalts I had fell apart. One of the DeWalt's chuck fell apart when it was still on warranty, but I had to ship it to the repair shop, and the shipping was almost what I paid for the drill, so I'm done with that. The batteries on my Hatachi wouldn't hold a charge overnight, and if I was working with it, I was lucky for it to last a half hour. But with a quick charger and 2 batteries, I limped along with it. But the other day, I grabbed it from my garage to fix some metal roofing, and as I was going to put the driver in it, I saw that the inside of the chuck fell out!!!! It must have fallen out the last time I worked with it, and it could be anywhere on my farm, probably buried in the mud. So, with the batteries dying, I don't think it's worth investing in fixing the chuck. I'll see what goes on sale in the next few days, but I'm not going to spend much for it. I may buy a cheap drill and see if I can squeeze my usual 2 years out of it. Until now, I've been real happy with the Hitachi, it had plenty of power, and I used it for lots of projects, sometimes using it for most of a day. When the 2 batteires held their charge well, I could go for many hours with just the 2 batteries, and not have to go back to the garage to charge them again.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

I also have had great luck with the Craftsman 19.2 drills and batteries. My oldest batteries are 4 yrs old and still working fine. RichZ, have you ever thought about getting the extended warranty. On my craftsman drill it was around $10 and covered batteries also
Bill

 

[Steve C]

I also have had great luck with the Craftsman 19.2 drills and batteries. My oldest batteries are 4 yrs old and still working fine. RichZ, have you ever thought about getting the extended warranty. On my craftsman drill it was around $10 and covered batteries also
Bill

Under the circumstances just go an buy yourself a nice Rigid lithium Ion drill and batteries and register them for warrenty work. I believe they are good for forever. Chances are the batteries will not be an issue. The Lithium Ions are incredible in both power capacity and cycle life. But please give them a break and don't store them any place that you wouldn't want to be. Leave the drill in the barn if you must but bring the batteries in where it is warm in the winter.

I must be the luckiest guy in the world to still have 14 year old Ni-Cads that work great, but then again I do my best to take care of them.

The 18 volt Craftsman Industrial batteries are $65 and they never, never go on sale and they are never clearanced out.

Considering I can buy 2 -19.2 volt Craftsman batteries for around $50 on sale a couple times a year, it kind of pisses me off.