My Crapsman cordless drill (9.6V) bit the dust. The battery would no longer take a charge.
I was at the BORG and was eyeballing the Dewalt 14V (DC728KA). Do you own one? Can you recommend another comparable one.
I don't want to spend more than $200 Americano.
How much life do you usually get from a cordless drill battery? I assume it depends on the number of depletions/recharges.
I have a right angle Makita that I got in 1983 and the battery still works for a little while. I have had a Panasonic, 2 different DeWalt's and Now use a Makita.
The Panasonic was the Cadillac but liked the DeWalt and like the Makita. You might watch for the "buy a drill and get an impact driver for free deal", or visa versa. I bought my 12v Makita Impact 2 years ago for about $200 and sent for the free drill. If you have one of the impact drivers you really don't need over 9.6 or 12 volt. The impact drivers are usually 5 to
6 times stronger than their "sister same voltage" drills. The new Lithium Ion batteries look promising but are more pricey.We have a Bosch 14.4 we use a minmum of 5 days a week in both our businesses. It is about 4 years old now. I would buy one again. I think we paid around $150.00.
cm
Batteries don't just have a certain number of cycles, time kills them too. I've never had a battery last for more than about 6 years or so before the run time got too low to be useful. So resist the urge to buy the biggest, baddest, drill with the best specs and all that. Unlike your corded drill, your cordless tools are somewhat "disposable". The price of two batteries will almost buy you a whole new kit; so when the batteries die, most people start over. Go down to the local Borg and hold several in you hands. Pick the one that feels best if it comes from Panasonic, Bosch, Dewalt, Hitachi, Makita, Milwaukee, or Ridgid, (did I leave anybody out?) but NOT Craftsman or Ryobi.
The only caveat to that is Ridgid. I dont' own any Ridgid power tools, but I'd give very serious consideration to Ridgid cordless because they warranty the BATTERIES TOO for life. Be sure to save all the receips, UPC codes etc. required to use the warranty, because the batteries WILL die someday.
I'm on cordless drill number five, and I own three that still work at least a while. My favorite is a 12 volt Milwaukee T-handle with the battery that hangs out front, under the trigger. It's the best balanced and most comfortable drill I've ever used.
DonkeyHody "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
I second the previous posters idea of Ridgid. I recently picked up a 5 tool 18V combo kit for $269 (Ill explain later). I *had* a 14.4V Milwaukee hammer drill that I loved......used it for absolutely everything I could. But the batteries were terrible. Even new, they would work a while then just no longer have any good runtime. I went so far as purchasing the triple-bay charger (apparently the single-bay charger wasnt "smart" and the batteries would end up undercharged or fried from the charger). The triple-bay helped the issue a little, but I still get somewhat short runtimes.
The Ridgid set is perfect, because of the lifetime service agreement. It might not be the easiest way to get stuff fixed/replaced (either send it to a service center, or drive it to one nearest you), but there is a standard 3 year warranty on everything before the lifetime even kicks in......in those 3 years, bring back to HD, walk out with a replacement. Ive used every piece of it except the recip saw. The drill is suprisingly heavy duty.......I was figuring I would be let down coming from the "Big Red", but Im pretty impressed with the Ridgid so far. A couple things bother me (harder to use the directional switch than the Milwaukee, and the cluthc is a little noisy when in high speed), but definitely worth the $$$.
If you can find them, there are 2 combo kits on "clearance". One (model R9212) is 209.00, the other (model R9222) is 269.00. The more xpensive one comes with the recip saw, the cheaper one does not. They are covered under the lifetime warranty ocne you register them. The drill alone costs more than that. Ridgid also now has the 24V LithIon tools, if you wanted to go that route.
Good luck!
-Chris
Stoutman wrote:
You might want to reconsider the $200 limit. I just purchased one of the new V18 LI-ion batteries and chargers from Milwaukee. I know that it is a fair bit lighter than than my old 18v NiCd and it runs near full power until dead. (The chart shows a near right angle for power vs. runtime which is pretty accurate) I am very impressed with it. Also it has a 5 year/ 2000 charge warranty. The hammer drill kit is around $300 and the 4pc. combo kit with circ saw, sawzall, drill, flashlight, and 2 batteries is around $500. If you really want something powerful look at the V28 from Milwaukee. I wanted that but that would mean a sizable investment in new tools. The V18 works with all of their 18v cordless.
Allen
Bosch 14.4 gets my vote
"Stoutman" wrote in news:KL83h.17474$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.southeast.rr.com:
My 12v DeWalts have been going for more than 5 years of highly irregular work habits. I'm a serious hobby guy, in spurts, and may do one major kitchen or bathroom a year, plus a couple of pieces of furniture, plus the usual smaller stuff. The batteries don't get a heavy usage, except for a couple of weeks, when they get hammered pretty good.
I'd buy DeWalt again in a heartbeat.
Patriarch
Since you had a 9.6V, you don't need the big honking 24V models that are too heavy for many chores.
My vote is Panasonic 15.6V. I set out to buy a Bosch, but I picked up the Panasonic and it just felt right. Plenty of power, good weight and balance, one hand chuck. It is also 15 ounces lighter than the 18V Bosch I considered and has longer lasting batteries, 3.5 AH.
I picked up a dewalt 14.4 drill this summer (sale at lowes - $80) - just a regular drill w/ 2 batteries . works great!
shelly
Everything on the Rigid is guaranteed for life. The batteries, the brushes, the chuck, everything. I don't think there's another company out there that stands behind their products like that, especially at that price.
Brian Henderson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Batteries guaranteed for life? Looks like I'm going to the Big Orange Retail Giant soon. I've been eyeballing Makita, but if Ridgid will replace the batteries when they die, I'm buying.
Best get two, a 9.6V for light jobs and a 24V for big ones... So little money, so many hobbies...
Puckdropper
You can get an 9.6 impact driver that will likely out perform the 24 volt drill and also consider that while the Ridgid had an excellent warranty, the tool may not feel quite right to you. I looked at the Ridgid a couple of years ago and they were very heavy by comparison. They may be lighter these days.
Leon,
That is what I like about my Bosch. It feels better in my hand than my Dewalts, and Makitas.
cm
That's not one of thse fine-print "LIFETIME WARRANTY: guaranteed for the life of the tool" warranties, is it?
Yes it is and the life time guarantee states that the batteries, charger, bearings, brushes, hypoid gear oil, etc. are all covered for life.
I'm in the same boat. My 13.2 B&D Firestorm died and I'm getting close to buying a DeWalt 14.4 XRP. Any reason I shouldn't?
My DeWalt 18v came with two batteries. I've been using it heavily (5-45 hours a week, averaging at least 10-15 per week) for over eight years. I had to buy a new battery last year, but the old ones will still each hold a charge for an hour or so- just long enough to completely recharge the new one. The new one (18v XRP) will run for about 10 hours on a charge driving screws- a little less for things like drilling tile or concrete, but that may be due to the fact that it is not a hammer drill. It also drains faster doing things like mixing 5-gal buckets of paint or drywall with a mixing wand- but I don't do that too often (that's a job for an old corded drill.)
AFAIK, the 14v is comparable. $200 will get you a nice drill, to be sure. The 12v and 9.6v are also fairly popular for chamfering and deburring holes in metal shops.
There might be better ones, but you won't go wrong with the one you're looking at.
You will be pleased when you switch to the xrp batteries. Big differendce ove the old batteries.
cm
There's a lot to that-
I like DeWalt, because I've got big hands, and they've got big grips. I've seen other guys cringe when picking my drill up (It is a fairly heavy beast)- and I feel like I might break theirs.
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