Cordless drills...

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In as much as there is a thread running on angle grinders, I'm curious as to experiences with cordless drills.My big beef is there is no interchangeability with batteries across brands.  I just had a Dewalt 18 volt hammer combo take a dump (smoked it) and needed to get another.  I have 6 XRP packs that are fine.  Much to my dismay, I'm locked into another Dewalt or I have to trash the packs and start over.I have no problem with the Dewalt cordless drills, I abuse them all the time.  Don't know much about the other cordless tools like rip saws or grinders because I tend to run corded.  I can't see any saw or grinder  running very long on a pack.  This new one is my 3rd.  The first one somebody lifted, the second BBQ'd itself and now I'm on the third.I do have the old style Dewalt vacuum that's great for in the car but even it peters out pretty fast.The Dewalt stuff appears to be built pretty well and I wasn't too happy smoking the hammerdrill.  It stunk up the shop.  I probably would be wiser using my corded Bosch SDS hammer for tough jobs but I get lazy.
Reply:I've had about the same experience with a 14v dewalt cordless drill. The drill itself is great, still going after about ten years, but the batteries were crap. I did find that Black and Decker batteries are the same design and much cheaper than dewalt's. I switched to a Makita Li Ion 18v impact driver set about four years ago and am very pleased. The batteries are at least 90% as good as new. I use my driver about once a week for about 30 min on average. I've got the reciprocating saw with the makita set and it works well but eats batteries pretty quick. I've also used the angle grinder and circular saw and they used batteries too quickly for my taste and the angle grinder was way under powered.My advice it's to drop the ni-cad set as soon as possible and switch to a Li-Ion set.Ian TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:The Dewalt pulsed charger has been keeping my packs just fine.  I don't see any drop in capacity even on the older ones that came with the now defunct hammerdrill.I use my drill regularly in the shop in production of my saddle bag stiffeners.  I went with the Dewalt compact 18 Volt drill this time and even that was over the top at 200 bucks.  I've learned that if I need to hammer, the Bosch SDS is the proper tool.  I'll never buy another cordless hammerdrill.  Way too expensive.  Actually, the Bosch was cheaper in SDS than the Dewalt was with a non-SDS chuck....and I bought the Bosch at Fastenal, not the usual box store discount house.I was a bit concerned that the 18 volt XRP packs wouldn't fit the compact drill driver, but they will.  I have a plie of packs now.  6 for one drill and a vacuum.
Reply:Not sure if yall know this but if you leave your batteries on the charger all the time and it doesnt have an auto shut off you are killing your batteries. You can also save all kinds of batteries just google it.
Reply:I've got 2 of the 18v L handle hammer drills and love them. I used to have the 14v ones for years, but the fact that they don't make many other 14v items any more and the cost of new batteries pushed me into the 18v ones. It's a shame, the smaller batteries used to fit in the bigger tools years ago, They don't any longer. I usually just use the hammer function for small bits, like tapcons and run  one of the corderd drills for bigger holes, or if I have a ton of holes to drill. Since I picked up one of the 18v compact impact drivers, I hardly use the drill anymore except to drill holes.I've got the 18v recip saw and the older 18v circular saw, but only use them when I've got no other options or just need one or small cuts. As said the batteries just won't last long with that. I've got 2 of the 18v flashlights and they get used almost as much as the drills/impact drivers do. I wouldn't mind the grinder or the jig saw, but they'd have to be cheap, because I can't see using them much the way they eat batteries.The only down side to the 18v over the old 14v's is the weight. I've still got a few 12v drills simply because I've got them, and if your drilling overhead, the added weight adds up over time. They're slowly going as the quantity of my 12v batteries drops.It would be nice if the batteries interchanged between brands. I've seen some nice Milwalkee tools and others, but they aren't worth the investment in another set of batteries to keep charged..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:you could probably buy a new motor (assuming that's what burnt out) for the drill from the dewalt service center for half the price of a new drill
Reply:I've had the same experience with Dewault - pretty good tools, crappy batteries.  Panasonic batteries are the best.   I really like my V28 milwaukees - they are going on 3 years old now, and still work like new.
Reply:I bought a Milwaukee 28 volt hammer drill 4 and 1/2 years ago (just looked it up) and it has been great. Got a new chuck for free the first year due to the carbide grippers falling out, they replaced it with an upgraded chuck. I use that drill almost daily. I charge the batteries every night in the house, they are never left out in the heat or cold. Wasn't cheap at $440 but has paid for itself (got a free 28 volt sawzall with it). It is my drill of choice for heavy duty drilling. I have drilled truck frames with it, it is really easy to drill super slow with it on low, plus a ton of torque. Good sharp bit and it pokes right thru those truck frames in a hurry.Miller Challenger 172Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC 225/150Miller Maxstar 150 STLVictor 100CVictor JourneymanOxweld OAHarris O/ASmith O/A little torchNo, that's not my car.
