Cordless Impacts and Batteries

[Ben Abate]

Hello all,

I've been thinking about buying a cordless impact driver. I have to admit that I get confused with all the different models. I'm probably going to stay with either a Makita or a DeWalt 18 volt. I have a few DeWalt drills and I have had Makita's before and they always preformed pretty well. But the model nos. are confusing. There are drivers that are 18 Volts and Lithium Ion and there are Ni Cads and from what I think I know Lithium Ion is a bettter battery right? Well then why are there so many models of the 18volt Lithium Ions from the same manufacture? If they are Lithium and 18volts then why so many choices? If I'm buying a large driver like 18volts then you'd think I'd be looking for the most powerful one I could get. Right? I'm not buying a 14 or 12 volt. I'd like a very hard hitting driver. I'm just wondering why they make so many Lithium Ions in 18 volts from the same manufacture. can someone help out here to make me understand that?

I'd like to compare apples to apples and I'm having a hard time doing that if I don't understand my choices


thank you if you can shed some light here.

[William Burgess]

Makita has the 18v compact and regular, which you are probably seeing. I believe Dewalt has their XRP (professional grade) lith ion or nicad as well as their homeowner grade 18v's as well as compacts, but I could be wrong I am not that familiar with the dewalt 18v sets. I have the Makita LCT200 set which is their 18v compact set. It works great. It is confusing at first, I researched for months before I figured out exactly what I wanted. If you can wait till Christmas I am sure there will be a lot of sales on the cordless drill/driver and impact sets. I got the makita set for quite a bit less than what is selling for now last Christmas. If your just a homeowner/handyman/hobby woodworker the set I have is really nice and very well reviewed.

[Jim Matthews]

The Makita impact driver is compact, and weighs little.

The beefier batteries are a chore to handle for long, and have clearance limitations the Makita does not suffer.
If you can comfortably hold one (big hands may require a larger handle), the Makita is a winner.

By a cordless drill to go with it and you'll have four batteries to keep in rotation.
This is an unexpected bonus for me, as the battery seems to discharge just before I finishing a session.

jim
wpt, ma

[Steve Ryan]

Makita all the way. I have 2 that take the hex shank bits and framed my house and garage with one of them. I also have the small and large 1/2" drive units for lug bolts, etc. Get the ones with the bigger Li batteries.

[Ben Abate]

Makita all the way. I have 2 that take the hex shank bits and framed my house and garage with one of them. I also have the small and large 1/2" drive units for lug bolts, etc. Get the ones with the bigger Li batteries.


Steve,
If possible are the ones you bought current models? and if so could you give the model nos. I've also been wanting to buy an impact for lug nut removal when rotating tires or going from season to season. So it seems the majority of you guys like the Makitas. I'm a bit surprised but then again my old one lasted a long time.. It may be just me but I have 2 DeWalts and 2 Festool drills and the DeWalts seem to give out sooner (battery wise). It seems like they work great for a year or so and then they peter out pretty fast after that. Now, I'm not using them every day and maybe that's can account for it too. Leaving them on the chargers too long but I've always read that the chargers are programed to not damage the batteries if they sit after charging, correct????? Well i know i'd like to buy one that is an 18 volt that has the ability to do a garage or something like that as you said Steve so I guess I'll look harder into the Makitas.

[Timothy Wolf]

I have the 18 volt Dewalt and like it, I would buy a new one if anything ever broke on this one, I use it a lot and all of my cordless tools are Dewalt. Are there better ones out there? probably, but I always like to have everything on the same type of battery.

[Jim Finn]

When deciding on what brand to use I look to the pro's. What are they using. The trade that uses cordless drills and impact drivers the most is the Sheet metal workers and they almost all use 18 volt Makitas these days. I retired from shee tmetal work 11 years ago and still have the nicad 9.4 volt Makitas that I used back then.

[Tim Morton]

i have an 18v Milwaukee and it is a monster....and i also have a 12v makita that is my favortire drill of all time....so make sure you really need 18v before you buy one...

[Greg R Bradley]

There are several companies that make good impact drivers. You might be happy with most of them. If you want the current state-of-the-art in 18v impacts it is the Makita BTD144. You see all the people raving about the Makita LXT series tools above including Steve Ryan talking about the power of the impacts. The BTD144 goes past those units and now the hex drive on high has MORE power than the small 1/2" drive impact from last year. It is a brushless motor, which is unique in impacts. On medium power it is about equal to the BTD140, 141, and small battery BTD142. On low power it is about equal to the 12v max impacts.

