Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT

Re: I like my DeWalts

Glenn Madsen near San Francisco

>I know they're not 'kosher', but they work really well. I have two - a 12v 3/8", 'regular' and a 12v 1/2", tears the shoulder tendons if you're not careful. I also bought a Bosch 12v impact driver, which is something to make neander stray from the beaten path, I'll tell you, when there is heavy duty stuff to drive.

Folks have said good things about the current Makitas, including their impact driver/drill paired package. If that's still in the market, I'd look closely there.

I know little to nothing about battery rebuilders, but I bet someone on the main board could advise you in that arena.

Did you get snow up there in the mountains this week? It's on Mt. Diablo pretty thick...

Re: Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT

Bruce, a MN Galoot

>First, I'd get the batteries rebuilt: http://www.primecell.com/index.html

There is no next.

Bruce, a very satisfied customer

The right answer, of course, is *LINK*

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>North Bros. or Millers Falls brace, Stanley 610 eggbeater, and any North Bros. pushdrill.

But those cordless little-electron-munchers are right handy, I confess. I can't help much, since my cordless drills are probably older than yours, but perhaps you could get replacement batteries at the link below.


Maybe they can rebuild the batteries

Really?

Neal in San Jose

>I was in a local tool store a few months ago, and noticed that they had replacement batteries for my 12V, my 9.6V and my 7.2V Makitas. The two smaller ones are much older than my 12V. I didn't need any, so I didn't get any, but they had 'em all. I also just flipped over to ebay, did a search on Makita 12, and got a selection of both styles of 12V batteries, so I think you are still in luck. I haven't tried the rebuilder mentioned above, but that may be an even better route.

Re: Li-on Panasonic

Barryvabeach

>While this is the wrong side of the board - up until a year ago, the best bet was Panasonic 12 or 15.6. Now that Li-on battery drills are available, i would go with those. They are much better than Nimh or Nicad power to weight, and since people on this side don't use them as often, the biggest reason to go Li-on is that the rate of discharge while not being used is far better than the other technologies so they won't go dead as fast sitting on a shelf.

None in my backyard...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>But we did get a dusting on the summet on hwy 17 and in Boulder creek.

Thanks for your input Glenn!

Thanks for input Bruce!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>

As stated Bill, I got 'em all. It's just hard...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>TO hold a brace or eggbeater above you head or drive 3" deck screws all day long with one IMHO. I'm getting too old for that...

Thanks for the input!

I looked on the Makita site,

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>Mines one that looks alot the the 9v version, but they just added a batterey in series so to speak. Kinda a "L" shaped battery that slides into the handle of the driver. It's not like the ones that plug into the bottom of the driver like the new ones. I'll check the 'bay!

Wrong side?

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>Hey, It is a hand tool, after all. It dosen't have a cord, and the other side is a bit to loud for me. After all we're not all totally in the dark so to speak (even I can abmit that). Thanks for the input Barry!

Re: Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Scott

If the cordless itself is in good condition, it will pay you to get the battery(s) repacked. There must be a company near you that offers this service.

If you are after a replacement altogether, my vote goes to Panasonic. I have two, the older one a 12v that is 10+ years old and only now needing new batteries.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: I like my DeWalts

Tony - Memphis

>My old Ryobi quit charging recently. I bought a DeWalt 12v. I really like it. Charges quick and plenty of power. Let me qualify...I use mine in the shop on furniture projects and home maint. I don't use it all day to build decks or anything. The DeWalt seemed like a really good value when I bought it. They sell them at Lowes if you want to fondle one, but I got mine at Amazon. I work with Li batteries daily (we have around 40,000 of them out in the field!) and I wouldn't have them in my cordless tools.

Tony

Hey Tony

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Could you elobrate on why you wouldn't go with Li batteries?

Re: NiMH -- longer life or just longer run time?

Dave Mount, talk about a blizzard!

>This rebuilding looks like a great option, including the option to upgrade to NiMH. However, the discussion about the advantages of NiMH focuses on improved run time before recharging. What I'm more interested in is total life of the battery. In general, what irritates me is not how long the drill runs before I have to swap batteries, it is how soon I have to replace the battery. Is there a difference in the total expected life of NiCd v NiMH?

Nothing compared to folks dealing with tornados, but we're closing in on 48" of snow in the last 6 days. Last night we had snow falling at a couple inches per hour accompanied by 40 mph sustained winds with gusts to over 60 mph. We've got drifts in spots over 8 feet tall. Today, the winds are down to a "calmer" 30 mph and they say we've only got another 6" or so of snow before it's over. Even for a born and raised northern Minnesota guy, that's a storm.

Thanks.

Dave

Well, the expensive answer...

James Watriss

>Festool C12.

Yes, it costs a buttload more than other drills. I've had a Makita, DeWalt, and others. A drill is a drill is a drill... there are a lot of good ones out there.

The difference, for me, is in the details.

