I gave my grandson my old DeWalt 18V NiCad drill/driver a year ago & picked up an 18V LiIon DeWalt.
The old NiCad served me well, but, that ship sailed years ago. LiIon has it beat seven way to Sunday in weight (lower), life & faster recharge.
I'm curious - who's still using NiCad - or NiMH?
If so, is a switch to LiIon on the horizon?
Still have a few old nicad Dewalt batteries. My son gave me some changeover batteries last Christmas, so don't have to give up the tools.
I still use a 20+ year-old Panasonic drill driver.
https://panasonic.encompass.com/imag...&type=m&size=s
The battery has been replaced several times, but I love this drill. Lots of power. Still feels very balanced. Charges in 15 min and holds a charge for a week or more (I am in the shop 3 days a week).
Regards from Perth
Derek
I have a Dewalt 14.4v circ saw and drill combo I still use. In fact, used it just this Sunday with a diamond wheel to cut slate tiles. Have had it since '96 and it still works (replaced battery set one time). Pretty remarkable.
I do like the ergonomics of the newer Li tools I also own (misc Makita LXT tools). The batteries on these have not been kind to me and I have replaced several.
I have a few old drills that lose their charge or go weak in a few weeks. I am replacing them not in one go but when great deals are in sight. Aside from the cost of replacing the old batteries, the new drills are lighter. But you still need one or two corded drills around for the heavy drilling tasks, or when the batteries need to be charged in the middle of a job.
Simon
I don't understand why Panasonic isn't more popular. Bang for the buck they're hard to beat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek Cohen
As a carpenter I switched to Milwaukee m18 in 2012. I am still using two of the original batteries from my first purchase. The third battery died this fall. this is by far the best life I have seen from any battery. Used full time +35 to -20 C. I now have 9 batteries and multiple tools. Before Milwaukee I used DeWalt,Bosch,Craftsman, and Ridgid . I would not even consider a cordless platform with anything other than lithium ion batteries. Mike.
Rich, I'll use the NiCads until they all eventually die. I still have a bunch (all the same for interchangeability) and have been pretty successful so far at keeping them alive and reviving some that died. I do like my LiIon tools, though.
I recently bought a Dewalt kit that adapts a lithium battery to work with the 18v Dewalt tools. After using it for 1/2 a year I plan on buying more. (I have Dewalt cordless drills, impact drivers, circular saw, reciprocal saws, and a few others that all use the same battery) The battery is smaller and lighter than the NiCads so it doesn't significantly change the tool height or balance.
Attachment 398031 Attachment 398032
JKJ
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt
John,
My original intention was to use the DeWalt until it's NiCads gave out, then get the adapter & charger. In the meantime, I had a Black and Decker 18 V set - sander, drill, reciprocating saw and circular saw - that I used to destruction. By the time the B&D was destroyed, a great deal on the 12 V Milwaukee came along (it uses LiIon) that I just couldn't pass up. I looked at the prices of the adapter & charger and decided to just get a new drill for $99 that came with 2 batteries and a charger.
They a couple years later, there was a fabulous sale on a cordless Makita track saw - so - I picked that up. One hing led to another & I found myself wanting a Makita cordless router and a Makita cordless multifunction tool. On Black Friday. HD had a 3 piece Makita set (drill, impact driver and circular saw - plus two free tools - the router and MF tool) for $399 - plus another charger and two more 4 amp batteries.
So bottom line. I've more or less changed over to all Makita cordless for the 18 V stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Wasner
They got more popular a few years back when they did well in lots of head to head comparisons. Then they seemed to give up trying to compete and fell off the map, today they are hard to find (relative to the other usual suspects) and tend to be priced quite high.
To the OP: I still have a full set of Dewalt 18v tools. The batteries (I think I have 7) and the tools are still strong so I just don't replace them. In the shop, I mainly use Bosch 12v and Festool 10.8v (I know they are technically the same) drills and drivers. I just don't much heavy work and the old Dewalts run fine. Honestly, unless I embark on another serious construction build, ie a ground-up shop, I may just replace the batteries when they die.
I switched to Panasonic in 02' maybe. I think I'm on my eighth set. The last time I bought anything was in 2012 and I bought three sets. The batteries are giving their first signs of dying out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Van Huskey
I tried some Makita in there, they didn't last long and I chewed through a bunch of batteries.
It's more, but I think it's a better value.
I think you may find they don't compete like they used to if and when you need to buy more. 2012 was around the time they held the biggest advantage over the other manufacturers since then they have done little or anything to keep up. It is a shame really, they always had an advantage on the battery side since they could cherry pick cells from their production.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Wasner
I switched to LiIon because of the weight. I did a job with my older 18V DeWalt tools where I had to drill a bunch of pilot holes and then put screws in. The tools just got heavy. I went out and bought a set of DeWalt 12V tools - much lighter. Then switched my bigger tools to the DeWalt 20V tools. Sold my 18V tools cheap.
Of course, I'm fairly old and that may account for my finding the 18V tools heavy. A younger person may not have the same experience.
Mike
18V DeWalt for me as long as they keep working. I have about a dozen ni-cads and four of these li-ion.
https://sawmillcreek.org/image/jpeg;...AIKoCAgICD/9k=
The real issue for me is the eco-system of tools with this type of battery that I have. I remember going into OSH and being able to pickup a new drill with two batteries for less than the cost of two batteries. Three drills made building up a ipe wood gate so much faster, through drill, oversize for screw and countersink, screw, all with no bit changes.
I'd love to move to the new DeWalt or Milwaukee but I'd rather buy wood instead of eight new tools.
We still have several Makita NiMH drills and impact drivers in the shop that are ancient as cordless tools go and they are still going strong. My only beef with the LiOn batteries (we inherited a bunch of Makita LXT's when we bought a guys entire tool inventory who got injured) is that when the pack craps out you cant have them re-built because no one can reset the internals. Im sure this is a liability issue for the manufacturer but that was a major bonus for us with NiMH and earlier. We had an old PC 19.2v setup that we sent batteries out repeatedly to be rebuilt at half the cost of new and for more Ah ratings than factory. The Makita's just have to be recycled.
I have 3 of the Makita NimH batteries that could go out for rebuild now but havent sent them.
I agree, the weight and power to size ratio of the lion's is very nice but I dont care for the battery life and cost at this point.