Cordless Drill

hatchet

haha.. Panasonic does not make Milwaukee tools that I know of. Milwaukee has been manufacturing tools for 80 years. They may use the battery technology that Panasonic has - but the design and internal parts are much much different.

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Rich
WIT Construction Co.
Superior MT Contractor

jbfan

I swear by my Dewalt 18volt. Had it about 7 years now. Has wired many houses and basements, built 2 large soteage buildings. I have been through several batteries and 2 chargers. I think what did the charger in was using it on an inverter. May have also killed a couple of my last batteries. Mine has the saw with it. I don't even know where my corded saw is these days. When it is time to replace, it will be with another dewalt 18 volt!

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dougger222

I like the 18volt Dewalt stuff, have the sawzall, round saw, and two drills. Everything works good but the round saw is underpowered a little. Owned them for four years and replaced batteries once. Ebay is the place for new Dewalt batteries.

Glasshousebltr

One of my customers has a little 12 volt skill. I always thought they where below industrial standards but I used it the other day and I was amazed. That little light, cheap, peace of crap had some exelent torc.

Bob

Unregistered

Not sure if anyone will see this since the thread seems old, but I have a question about cordless drills. I do "odd jobs" for people and had been using a 12 volt Black and Decker. It's dying and I really want to try something else. I bought a 14.4 volt Black and Decker but returned it because it seemed like I was having a lot of problems with the bit slipping. When I went to go pick out a new one I saw a 9.6 volt Dewalt and a 12 volt Bosch that both interested me. It seemed like the specifications for both were nearly identical (torque and RPM's) and was wondering if I should look more seriously at one versus the other. I really like the Dewalt name. I'm not building a house with the thing but do probably just a bit more than the average homeowner. I really liked the lightness and compactness of the 9.6V Dewalt as I am a woman and it was extremely comfortable in my hand. Just want some advice! Also, how important of a feature is a ratcheting chuck? Does it really keep the bit from slipping?

Spectatorz

My advice to you on this matter is that you should check out "Craftsman"
18volt cordless. Believe it or not, I am surprised and pleased with this model !
I have one that is being used and it does serve me well for the price. My other one is a "Porter Cable", thats my primary choice but it might be a little heavy for you.
There is nothing wrong with useing either of these and just getting stronger !
If you will, check back and let us know what you end up choosing.

Mike Finley

I see this thread is pretty old, but I thought I would comment anyways since the info would be relevant to anyone.

My advice would be you really need 2 drills. I suspect the reason you are burning out your drills so quickly is because of mixing mud with them. "drills" as we generically call them are typically high reving (1200-1600 rmps), for mixing mud you need low revs and high torque, the opposite of what the drills you have owned are designed for. If it was me I would buy a simple cordless screw driver for doing your dailiy tasks of taking off window treatments and hardware, even if you are going to be drilling new holes into drywall but not wood, a cordless screw driver would do everything you want to do, plus you get them cheap and they are small and light.

For your mud mixing and paste mixing I would recommend getting a second drill, which would be 1/2 inch spade handled drill that is corded not cordless.

Something like http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/to...p?productID=19

These drills are low reving, something like 400 rpms and have high torque and are designed to do exactly what you want. It will last you a life time since you are using it for what it is designed to do.

Your uses of your current drills are on opposite ends of the spectrum. For your window treatments and such your drill is over kill, and for mixing mud and paste, your drill is being overworked and you are burning it out.

That's my 2 cents on the subject.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In regard to Dewalt products... I have a crap load of them, but I am slowly replacing them as I need to. I personally don't think Dewalt really is a category leader in any tools that I can think of with the exception to cordless. They really do have the cordless tools figured out and bullet proofed.

But for any other category such as routers or recip saw, circular saws or jig saws, they don't offer any products that are unique in design, features or quality. For example I think Milwaukee makes the best recip saws and hammer drills on the market, Porter Cable makes some damn fine nailers. Dewalts routers leave a lot to be desired for the professional wood worker and so on with just about every tool they make.

That being said I own a ton of Dewalt tools, but that is mostly by default, being that I can get them cheap and they are professional grade. However now I find myself going around for a second round of tools being much more picky, and choosing a tool for very specific features, and most of the time Dewalt ends up sitting it out because they don't offer a tool that can compete. - For example when I went to get a SDS hammer drill, I wanted a clutch in the tool for safety, Dewalt doesn't offer one. I ended up with Milwaukee. When I looked at a frame nailer, I wanted it to be easy to adjust depth of nail setting. Porter cable offers a dial, Dewalt offers you an allen wrench to lose. Dewalt lost again.

I'm not down on Dewalt, I just think that when you start getting particular about the tools you want to use every day, the Dewalt line starts to show it's weaknesses. However, as I said they are pretty much the only choice right now in cordless 18-24 volt systems.

