Best Cordless Drill

Best Cordless Drill

  • Total voters
    39
I use my dewalts everyday. Electrician, often with no 120 volt power available.
I buy their mac daddy hammer drill, the most used dewalt in my lineup. I'm on my 4th one. The first 3 I retired for the same reason; the chuck wouldn't stay tight on reverse and the bits would fall out. Aggravating as hell. And changing out the chuck on a hammer drill is a real pita since it's attached to the gear drive inside. The one I have now has done real well and hasn't experienced the chuck issues of the past. Dewalt got the message and changed it. The new brushless stuff is absolutely awesome. Lighter, tougher, and the batts are much better, especially the 5AH.

These dewalt hammer drills and impact drivers...I've had the bit bind in whatever I'm drilling, and the sob will bite and pin your hand against whatever your working on. Ouch! I've had this happen on the ladder and if not careful the drill will push you off and down you go. The dewalt is absolutely the torq-i-est battery drill out there. I've had a 4" hole saw bind with the Makita, and was able to hold it in place until the drill started smoking. No balls. The dewalt will break your hand if you try that.
All the other trades, plumbers, hvac, carpenters...all dewalt. And we all beat the s**t out of them 10 hours a day everyday. If you're a serious tradesman you basically have 3 choices; Dewalt, Makita, or Milwaukee. Bosch, Porter Cable, Ryobi, Rigid et all..we'll kill those in weeks.

ETA; Bosch does make the best radio. Balls-tough, sounds great, awesome reception. A true ghetto blaster.
Milwaukee has the best diversity of tools. They make something for everything. I have a total stiffy for their 20v port-a-band.
 
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I've tried several of them and keep coming back to Dewalt. I'm not too thrilled that they changed the battery packs out to one that doesn't fit the old stuff but as long as they still sell replacements for the older stuff I'll keep mine.

I did get a 2 pack set of replacement batteries in June of 16 and one of them is already dead as a hammer. I hope that isn't part of a plot to make me buy the new models.
 
Nobody makes the variety of 18v tools that Makita does. One battery to rule them all! That's why I switched to them from Hitachi nearly 10 years ago. Still have the original tools and a couple of the batteries believe it or not. Had a couple things break over the years, had a few warranty replacements too. I ALWAYS get my money out of them several times over. That's all I need to know. You can also get them at great prices(including the batteries) if you watch the clearance aisles at Home Depot. They change stock seasonally and clear out the old for as much as half price...
 
I've used all of them on the list and still own a Dewalt set that has seen plenty of abuse.

But I can say, having a few large truck mechanic friends, and having used their newer Milwaukee stuff, they have really stepped up their game. When my dewalt tools crap out I will be switching.

I realize I'm not just talking about drills. The Mil impact wrenches are freaking incredible. They have an ap and bluetooth to set exact torque specs and the 1/2 inch impact has enough torque to take off large truck tires.

And they have cornered the market on specialty cordless tools for tradesmen like plumbers and electricians. Really neat stuff.
 
DrDover said:
It means they are the most used on professional jobsites and most stolen. Most bosch cordless drill owners are either to cheap to buy a good drill or fell into bosch's marketing campaign. I have seen zero bosch cordless drills in the industrial work environments i work in.
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Thats obviously because everyone you know in the business is a stupid doo doo head. Did you stop to think of that?
 
I have worn out my old freaky 14.4 Since then I've invested in the rigid 18 V lithium ion these things are awesome although I did have a failure with the chuck on my hammer drill I called it into the warrantee brought it to have it serviced and a week later I get a brand new hammer drill with two batteries and a charger sitting on my front porch. These tools come with a lifetime warranty And a warranty on the battery's
 
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Bailey Boat said:
Personally, I don't think there's hairs width of difference. They are ALL made for the average homeowner which by comparison babies their tools of this sort. Home use, any will do, commercial use, check the commercial warranty, may not even be one.
What's in my wallet you ask?? DeWalt.. when they die it's just as cheap to buy a new "set" as it is to rebuild. Disposable, just like a Bic lighter.....
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You have a drill in your wallet. It must be hard to sit down.:D Hell who knows you may enjoy it.
 
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I just bought the Dewalt DCK283D2 kit, which is the new brushless XR 1/4 impact driver and 1/2" drill kit for $214 on Ebay with free shipping. This is $55 cheaper than Lowes plus no tax.

I asked the guy if this was a refurb, he said no it was brand new and sealed with full 3 year factory warranty.

2 left, better hurry. http://www.ebay.com/itm/112553938984

Brushless supposedly have 50% longer battery life, longer tool life (these were already bulletproof, have beat on my old boss's for long time) and more power.

