Another Cordless bites the dust

[Joe Pelonio]

My latest cordless drill, a 12 volt Black and Decker decided to catch on fire while I was up a ladder with it Friday installing signs. Before that I had two
Skils, 14.4 volt, and the charger melted. Later they were recalled but the replacements didn't last long before they wouldn't hold a charge. Before that I had a Ryobi, eventually while the battery would hold a charge for a lot of hours use, if it sat a day or two after charging it would be dead when needed.

Since I was in the middle of several jobs I didn't have tome to check in before buying the latest, but thought I'd ask anyway for any opinions on it.

I was not about to get any of the others that have let me down in the last 10 years so I tried Sears Craftsman. This looked like a good deal on sale, 19.2 volt, two batteries, work light that uses the same battery, built in led light on the drill, hard case for $89, regular $129.99. Are the $200+ ones that much better, to be worth the extra money?

[glenn bradley]

My latest cordless drill, a 12 volt Black and Decker decided to catch on fire while I was up a ladder with it Friday installing signs.

My dad had three B&D's catch fire; good name, FireStorm :D. I can recommend against the C-man's and I do use some C-man tools so this is not a hate crime. My batt's worked great for a little over 6 months. They will now run the drill for 30 minutes or so each and will not run the trim saw at all.

My 10 year old Makita had only recently had the batteries rebuilt. The 7 yeare old DeWalt was right behind it but I expect to not have to worry about them for another set of years. No more of those "other guys" for me. Why buy three $50 tools when one $100 will outlast them all many times over?

[Chet Kagel]

I have a 14 v Dewalt and a 12 v Makita both of which have given me good service. The Makita is about 5 years old and the Dewalt is probably 10 yrs. I've purchased a couple of batteries for each. They seem to serve different purposes for me, I use the Dewalt for drilling and the Makita for screws.
I've received my first rebuilt battery for the Makita from West Coast Battery Rebuilders, www.wcbatteryrebuilders.com I have no affiliation with any of these companies. It's too early to vouch for the battery rebuilder as I would like to see how long they last, but their prices are what attracted me to them. Time will tell.

[Joe McCormick]

I can't speak for the $200.00 drills but I like my Craftsman drills. I have three of the 19.2 volt Craftsman drills with a 1/2" chucks using ni-cad batteries and an older one with a 3/8" chuck. I have dropped them off of 8' foot ladders and they still work just fine. I find that they have lots of power and the batteries recharge fairly quick. I would buy another one if I needed it, but for now 4 are enough. I have at least ten batteries so I am never needing to wait for a battery to recharge. I also have two of the work lights. One is a fluorescent and the other uses a bulb. Both are great lights. I think you get a 30 day try out period with Craftsman tools, so give it a try. If you don't like it take it back.

[skip coyne]

the sears are made by ryobi , Ive had good luck with ryobi and its all I would consider

on both the sears and ryobi you can upgrade the nicads to lithium later

Personally I would get the lion to start

I have a Ryobi 12volt lithium , that I bought to use primarily as a screw gun . Ive been very pleased with it very light , lots of torque and long battery life . and the batteries stay charged between uses

drill , soft case and two batteries $79.00 at home depot

[Joe Pelonio]

My dad had three B&D's catch fire; good name, FireStorm :D. I can recommend against the C-man's and I do use some C-man tools so this is not a hate crime. My batt's worked great for a little over 6 months. They will now run the drill for 30 minutes or so each and will not run the trim saw at all.

My 10 year old Makita had only recently had the batteries rebuilt. The 7 yeare old DeWalt was right behind it but I expect to not have to worry about them for another set of years. No more of those "other guys" for me. Why buy three $50 tools when one $100 will outlast them all many times over?
Yes, it was a "Firestorm"!

That's what I was thinking, if these don't hold up I'll have to try Makita or DeWalt.

[mark page]

Joe, I bought a Crapsman set on sale, it came in a trunk/case with wheels and tote handle. 19.9V set that had drill, angle drill, recip saw, lamp, cutoff saw, three batteries, charger, sabre saw, and maybe another piece or two. I've had good luck with them, although I have to admit I was looking for another brand when I bought these. They were on sale cheaper than I could buy a stand-a-lone drill. The only thing I don't like about the C-Man drills are they wear a blister on the webbing between my thumb and forefinger with extended use, the balance is not perfect.
I had a Ryobi set and the charger shorted, burned out a gpi outlet in the house and could of set the house on fire. Don't know why the gpi didn't trip sooner, maybe it was defective too. But I have shyed away from Ryobi stuff ever since.

