Kobalt Cordless Tools...the real deal, I guess

[monomach]

A few months ago, my local Lowes found four ancient, dust-covered 18v Ni-Cad batteries and one charger somewhere. They slapped "non-stock item" clearance tags on them for $10 each. Needless to say, I bought 'em all.

I was suddenly flush with Kobalt batteries, but had zero Kobalt cordless tools. I didn't know anyone who owned a Kobalt cordless tool. I've never even read about someone on GJ owning a Kobalt cordless tool. Feeling like a true pioneer, I went ahead and ordered the 20v bare tool Impact Wrench from the Lowes website, item #510518. That's right. I ordered a 20v tool for my 18v batteries.

You see, Kobalt is our friend. Kobalt loves us. They don't screw us the way DeWalt does; their 20v and 18v batteries/tools are interchangeable...as they should be, since claiming 20v is just a fancy marketing gimmick for batteries that are really 18v.

Anyway, I've been using the thing (at home only) for about 3 months, and I can say that it seems to have every bit of the 350 ft/lbs that is claimed, even with the outdated batteries. The batteries seem to put out the power to do quite a bit of work on a single charge, too. It's really a top-notch tool, which I found pretty surprising considering that it was only $71. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is, but I'm gonna make a wild-assed guess and say Chervon since Home Depot and the other big power tool manufacturer (TTI) are practically married.

Five year no-hassle warranty on the tool and three years on the batteries. That's pretty good.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the impact wrench to any of you. Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available as a bare tool, but you can still get it as a kit with two 20v lithium batteries and charger, Item #437515 . I've been impressed enough that I'm ordering the bare drill, as well.

NOTE: the black ring around the anvil area in the picture is not plastic. It is simply a rubber cover over metal to provide a better grip.

 

[uart]

I was suddenly flush with Kobalt batteries, but had zero Kobalt cordless tools. I didn't know anyone who owned a Kobalt cordless tool. I've never even read about someone on GJ owning a Kobalt cordless tool.

Wow mono, you must be even worse than I am when it comes to not being able to pass up on a bargain. Sounds like you've ended up with a fairly decent tool though.

The good new is that (at least in my experience) nicad batteries degrade very little from just sitting unused. I recently dug out an old 7.2 volt Ryobi drill (my very first cordless tool) that I'd mothballed about 20 years ago and believe it of not the battery still took a charge and worked perfectly!

Surprisingly nicad batteries store best when fairly low on charge or even flat. After long storage in this state they may take a few cycles before they regain there full capacity, but generally no permanent damage occurs.

What really damages nicads, and is overcharging, and in particular when a badly out of balance pack is aggressively charged (and equally bad when an out of balance pack it fully discharged under load). So try not to keep using a tool until the pack is dead flat, and never be afraid of letting the tool have frequent partial charges while you're using it. Its good for them to have an occasional full charge, but terminating the charge before they start to heat up (rather than when the charger says full) is actually a good thing. Forget about the "memory effect" it's a myth, or at least it (unlike hot overcharging) causes no permanent damage.

The main culprit in over charging is the method that the chargers use to determine when a pack is fully charged, and the fact that this often fails when the pack becomes out of balance (some individual cells having significantly more charge than others).

So the key is to try and keep your nicad packs as well balanced as possible. Short of pulling the pack apart periodically and individually discharging each cell however, you don't usually have much control of pack balance. So I'll just give this simple advice for looking after nicad packs:

- Don't store packs fully charged!

Charge immediately before usage, but if possible don't charge prior to storage. Basically the reason for this is that fully charged nicads leak a fair bit of their charge in storage. But what you really want for a pack is that all of the charge going in to the pack gets used by the tool and not lost in leakage. Tool usage discharge MUST (by series connection) be precisely equal in every cell, but leakage discharge can be different in each and every cell.

Initially the cell leakage rates will be quite well balanced, but as the pack ages the individual leakage rates can diverge significantly. And that's what puts packs out of balance and ultimately leads to their failure at the hands of the charger. A bit long winded, but I hope that makes sense.

 

[cheechi]

Glad you're getting some good use out of it. Some of the reviews have been less than favorable for either the 18 or 20v version of the tools. I'm sure the batteries are 95% the same as any other brands' batteries, comparing apples to apples.

But that impact wrench, basically it could only be great or terrible. That's not the kind of tool you'd get middle of the road performance anyway. Maybe on a drill/driver or a cutting tool you'd see different relative performance. Either way glad it's working for you.

 

[woodstockva]

Yep, the current 18v/20v lineup of Kobalt tools are made by Chervon.....who also makes things like the 56v EGO line of outdoor equipment at Home Depot (Blower, Chainsaw, Trimmer, Mower, Hedgetrimmer).

They told me specifically that all the 18v & 20v batteries (same thing) are interchangeable.

That is funny you got loaded up on batteries for $10/each! Thats an awesome clearance deal!

 

[Ign]

A few months ago, my local Lowes found four ancient, dust-covered 18v Ni-Cad batteries and one charger somewhere. They slapped "non-stock item" clearance tags on them for $10 each. Needless to say, I bought 'em all.

I was suddenly flush with Kobalt batteries, but had zero Kobalt cordless tools. I didn't know anyone who owned a Kobalt cordless tool. I've never even read about someone on GJ owning a Kobalt cordless tool. Feeling like a true pioneer, I went ahead and ordered the 20v bare tool Impact Wrench from the Lowes website, item #510518. That's right. I ordered a 20v tool for my 18v batteries.

You see, Kobalt is our friend. Kobalt loves us. They don't screw us the way DeWalt does; their 20v and 18v batteries/tools are interchangeable...as they should be, since claiming 20v is just a fancy marketing gimmick for batteries that are really 18v.

Anyway, I've been using the thing (at home only) for about 3 months, and I can say that it seems to have every bit of the 350 ft/lbs that is claimed, even with the outdated batteries. The batteries seem to put out the power to do quite a bit of work on a single charge, too. It's really a top-notch tool, which I found pretty surprising considering that it was only $71. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is, but I'm gonna make a wild-assed guess and say Chervon since Home Depot and the other big power tool manufacturer (TTI) are practically married.

Five year no-hassle warranty on the tool and three years on the batteries. That's pretty good.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the impact wrench to any of you. Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available as a bare tool, but you can still get it as a kit with two 20v lithium batteries and charger, Item #437515 . I've been impressed enough that I'm ordering the bare drill, as well.

No need for WAG's when the info is on the interweb:
http://toolguyd.com/kobalt-20v-cordless-power-tools/

and some general info about the nicad:
http://toolguyd.com/5-things-about-kobalt-power-tools/