Ridgid Brand Tools

[3930dave]

a couple years ago i bought a ridgid 2 piece combo set. registered for the lifetime warranty. about 6 months later battery failed at that time i had to send battery to repair center,battery was replaced with no problem.recently other original battery failed this time was able to take to HD for replacement. there was amixup in paperwork but HD eventually got it taken care of and i got up graded battery.went to ridgid website to register battery got message they no longer lifetime warranty battery instead they give 3 yr warranty. i dont use these tools all that hard but up to this point the tools themselves have worked fine.

I'm wondering if you going through the Depot the last time caused this to look like a New battery purchase ?

I'm happy with the Ridgid set I have, but will have one less reason to add things to it if they (meaning Ridgid, not HD) are actually rescinding the Lifetime Battery warranty that they issued to previous buyers.

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Craftsman did this to me with tape measures...

I had an old one in the truck that I had bought new... it finally wore out and I went to Sears and was given a new one and told they no longer have a lifetime warranty...

 

[3930dave]

Craftsman did this to me with tape measures...

I had an old one in the truck that I had bought new... it finally wore out and I went to Sears and was given a new one and told they no longer have a lifetime warranty...

The ones (companies and people) that keep their word are becoming more rare.

AFAIK, Mastercraft (Canadian Tire here) is still pretty good. I took one of their padlocks in that would still latch, but the spring had disintegrated, so you had to pull the hasp up to get it to open. They didn't have that particular model of padlock in stock, so they replaced it with an more expensive one.

Not sure about their measuring tape policy though.

Rgds, D.

 

[Coyote machine]

I have been buying Ridgid cordless tools recently: the 18V Li-ion impact/drill/2 batts and fast charger kit and circ saw BODY only, from online- not sold in some/all? HD stores. Backwardly compatible chargers, I believe, and lifetime warranty, IF registered. I believe the fine print now requires the charger/tool AND batteries all be sent in to determine which piece is defective, even if one knows it's a dead battery?! That seems excessive, and I believe there may be a new replacement battery 3 year limitation instead of lifetime warranty on the replaced batteries, BUT I'm not certain on that point.
Buying the bare tool, only available off the internet, and the local HD store clerks being mostly clueless about what is not available in store vs. on the net is to me, frustration. I really wanted a cordless circ saw, but the store had me thinking Ridgid didn't make one, when it was available on the net. I wanted it because the drill/ driver batteries are the same, and therefore interchangeable between tools.
I agree with those who want a tool with best quality rather than a 'lifetime' fine print, run around, waste time = $$$ warranty that disables the owner of the tool and the tool for hours/days/weeks, etc.
And, Li-i may be good but when the battery quits it is dead, NO more juice for turning a drill or anything. At least Ni-Cads would give a warning of some reserve!
I've had DeWalt cordless tools, Makita, Crapsman, etc. So far, Ridgid is good weight to work ratio, good ergonomically, and I like the built in lights to shine on work area too.
My carpenter and others like Hitachi tools too in recent years.

 

[ultrarunner]

I think part of the reason I have good luck with the older cordless tools is I never charge until 100% dead... even if that means popping it into the flashlight and leaving it on.

Others I know were always charging and it seemed to really shorten life.

 

[3930dave]

I think part of the reason I have good luck with the older cordless tools is I never charge until 100% dead... even if that means popping it into the flashlight and leaving it on.

Others I know were always charging and it seemed to really shorten life.

NiCd has the memory issue, so it was/is critical to discharge those, to avoid losing capacity.

Newer chemistries got away from the memory problem of NiCd, so discharge/charge discipline isn't quite as critical now. Thermal issues still remain though - I don't like to frequently charge lithium packs, in order to keep the thermal stress to a minimum - I can't think of an equivalent situation with tools, but I try and charge my phone and laptop when they are Off, to help reduce the thermal load.

Lithium tool packs are more temperature sensitive than NiCd. Up here, it's a bad idea to leave Lithium tools in your truck overnight in the dead of Winter - they won't be at full capability (sometimes, not doing anything at all) until the pack warms up. Heat - if the pack is dead, sitting in a closed vehicle in Summer, try and let it cool off before throwing it in the charger - same goes for finishing a run driving many lag bolts..... try and let the pack cool off, before charging.

I recently bought an Anker (aftermarket) battery for a Thinkpad. Their conditioning recommendation for this lithium battery was to not discharge it below 7%. I'm trying to stay above that level on the phone/laptop now - my cordless tools are olde enough that they don't ( ) have a Bluetooth interface, so I don't have a % reading there.

Rgds, D.

 

[CNC Dan]

.....And, Li-i may be good but when the battery quits it is dead, NO more juice for turning a drill or anything.

Has to be that way. Li batterys have a circuit inside that keeps them from being over discharged. Without it they would blow up/catch fire.

At least Ni-Cads would give a warning of some reserve!

That warning is the start of the pack getting dammaged. As soon as you see any drop in preformance, stop, and switch packs. Don't drive that last screw, don't drill that last hole, just stop.

One or two cells inside the pack is fully discharged, and any further use will have the remaining cells force the dead cells to overdischarge, shortening their life and reducing their capacity.

 

[ultrarunner]

Dan... I've never heeded the warning with Ni-Cads ever... I go out of my way to drain every last ounce and then charge.

Some of my batteries that get regular use are 10 years old which I think is very good.

Makita, Dewalt and Bosch.

 

[CNC Dan]

Dan... I've never heeded the warning with Ni-Cads ever... I go out of my way to drain every last ounce and then charge.

