Makita or HF or Primecell

[Stormin Mormon]

My Makita cordless drill is getting tired. Or, more likely, the batteries are wearing out. My options include:

1) put up with it 2) Use only corded drills from now on 3) Buy more batteries either at the store, or off the web, or Ebay 4) Buy a cheap drill from HF and hope that's good. I've got a couple 12 volt "Drill Master" which have served well, for a long time. I use them for turning screws, light duty. Charge for an hour when the drill won't work any more. The charger is unregulated. 5) Buy a different brand altogether 6) Get a couple tired 14.4 cells rebuilt at Primecell

Has anyone had good experience with any of the HF drills? Or with Primecell? I've heard others reccomend Primecell.

[ransley]

With a Makita cell it will be top quality Panasonic or Sanyo cells, probably better than what prime cell uses, but check. HF wont be top quality anything like the Makita is. If it suddenly died check the charger for voltage,what is the battery voltage when you check with a v meter

[Jeff Thies]

The old Makitas were good drills, new batteries might be a good plan.

I'm liking Ryobi for cheap tools. I like the way they are designed and the attention to details and features.

Their standard 18V drill has a half inch chuck. How cool is that? It's a bad boy.

I bought the kit, drill, circular saw, sawzall and flashlight with 2 batteries from HD for $129, a deal they have run on and off for years. What got me into Ryobi was the cordless fan. It runs a long long time and kicks out enough air to make being outdoors pleasant.

If you can afford the LiIon batteries, the Ryobi 18V tools can use either them or the NiCads. LiIon is the future.

Jeff

[gfretwell]

I have 2 Makitas and I got a couple of new batteries from a place on the web. They are higher Amp Hour no name cells.I am very happy with the result.

[hallerb]

primecell is the way to go, the batteries are better than new and often you can upgrade to even better ones for a little more money, their self discharge rate is real low, my best friend sent one in for rebuild and noted 5 months later it was still usable in comparison to his old battery where a month saw it stone dead.

he got this specifics tool pack rebuilt since he didnt use it much so he felt he had nothing to lose.

now he is sending in all his packs to primecell since the first one worked so well

[Joe]

[keith]

The only difference is an ounce of plastic in the landfill. The cells themselves are still waste. NiCds should be recycled back the the manufacturer, in any event.

[bobmct]

I've had a couple of 14.4V packs rebuilt by Primecell a couple of years ago and they still work, last and recharge as good as ever. The next time I need a battery replacement, I will first consider a rebuild from PrimeCell. Plus, their cost is less than a cheap no-name replacement. Your call, though.