[OP]
Member
Time to replace my old 18V cordless 1/2" PC drill/driver. Looking at DeWalt offerings at one big box store, one model includes two 1.6 Amp-hour batteries and charger for $99, another includes just one 5 amp-hr battery and charger for $199 (brushless motor). No label on my PC battery so I don't know its Ah rating. Seems like quite a difference between the two batteries. Would they have comparable power to drill a 1/2" twist drill hole in wood, just different run times?
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I recently got a 20V dewalt which included 2 batteries and a charger for 99 bucks. It barely functioned, returned it, replacement barely works....I mean, I can chuck a bit, and start to drill a 1/8" hole in 5/8" pine but it craps out before making it all the way through. No more yellow trash with small batteries for me.
Member
Ive had the Dewalt 20 volt drill/driver set for about a year and a half and it's been a great set. The batteries are 2 ah and seem to last a long time. Enough power to twist it out of your hand when it gets caught. I also have the 12 volt drill/driver set and I use them a lot, mainly cause they are nice and light Good Luck.
Contributor
Same power, different run times. I have 2 A/hr batteries on my Bosch 18v drill/driver set and they work fine. A 5A/hr battery would be nice for work out of the shop, but with a charger at hand I would just as soon have two smaller ones with the spare always charged.
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For an 18v drill I wouldn’t consider anything less than 2Ah. Especially if it’s a regular sized drill. 2Ah seems to be the sweet spot for “sub compact” sized drills but there are balance / ergonomic issues on the reg. larger size drills paired with smaller batteries.
Contributor
It really depends on what your wanting to do. I have mostly Milwaukee M12/M18. I have a full range of Batteries My oldest M18 1.5 Amp Hr. are toast now I think I got that set in 2008. Now I have several newer 3 Amp Hr. that are small and much lighter. My friends with the Dewalt like the 3 Amp Hr and up as well. The deal with the larger batteries is the tool can pull more power from them. I have recently started getting Ridgid tools from Direct Tool Outlet. If you watch for sales you can get Factory Blemished that qualify for their Lifetime Service Agreement. They also have Factory Reconditioned at a lower price, but do not qualify for the LSA. They also carry Ryobi as well. Dan
Contributor
You can drill a 1/2" hole with the tiniest battery Dewalt sells. But how many you want to drill is the decision.
Contributor
You ask about the batteries and I agree with the replies. It depends. I can say I prefer a smaller battery, for a lighter more compact drill, in most cases. (But I'm not shooting 1000s of drywall screws each day.)Originally Posted by Don Stephan
Since you're shopping I wanted to highlight "brushless". I find that to be a huge improvement. (Though I don't use DeWalt.) Not only do they claim more power with more efficiency, which seems true though I haven't tried to measured it, I find they seem to have taken more care with the other bits and pieces too. E.g. while officially the same chuck, mine has less slop and is nicer to work with too.
Contributor
3 ah is plenty for a drill and driver, but once you get to other tools, such as a reciprocating saw (Sawzall) the 3's are not enough to do much work, and probably hard on the batteries. If you need more than 3, go to 6 ah.
Member
We use Dewalt and Milwaukee tools on the field, they run whatever batteries we use in the other tools. Because the saws need 6ah or more, the drivers use those. You don't have to change batteries for a few days that way either. IMHO 2ah batteries of any make are useless.
Contributor
M12/M18 user here. For light weight the M12 with 6ah battery is great. For heavy tasks the M18 with 5 to 8ah battery has enough torque to almost break your hand and bust your knee. Ask me how I know. LOL
Contributor
Makita here.
Drill/driver - 5.0AH for the full sized hammer drill/drill/driver and impact
Same for the multifunction tool and the track saw - and the small 5 3/8" saw.
The small cordless router is so, so, so, nimble and sweet to use with the 1.6AH and the 2.0AH.
Ditto that for the sub compact 18V.
Honestly - It's really hard for me to see any advantage a 12V drill/driver has over the Makita subcompact.
I had a nice Milwaukee 12V - it does have a nice tiny profile with the slide in batteries - but - it's old and I can't see any real use for 12V anymore.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
Contributor
Rich, if I had still had a Makita system, I would have the subcompact units alongside the full size just for the lighter duty around the shop usage. Unfortunately, I don't think Milwaukee offers a comparable sub-compact 18v setup like Makita and I'm too heavily invested in Milwaukee at the moment. I use 12v at home, and 18v at our farm for the most part. But I do have a few of each voltage and both locations. One of my favorites is the 18v fan.
Last edited by Greg Parrish; 05-13-2022 at 10:08 AM.
Contributor
I have the Dewalt XR drill driver and impact driver combo along with probably a half dozen other Dewalt cordless tools. My set came with the 1.3ah batteries but I also have 3ah and 5ah batteries as well. For most tasks the 1.3ah batteries work fine, especially if you have your charger nearby and have multiple charged batteries. The larger, and heavier higher capacity batteries are handy at times depending on the tool, and I am glad I have them, but for most tasks I do, multiple smaller batteries are fine. If I were doing construction all day long I might have a different opinion.
Member
I will just agree with the other comments. I usually put a little, 2 amp hour or smaller, battery in my drills because it makes them lighter, it is enough battery for a drill most of the time but is not very useful in a saw, and I have several. My 18V drills are Ryobi but I also have 18V Milwaukee tools, a 12 V Milwaukee drill, and a 12V Bosch drill. On the rare occasion I want to use a self feeding bit to drill through multiple 2x4s (running wires), or drill 1/2 inch holes repeatedly in thick steel, or put in a door lock, I want at least a 3 or 4 amp hour battery so I don't have to change it so often. Sometimes the small battery will not even do one tough hole like this. But for the vast majority of what I do, the little battery is just fine.
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