Makita LXT is the first choice if you are looking for a wide variety of tools running off the same 18v battery. I also own cordless tools from Bosch, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Festool.

Lithium does hold a charge better than NiCad & NiMh for tools that may sit for awhile before being used. They also run close to full power longer but quit more suddenly giving less warning when they need charging.

[Ben Abate]

Greg,
I appreciate the informed answers. I think I'm sold now for sure. The others guys were had me there but you now have gotten to buy the Makita. As mentioned I have other drills and that's all good. But I need an impact and I believe you and the other guys told what I need to know. I appreciate the detail you went into. That is what I was looking for.

thank you and thank you all for your time.

[Dave Gaul]

I have the bigger Makita LI. Never used anything else, but mine is great. Make sure you use impact grade drivers & bits!

[Gary Kman]

I've used a Makita 18V for years, rebuilt the batteries with marginal sucess and decided to try something new. Got a pair of tiny Hitachi 12v Lithium ions. Drill with 3/8 chuck and driver with hex chuck. In some test I read the driver did over 300 3" deck screws on a charge. If I was building decks or skinning pole barns for a living I'd get something bigger but for general maintenance they are fantastic. Hanging some guttering today and had the driver holstered in my PANTS POCKET.

[Ed Griner]

You can't go wrong with Panasonic. Ed

[Carl Beckett]

I would consider smaller tools (just give them a good look!), per Gary's suggestion.

I have the smaller 'white' Makita drill/driver (continuously variable speed), and also the larger 'blue' Hammer drill driver (three speeds - not continously variable), and also the Makita circ saw, and a Dewalt 14.4 Drill and saw combo.

My favorite of all of these is the smaller Makita with the larger battery pack - or if just hanging something around the house the smaller battery pack. I like true variable speed. I also think the larger drivers are way to heavy and large, making it tiring or hard to fit into a tight space.

the Makita circ saw I love.

BUT - I have also had issues with battery life. I own 6 of the 3.0 batteries now (used to be 7 but I 'rebuilt' one in attempt at saving it). 4 of these 6 are dead leaving me with only two working batteries. These died with relatively little use and I cant figure out why (even bought a new charger). I did recently get two of these replaced on warranty so got lucky there - but I certainly cant afford a couple batteries every year. Having said that, a lot of people use these tools and havent had issues with the batteries (but some have... google it).

Some very powerful smaller tools out now, and Im a believer that sometimes smaller is better.....

[Ron Kellison]

With regard to Li-Ion battery life, there is a lot to be said for the Ridgid guarantee. If you find a tool that fits your needs and feels good in your hands it's nice to know that you will never have to buy another battery. I originally went cordless with a cheap Ryobi 14.4V drill, then changed to a 14.4 Dewalt XRP NiCad. After buying an additional 4 batteries over 5 years I bought an 18V Ridgid Li-Ion with 2 batteries and a decent charger for $100 last year. I've swapped out 1 battery with no hassle and I'm a convert! Their battery guarantee applies to all of their Li-Ion tools, PROVIDED you register it at the time of purchase. Some folks forget to do this on-line and then proceed to gripe about it on forums.

Best regards,

Ron

[Kent A Bathurst]

........... the current state-of-the-art in 18v impacts it is the Makita BTD144........On medium power it is about equal to.....small battery BTD142. On low power it is about equal to the 12v max impacts.

Neighbor has the 142 [his wife came to me for items to put on on his Christmas gift list - she went "Full Monty" - black series impact driver, flashlight, drill/driver, 2 chargers,4 batteries - If I had known she was gonna get him everything on my list, I'd have added more stuff]]. The 142 is pretty nice. My other stuff started dieing out, so I got the black series drill/driver - 452. It's good. Then, when the second of the old ones cashed out I got the 144 impact driver, and the 454 LXT drill.