[Tom Esh]

Are the $200+ ones that much better, to be worth the extra money?

Generally, yes. A quick search here will turn up a bunch of threads on cordless drills and preferences. If you're thinking of stepping into that tier, I'd consider lithium ion. They aren't just for pros. Aside from all the performance benefits, the fact that they don't bleed charge when not in use is really a greater benefit to those of us who don't use them every day. You also get better battery charging / monitoring electronics (which has always been a weakness in other systems). I've had more nicad batts destroyed by dumb chargers than I otherwise could have worn out in a lifetime. L-Ion has essentially forced the manufacturers to step up on that.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've had an 18v Dewalt hammer drill for 10+ years. I did have to replace the batteries a year ago or so. Around the time I bought replacement batteries, I also bought another refurbished drill that has also done great.

I had a Craftsman 12v cordless for years. I may have bought it 15-18 years ago. It did just fine, but I just didn't use it as much because it lacked torque. Someone else has it now.

[Michael Donahue]

Check your local borgs for deals too. I buddy of mine got a Ridgid 18V set with a drill, impact driver, 2 batteries and a charger for under $140 because they were on clearance. You could always get a good deal if you keep your eyes peeled. Plus, Ridgid has a lifetime service agreement.

[Per Swenson]

Joe,

If I may be so bold...

You are a professional, with what I understand, a well regarded
and successful sign business.
Why would you even consider Harry the homeowner drills?
Would you buy a vinyl plotter from wall mart?
I didn't think so,

Reasonable professional drills Makita, Bosch, Panasonic, Hilti.
A real professional drill,,,dare I say it? Festool.
Also consider a impact driver, a professional impact driver.
Of those top four, we prefer the Hilti.

Per

[Peter Quinn]

Having never bought a cheepo model cordless I can't tell you Makita is better, but I can tell you Makita is worth every penny to me. I have been beating the same 14.4V NiMi drill for 5-6 years now on the same batteries, no problem. No fires to date. Light weight, powerful, good balance, great batteries. I am not interested in the other guys warranty, because often the tool with the best warranty is the biggest POS to begin with. I've heard people say "Oh Makita has the shortest warranty, X and such is five years, the Borg's is Lifetime, etc" and I think " That's good, cause your going to need it."

My father is retiring to FLA next month, asked me to search for a drill driver and impact wrench for him to work on his new home. His shoulders aren't what they used to be so he asked for something "not too heavy to carry". I was in sears today and picked up the 19.2V setup...that thing is a brick. Very heavy and awkward brick IMO. I'm going to get him the Makita LIon compact kit, might get myself one too, as soon as my old set dies, someday in the distant future!

[Bruce Page]

Joe, Per said it more tactfully than I could come up with but I agree with everything he said. You don’t see many professionals using “Harry the homeowner drills” like the Ryobi or B&D because they don’t stand up as well as the better made, more expensive brands.

[Mike Keers]

using my two old Makita 9.6 volt cordless drills every single day, one bought new in 1990 I think and the other 1992. Just had six batteries rebuilt within the past year, still going strong, and they are my main users. Not pretty, but never let me down. I hesitated only briefly at the $140 price of the second one in '92--I don't regret spending the money!

I agree with Per, altho I wouln't have been so bold as to mention it, but that was my thought reading your post--why is he even wasting money on Harvey Homeowner grade stuff?

[Glenn Howard]

After years of trying to "make do" with a casualty list that included a couple of different Craftsman models, a Firestorm, and your basic Black & Decker, I finally stepped up to a Bosch 14.4V and haven't looked back. As cliche as it sounds, you absolutely get what you pay for with cordless drills.

[Mitchell Andrus]

CATCH FIRE???

Like burst into flames, or ? Jeeez... I've got 5 Makita 12V and 7 or 8 batteries in the shop.

[Bob Slater]

My Dewalt 18v has been great. It has seen pretty hard use driving drywall screws, decks, etc. The batteries needed replacement sooner than i would have liked, but Ebay is a good place for these. I used a Panasonic 14Volt drill today with a 4 year old battery. It was ultra smooth, and felt like it would keep going and going.

[Ed Gerken]

I'm a little disappointed - no fireworks from my three firestorms! But DO avoid dropping them. The 9.6v's entire head snapped off, with little gears rolling around the floor. My 12v fared better, but the handle broke from the top at the weak points around the trigger. Both casualities were from high drops off a ladder. Got that one sorta strapped together with epoxy and tape. Best one so far has been the 14.4 two-speed model, bought at a pawn shop and still holding together (crossed fingers).

