Need a second cordless drill and impact driver

[signcrafter]

I take care of all my family members homes and autos. I would like to get a cordless drill and impact driver to keep at my moms house. Right now I have a set of dewalt 18volt XRP(NiCad) drill/impact/sawzall/circular saw/grinder combos. Want something decent but isn't going to be used hard like mine are. Just don't want to carry mine back and forth all the time.

Thinking about just getting another dewalt set to keep batteries the same but open to others also. Looking to pick something up local from lowes or home depot or menards tomorrow.

 

[96snma]

I understand if it works why change it... but...

Why not take the nicad to her place and get a li ion to replace it for.yourself.
Any of the top brands will be good and everyone has a different opinion

 

[Jack Olsen]

Free Batteries for life with the Ridgid at HD.

 

[NathanC]

get the Dewalt drill and impact drive set. there super light 12v lithium ion and still have great power even comes with a little bag to put them in! here's a pic of mine (sorry it's upside down)

 

[signcrafter]

I understand if it works why change it... but...

Why not take the nicad to her place and get a li ion to replace it for.yourself.
Any of the top brands will be good and everyone has a different opinion

If I were to get lithium that would go to her place. I have the sawzall, grinder, circular saw, drill, impact right now. I'm not against lithium, just don't want to give up all the tools I have now.

Free Batteries for life with the Ridgid at HD.

This is at the top of my list for the reason you mentioned.

 

[flippin]

Yes in agreement with 96, Nicad's have a limited life span which goes downhill quickly after a certain point. Depending upon the vintage of your batteries you will need to think carefully about how much longer they will last. As well you should also take into consideration how frequently you will use the spare set at your mom's. For whatever reason I haven't had much luck leaving Nicads unattended for long periods without eventually noticing a severe degradation in performance. Conversely they almost seem to be like diesels in that if they're used all the time and routinely charged they go on forever.

I suppose if you find a great deal on additional batteries for your existing set you should take advantage of the other tools which you already own. Invariably being of older less sought after technology, you should be able to get them for a song if you can find them.

Failing all of this, my recommendation for brand new tools would be Milwaukee Juice. They have the most comprehensive product selection which when coupled with the largest capacity batteries make them the winner in my opinion.

 

[rslaback]

I would go Ridgid. I got started in them because I won a combo set (no one actually wins those things right?) on a deal website. I grew up in construction and have owned and used everything from Dewalts to Bosch to Ryobi to Panasonic to Milwaukee.

I have continued to purchase matching tools from Ridgid (and CPO which sells them refurbed) as they are a very good value for the money. They feel just as solid as the Bosch and Dewalt tools I have used in the past. I'm not using them every day to make a living like I used to but from the sounds of it neither are you.

One thing to note, only the batteries you buy as a part of a kit count for the Lifetime agreement with Ridgid. Single batteries off the shelf are not covered.

 

[signcrafter]

Looking at this kit, http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...angId=-1&keyword=cordless+drill&storeId=10051.

 

[shoturtle]

as it is not going to be a heavy work set. I would go with the ridge because of the free battery for life warranty. They will work well for the occasional uses. You will not need any fancy like the milwaukee fuel line for what you intend them for.

The other option would be the white Mikita. They are pretty good as well, good power.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...=-1&keyword=mikita&storeId=10051#.UPovc6Uf8Xc

 

[FiendFX]

milwaukee....

 

[shoturtle]

read the op's requirement.

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

i have a porter cable set and i like that, worth a look anyways. check out lowes, or even the craftsman c3. i think both would be great for that purpose. can you get lithiumion for your current stuff and then just get some used stuff for moms house. i have some c3 lithion and porter cable nicad and i like both but the lithion is way lighter.

 

[kngelv]

I would buy the 18V DeWalt Lithium set. Keep the new charger and batteries at your place and take the Ni-Cads to hers. The 18v lithiums will work in your current DeWalts.

James

 

[signcrafter]

I would buy the 18V DeWalt Lithium set. Keep the new charger and batteries at your place and take the Ni-Cads to hers. The 18v lithiums will work in your current DeWalts.

James

I didn't really look into it that much but I'm pretty sure the dewalt lithiums are a totally different design that won't fit with my dewalt nicads. My nicads have a "stem" on them and the lithiums are flat and slide in.

Either way I ended up getting the ridgid set for 199. Went to lowes and they didn't have much as far as drill/impact kits goes. I could have bought the drill kit and the impact as a tool only. What lowes did have was very dis organized and half the shelves were empty. So I ran to HD and they had a table of ridgid and makita drill/impact kits for 199 and the dewalt was 239 I think. They looked fairly comparible so just went with the ridgid. My dewalts are the XRP models and are a lot better built but I can't complain for 199 bucks. My older dewalts have metal chucks and just look and feel better built but I also paid more for them. The new ridgids should work just fine for what I will be using them for.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[vartz04]

Ryobi. I beat on mine when I bought my house and it they work fine. Lithium ion sets are like $150

 

[rslaback]

I think you'll be happy with the Ridgid. As an aside, Ridgid did make it so their tools work with either their nicd or lithium batteries.

 

[pipsters]

The only downside to that Ridgid kit that I have seen is the battery life. I'm just not getting great life out of them. But they have a ton of power for 1/4" tools, the 1/4" impact will take lugs off my car torqued to 100 ft-lbs. Pretty damn impressive.