Reply:I replaced my dying 19.5 Craftsman( chuck not holding and batteries not holding a charge well)with a Makita 18V Li-ion drill/driver combo. Super happy. Good weight and the impact gun is awesome!! The only thing I wish is that you could still get the pistol grip style, not just the T-grip that the are all now. Pistol allows you to get the crotch of your hand right behind the bit and push better.200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:I had a 14 volt Porter Cable drill and saw combo for about 10 years. Best cordless drill I ever had. Only problem is the batteries eventually died. I wanted to replace them but they cost more for two batteries than a brand new Porter Cable 18 volt drill and saw combo! Pissed me off to throw away a good saw and drill for two stinkin batteries that cost more than a new saw and drill with two new batteries of a higher voltage no less.
Reply:We use nothing but the Dewalt 18 volt series for drills and stuff, and we beat the hell out of them, and they hold up well. As far as the batteries, even if the charger is an automatic one, take the battery off when fully charged. We have left batteries on the charger the whole day, and they didn't last long. I don't think their chargers shut off completely when done. I would say you should stick with Dewalt because if you go to there website, you can buy any replacement parts right from them direct. You could build the whole tool from scratch if you wanted to, although, that would be very expense. We had for 10 years now a Dewalt table saw that we beat the hell out of. Got the motor rewound for $150, and it burned out after a week. From Dewalts site, I got all the parts to completely rebuild the motor (including armature) for $100. 1 hour worth for work, and I had a factory new motor. Something you may want to consider.kidtigger24  They think I’m crazy, but I know better. It is not I who am crazy. It is I who am MAD!
Reply:I took the cooked 18Volt Hammerdrill sown to the Toledo service center and they looked at it and flatly told me it would cost more to fix it than it was worth, I did that before buying the new one.....  I'm basically cheap.  In as much as it's a business expense, it wasn't out of pocket.  I'm just disappointed that there is no interchangeability in batteries over brands.  I would like to see some standardrization so one could buy a different set of 'works' for different batteries, but then, that's what manufacturers want, uniqueness that sets the price point.I'll just have to be more careful with the new yellow tool and use the corded Bosch for the heavy duty stuff.  I have to say that the Bosch SDS can take everything I can give it and not even get warm and that includes 1.5" core bits in 8 bag fiber reinforced concrete.  I put away my Gardner Denver belly buster and core bits a long time ago, I don't want to get it out ever again.  Besides, the compressor got relegated to inside the shop and an 'electric motor' replaced the gasoline engine.
Reply:Consumer Reports rates the panasonicas the best cordless drill
Reply:I have struggled with; not drills but batteries. Ni-cad battery chargers for drills typically are set up as 3 hour chargers. Anything more and you degrade the battery. Even when you properly charge them Ni-cads seem to...I believe dry out internally. They won't hold a charge. Cycling helps. You can also heat them to the point they get a little moltant and the internals seem to start touching again; which is not the best solution. Lithium's perform better over time. Their chargers are peak chargers so charging them is of little concern. Problem is few drills come with Lithium (more now then before) so you either end up with a new drill, and a duplicate set of lithium batteries or typically a high end expensive drill. Some of the drills with Lithium were smaller 12v like they are trying to test the waters. I just found this set up at Home Depo. The Ryobo seems like a solid drill and it comes with 2 18v lithium batteries and a Lithium charger. I just bought it and an extra "double capacity" pack which gives me 3 batteries.http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053
Reply:In have used my Hitachi from Lowes for several heavy duty projects. Only thing I would change, is I would go with the 18V instead of the 14.  But after drilling plate and everything, I can't complain about its performance. It keeps going without bogging down.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:I have been using the Hitachi 18v cordless stuff for some time now and recon they are great.Have the hammer drill, impact driver, circular saw, receprocating saw.  All have their place out in the field.  The Hitachi units are common her in OZ with tradies.
Reply:I have nothing but morbid nasty love for my 28V Milwaukees. "Mmm....cut that metal! Daddy likesssss.... Got 'em a few years back to do a renovation, then discovered how nice they are for slaying vehicles in salvage. One battery is getting weak, but I have two more and will have that rebuilt. I bring an inverter on junk yard runs so I can recharge onsite.The Sawzall will cut the front clip off most pickup trucks on one battery. The angle grinder I modded to take 7" cutting disks, and even with that reduced leverage will cut through an axle or a torsion bar or similar. The autoshutoff keeps it from cooking. The drill and circular saw work fine.
