Power Drills

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan
Originally Posted By: Steve S
What is so annoying about baterry powered drills is that the replacement batteries cost almost as much as the original drill sets purchase price.


Tell me about it. I have a B&D cordless that cost 42 bucks for the drill. An extra battery will set you back only 12 bucks less. Kind of like the printer they give away so you can make em' rich buying the consumables!


There are places that rebuild tool batteries. Many tool batteries use standard sized cells. You can also rebuild your own for a fraction of the cost of new ones.

I've got some dead and almost dead batteries. Is there a DIY link or a source for the cells?

 

[Trav]

Milwaukee 1/2 corded and 3/8 angle drills,Hilti hammer and cordless drill/impact driver.Nice tools,some HD stores here in MA carry Hilti,look for the units made in "Liechtenstein"(original Hilti factory) not Mexico or China.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

FWIW, I was part of a project management team at a very large power plant a couple of years ago. The construction workers always requested that we provide them with Milwaukee products. We made the Milwaukee company rich on that product with 5 million dollars of various tools ordered site wide.

 

[XS650]

Tempest, it's been a couple of years since I saw it. Try Googeling
power tool battery rebuild or something like that

Here's one place
http://www.mtobattery.com/store/
I have no personal experience with them.

 

[02zx9r]

will add to my post that I originally went with Dewalt as that is what everyone I worked with was using so if a battery was dead or whatever I could just use one of theirs.

I do like the Makita Lithium ion stuff, others are coming out with li-ion too

 

[IndyIan]

I built my house with a Milwaukie lok-tor 1/2" hammer drill 14.4V. Even did all the drywall screws with it, mixed mortar for tiling, hammered a 5" hole through the concrete foundation, built the deck with a zillion 3" screws, used many different hole saws for the plumbing.
Eventually the batteries did die and I got a replacement off ebay for $25 all in. The cells in the replacement pack are only 1.5 amp hours instead of the 2.4 amp hour original so it dies sooner but it saved me from buying another drill. Other drills are lighter but I doubt many are as tough... Also the speed controller is amazing for low speed delicate work. I see they are still for sale at home depot but I'd check to see where they are made now. Mine was made in the Czech Republic which may not be Germany in terms of craftsmanship but its not China either.
Ian

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Tempest, it's been a couple of years since I saw it. Try Googeling
power tool battery rebuild or something like that

Here's one place
http://www.mtobattery.com/store/
I have no personal experience with them.



To the best of my knowledge, all that is involved in this is taping smaller existing batteries together into packs, and soldering the poles together with the connector with the appropriate sized wire.

 

[NYEngineer]

My corded drills are Milwaukee and I have two Dewalt Cordless drills.

When the Dewalts batteries get bad, I open them up, they're screwed together, and buy cells from my friend and rebuild em. Ends up costing me about 24 dollars to do an 18 volt.

Also, to make them last a lot longer, get the radio/ charger. After the battery won't power the drill anymore, put it in the radio and let it run until dead. That way, you don't develop a shallow memory in the Nicad battery.

 

[MolaKule]

I like the Milwaukee 18 V LIthiumION rechargaeable I just bought. Cat #2601-20 It has a 1/2" chuck.

 

[kingrob]

I primarily use DeWalt at work and a Black and Decker at home. Both good cordless drills. The DeWalt is used at work for the same reason 02zx9r cited, if a battery ever goes stone cold dead everybody else uses the same one. However, I'm starting to see more and more of the Black and Deckers out there too.

WORST cordlesses I've ever had were Craftsman, on the other hand I have a thirty year old corded Craftsman that can't be killed. It just shocks the mess out of you sometimes.

 

[94supraonchrome]

Dewalt cordless
Hitachi corded

 

[scionxa]

Bosch cordless (Made in Switzerland). Only one I could find at the time that wasn't made in China or Mexico. It's a great drill. 14.4V for around $150. I'm thinking of getting the 18V sometime, though (but mine has been powerful enough so far).

 

[dwcopple]

RIGID...avail @ Home Depot