Some of my batteries that get regular use are 10 years old which I think is very good.

Makita, Dewalt and Bosch.

I'm very surprised to hear that.
Are they NiCad or NiMh?

I also have battery packs that have lasted much longer than usual, but I stop at the first sign of power reduction, and re-charge.

 

[3930dave]

Dan... I've never heeded the warning with Ni-Cads ever... I go out of my way to drain every last ounce and then charge.

Some of my batteries that get regular use are 10 years old which I think is very good.

Makita, Dewalt and Bosch.

Lithium discharge curves tend to fall off a cliff.... you're doing fine, then you pretty well have nothing. Most of us wouldn't drive cars that behaved that way, but we put up with it in tools for the convenience and energy density that Lithium provides.

Lithium is a much more volatile chemistry than NiCd, so Li systems need more complex charge protection. A decent Li charger will have temperature delay built in - if the Batt pack is too hot, the charger will delay Start of Charge until the Batt pack cools down.

I've seen flattened out Lithium tool packs (that were actually healthy) where you physically have to insert the battery into the charger multiple times, before charge will initiate. With a really flat Li pack (voltage wise), the charge controller is erring on the safe side, and deciding the initial current is too high, or it thinks one of the cells is shorted.

In comparison, NiCd packs are an inherently stable chemistry and will tolerate simplistic/crude charge techniques, and heat/cold abuse better, with little risk of failure.

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm all old school with NiCd

 

[3930dave]

I'm all old school with NiCd

That chemistry has been an industrial workhorse longer than I've been around, for good reason(s).

Memory you know about.

Cd is a heavy metal, so I'm sure that you are careful about disposal - in Cali you probably have to have a special license to carry Cd batteries around (only partly joking).

Some people don't like the weight of NiCd...... just less trips to the gym, IMO.

All joking aside.... about the only real limitation (for me) w. NiCd or NiMh is when the pack makes the tool physically large enough that you can't get the tool into a tight spot.

I think it's out of production now, but I liked the Black&Decker little driver that ran on their VPX lithium battery. Very compact, but decent torque, as it had a 2 speed gearbox. Sad to see it gone now..... I'll have to see if I can find some NOS somewhere.

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We do not use our NiCd batteries regularly so they self discharge on us but it is good technology for regular usage. Little self discharging is the main reason we have moved to Lithium Ion technology plus their fast charge rate. In fact it seems all the new stuff from any major tool company is Lithium Ion based power.

 

[tman1020]

My son has the new riged drill/driver set and I the new dewalt 20volt max set. I was very impressed with his riged set but lack of tool options and price of batteries turned me to dewalt. It replaced a Bosch 18volt ni cad set. I thought the Bosch 18 V set was great through its entire lifespan however when they quit making batteries for it when they converted over to lithium-ion kind of upset me. So I converted over to Dewalt they still sell original batteries in for their old stuff at a very reasonable price. I'm hoping that the new 20 V to Walt will have a very large variety of tools I already purchased the new 20 V framing nailer and it's proving to be quite a nice tool. Saving a ton of money on propane and not having to drag out the air compressor will be very nice.

 

[3930dave]

We do not use our NiCd batteries regularly so they self discharge on us but it is good technology for regular usage. Little self discharging is the main reason we have moved to Lithium Ion technology plus their fast charge rate. In fact it seems all the new stuff from any major tool company is Lithium Ion based power.

One of the reasons that NiCd got a bad rap, was that low cost tools had really basic chargers bundled with them. Those chargers worked, but some would fry the NiCd packs (as tough as they are), if left On too long, and were relatively slow.

Once you got into better NiCd chargers (like Dewalt), charge time dropped, and you couldn't overcharge the NiCd pack.

For a consumer level product, once you got into a better Black&Decker NiCd charger, it did perform very well for personal use.

BLACK+DECKER Tools | 9.6V to 24V Fast Charger BDFC240

That NiCd charger was quick(er), did multiple voltages, and was properly designed to downshift into a long term maintenance trickle charge. Great for home use, as the pack was safely held at 100% capacity, and always ready to go.

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

My only Bosch complaint is they dropped the batteries.

I have a couple of sets and some have the fast charger which really works great keeping production on schedule.

Makita 7.2 was my first cordless purchase back in 1982... last I checked, the battery was still available...

In my country we pay a property tax surcharge and then the city adds a fee to the mandatory garbage bill that covers battery disposal... there are 3 collection stations with varying hours...

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Good point on the cheap chargers where you have to removed the battery with it gets charged.

 

[Coyote machine]

Good point on the cheap chargers where you have to removed the battery with it gets charged.

What?!:confused2:

 

[3930dave]

I believe Gale is talking about the low cost simple NiCd analog chargers I was talking about in post #55.

Most of those would not terminate charging, once the NiCd pack was full. Of that type, the ones that gave a reasonable (for the day) re-charge time, would usually end up frying the NiCd pack if left connected for days/weeks. The work-around for those was to use a lamp timer on the charger, only programmed for one charge cycle of 8-14 hours, or whatever was needed.

For safety reasons, no sane manufacturer will release a Lithium product without a really sophisticated charger supplied - hence, you can't overcharge a lithium pack. NiCd batteries can take quite a bit of overcharge abuse, so their low end chargers were cost reduced accordingly.

Rgds, D.

 

[thayerp81]

I own lots of Ridgid tools and have no gripes with any of them. they are all well made and have performed as well as my milwaukee and dewalt stuff, and in some cases better. they have an excellent warranty (usually better than the other big brands) and their cordless stuff has a lifetime warranty on batteries, that is a clincher for me.