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.

 

[RichZ]

I thought about getting a Ridgid drill, so I checked their website and contacted them through it, to see if they really replace batteries. The response that I got, from the Ridgid website, is that if the batteries die, you have to bring them to a Ridgid repair center, and they wil decide if the batteires were defective, or if they were abused. My guess is that they will always say they were abused.

Has anyone ever returned Ridgid batteries succesfully? I would get a Ridgid drill in a heartbeat, if I knew, for sure, that the batteries would be replaced.

 

[Steve C]

I thought about getting a Ridgid drill, so I checked their website and contacted them through it, to see if they really replace batteries. The response that I got, from the Ridgid website, is that if the batteries die, you have to bring them to a Ridgid repair center, and they wil decide if the batteires were defective, or if they were abused. My guess is that they will always say they were abused.

Has anyone ever returned Ridgid batteries succesfully? I would get a Ridgid drill in a heartbeat, if I knew, for sure, that the batteries would be replaced.

I think all the Lithium Ion batteries have a chip inside that records their history. A friend of mine had a Makita 18 volt Lithium Ion battery that died an early death for no apparent reason. The local authorized Makita repair facility told him to bring it in, and if it's chip told them that it had not been abused they would replace it. He brought it in, they tested it and gave him a new one. I don't know if they were just blowing smoke or not but that is what they told him. He was happy with the new battery and has no further issues.

I have 6 Makita Lithium Ion batteries, 3 Dewalt Nano tech Lithiums 2 36 volt and one 18 volt and I have 6 Milwaukee V18 Lithium Ion batteries and 8 Bosch 10.2 volt Lithium Ion Batteries.

They have been performing superbly for the last couple of years. I had to have both my 36 volt batteries replaced right after I bought the set, ( about 2 years ago) because it was old stock and some of the origional 36 volt batteries were defective. DeWalt replaced them both at no charge to me, I just had to return the old ones so they could examine them. They sent me a prepaid box to ship them in when they sent me the new batteries.

The Lithium Ion batteries are great. My 36 volt system doesn't get used very much because of the size and weight of the tools, but it can sit there for 6 months, and you can pick up the tool and use it like it was charged yesterday. It just doesn't seem to loose anything while sitting around. I pull it out of the box and put it to work.

If you want the king kong of cordless hammer drills get yourself a Dewalt 36 volt. They are not inexpensive, but they can sure put some serious twist where the rubber meets the road. They have a 3 speed gear box, making it possible to twist yourself right off a ladder if you have the clutch adjusted "off" to the full drill position! It isn't going to stop as long as you have the trigger pulled, no matter what it runs into!

 

[RichZ]

I just checked my latest circular from TSC. They have a Kawasaki 18 volt cordless drill with a drill set on sale for $29.99, usually $49.99. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'm going to go to TSC, and if it even looks half decent, I'm gonna buy it. I've bought some fairly decent drills that won't last me, at least if this one dies quickly, I'm only out $29.99. I don't expect it to be a high quality tool, but if I can use it for my projects, and it even lasts a year, I'll consider it a better deal than drills that cost over $100 and only last me 2 years. If it looks at least better than a Harbor Freight drill, I'll buy this one. Then if I find a deal on a good drill, I'll have a spare. I still have a section of metal roofing on my barn that I need to refasten down, and I need a drill now.

 

[JESSE1]

I've used Milwaukee power tools for many years. My 18V lithium ion hammer drill was a very good investment. Powerful enough to twist your wrist if it hangs up. I installed a floor on my 28' trailer using about 150 flooring screws and never had to change the battery. I did use my Milwaukee 1/2" 110v Hole Shooter to drill the holes in the steel frame, but that was mainly to keep from changing from a drill bit to a driver bit.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

craftsman 19.2 batteries were just on sale for 24.99.
Bill

 

[Steve C]

I just checked my latest circular from TSC. They have a Kawasaki 18 volt cordless drill with a drill set on sale for $29.99, usually $49.99. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'm going to go to TSC, and if it even looks half decent, I'm gonna buy it. I've bought some fairly decent drills that won't last me, at least if this one dies quickly, I'm only out $29.99. I don't expect it to be a high quality tool, but if I can use it for my projects, and it even lasts a year, I'll consider it a better deal than drills that cost over $100 and only last me 2 years. If it looks at least better than a Harbor Freight drill, I'll buy this one. Then if I find a deal on a good drill, I'll have a spare. I still have a section of metal roofing on my barn that I need to refasten down, and I need a drill now.