Observations:
1] The 144 impact driver is great. the 3 speeds fit the range of tasks. However.........
2] The 142's single speed range is, IMO, right between the 144's low and medium.....and seems to be dead-nuts in the "sweet spot" for driving screws in furniture. Kinda like Goldilocks - 144 low is too little, 144 medium is too much, 142 is just right. BUT - the 144 on medium and high can do stuff the 142 cannot do. I have actually considered adding to the herd with a 142, but that is a pretty low priority for me.
3] On the [compact] batteries that come with the 142 and related black series family of tools.............they are lightweight, in both definitions of the terms. They are very easy to use, because of the "pounds and ounces" factor. But - their charge life is not all that much. Makita did not lead me astray - I'm just commenting on my experience. Plus - be aware - the bigger batteries fit into the "green" products [144, 454, etc] and into the "black" series [142, 452], but the reverse is NOT true - the compact batteries from the black series do not fit into the green series. I figure they don't have enough muscle to run them.

So - after a year or so experience, if I had it all to do over again, I would do it all over again - same stuff. Which includes 2 chargers, 3 big batteries, 2 small batteries, and a flashlight, to go along with the 452 drill, 454 drill, and 144 impact driver...................I'd still like to get that little impact driver, tho :D

Understand, please, that this is the first Makita stuff I have bought............and I'm a now fan for sure....bought some other Makita stuff since then, due to my experience.

[Ben Abate]

thanks Kent,

Nice review, not to slam any of the others and my experience is only with DeWalt and Makita so it's limited but my DeWalts batteries die fast after they have been charged a lot in the first year of use. I've had them rebuilt by Battey Rebuilders and they lasted a few months and now need constant recharging. I've had my Festool drills for at least 3-4 years and they still hold a charge for a reasonalbly longer time. I see that Festool is now offering an impact but the price and I don't believe they are building them with higher voltages. Any way it would kill me to be beating up a $400.00 plus driver, plus the Makita and other brands are easily accessible at the big box stores and other local retailers. Since this is going to be an impact I think I'll go with what most of you are recommending the 144....

Thanks again for your imput

[Carl Beckett]

Ben,

On Amazon there is a VERY detailed user review of the choices in this category (just look up the Makita 144 and read the reviews - nicely done), and the reviewer puts the 144 at the top of the list.

Enjoy the new toy!

[Kevin Stricker]

The 14.4 Panasonic will outperform an 18v Makita. Brushless, variable torque, and batteries that last 2-3 times as long as Makita Li ion.

[Ben Abate]

Carl and Kevin Thanks for the replies. I'll check out the reviews. I went to the Blue big box store yesterday to look into a 144 but they don't carry Makita. At least in the Pittsburgh stores they don't. I'll have to go to the Orange one to see one in person.
I see that the 144 isn't a common tool that most stores sell. The local hardware that carries a pretty good supply of tools didn't have it either.

[Greg R Bradley]

Carl and Kevin Thanks for the replies. I'll check out the reviews. I went to the Blue big box store yesterday to look into a 144 but they don't carry Makita. At least in the Pittsburgh stores they don't. I'll have to go to the Orange one to see one in person.
I see that the 144 isn't a common tool that most stores sell. The local hardware that carries a pretty good supply of tools didn't have it either.
The big box stores don't have customers that know the difference between the 141/142 and the 144. Any real tool store should have them.

My local tool store has a Makita section that is about 1500 square feet, about the size of the entire tool section in any of the Lowes or Home Depots. The Milwaukee and Dewalt sections are about the same, the Bosch section is a bit larger with one of the walls being Glide saws in boxes stacked 3 rows high

[rick carpenter]

I have a Bosch 18v with slimpack batteries. I can do drywall all day to about 2-3 pm before needing a new battery. It's light enough not to wear you out but heavy enough to handle properly. Love it.

[Jim German]

I've also been wanting to buy an impact for lug nut removal when rotating tires or going from season to season.

Keep in mind that an impact driver is not the same tool as an impact wrench commonly used by auto mechanics. Impact drivers impact not only twisting, but also forward too. This is great for driving screws as it prevents cam out. An impact wrench only impacts radiallly, and generally put out much higher torque. For instance the BTD144 (which has been discontinued btw) is only rated to 118 lb-ft, while a good impact wrench will go to like 300+ lb-ft of torque. An impact driver with only 118lb-ft of torque probably will have difficulty removing lug nuts, particularly if they've been over-torqued by your friendly neighborhood mechanic.