Cordless Tools

[Clemson]

I got a Lowe's gift certificate for Fathers' Day, and I went down and bought myself a present yesterday. I got a nice set of DeWalt 18volt cordless tools. The set had a drill/driver, a 6.5 inch circular saw, two batteries, and the charger all in a plastic case. It also came with a premium offer good for either another battery ($79) or a set of drill bits ($59). I struggled with the Premium, but I think I am going to get the set of bits. I can do a bunch of work with two batteries. I probably have 3 miscellaneous sets of bits, but they are in different places, and they are missing certain sizes. The saw was sort of a bonus. I wanted a cordless drill, and the saw upped the ante by a little over $100. It seemed to be worth the difference, although time will tell.

Clemson

 

[cowboydoc]

Go with the battery!!!! I have six batteries for my set and I still find myself needing an extra one. If you do any kind of a project at all two batteries isn't even close to being enough.

 

[Golfgar4]

I agree with Richard. Go for the extra battery!!

You can always drill one size smaller than you want if you don't have the right size drill. But you can't drill ANY holes if you got no juice! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[wasabi]

I concur with Richard. The batteries will eventually wear. Keeping them in cycle will prolong their life a while. It is a real pain to be working and have the tool slow due to low battery charge. Having extra in reserve helps.

 

[mikim]

You always need 1 battery in the charger. If you have one in the saw and one in the drill and one goes dead - how far behind is the second? I have that 18V dewalt saw and the battery doesn't even last as long as I'd like - with one battery in the saw and one in the charger - the one in the charger is almost ready when the saw goes dead. My drill is 12 V and I have 2 batteries for it as well. It lasts longer but when on a big job I keep one charging and it's ready when the one in use goes - I don't lose momentum when the battery dies on me - a quick swap and I'm still humming along. If I had an 18V drill I'd want 2 chargers and 4 batteries. If I took a break to wait for the battery to charge - I might quit for the day and my projects would take even longer than they do already./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
mike

 

[RobertN]

Richard for President!!! I agree, go for the extra battery! I misplaced mine a while back, and just found it; what a relief, as they are not cheap. I would like to have a third.

I got the Fat pack; drill/driver, circ saw, recip saw, flashlite, charge, two battery combo two years ago for Fathers Day. I love it! I use the stuff all the time.

I have a Makita 12v drill/driver, and have used the 14v drill driver. I like the feel and ergonomics of the DeWalt better.

I also like the flashlite a lot. After having a couple mag lite 2d, 4d, and 8d flashlites, I find the 9v Makita, and especially the 18v DeWalt really outshine the mag-lite.

 

[Clemson]

Well, dang! Now you guys have me thinking I need the battery instead of the drill bits. I have until the end of July to mail in the rebate slip. I may just sleep on it for a few days!

Clemson

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I have an old Makita 9.6 V system... a couple drills, a small circular saw and a flashlight. I must have at least half a dozen batteries and don't regret it one bit. One of the handiest things I ever got for that was a car charger for my batteries. Most of the time it's no big deal but, for example, right now I'm doing electrical work in a barn to prepare for new service. Needless to say, that's the only charging option I have out there.

 

[wasabi]

Nah, no sleep required. This is a no brainer! Batteries!!

 

[rmorgan]

Spent the evening screwing flooring to a new dock section. Ran through both batteries. Didn't have a third. Battery!!

 

[jwstewar]

Battery. Not even a question here. I've the early kit to yours (5 3/8" saw) and first thing I did was pick up a 3rd battery. Like others have said you can have one on the charger as you are running down. Only occasionaly do I wish I had a 4th battery like when I bought a metal cutting blade for the saw and was cutting 20' pieces of metal siding into 8' pieces for transport. That drained the batteries pretty quick. Of course my batteries are also 4 or 5 years old. Probably need to replace them but they are about $80 at Lowes and for $179 I can get a new drill, 2 batteries, and another charger. Wonder which way I'll go?