ABA Const

well i have both the rigid and dewalt cordless the dewalt is good i have had it for years but i have been letting me laborers use the dewalt so i went out and got a new rigid about a 9 months ago and i am impressed comes with a couple batteries a dual rapid charger. it has plenty of torque and speed, a little heavier than the dewalt but for a little less i think it is comparable to anything else out there.

BTW ryobi and black and decker are hunks of crap in my opionion.

Changes HI

Well i'm a newbie on this site and I must say this is a great place....

But on to the thread at hand...
I have a 12V Ridgid and a bunch of 18V ridgid stuff and they work GREAT...
I only have the 12V for light stuff and I use teh 18V's extensively! and they are GREAT plus the Lifetime warranty is unbeatable.

well that's my .02 ....... :Thumbs:

Tom R

For those of you 'swearing' by the DeWalt cordless drills, I always swore by them too. But I'm telling you, the newer ones are absolute garbage. They simply will NOT hold a charge for any length of time. This is not just MY opinion, ask anyone who has 'wasted' their money on one (or in my case two) in the last year or so. I'll be more than glad to sell mine to anybody real cheap (my new ones, not my old ones) (I'll even throw in a 'sympathy card')!

Dave H.

From all the reading of reviews I've done, it does seemt that DeWalt has a problem above and beyond their mediocre battery lives.

I have a 2-month old Makita 18V that I am relatively happy with. I have used it primarily to drive in Tapcon concrete bolts (many, many of them), but I've used it as a drill quite often, too.

It has two speed settings, which is great for drilling vs. driving, a clutch system, and clutched vs. unclutched modes. I find myself changing these settings quite a lot, so it seems worth the money for the versatility.

I suggest the original poster look at the Makita, Porter-Cable and Panasonic drills.

Mike Finley

Tom R - do you have the XR batteries (All Black) or the XRP batteries (Black with yellow band on top)? Do you have only the standard charger or are you using the charger with the automatic tune-up mode built in? Dewalt recommends leaving a battery in the tune up charger until you are ready to use it, since a Nicad battery loses 35 % of its charge within 48 hrs of charging and just sitting, then 1% a day thereafter. Are you hot charging your batteries? Dewalt recommends charging their batteries right out of a tool if they are hot, but instead to let them cool before charging. It's pretty common practice to run a battery down and walk over to the charger and swap it right out with the fresh one instead of letting it cool first.

Teetorbilt

I have been more than pleased with a recently purchased Panasonic 15.6V. I'm a big Makita fan and have about a dozen of them but they won't snap a 1/4" Tapcon the way the Panasonic does (it took a little getting used to the torque). I was getting about 6 hrs. of 50% use to a battery while boarding up homes, about twice what the Makita was doing but it was older and 12V.
I will withold any longevity critique for a year or so.
I also really dislike the battery lump at the end of the handle but they're all that way now. It makes them tough to stick in your pocket, they keep wanting to roll out. The backloaded weight also trips the trigger sometimes.

papakap

Panasonic is like a ferrari. I own two but I really wouldn't recomend them. They are hands down the best drill but the batteries wear out twice as fast as the other major brands. (6 months under average use) Until Panasonic releases a two pack of batteries for around $120 you will basically be buying another drill every 6 months. They charge faster too, I think that is why they wear out.

JustaFramer

The problem with rechargeable battery packs it they have a "memory" to get a good charge they need to be totally deenergized. Some Dewalt charger units have this feature. They say you should deenergize the pack every ten charges. Saves the life of the battery and you get a stronger charge.

Mike Finley

If you go to the Dewalt website they have a section on rechargeable batteries, myths and how to get the most from them, deenegizing is listed as a myth and actually harmful to the long term life of their batteries. I wouldn't buy any charger other than their ones that condition the batteries, they are idiot proof, no matter the condition of the battery, down to nothing, or used for 30 seconds you can just stick it on the charger and forget about it.

Dewalt lists the biggest culprit of damaging your batteries is heat. The recommend never sticking a battery in the charger directly from the tool, let it cool for 15 minutes first.

JustaFramer

I was talking about the dewalt charging unit. I have used the units with and without the "conditioner" but it recommends every ten charges on the units that have the button. So if dewalt say's it not good they need to recall those units.

ProWallGuy

Since I started this thread oh so long ago, I might as well wrap it up. I bought a Dewalt 18v xrp and its doing its job so far so good. Can't complain, but we'll see.

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Digital Murals Installation

Mike Finley

I see what you are saying, I'm referring to people who run the battery down to zero by sticking it in a tool and taping the trigger and doing stuff like that. Using a charger with a conditioning button made by the company doesn't sound like the same thing.

JustaFramer

That's the one with the metal chuck right?
I think those ones have some serious torque for battery op.

Yeah that don't work to condition a rechargable. That will just give you a false charge over time.