Ridgid Cordless Drill - ?Review?

[Richard Allen]

I would be interested in hearing from owners of a Ridigid cordless drill what they thought of the drill.

What I know so far is:

The drill are made in China
The drill are sold at Home Depot
If you buy the drill before the end of the year the warenty will be good for as long as you like



What I have heard so far is:

The drill is heaver than other cordless drills
The battery doesn't hold much of a charge
Home Depot has seen many of these drills returned


What has been your experince?

Thanks

[Dean Baumgartner]

I bought one of the 12V last week and used it extensively over the weekend. It's certainly not the drill that my Dewalt 14.4V is but it is a bit lighter than the Dewalt. The battery seemed to hold a charge pretty well and with the 20 min charge time there doesn't seem to be a problem. As far as torque it had no problem with 2 1/2" deck screws into pine. The drill does seem to be geared down fairly low. Good for driving screws but I don't know that it would be that great at drilling. Don't know what the long term reliability is going to be yet but it does have the lifetime warranty. I went to Home Depot's web site and printed the info for the warranty and have a copy of it along with the receipt just in case a few years down the road they get a little forgetful.
For light to medium duty use I would reccomend it.

Dean

[Richard Allen]

Hi Dean

Thanks for the review. It certinaly changes my view of the drill. Not enough to buy one yet but maybe some others can chime in.

Thnaks

[Brian MacDonald]

I went to Home Depot's web site and printed the info for the warranty and have a copy of it along with the receipt just in case a few years down the road they get a little forgetful.
For light to medium duty use I would reccomend it.
Dean

Dean,

Could you tell me where on the website you found the warranty info? I've looked a couple of times and all I can seem to find is

"For warranty information on this product, please call our Internet Customer Service Center at 1-800-430-3376."

Thanks,

Brian

[Ron McNeil]

Richard, I know you are asking for reviews on the Ridgid Cordless drill. I do not have one, but last week I purchased a Sears 15.6V cordless drill and they were offering a 50% off sale. It came with two batteries and a nice case and for 7.50 I purchased a replacement contract that for two years it will replace battery or complete drill for free no questions asked. I'm in the process of putting up 340 feet of 8' security fence and i used the drill this past weekend screwing screws from 1 1/2" to 4" and had no problems and the battery never ran out of charge. I think it's a very good drill for the price. Just thought I would let you know. I do not know if the sale is still on but for 50.00 its a good deal in my opinion.

[Richard Allen]

I read a response to this question by Joe Johns. He has had the 14.4 drill for two months. He likes the drill very much and went into detail, as is Joes way, about the virtues of the Rigid 14.4 drill.

[Dave Hammelef]

Dean,

Could you tell me where on the website you found the warranty info? I've looked a couple of times and all I can seem to find is

"For warranty information on this product, please call our Internet Customer Service Center at 1-800-430-3376."

Thanks,

Brian

All you gotta do is click on the Warranty Graphic. Here is the link

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Battery-Powered-Tools/index.htm

And the warrenty pdf file
http://www.ridgid.com/newsite/manuals/LifetimeServiceWarranty.pdf

[Brian MacDonald]

All you gotta do is click on the Warranty Graphic. Here is the link

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Battery-Powered-Tools/index.htm

And the warrenty pdf file
http://www.ridgid.com/newsite/manuals/LifetimeServiceWarranty.pdf

Thanks! I was looking on the Home Depot site and having a heck of a time finding any info.

Brian

[CPeter James]

Orphans always scare me, no matter how good a deal it seems now, down the road I always have a problem. I stick with brand names and have Makita, Dewalt, and Bosch drills. All three are good and replacement parts are available and will be for some time to come. Look at Home Depot and the Emerson Electric deal. It lasted about 2 years. Spend the extra money now and get what you really want and not what is a little cheaper. You will be happier in the end.

CPeter

[Greg Leighty, Chattanooga TN]

The rigid drill looks good, but I had trouble finding out how the lifetime warrenty was going to work. I asked the sales guy what you had to do when the battery or drill went bad? Do you take it to your local HD or do you have to mail it in? That can get expensive if you have to pay postage and is a pain. I had two sales guys tell me they did know how it worked and that they were not happy they brought the drills out with out even haveing replacement batteries in the stores. So, called HD help line. They said you had to take it to a service center. So,not being sure how it was going to work and with little info outhere about the drill I just ordered the 14.4 Dewalt drill from tool crib. I used their $20 coupon and got it for $149 with free shipping and no sales tax. I also get to send in for the 7.2v electic screw driver. I know what I am getting with DeWalt.

[Mark Averweg]

I just bought the ridgid 18v cordless with 3/8" chuck. It is a discontinued item (R84001). Normally sells for $189.00 and is on sale at HD for $99.00. It comes with 2 batteries and charger. Since I acutally work on building the HD stores I got some info. Ridgid, Ryobi and Milwaukee are all made by the same company. With Ryobi being at the home owner end and the other 2 being at the pro end. The lifetime service agreement is available but you have to either mail the product in or take it to a service center, however, it covers all wear parts (not including accessories) such as brushes, batteries, chuck, charger, etc. A 1/2" chuck would have been nice but for the price and warranty I couldn't pass it up. I haven't used it yet but I have seen others at work that haven't had a problem.
:) :) :) :)

[Jim O'Dell]

I've had the 18V X2 (1/2") for 2 years now, and not a problem. I've used it pretty hard stick building 200'+ of wooden fence, and rebuilding a 20 X 24 shop, and enclosing a 12 X 14 attached covered patio. All but one 20' wall was braced and restudded and all was put together with 3" deck screws. I installed new base plates for the stud walls and drilled into the concrete for 1/2" anchors (drilled 1/4, the 3/8, then 1/2 for each hole) I'm totally pleased.
I bought the 12V X2 version last spring when it was on sale. I use it for smaller projects, and for pre drilling in wood that will break with the large screws, and again it works like a champ. There are a lot of good drills out there, but I am happy with the ones I purchased for my needs. Jim

[Pete Harbin]

I have the same set-up that Jim does...bought the 18V X2 almost two years ago, and then the 12V X2 when it was on sale. Both drills have worked great. The 18V has more power than I usually need, so the 12V was a really nice grab on sale. No problems with any of the batteries. I get lots of use out of a full charge.

As far as the lifetime service, replacement batteries, etc...most cities already have a Ridgid Authorized Service Center. You can use the locator on the website. For example, Albuquerque has 3 service centers.

Pete