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"Now you guys have me thinking I need the battery instead of the drill bits."</font color=blue>

You don't need to think about this!

Pretend a battery is really a FEL, and you're the newbie that isn't sure whether you should get the tractor with the FEL or not. What advice would YOU give the newbie? Get the FEL, right???

Get the battery - you'll be glad you did!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And you'll realize that all of us that said you should get the battery are geniuses!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[RobS]

All in unison now... battery! I'm running an older Dewalt 12V set. Started with a drill and two batteries. I thought I was golden. Added the saw which came with one battery. I specifically got it to match the battery. Three is the bare minumum. Since I've now got two chargers, I think four or more may be the right answer.

What the heck did we all do before cordless tools /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"What the heck did we all do before cordless tools"</font color=blue>

I don't know about anybody else, but I had about a dozen extension cords located all over the place so that I didn't have to go dragging one around!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[gobbler]

I vote for the battery, and here's why ...

Let's suppose you have two freshly charged batteries. You use the first up and head for the shop for the second one, then you tell yourself, well , while I'm here, I just put the drained one in the charger so that one will be ready. This is a bad idea IF the battery has just been used. You can tell, it will be warm. A warm battery will take a charge, but not a full one. You will shorten the life of the battery. With 3 batteries, you would always have a cool battery to charge, unless you forget like I do.

 

[MJB]

I'm getting mixed signals here.../w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif Do you guys think he should get the battery or the bits?/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I think that this may very well be the first topic with violently unanimous agreement in the history of TBN./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

 

[Clemson]

Ok, OK! I surrender!

I will get the cotton-picking battery, but I'd better not be sorry, 'cause I will let you know about it if I find that I have plenty of juice but no bit to make the hole with!

Thanks for the tips. I had never heard about a cool battery charging better than a warm one. Any other tips for a cordless neophite will be much appreciated. Should I make a bracket for the tractor fender to hold the drill and the saw? I envision something like a quick-draw holster -- maybe a Don Hume rig (hmmmmmmm...........).

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"I will get the cotton-picking battery, but I'd better not be sorry, 'cause I will let you know about it if I find that I have plenty of juice but no bit to make the hole with!"</font color=blue>

Alright Clemson! /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif Way to go!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Smart decision!/w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif What made you decide, anyway?/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Now, as for your thinly veiled threat, well, the saw cuts both ways! Once you realize that we were right, each one of us that advocated getting the battery expects to receive a big <font color=red>ThankYou</font color=red> from you! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[fishman]

Wow, this is pretty one-sided. Guess I'll have to chime in on the other side. A drill without good bits is nothing but a crappy anchor. You have two batteries, and that should be plenty for most projects.

I've had a Porter Cable 19.2 volt drill and saw combo for a little over two years now. I've never run out of battery juice on a job yet, but I guess there's always the first time. This has included some pretty significant projects like building a home office in my garage.

To be fair, I've always been near an electrical outlet when completing a big project, so the one-hour charger has always been available. Yes, charging a warm battery isn't a good idea, but they cool down in about 10 minutes, then I put them on a charger.

Y'all must work a lot faster than me I guess. Heck my saw is rated to cut something like 100 2x4's on a single charge. You'd have to get with it to use up a battery in less than an hour. And if you did, it's probably time for a brew anyway./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I can't help but notice that a lot of the folks advocating multiple batteries are running lower-voltage tools. A 18 volt tool with a fresh battery will work circles around any 12 volt.

Another thing, I switch one battery between the drill and saw as I'm working, while the other is charging. A little bit of a hassle, but not bad at all. When these batteries die, I'll get two more fresh ones.

In summary, if the choice is between a third battery and getting a good set of drill bits, I'd go with the drill bits every time.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"In summary, if the choice is between a third battery and getting a good set of drill bits, I'd go with the drill bits every time."</font color=blue>

Hmmmm/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif. There's always a trouble maker in every group! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif