Craftsman-branded 20V Cordless Tools - What a disaster!

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I have some Craftsman 20V Max tools (aka Bolt On) as well as some Black & Decker 20V Max tools. I've sorta standardized on these as they are fully battery compatible. The reason for this is that Stanley Black & Decker (SBD) manufactured the Craftsman 20V Max line. I've even got adapters to use these batteries with my old Dewalt 18V tools and that's worked out great.

Now that Sears has sold the Craftsman brand to SBD, insanity has taken over in the Craftsman 20V tool marketplace. SBD has come out with a new Craftsman v20 line AND Sears has come out with a new Craftsman 20V line. NEITHER of these are compatible with the 20V Max line nor are they compatible with each other! And yet SBD does continue to sell Black & Decker 20V Max tools which are compatible with the older (but not that old) standard.

The inmates are running the asylum!

 

[seber]

And that is how you put yourself out of business.

 

[mudflap]

And then there the SBD Porter Cable line... Im pretty sure they just painted them Red, and are calling that their new Craftsman line.. I hate to say it..because i grew up going school clothes shopping there with Mom..and tool/lawn stuff shopping there with Dad, and thats where we had our family pictures taken every year... But it's time for Sears to die.. Until that happens..Sears and SBD will be sourcing the same tools for their Craftsman lines from different places...it's gonna be nutty for a while.

 

[Ign]

I'm just waiting for the one old codger to say this is why cordless tools are evil and his tools w cords and plugs are way better.

Trust me, it's coming

 

[jdlong]

I see ACE and Sears are offering 20V Max drill and impact bit driver kits that include TWO batteries and a charger. All for 100 bucks. For that cheap, I would have to say they are competing with HF Bauer which for me has proven to be fine for around the house putz work.

 

[JoeMcGov]

I'm continuing to build my DeWalt 20V (flex too) lineup. I'll watch this Cluster McFuster from a distance.

 

[ChrisLS8]

And that is how you put yourself out of business.

No it's not. Is it stupid? Yes.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

But it's time for Sears to die..

I'm assuming Sears is already dead. I would never buy in to their new 20V line. But why SBD had to come out with a new line for their Craftsman-branded 20V tools is beyond me.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I see ACE and Sears are offering 20V Max drill and impact bit driver kits that include TWO batteries and a charger. All for 100 bucks. For that cheap, I would have to say they are competing with HF Bauer which for me has proven to be fine for around the house putz work.

Unless it's older stuff, the Craftsman-branded 20v tools you are seeing from Ace and Sears are incompatible.

 

[jdlong]

Unless it's older stuff, the Craftsman-branded 20v tools you are seeing from Ace and Sears are incompatible.

No, they just came out and like I said are branded 20V max but for the dirt cheap price of 100 bucks for the pair, you have to wonder if they got redesigned with the cheap stick. They most likely are. There is no free lunch in this world when it comes to tools.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

No, they just came out and like I said are branded 20V max but for the dirt cheap price of 100 bucks for the pair, you have to wonder if they got redesigned with the cheap stick. They most likely are. There is no free lunch in this world when it comes to tools.

Right, I assumed you were talking about their new lines. Ace hardware and Lowes is selling the SBD-manufactured Craftsman 20V stuff and Sears is selling an entirely different line of Craftsman 20V tools. Both are new lines, totally incompatible with each other and previous "20v Max" product lines. FWIW, the Sears stuff looks like total junk - a last gasp attempt at a money grab from unsuspecting consumers (the 7 of them that still shop at Sears).

 

[d.mcfarland]

Are the newer Craftsman (SBD version) batteries compatible with the Porter-Cable tools?

 

[Moparman390]

Are the newer Craftsman (SBD version) batteries compatible with the Porter-Cable tools?

I don't think so.

 

[Moparman390]

Fortunately Sears won't be in business by the end of next month and only like 14 of those drills will make it into the hands of consumers. Nothing to worry about for most people, in a couple year's time almost nobody will remember this.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I don't think so.

