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Cordless tools; yes/no?
Topic Started: Nov 26 2010, 07:51 PM (840 Views)
billy508
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billy508

I see that Dewalt is now offering a cordless impact driver. I know other company's do also. I would like to have a cordless ratchet if they are any good. Comments? Not if cordless is a good idea or not but rather what brands are the best. Flaws, strong points. Etc. :banana :banana :banana
Edited by billy508, Nov 26 2010, 07:51 PM.
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Stately
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Geo cheerleader

Don't know if their impact driver is any good, but I've been very impressed with Ryobi's 18V Lithium-Ion high capacity battery (P104) and every one of their tools I've got.

Downside is those batteries are stupid expensive--the only reason I have one is it pretty much came free with a string trimmer & leaf blower package last summer.

The batteries have mixed reviews, but many are dated so maybe quality control issues have been dealt with. They *fully* charge in about 30 minutes! And last waaay longer than the NiCads that came with a 5 piece set I bought 8 years ago.

All the Ryobi tools work with the different battery types. I routinely use the driver/drill and utility light.
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Johnny Mullet
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Fear the Mullet

The cordless impact is good but not for daily use like a mechanic in a garage. I used one before (can't remember the brand) and it did a pretty good job removing lugnuts from a pickup.
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DesmondGhostRider
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corded will last a lot longer b/c of battery life...but I buy cordless bc of the convience. Its worth the extra money to buy new batterys if they die to not have to worry abt cutting the cord.
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Memphis metro


All the dewalt tools I have ever used have been real good. I am impressed with dewalt. As for cordless impacts I have only used one and it was a snapon. We give it a good work out in the shop I was at and it done a lot better than I thought it would. Not that I am plugging for snapon impacts but just making a statement about cordless impacts The truth is I dont like snapon air impacts at all but this cordless was ok. Always a good idea to atleast have two batteries to rotate out with. Only thing about battery jobs is whether you use them regularly or not. If you dont use them regularly and keep the batteries charged up they are always down when you need it. I suggested to my father for his cordless drill he doesnt use very often to put the charger on a timer and let it charge for a few minutes every day to keep his battery hot at all times.
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nerys
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Grr

its not new. I had experience with a cordless dewalt impact some 5 years ago and it was AMAZING. I wish I could afford one :-)
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Spock
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Live Long and Prosper.

I have a cordless Dewalt impact driver in the shop where I work. It is hands down the best tool I have ever used. It's very strong, literally capable of about 25-30 newton meters. It has a little light on the nose for hard to see places, which comes in handy if you are standing on your head to work on something.

The downside is that the batteries only last about a year or so. I am constantly using mine and I have 3 batteries that I cycle throughout the day. They all get charged all night, every night. Maybe that's not the best duty cycle for those batteries, but for as much as those tools cost, duty cycle should be unimportant. Anyway, when you go to replace the batteries, you are looking at coming off of about 80 bucks with shipping per battery.
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nerys
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Grr

thats not bad actually (1 year life) figure 300-500 cycles which is about what your getting and your running them hard.

at $80 it might be cheaper for you to "rebuild" your battery packs. tear one apart. if its "sub c" cells you can get 7.2v RC car battery packs really cheap and rape the cells from them. OE just use the RC packs. I bet the drill would handle a couple more volts without an issue so 21.6v instead of the 19.2 its running now.

use 2 RC packs make a custom "pug tail" to run power into your jacket or a belt pouch.

then you can also use cheap RC CAR rapid chargers to recharge them too.

you could also switch to NIMH cells. you might even be able to go lithium just make sure the discharge rate of the pack is up to snuff :-)
Edited by nerys, Nov 27 2010, 11:46 AM.
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JellyBeanDriver


Would be good to get some just for taking to the "pick your part" junkyards.
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ggielen
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[ *  * ]
I consider tools an investment, not a cost. They allow you to do things you would otherwise have to pay somebody for. At least, that's my excuse for getting the nice stuff :)

Cordless impact drivers are definitely worthwhile. I used them a lot in steel construction work, and they are easily up to the job. For everything on a car, their capabilities will be amply sufficient. They're pretty sturdy too, depending on brand of course, but as with anything: buy right, buy once.

Personally I'm a big fan of Makita. We have some Dewalt at home, used to use Hilti on the construction job, but switched to Makita there because Hilti had ridiculous service pricing (that's in Belgium, might be different in US). I would rate the Makita on par with Hilti and higher than Dewalt. Either way, you won't be disappointed in all three. I'm a little less of a fan of the traditionally cheaper brands, but they have come a long way (Black & Decker used to be absolute crap over in EU, but they're pretty decent now, other brands have gone through a similar evolution).

I know a lot of us drive a Metro for a reason, and in many cases the reason is cost.. they're cheap cars. But if you have ~$550 to spare, take a look at the 6-packs on amazon.com, six tools for a very good price. I did a lot of comparing and checking, and in terms of cost vs. what you get, the 6 combo's are the sweet spot as far as I'm concerned. I got the Makita LXT sixpack, angle grinder is underpowered, not that I expected otherwise, but still very practical to have, sawzall is a treat, impact & screwdriver are great, light has served me well already. Only thing I haven't used yet is the circular saw. In the long term vision, you'll be better of. Of course long term visions are worthless if you only have short term means.

(I do buy some things on the cheap, like hammers, stuff where it doesn't make a big difference anyhow, but powertools are -not- one of these things..)
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