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Thread: Modern cordless tools

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Woodstock, VA
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    Modern cordless tools

    Good Saturday everyone,

    I just wanted to see what others experience has been with the current crop of cordless tools, specifically the lithium-ion stuff with electronics.

    I pose the question because of my own trials this year with warranty work on a Milwaukee drill/driver combo that I bought in early spring of '18. I was in need of a new set and having used both the drill and driver on jobsites with other carpenters I knew when the time came to replace my older Makitas it would be the Milwaukee 18 volt.

    However, both my driver and now the drill have had the trigger and associate electronics replaced. And one of my two friends with the same set has had issues with his as well.

    I'm lucky to have a hardware store not far away that has an excellent repair shop that's authorized to do Milwaukee warranty work. And Milwaukee tools have a 5-year warranty....that's huge! But it doesn't change the fact that when I go out on a job I now feel like I'll have to have a back-up drill/driver set.

    Sorry for the long winded post, and make no mistake: I don't know if these tools would be as awesome as they are without the troublesome electronics, but man, when up on a ladder and counting on driving a fastener so everyone can let go of something heavy.......no the time for the trigger to stop working!

    Has anyone else had issues with any recent cordless electronics?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2013
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    Northern Virginia
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    All my cordless tools are milwaukee, and I can't say i've had any issues with a single one of them.

    I will say i like the last generation with the friction clutches over the new electronic clutch, they just dont work well at very low tq settings

  3. #3
    Most all of my cordless tools are Dewalt and they have all worked flawlessly. I have one Bosch cordless. I don't use it much but I've had no problems with it.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  4. #4
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    Except that you and Jared are both in VA I would suspect a regional problem that had to do with weather, storage or other environmentals. Since your experiences are so different we need to look for the common denominator between you and your friends. Did you all buy around the same time from the same source? In our current world of cost cutting over reputation, parts are sourced from a wide variety of makers; think about the air bag failures across car makers.

    I agree with your sentiment that the warranty is great but, now I need a spare. I have a few similar small Ridged drivers that are nice for getting into small places. I bought the first pair over a decade ago figuring the Lifetime Service Agreement would take care of one and I could use the other during the repair period. Over all these years I am surprised that I have only used the LSA for free batteries but, I digress.

    If you go in a second or third time for the same repair I would just ask for a full refund and move to another tool. If they never fail again we can assume the first switches were a bad batch and you are good to go.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
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    Kamiah, ID
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    I had problems with Milwaukee batteries many yrs ago, as did several other tradesmen I knew. I switched to Makita and my battery problems stopped so it wasn't something I was doing. I don't think I've bought a cordless tool recently that wasn't reconditioned. Someone told me once those are the ones to buy since they've already had their problem. It sounded reasonable and that became my SOP including the tools that replaced the battery problem plagued Milwaukee. Knock wood.

    Within the last couple yrs I picked up a drill/driver and an impact driver, both Makita, both brushless, both reconditioned. Both get used daily and I haven't had any problems.

    In Milwaukee's defense, I preferred the ergonomics of the drill/drivers, circular saw and sawsall over Makita, but replacing batteries every 6 months was no bueno. And like your failing switch, the batteries would fail at the worst possible time.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
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    4,680
    I have a small construction company and we have pretty much completely switched to cordless. As a new guy brings his own tools in, or we work alongside another trade at a jobsite, the inevitable tool comparison happens. This is completely subjective, but one of us who makes our living with these tools, just wants one that works.

    I notice that the newbies usually have whatever was on sale, Ryobi, Porter, or a few Milwaukee. Those tools quickly get replaced by Dewalt 20V (which can use the FlexVolt).

    I rarely see Makita cordless in the trades, but there are a lot of Makita chop saws. Just not many stores carry Makita here, but I think they are good tools.

    Homeowners tend to have the prettiest tools, this is where you find Milwaukee. Homeowners tools have pretty storage bags, lots of lights, make chirpy noises with different settings, and lots of other pretty little bells and whistles.

    My take is that it's not even a close competition, Dewalt is the best out there because are the most reliable, and are the easiest to replace if needed because they are easy to find, and they just work without drama, and most importantly they match batteries across the jobsite. I used to have a bunch of Milwaukee, some Makita cordless, but now I'm down to one Milwaukee PEX expander that I will replace with the Dewalt version when I can because I hate the batteries. Dewalt cordless may be boring, but it just works and the Flexvolt batteries are awesome.
    Last edited by Steve Rozmiarek; 02-16-2019 at 10:53 AM.

  7. #7
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    May 2008
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    MA
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    I have Makita and like the tools. Have had multiple battery issues. My chargers and batteries are from a few years back though, so maybe they have now resolved it all.

    It is worth considering which way you want to go because once you are on a particular platform it is nice to add tools that use the same batteries and chargers.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    I have a small construction company and we have pretty much completely switched to cordless. As a new guy brings his own tools in, or we work alongside another trade at a jobsite, the inevitable tool comparison happens. This is completely subjective, but one of us who makes our living with these tools, just wants one that works.

    I notice that the newbies usually have whatever was on sale, Ryobi, Porter, or a few Milwaukee. Those tools quickly get replaced by Dewalt 20V (which can use the FlexVolt).