Gonna get the 16g finish nailer too. Old boss had a Porter Cable 16g nailer and it was good, but I tried the Dewalt that our cabinet guy had and it was night and day better.

http://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...x-xr-16-ga-angled-finish-nailer--kit/dcn660d1
 
Lawless said:
I just bought the Dewalt DCK283D2 kit, which is the new brushless XR 1/4 impact driver and 1/2" drill kit for $214 on Ebay with free shipping. This is $55 cheaper than Lowes plus no tax.

I asked the guy if this was a refurb, he said no it was brand new and sealed with full 3 year factory warranty.

2 left, better hurry. http://www.ebay.com/itm/112553938984

Brushless supposedly have 50% longer battery life, longer tool life (these were already bulletproof, have beat on my old boss's for long time) and more power.

Gonna get the 16g finish nailer too. Old boss had a Porter Cable 16g nailer and it was good, but I tried the Dewalt that our cabinet guy had and it was night and day better.

http://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...x-xr-16-ga-angled-finish-nailer--kit/dcn660d1
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that has the extended run batteries too. Awesome deal!
 
DeWalt. Period. Close the thread.

I have killed ALL the others. NOBODY is harder on cordless tools than tower hands. Nobody. A DeWalt impact can survive a 160' drop in grass.
2nd choice: Milwaukee
3rd: Porter Cable


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1911gobang said:
DeWalt. Period. Close the thread.

I have killed ALL the others. NOBODY is harder on cordless tools than tower hands. Nobody. A DeWalt impact can survive a 160' drop in grass.
2nd choice: Milwaukee
3rd: Porter Cable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Alan, you've killed a Hilti???
 
1911gobang said:
Only Hilti anything I've ever used was a powder charge masonry anchor rig...did not know they had cordless power tools.


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Brother, you owe it to yourself to try their cordless stuff out. It's as good as their corded stuff in terms of being the best on the market. Not cheap though...
 
Deplorable me said:
Bosch all the way
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I've used a bunch of cordless drills over the years and have quite a few brands in different voltages (I have way to many tools). I almost exclusively use 2 of the 12V Bosch tools...one a 90 degree drill version and the other a small hammer driver. I've had these for almost 8 years now and have used them for everything. They are tough and do just about everything I need for drilling and driving. Can't remember the last time I pulled out any of my 18V larger versions. I have a few other tools that use the 12V batteries that I use as well. Bosch has been a good brand for me as I have a few of their sanders, a jig saw and love their routers.
 
I bought a black and Decker 20v drill 2 years ago. Have used it for a LOT of building projects around the house and it have never let me down. I prefer DeWalt ( they just work) but the B&D was all I could afford at the time.
 
I started a project tonight, using 18650 li-ion batteries to rebuild the pack on a 14.4 dewalt drill so far all looks good, the charger is charging it, one pack is up to 15.25v.if I plan on trying them at work tomorrow after I charge them if all goes well I will post back. the pack weighs near nothing now it only takes 4 batteries and I discharged them to make sure the charger would charge them up. these are the Panasonic 3400 mah so they should out do the 2800 stockers.
 
dewey said:
I started a project tonight, using 18650 li-ion batteries to rebuild the pack on a 14.4 dewalt drill so far all looks good, the charger is charging it, one pack is up to 15.25v.if I plan on trying them at work tomorrow after I charge them if all goes well I will post back. the pack weighs near nothing now it only takes 4 batteries and I discharged them to make sure the charger would charge them up. these are the Panasonic 3400 mah so they should out do the 2800 stockers.
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I have a Snapon 18v lithium impact and drill in which one battery has goofed up electronics and just sets off warning lights on the charger and the other has weak cells and only holds a short charge. These are big batteries and used to be absolutely phenomenal in their abilities to last under heavy use.

They are 4 years old now.

I was a Snapon dealer at the time I got them, I am not any longer. The batteries can be had on ebay as cheap as around 125 and there are folks on there that rebuild them for 80.

The impact especially is a very nice tool with 650lb/ft torque and laughs at big truck lugs and such. I need it working so...

About what did it cost you for the cells? I am a decent solderer and really handy so if the cost is low I would tackle it.
 
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My new Dewalt brushless driver and drill are out for delivery says the tracker. My small 2.5 gallon Stinger wet/dry vac is out for delivery as well. Will give a short review after I check them out.
 