The 12v was "bought" with Marlboro Miles and it did last several years and many drops and abuses. My woodworkin' wife got me the 9.6 on sale and I didn't pay much for the 14.4. So I ain't complainin'.

The batteries appear to be no-name 1/2-C NiCads. As an experiment, I rebuilt the 12v pack using ten 1800MaH NiMH AAs, bought surplus for a buck apiece. It's lighter, has greater capacity than the stock configuration and charges just fine on the stock charger.

I found that by removing the little indexing tabs, I can swap packs of different voltages amongst my firestorms. The 9.6 won't accept the larger batteries, but its pack will fit either the 12v or 14.4v driver.

Yes, I'm a Horatio Homeowner and my tools may be wimpy, but we still built our home addition with 'em!

-Ed

[Joe Jensen]

My latest cordless drill, a 12 volt Black and Decker decided to catch on fire while I was up a ladder with it Friday installing signs. Before that I had two
Skils, 14.4 volt, and the charger melted. Later they were recalled but the replacements didn't last long before they wouldn't hold a charge. Before that I had a Ryobi, eventually while the battery would hold a charge for a lot of hours use, if it sat a day or two after charging it would be dead when needed.

Since I was in the middle of several jobs I didn't have tome to check in before buying the latest, but thought I'd ask anyway for any opinions on it.

I was not about to get any of the others that have let me down in the last 10 years so I tried Sears Craftsman. This looked like a good deal on sale, 19.2 volt, two batteries, work light that uses the same battery, built in led light on the drill, hard case for $89, regular $129.99. Are the $200+ ones that much better, to be worth the extra money?

In a word, yes. The cost in a cordless tool is mainly batteries. There is a wide range of quality for batteries and the price correlates to the quality. You can get AA size rechargable batteries for $1 each or $40 each. Battteries in cheaper cordless tools are the really cheap kind. Less run time and shorter service life.

You are a pro, buy a pro drill...joe

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I don't use a drill every day like a lot of people, but I bought a 9.6v Makita long battery sometime in the mid eighties and have pretty much worn it out. It came with two batteries and I have only bought two replacement batteries for it. Guess I got lucky for them to have lasted that long even without constant use.

[Don Brubaker]

Joe,

If I may be so bold...

You are a professional, with what I understand, a well regarded
and successful sign business.
Why would you even consider Harry the homeowner drills?
Would you buy a vinyl plotter from wall mart?
I didn't think so,

Reasonable professional drills Makita, Bosch, Panasonic, Hilti.
A real professional drill,,,dare I say it? Festool.
Also consider a impact driver, a professional impact driver.
Of those top four, we prefer the Hilti.

Per
Kudos and Dittos to Per. I'm sorry guys ...... the term "woodworker" to me implies a certain sense of quality, or at least the "striving for that". There are several well known authors, and books, that have said this many times, in one form or another ...... you pay for what you get, you can buy a bunch of cheap ones and pay more in both money and frustration than if you had done the research and bought "smart" in the first place.

I can't imgine buying Craftsman, Skill, Black & Decker, Firestorm, Ryobi, or anything close to being similar. I will wait and save if I have to before I would even consider one of these brands. It is unfortunate that we have people that would even consider these and do not value what is good versus "the cheap".

Okay, I guess enough soapbox, and I'm sure I'll get some crapsman lovers' hate mail!!!! ....... just remember, crapsman, aka sears, also owns "Kame - a - Part" (Kmart)

[Dave Trask]

Stop throwing your money away on the Harry homeowner power tools.
For the money you spent on the el-cheapos ya could have bought higher
quality drills and been future ahead.

If you make money from the drills concider them as an investment.

I highly recommend these Makitas, they both have served me well
and the motors are actually made/optimized to run lithium batteries.

http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=BHP451
http://www.makita.com/assets_product/BHP451/BHP451_400.jpg


http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=BTD140

http://www.makita.com/assets_product/BTD140/BTD140_400.jpg

I bought these back when they first came out, bought one
got one free! I don't know if they offer that deal anymore.

$300+ apiece ! ...you betcha !....worth every penny... Yes indeed!

How much have you spent on the cheap drills total?

[Jim Becker]

Joe, I'm going to follow on along the same theme as a number of others. Consider the cost to your business when you have to replace an oft-used tool at a bad time (with a job half done at the top of a ladder) or frequently. It's not just the cost of the tool, itself, but the cost in time that it brings. Invest accordingly, and that doesn't necessarily mean spend a mint...