    I rarely see Makita cordless in the trades, but there are a lot of Makita chop saws. Just not many stores carry Makita here, but I think they are good tools.

    Homeowners tend to have the prettiest tools, this is where you find Milwaukee. Homeowners tools have pretty storage bags, lots of lights, make chirpy noises with different settings, and lots of other pretty little bells and whistles.

    My take is that it's not even a close competition, Dewalt is the best out there because are the most reliable, and are the easiest to replace if needed because they are easy to find, and they just work without drama, and most importantly they match batteries across the jobsite. I used to have a bunch of Milwaukee, some Makita cordless, but now I'm down to one Milwaukee PEX expander that I will replace with the Dewalt version when I can because I hate the batteries. Dewalt cordless may be boring, but it just works and the Flexvolt batteries are awesome.
    I think it was sometime in the 90s Dewalt cordless started appearing on the jobsites. Milwaukee 120v pretty much dominated from the 70s til then. But by the time I retired, everyone was using Dewalt cordless. Like you said, they just work. I have a 15+ year old Dewalt 18v hammer drill that is still going strong.
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain

  9. #9
    I was a Makita cordless user from the beginning with 6010D Rechargeable Drill
    My last Makitas were 18v nimh set which are still running on their third set of batteries, mostly used in the shop
    I have gone 18 volt milwaukee now and I am addicted skill saw, demo hammer/drill, chain saw, drivers, and drills
    I also have the 12 volt drivers too small and handy on cabinet installations
    My small blower is the only thing that failed just last week...
    looking at getting a weedeater in the spring
    Carpe Lignum

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    MT
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    698
    Sounds like you got your tools from a bad batch, or something has changed with the manufacture in the last several years.

    I have the Milwaukee 18V Fuel brushless impact driver and drill set. Bought them in 2014. I have used them extensively. Although I am not a carpenter by trade, I used them for a major remodel, and am now using them for my shop construction. I haven't had any issues with them. I was confident enough in the Milwaukee batteries that I also purchased the 6-1/2" saw which I use every day. I have 4 batteries, and they all work well.

    I had an 18V Dewalt setup before these and gave them to my son who just completed carpentry school. Nothing wrong with them, just a little older.
    Regards,

    Kris

  11. #11
    Dewalt is my goto tool... I got around 50 different ones. I was buying just the
    cells off E-bay to rebuild my batteries but now you can buy the whole battery
    just as cheap off E-bay. I think they all have problems but the
    Dewalt has a
    good feel to them.

  12. #12
    I used to use a DeWalt but it was a Ni Cd. I went to Ryobi because they were cheaper and then they came out with Lithium Ion batteries that fit the old Ni Cd tools. The drills always were useful but now the saws are too. I just used my cordless Ryobi compressor today to drive a little upholstrey stapler. I am a hobbiest but I've been using these tools for 20 years or so. I've broken one drill, putting a 2 1/8 hole in a solid core door. It was the second or third I did that day. For me they have been durable and it you break one it is not a tragedy.

    More recently I bought a Bosch flexi click 12V set. I like it better and it is more versatile but I haven't used it a lot yet. Mostly I like it is much smaller and lighter. But it still has power. I drilled some 13/16 holes through multiple studs running wiring with it.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Woodstock, VA
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    i'm glad so many have chimed in! So to sort-of summarize we have Milwaukees that have switch/electronic issues, Makitas with battery issues, and no issues with Dewalts yet.

    It's interesting that Steve reported not seeing any Milwaukee tools on jobsites, around here they're pretty popular with most of the carpenters/contractors that I know. I certainly don't want to get this discussion into a which-tool-is-better contest and will say that i have in my arsenal tools from all three of the aforementioned brands. I wish I could love one brand exclusively just for the battery-compatibility issue.

    It'll be good to hear that nobody else is reporting switch failure with the Milwaukee 18v tools!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dwight View Post
    I used to use a DeWalt but it was a Ni Cd. I went to Ryobi because they were cheaper and then they came out with Lithium Ion batteries that fit the old Ni Cd tools. The drills always were useful but now the saws are too. I just used my cordless Ryobi compressor today to drive a little upholstrey stapler. I am a hobbiest but I've been using these tools for 20 years or so. I've broken one drill, putting a 2 1/8 hole in a solid core door. It was the second or third I did that day. For me they have been durable and it you break one it is not a tragedy.

    More recently I bought a Bosch flexi click 12V set. I like it better and it is more versatile but I haven't used it a lot yet. Mostly I like it is much smaller and lighter. But it still has power. I drilled some 13/16 holes through multiple studs running wiring with it.
    Jim, I also have a lot of the old Dewalt NiCad tools and actually bought the adapter to run the lithium ion batteries.....unfortunately that adapter doesn't work with my cordless 16 guage nailer. After returning the adapter I bought a couple no-name batteries and it's as good as new.

  15. #15
    have milwaukee and Makita. One Makita Battery went dead, likely it saw some cold, called the sales guy got no response. Last makita was a small battery power planer working where i had to hold it out in front of me the big corded one was a bother. Still ill likely go more to Milwuakee, thought I read somewhere the Makita batteries cant take cold. Agree with Jeff on Battery compatibility would make it much easier.

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