-It runs off of a small, 220V brushless AC motor. Wear isn't an issue, for sure. But I've also noticed that this is the torquiest 12 I've ever handled. I've broken screws, I've broken bits... it has gobs of torque for something so small. The motor uses inverters in the handle, and the electronic controls allowed Festool to add some other features. When you're using the torque clutch, the drill shuts itself off when the clutch starts to slip, so you don't tear up the clutch. And as the batteries drain, if the drill gets overloaded, it cuts off instead of burning up the motor.

-The drill is already very short. The chucks are interchangable, but you can run a regular hex-shanked bit in the end of the spindle anyway. And if it's still too long, you can mount either the quick change chuck or the 3 jaw to the 90 degree attachment. Great for drilling forgotten mounting holes in small carcasses.

-The 90 degree attachment and the eccentric chuck make a world of difference. The 90 degree makes the drill that much more versatile, and the eccentric chuck takes the driveline to the outer edge of hte drill, so you can put screws in ta a real 90 degrees, right up next to a surface, without spinning a 3 jaw chuck against a surface.

-The 3 jaw chuck has a spinning collar on the end, so if you want to hold the end of the chuck while you're drilling, you can do that. Pretty cool.

I wouldn't have bought it originally if I didn't work at a store that sold them. The discount definately helps. But I have met contractors who use the drills regularly, love them, and I've been told by some of them that the drill basically pays for itself. It's a world apart from the Home Depot version of a DeWalt that has plastic gears inside it.

The versatility of the chucks is really the key factor in my answer. The quick change and 3 jaw chuck pop on and off, which is great for drill and screw operations where it's a hassle to keep unchucking and rechucking bits. Granted, that's a feature, you can find on other drills, but it definately is a big help... It's saved me from having to use the old 2 drill method... one for drilling, one for screwing.

Yes, it's expensive on an ungodly scale. But it'll probably never wear out. They come with a 3 year warranty, which is longer than most of my other drills have lasted anyway. My other primary drill these days is a huge 18V DeWalt XRP cordless hammerdrill... which weighs a ton, and is much longer. This is a torquey drill that's much smaller and much lighter, so you can get into some very tight places with it, and then drill holes at angles that no other drill can get to. For furniture building, this has really saved my neck quite a few times.

And it's quieter, too, for what thet's worth.

I was, of course, teasing

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I own three Makita 9.6V, with three more for parts; and can't easily imagine giving them up. I need some new batteries, too, but fortunately, last I looked, Makita was still building the "stick" batteries.

OT - weather. My wife

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>periodically says that she wishes we'd never left Ann Arbor, MI, all those years back. She hasn't been saying that much this year.

Hope you get dug out soon!

Insteresting option, but...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Will they work on the same charger? Tornados, snow storms I know what your talking about Dave. We had a 4.something earthquake last night. No damage, just raddled the nerves a bit and scared the cats.

48"??

Bruce, a MN Galoot

>And I was complaining about32"

Good luck digging out.

bruce in Hutchinson

Re: NiMH -- longer life or just longer run time?

Bruce, a MN Galoot

>Dave,

I got the NiCD on my B&D industrial model (about 15 years old now) rebuilt with NiMH about 3 years ago. It's way too early for them to wear out, but I have been pleased with the upgrade in power.

Bruce

Going thru the same thing

Verne in Northeast NJ

>I have a 14 year old Panasonic 12V with NiCads that are just about dead. I purchased a replacement battery about 5 years ago and that's also starting to die. They don't make the batteries for it anymore, so I've been shopping for a new cordless drill too. I checked out Primecell. Looks like a good place and a good alternative, although the newer drills seem to have much better weight and torque.

FWIW, in my area - Bergen County NJ, in a local tool shop where a lot of contractors shop, Panasonic NiMH are the most popular cordless drills. I looked at the Panasonic LI, but it's really pricey. They also had Festool, which are beautiful, but overkill for my occassional use. I checked out Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt and Bosch drills - all beautiful tools, but I liked Panasonic the best in part because of how good my current drill is.

Re: Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT

Rob Lee

>Hi Scott,

I, too, use an older Makita 6211DW (1/2" chuck) and wouldn't part with it for anything... maybe not rational, but that's what I like....

For the $40 or so a rebuilt battery costs, I'd go for that option. I did also buy the Makita kit Glenn mentioned above - and am happy with that one too.

Also have a Dewalt and had a Ryobi (until the charger melted) which are the ones I let "helpers" use....

There are a lot of good ones out there... even if they are starting to be styled the basketball shoes are....

Cheers -

Rob

Re: Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT

Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.

>What's your Ryobi's voltage? I have an extra 18V charger if you want it...

DC

Re: Cordless Drill Question...kinda OT *LINK*

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Seems like good deals in the "buy it nows". I think I'll go the replace battery route. That way I'll have more money for that new lil' victor!


Good 'ol Ebay