[Duncan Potter]

I am Harry the Homeowner but I bought the Makita LI ions set. Hasn't let me down yet. Good power, good battery life, quick charging.

[Joe Pelonio]

Wow, a lot of well informed responses on this topic. Since I bought the Sears
in a hurry to get through a job I'll stick with it for now, but when/if it goes the way of the others I'll definitely be looking at the recommended professional models!

[Kirk Poore]

I think Fine Woodworking did a comparison 2-3 years ago and opened up the subject drills to check the mechanisms. The more expensive drills were just better built--more metal vs plastic, better motors, etc. In this area I think you get what you pay for.

I bought a Milwaukee 18v lithium compact drill about 6 months ago, and it's been an excellent performer for roughly $170.

Kirk

[Jesse Cloud]

I like Makita and Bosch drills a lot.

Its funny because I have almost totally sworn off Crapsman tools (fool me once...) but I too bought a drill/flashlight combo. The drill was a POS and found its way to the dump, but that flashlight is the best flashlight I have ever had, something about the way it will hold an angle and the way it casts the light - I dread the day when the 15 year old charger goes....:eek:

[Radek Kowalski]

I have an 18volt Dewalt that I have had for 2 years now. I like it alot, its shorter then my Bosch and it balances much better in my hand.

On another note, I have had the 14.4 Bosch for at least 5 or more years now. The only problem with it is the battery went after keeping it in the garage during winter.

Whatever you do, keep your batteries in a 50-90 degree area.

[Harley Reasons]

J
I had a Ryobi set and the charger shorted, burned out a gpi outlet in the house and could of set the house on fire. Don't know why the gpi didn't trip sooner, maybe it was defective too. But I have shyed away from Ryobi stuff ever since.
Maybe you should look at it the other way around, stay away from that brand of GFI. Could be the GFI caused the charger to fry.

[Tom Kelley]

Joe, do yourself a favor and try a DeWalt. I've got two and never had a bit of trouble with either one. Yes they are not cheap. But maybe that's why they have lasted so well. (probably just put the whammy on me for saying that)
Tom

[Homer Faucett]

I've picked up the Bosch Li-Ion 10.8 (now rated as 12v) drill and impact driver, and couldn't be happier. My dad and FIL liked them so much that I picked up one for each of them when HD cleared out the impactor for $99. At the time, Bosch had a rebate that gave you a free drill body with the purchase of an impactor. It probably wouldn't be what I would choose to put up drywall all day, but the small body impactor packs a lot of power, and I've driven 3" deck screws through signs, tapcons into cement, and all sorts of things I did not think it would do. The drill/driver is a little underpowered, but it's great for installing pocket screws.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have a Ryobi and like it a lot.

But hate to tell you guys with Craftsman that said you would not buy Ryobi again. You just did.

[Joe Pelonio]

I have to admit that my (corded) DeWalt Hammer Drill has been great, probably 12 years old now and never a problem.

[Robert Strebler]

I bought a Milwaukee 14.4 drill about four years ago. It'll be a sad day when this puppy dies. I love it. It's powerful, reliable, and has never let me down. It cost $180 IIRC, but it's been worth it over time.

My Bosch 10.8v Lithium screwdriver has been fantastic too.

[John Eaton]

As a contractor I first used Makitas then Dewalts when HD stopped offering Makita - my workhorse has been the 18v Drill w/Hammerdrill. I still have that original drill, along with a pistol grip and lately one more robust for hammer drilling. I also went with the impact since I was already set up with chargers and batteries. I've had 3 batteries go dead (but they were each over 10 years old) and had them repacked by MTO so they now work great. I've only ever had one issue with the build quality - the speed switch (1-3) on the newest hammer-drill (DC925) wont stay locked in 3. Everything else has been rock solid. The very first 18v drill I bought (DW997) is just starting to produce some grinding sounds - it probably needs new bearings. Note that I've used it extensively, probably more than most unless you're in the profession and it's been dropped offa ladders multiple times. In all I've been really happy with the tools.

Another unexpected benefit has been the 6 1/2" cordless circular saw - I end up using it a lot for quick cuts where I don't want to bother with plugging in. It's also great for cutting off the ends of long lumber or cutting down panels to fit in the back of my SUV, so I try to carry it on trips to the box stores.

-- John

[Matt Meiser]

I'm not sure it technically caught fire, but I had a 12V Dewalt battery that got very hot and started spewing smoke on me. I think it was caused by the impact driver shorting internally because the other battery seemed to have a charge but would quickly warm up if I put it in the driver. I replaced it with a 14.4V Ni-Mh Makita which has been better all around.