6.99 x4 mine used 4 cells, yours 18v =5 cells you net 4.2v per battery. remember 18 v is more like 19.8 fully charged and 1 extra volt wont hurt it. mine lasted about as long as 3 nicads but then 2400mah vs 3200mah. the real savings is in weight. my normal charger dosent knock off but it fully charges them in an hour. I just ordered a charger that does li-ions for it. if you need help connecting them holler and I will make you a diagram for it, really simple to do. sometimes the place where I get the batteries has them on sale and you can get lower prices but the Panasonic 3400 is the best of the best in 18650's. I have some here used daily and they are over 5yrs old. sorry for taking long to reply just got in from work.
 
Read a couple how-to guides, and pulled one of mine apart today.

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...and then figured by the time I bought cells & soldering supplies, I might as well pay the $30 I can have mine rebuilt for. :D
 
you should try one with li=ions in it then decide which is best, got an old laptop battery lying around? 4 will do 14.4v , 5 will do 18v these are 4.2 and not 1.2v so you loose weight and gain more life out of the batteries. if you like them then try the Panasonic 3400mah at 6.00 that replaces the NiCad x4. I bought the NiCad nimh li ion charger today for mine it should arrive by the end of the week . I already ordered enough batteries from orbitronix to do the other four packs. harbor freight is a good source for nicads, you buy the 18v pack when on sale and rebuild old packs with them. I wanted a longer life battery which is why I went to li-ions. the original dewalt charger will charge them it just wont kick off. there is a charger for dewalt that fits the battery which does all three types and does from 7 to 18v. mine uses the same type pack you are holding in your hand.
 
dewey said:
you should try one with li=ions in it then decide which is best, got an old laptop battery lying around? 4 will do 14.4v , 5 will do 18v these are 4.2 and not 1.2v so you loose weight and gain more life out of the batteries. if you like them then try the Panasonic 3400mah at 6.00 that replaces the NiCad x4. I bought the NiCad nimh li ion charger today for mine it should arrive by the end of the week . I already ordered enough batteries from orbitronix to do the other four packs. harbor freight is a good source for nicads, you buy the 18v pack when on sale and rebuild old packs with them. I wanted a longer life battery which is why I went to li-ions. the original dewalt charger will charge them it just wont kick off. there is a charger for dewalt that fits the battery which does all three types and does from 7 to 18v. mine uses the same type pack you are holding in your hand.
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So are you not soldering all yours together, so you can charge the individual cells?

Or when you say "I bought the NiCad nimh li ion charger today for mine it should arrive by the end of the week" is that a charger that will accept the Dewalt battery pack?

I have a quick charge charger that came with my Dewalt kit that charges the battery in 15 min or so (IIRC). If that works for the Li-ion cells, it might be nice. It's not like I'd leave them charging overnight and worry about the charger not kicking off.

ETA: I checked orbtronic and the least expensive Panasonic 18650 I see is $5.99. I found them for slightly less than that elsewhere, but still over $5. That puts me at $25-$30 for a 5-cell 18V, not counting shipping (if applicable). Then add in connectors and wire. I'm getting mine redone for $30 (and zero effort on my part other than writing a check). Considering I haven't really used these tools in a couple years due to battery life, I think I'll forego the DIY method this time. But I'll definitely keep in mind for future projects...and I'd still like your answers/opinions on my questions above.
 
I use a 2 packs the cells can be changed by simply opening the dewalt pack and popping in the bad battery or batterys. the only soldering is first time putting the 2 2 cell packs inside. some of the dewalt chargers will work on ni-cd, nimh, the pod style like you and I are using have a charger that doed ni-cd, ni-mh and li-ion all three. I have balance chargers if the need arises to balance charge them. I tried the packs comparing them to the xpr 14.4v and the li-ion came out on top longer time running the drill. I asked opinions on the torque and two others said the same more torque, one said no difference and he was a Ryobi nut. my original charger brought both battery packs up in around 45 minutes and it is a 1 hr charger. I got the pop in holders from mcm electronics a while back for 1.99 each on sale. each one holds 2 18650's so mine uses 4 cells for 16.8v, that is a little above 15.85 the nicads were at full charge but still less than a full volt. my wife and I both vape so the 18650's are plentiful here, it is also why I had the holders I was doing a box mod and went back to provari instead. I had the batterys, the battery holders and I have several soldering stations so I didn't really lay out much on parts but still any time you can use 4 batterys to replace 12 and not loose any drill time it pays off for me. if I were you I would try at least one pack and see the difference. they have to last longer . I have 18650 Panasonic 3400 that I have used daily for 5 yrs, really close to 6 I quit smoking when we shut for Christmas and this Christmas coming will be 6 years, in that time I have had two batteries to fail out of 16. the dc9310 charger is the one that does all three types and it is pod style not slip in style.you can find them for 25 or so on the bay.
 
I found this guy's channel on youtube tonight. Pretty decent channel. He does two general, crude tests of two drills and impact drills.
 
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