Reply:i've also had bad luck with dewalt batteries. mine seeem to get so hot in the chargers that they deformand wont fit into the tool.  i got a cheap ryobi set, the small circular saw is cute and the radio is good..drill brings new meaning to turd..im buyin corded tools from now on, screw em all...
Reply:Originally Posted by lugweldIn have used my Hitachi from Lowes for several heavy duty projects. Only thing I would change, is I would go with the 18V instead of the 14.  But after drilling plate and everything, I can't complain about its performance. It keeps going without bogging down.
Reply:I'll third the Milwaukee V28 recommendation. Those tools have some serious power. The hammer drill will break your wrist if it catches. Driving 10" long, half inch lag screws into lumber is no problem. 3/4" holes through 1/2" plate is a walk in the park. Just make sure nothing catches, or you will get hurt!I have the V28 hammer drill, 1/2" impact, saw-z-all, and flashlight. At least one is used every day. All the rest nice Milwaukee corded stuff hardly ever comes out.The only thing I have noticed is the protection in the battery seems to kick in when it is very cold outside. It has annoyed me a few times, but I don't recall that it has ever stopped me from doing a job. Usually some light work with the tool gets the battery warmed up enough.-Jim
Reply:dunno about new ryobi stuff, but I have a 10 year old 18v hammer drill that the battery packs died on about 9 months ago.  They kepts holding less and less charge and eventually self discharged overnight.  So after some debating on a new brand, or a new set of batteries, or new li-ion batteries for my set, i got new regular batteries in a two pack for like $50.  Going great 9 months later.  I almost never use the hammer feature, but I have swapped back and forth between the ryobi cordless and a black and decker corded metal gear box 30+ year old drill when I went through a 18" concrete / brick foundation to run a gas line.. they just got too hot to hold..  The ryobi has more torque than the corded black and decker, but that drill is getting pretty tired.  I use the ryobi with an auger bit to rough in electrical wire through 2x4's and it goes long enough on one charge to get 2-3 rooms done, and then I swap packs, put first on the charger, or swap tasks to pulling the wire, doing boxes etc, and then back to drilling once charged.The hitachi corded drill is a POS.  My brother in law picked one up and on first use with a hole saw I shattered the teeth in the chuck.  He swapped it out at lowes/ homedepot no questions asked and then the second one's variable trigger died to on/off only within a month of intermittant use just drilling hole with a spade bit through wood.  He has swapped that one out too, but has not really used the 3rd one.
Reply:I'm debating Milwaukee versus Hilti.But I have never even laid hands on Hilti's drill/driver. We have several of their hammer drills, and they are excellent, just don't know about the drill/driver. And I heard Milwaukee has gone Chinese.
Reply:I have used the Hilti cordless drills and was very impressed with how well they held up.  I helped my uncle build a greenhouse with them and they worked pretty much flawlessly for the nearly 5 months that it took us to build the greenhouse.  This was not your typical backyard greenhouse, it was a 20,000 sqr foot structure build from aluminum and all the benches were also assembled with 2 drills and 4 batteries.  These drills were already a few years old before we had started and had already built 12 quansut hut style greenhouses before we started on this project.  We used them all day every day for probably close to 3 months to get all the self tapping screws in for the polycarbonate, and all the benches.  When we were putting the benches together we would be using these drills for about 10 hours straight just popping out the old battery are replacing with the fresh one.  To the point where the drills got uncomfortable to use with the bare hand because the plastic was so hot, so then we would put on a glove and keep going.  If I had to guess I would say these drills used up over 150lbs of 1/2" self tapping screws and sheet metal screws if not more (several thousand screws for each of them).  Towards the end of the project the batteries were getting tired and would not hold a charge as long, but when we figured out the number of charges we had on them they were well over what they had been rated for.I would def give the hilti drills a two thumbs up rating.
Reply:Originally Posted by ggarner "This was not your typical backyard greenhouse, it was a 20,000 sqr foot structure build from aluminum"
Reply:Originally Posted by KGIORHa HA are you anticipating the passing of a proposition soon.In retrospect, I have to say that the Bosch SDS I bought at Fastenal (a small fortune and corded) is the best drill I ever bought, hands down.  I can bore a 1" core hole in 8 bag fiber reinforced, fully cured concrete and it don't even get warm.Problem is, it has an umbi.