Cordless Drills, What a waste!!

[65-2x2]

I used corded drills for the first 100 years of my construction career and battery drills for the last 100. I love 'em. When they die, you throw them out and go get the latest and greatest. Battery impact drivers are my latest love, along with the little Ridgid mini-circular saw that cuts steel like butter.

Everything on this earth is disposable and eventually gets disposed of. (self excluded) Get over it.

 

[30-30remchester]

Kind of a bummer that you have a power tool that is 2 years old and still like new. When I was in the construction business my drills were usually pretty much used up before the battery went bad. Then I retired from that profession and they sure lasted longed. Now it is the batteries that go bad first, but the drills look far from new when I have to pitch them in the trash.

 

[gman51]

I had bought an inexpensive cordless drill and seldom used it so of course the battery was always dead when I wanted to use it. I have no need for something that I have to wait 4 hours while it recharges to use it. There was a recall on it for fire safety hazard. I took it in for recall and just got my money back on it after 2 years.
I'll stick with the cord thank you.

 

[Goldstar225]

I will never be without a cordless drill. I have a 19.2 volt Craftsman LI that I've had for 2-3 years and have been amazed at what it will do. As light as it is I really expected to tear it up long ago. It gives me plenty of run time and charges rapidly. I have some heavier duty corded drills but rarely have to pull them out.

 

[rwsmith]

It's a balance.....

I luv my Dewalt and when the batteries crapped out, I considered buying a new one and thought it feasible to get a new battery. Next time, probably not. But I'm really happy with the Dewalt.

NiCads were 'great' when they first came out, but it didn't take long to find the faults in them that made them hardly worth it. I used to keep them in my camera flash and I could pretty much count on them discharging at the drop of a hat. Charge them up and they will be almost completely dead, or only last a few shots.

 

[model70hunter]

How many years are you all getting from the li-ion batteries?.When I was still building Ni-cads had a useful life of 2-3 yrs at the most.

Good question.

I just bought 3 Lithium batteries for my 18 V Ryobi package. Check back with me in 4-5 years.

The old Nicad ones lasted about 5 years but were not used as much as my old 12 V De Walts which also lasted about 4-5 years.

Due to oxidation 5 years seems to be the life of batteries. If you get 5 years out of a car battery you've done very well.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I have used the big Blue DeWalt commercial twin batter pak to
the cheap yellow 20V DeWalt for home use and field w/o power.

For heavy work, I use a power cord......... torque is every thing.
Very seldom am I at a place w/o a power source. If needed I
have a old Stanly manual screw driver but I have to be real
careful to keep my hands off the worm gearing !!!

 

[7tenz]

I got my brushless Hitachi hammer drill and impact driver combo on clearance for less than the cost of two batteries identical to the two that came with the kit. I thought I was just lucky until I read this thread.

 

[windypoint]

My only complaint with the Lith-ion Dewalts is that the chuck is VERY easy to knock out of round. As hard as I try, I still seem to be able to drop them every once in a while and the newer L-I battery seems to make the drill hit chuck first and knocks it out round.

 

[jtcarm]

Maybe, but cordless impact drivers? They rock!

I too have a 15-yo 18v DeWalt that takes NiCads. I scored a couple extra batteries on Craigslist, so it's still going even after the originals are long dead.

Wife bought me a DeWalt LIon drill/impact driver a couple years ago. I would've preferred Makita, but oh well.

I guess the alternative is to drag an extension cord around.

 

[NYlakesider]

Maybe, but cordless impact drivers? They rock!

I too have a 15-yo 18v DeWalt that takes NiCads. I scored a couple extra batteries on Craigslist, so it's still going even after the originals are long dead.

Wife bought me a DeWalt LIon drill/impact driver a couple years ago. I would've preferred Makita, but oh well.

I guess the alternative is to drag an extension cord around.

I live on a lake and my beach and dock is about 400' from my house so I would need a looooooooooong lead

A cordless drill and saw sure beats taking corded tools down there to work on dock or boat. I have a portable generator I have used in the past to charge boat battery's and when I had some major power tool work to do down there, but without a doubt cordless rocks!

 

[jtcarm]

I live on a lake and my beach and dock is about 400' from my house so I would need a looooooooooong lead

A cordless drill and saw sure beats taking corded tools down there to work on dock or boat. I have a portable generator I have used in the past to charge boat battery's and when I had some major power tool work to do down there, but without a doubt cordless rocks!

Yeah they're just like the smart phone I'm posting from now: you get hooked on the convenience.