I had the Kawasaki drills and they worked O.K. They package them 2 ways, one has a 1 hour charger and the other one has a 5 hour charger. I had the one hour charger system. Either way the batteries are the weak link in the system. They work well but are very relatively low capacity. My DeWalt, Milwaukee and Makita all have 2 or three times the battery capacity.

I see that Menards has a 18 volt drill with a battery and a 5 hour charger on sale starting Sunday for $19.95 with a $10 dolar rebate. I have several of these drills and I would rate them as very similar to the Kawasaki with the 5 hour charger. Buy three of them and be happy!

 

[Steve C]

I've used Milwaukee power tools for many years. My 18V lithium ion hammer drill was a very good investment. Powerful enough to twist your wrist if it hangs up. I installed a floor on my 28' trailer using about 150 flooring screws and never had to change the battery. I did use my Milwaukee 1/2" 110v Hole Shooter to drill the holes in the steel frame, but that was mainly to keep from changing from a drill bit to a driver bit.

Of all my battery powered tools I llike my V18 Milwaukee's the most. There is just something about the design that works for me. I have the 1/2" drive impact wrench, the 6 1/2" circular saw, the metal cutting circular saw, the SDS Hammer drill, the 1/2" hammer drill, the vacuum cleaner, a couple of the v18 flashlights, the v18 "Hatchet" sawsall, and a couple of standard 18 volt sawsall's and the monster of all 1/4" hex impact drivers model 0881-20. It will snap 1/4" bolts like they are taffy and wil drive deck screws completely through a 6x6 if you have a long enough bit. The batteries have a nice charge indicator built in and have a lot of capacity. The "hatchet" sawsall is one of my favorite tools. I had the corded model of the "hatchet" and I sold it because the cordless one does everything I need a sawsall to do and has equal power. It will cut a lot of material on a single battery charge.

 

[aczlan]

Has anyone ever returned Ridgid batteries succesfully? I would get a Ridgid drill in a heartbeat, if I knew, for sure, that the batteries would be replaced.

Dad did a few years back on his 12v rigid set. The batteries wouldn't hold a charge (they were ~ 3 years old). They replaced them. 1-2 years the trigger switch broke (wouldnt run the drill at all) later. After much fussing (they wanted to replace the variable speed trigger switch with a 2 speed one) they gave him a 14v drill (the 12v one was no longer in production), a pair of batteries, a single battery 1 hr charger and he was able to persuade the guy to let him keep the dual battery 1 hr charger that came with the original set. The most important thing with them is to KEEP YOUR RECEIPT. They will do NOTHING without it.

Aaron Z

 

[dmccarty]

I have a BUNCH of Dewalt corded and cordless tools. The only one that is not worth what I paid for it is the cordless recip saw.

What I have had problems with is the Dewalt batteries. The 18v are expensive and a single one is around $80 and two are $120. After my last battery almost caught on fire in the charger I swore off the battery power tools. There have been times I which I had them but then I think of their cost and the house burning down.

Having said that.....

Lowes and HD both have the Dewalt 18v drill on sale for $99 with TWO batteries, charger and case. Buy the package and you can throw away the drill.

I had to go to Lowes yesterday and it took ALOT of will power to walk past the $99 deal but we have already spent way too much money on the kids and things we really needed. I have managed to work with out the batteries for a couple of years now. Besides the cheap Black and Decker power drill I bought years ago out works the 18v Dewalt anyway.

So if you need the 18v Dewalt batteries go buy the package and have a spare drill.

Later,
Dan

 

[RichZ]

I just got back form TSC, and they're out of the Kawasaki drills, so I got a raincheck for 2. If I don't find a better deal, I'll buy two and alternate them. Then for $60, maybe I'll have a cordless drill last for a while. Or not, if it's total junk, but at least I won't have a lot invested in it.