The upside is it only takes 15-20 mins to charge a battery from completely dead to full charge. Extremely quick. I bought mine back in Nov, I had a $50 off $100 coupon from HD and they were $179 back then. Not sure I would have paid $199 for them to be honest, I'd probably look harder at the Craftsman C3 lineup for that price range (bang for your buck). I did however just send in my warranty paperwork to register for the LSA, must be done within 90 days.

 

[signcrafter]

The only downside to that Ridgid kit that I have seen is the battery life. I'm just not getting great life out of them. But they have a ton of power for 1/4" tools, the 1/4" impact will take lugs off my car torqued to 100 ft-lbs. Pretty damn impressive.

The upside is it only takes 15-20 mins to charge a battery from completely dead to full charge. Extremely quick. I bought mine back in Nov, I had a $50 off $100 coupon from HD and they were $179 back then. Not sure I would have paid $199 for them to be honest, I'd probably look harder at the Craftsman C3 lineup for that price range (bang for your buck). I did however just send in my warranty paperwork to register for the LSA, must be done within 90 days.

To be honest I gave up on craftsman power tools about 10 or so years ago. I had a few of the "Industrial" line of power tools including an 18 volt cordless hammer drill and to be honest they were complete junk. Maybe they are better now but from past experience I will stay away from them.

 

[rslaback]

Need any additional batteries for it? I have some up on eBay that I could give a no eBay fee discount on.

 

[CTyankee]

Working as a carpenter I've used Makita, Panasonic, Hitachi, Ridgid, Milwaukee and Dewalt all at the job site. For your case I'd probably go with the Makita black/white set. My only dislike of the Ridgid is their weight. When you're drilling and driving all day you start to notice it.

 

[battlegraduate09]

the rigid are semi heavy, but for the price, lifetime warranty, and batteries in my opinion they are hard to beat. Especially since they are going to be your second set

 

[kngelv]

I didn't really look into it that much but I'm pretty sure the dewalt lithiums are a totally different design that won't fit with my dewalt nicads. My nicads have a "stem" on them and the lithiums are flat and slide in.

Either way I ended up getting the ridgid set for 199. Went to lowes and they didn't have much as far as drill/impact kits goes. I could have bought the drill kit and the impact as a tool only. What lowes did have was very dis organized and half the shelves were empty. So I ran to HD and they had a table of ridgid and makita drill/impact kits for 199 and the dewalt was 239 I think. They looked fairly comparible so just went with the ridgid. My dewalts are the XRP models and are a lot better built but I can't complain for 199 bucks. My older dewalts have metal chucks and just look and feel better built but I also paid more for them. The new ridgids should work just fine for what I will be using them for.

Thanks for the advice.

DeWalt makes 18v lithium ion kits with stem batteries. The slide ins are either 12v or 20v. The 18v lithium stems will work on all your current DeWalt's. Here is a kit at Home Depot though Amazon should be cheaper.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...dewalt+18v+lithium&storeId=10051#.UPseJFy9LCQ

James

 

[themiller]

not going to the popular one here - but Sears runs sales for 49.99 on the 14.4v. I've kept one at my parents house for over a decade now... Batteries seem to last about 5-7 years. I just got a new battery for 30, after this one is dead I'm going to just take a corded drill up there. Yes, a pain - but for $30 every few years vs. using a corded drill every few years - I'll take the cash thank you!

 

[signcrafter]

DeWalt makes 18v lithium ion kits with stem batteries. The slide ins are either 12v or 20v. The 18v lithium stems will work on all your current DeWalt's. Here is a kit at Home Depot though Amazon should be cheaper.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...dewalt+18v+lithium&storeId=10051#.UPseJFy9LCQ

James

Looks like all the 18 volt lithiums are online only. That's why I didn't see any in the store with stems. That would have been nice to be able to use the new lithiums with my other tools like grinder and sawzall. Oh well. I played with the ridgid a little today and it's a pretty nice drill and driver for the price. I'll have to fill out the lifetime warranty info and get that in.

 

[cburnscrx]

I didn't really look into it that much but I'm pretty sure the dewalt lithiums are a totally different design that won't fit with my dewalt nicads. My nicads have a "stem" on them and the lithiums are flat and slide in.

Either way I ended up getting the ridgid set for 199. Went to lowes and they didn't have much as far as drill/impact kits goes. I could have bought the drill kit and the impact as a tool only. What lowes did have was very dis organized and half the shelves were empty. So I ran to HD and they had a table of ridgid and makita drill/impact kits for 199 and the dewalt was 239 I think. They looked fairly comparible so just went with the ridgid. My dewalts are the XRP models and are a lot better built but I can't complain for 199 bucks. My older dewalts have metal chucks and just look and feel better built but I also paid more for them. The new ridgids should work just fine for what I will be using them for.

Thanks for the advice.

And you can switch to lithium ion whenever you feel like it. DeWalt is good that way.

December 2008 – DEWALT, a leading manufacturer of industrial power tools, launches a new line of heavy-duty XRP™ hammerdrill/drill/drivers and a new XRP™ Lithium Ion drill. The drills are designed from the ground up with significant performance, durability, run time and ergonomic enhancements. The XRP™ line includes three 18V models (DCD950KX, DCD950VX and DCD940KX), three 14.4V models (DCD930KX, DC930VX and DCD920KX) and a 12V model (DCD910KX). Additionally, the new line includes an XRP™ Lithium Ion 18V hammerdrill/drill/driver (DCD970KL) with a Nano-Phosphate Lithium Ion battery that is backwards compatible with more than 40 tools in the DEWALT 18V system.