On 4/10/2016 8:52 AM, steve hochschild wrote:
> I am raising my hand to mention that I have given up on battery powered
> tools. I have a huge collection of dead batteries, useless chargers,
> and drill carcasses that make me mad every time I look at them. I
> finally realized that all I really wanted was one of those very small
> battery screwdrivers, under $20, and regular, line-powered drills, etc.
I agree that it's unfortunate that the batteries eventually die, and
there can be a DRAMATIC difference in battery life between good ones and
cheap replacements.
My first 'real' cordless tool was a 9.6V Makita drill, purchased at the
recently-opened Price Club sometime back in the Reagan Administration I
think, and on two battery packs it lasted well into its obsolescence
though for power it was not remotely competitive with a decent corded
drill.
From there I picked up a used 14V Milwaukee nicad drill off eBay for
almost nothing (it was SERIOUSLY ugly), and a couple new battery packs,
and that thing did three years of seriously hard work until I dropped it
from the top of a 15 foot ladder onto a concrete slab.
At that point my brother-in-law gave me his 14V DeWalt set, and I bought
another, and ended up with two drills and five batteries total.
Destroyed one of the drills and one of the batteries IIRC in various
mishaps over the subsequent decade, still have three batteries with
useful capacity.
In the meantime I'd picked up an 18V Milwaukee sawzall with two
batteries, which while nowhere near as powerful as the corded one did
tons of useful work though both the original batteries petered out
within about five years. Tried a couple cheap no-name eBay
replacements and they lasted about six months each.
Nicads like to be cycled and the tools used more often seem to get
better battery life.
I've recently picked up a 20V DeWalt Li-Ion drill and the 'shorty'
DeWalt recip saw that has the motor bent down at a 45-degree angle.
Both are very powerful, as well as lighter (why I never bought an 18V
nicad drill, the 14.4V was heavy enough) and the biggest problem I have
with either is that the speed control on the recip saw trigger is not
progressive enough. Currently have 2 2amp batteries and 1 5amp and it's
good to be able to cycle all the batteries on all the tools though the
2amp batteries don't last very long when you're chopping up tree
branches for the recycling bin.
Too early in the ownership cycle to say much about battery life on those.
John.
_______________________________________________
Shop-talk@autox.team.net
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
|