Did some research (looking at pictures), and they don't have the same design.

I heard a lot of people saying the Craftsman tools are basically redesigned Porter-Cable, but they don't have the same style battery, so I'm sure other parts are different as well.

 

[Bacon!]

It would save the rest of us time and clarify your topic if you provided pics and links to specific tools you're talking about.

Then again I don't see it as much of an issue considering nobody in their right mind would buy the Sear exclusive designs today unless they were dirt cheap, realizing it was (probably) the end of the road for the battery packs too unless the owner likes gambling on generic packs from 3rd parties on ebay/Amazon/etc, with questionable cells in them.

Back in the NiCD days I had no qualms about rebuilding packs but these days with Li-Ion packs, just too much hassle and by the time you pay for quality cells, not much cost savings either, at least when talking about *most* homeowner grade brands' batt packs.

 

[gungatim]

I'm continuing to build my DeWalt 20V (flex too) lineup. I'll watch this Cluster McFuster from a distance.

same here. btw, if you want extra batteries you can get two 5ah 20v max lion batteries off amazon for <$50...dewalt clones but they are identical near as I can tell...I gave up on the craftsman cordless stuff when they went from 18 to 19.2v

 

[jobo1004]

There are a couple of articles over on toolguyd.com about this subject if anyone is interested.

https://toolguyd.com/sears-sbd-craftsman-tools-confusion/

https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-v20-sears-craftsman-20v-compatibility/

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Are the newer Craftsman (SBD version) batteries compatible with the Porter-Cable tools?

No. The tool design looks similar, but the battery interface is different.

The Porter-Cable 20V Max tools/batteries can be easily modified to work with the Craftsman Bolt-on / Black & Decker 20V Max lines. They're all pretty much the same line, just with a small "blocker" difference, added strictly for marketing reasons.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

There are a couple of articles over on toolguyd.com about this subject if anyone is interested.

https://toolguyd.com/sears-sbd-craftsman-tools-confusion/

https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-v20-sears-craftsman-20v-compatibility/

Yes, these are good references that show the two new Craftsman-branded lines and discuss the confusion that has/will occur.

And I agree, nobody with reasonable knowledge should invest in the new Sears Craftsman 20V line. It's an act of desperation by a company circling around in the toilet bowl.

The new SBD Craftsman 20V tools look like "okay" tools, but if they gave a damn about the consumer they would have made them compatible with the previous 20V Max interface.

 

[Bacon!]

No. The tool design looks similar, but the battery interface is different.

The Porter-Cable 20V Max tools/batteries can be easily modified to work with the Craftsman Bolt-on / Black & Decker 20V Max lines. They're all pretty much the same line, just with a small "blocker" difference, added strictly for marketing reasons.

Ironically this was also the case years ago when Craftsman and Ryobi shared near identical packs, you just needed to trim a notch off the packs to make them work in both brands tools and chargers.

I've a few Ryobi tools and like that they kept the same battery format, but on the other hand tech over the years might be near limiting that design. Cordless tools and li-ion packs now use more current than ever so the Ryobi battery contact design seems limiting. They did release an updated design with two additional contacts on their (? xyz tech packs) 3/6/9Ah packs that's used with some of their current gen brushless tools.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Cordless tools and li-ion packs now use more current than ever

That thought had crossed my mind - that the battery packs needed to be different to support the higher amperage demands of the brushless tools - but I suspect it's not really the driving force here.

 

[Bacon!]

^ Not just brushless tools, even the last-gen brushed were more powerful than their predecessors. My statement was regarding Ryobi's design which has less clamping force on the connector, thinner metal, and with the contacts being on a stalk on the battery, they move around more than in tools with the contacts flush at the bottom. Some of Ryobi's tools now have a foam pad at the bottom to decrease the amount the packs move around.

 

[6PTsocket]

Sears is as good as gone. All the financial wizzes are discussing how the assets will be carved up. I see no point in dealing with Sears Craftsman any longer.. While I am no fan of companies having multiple lines with similar but incompatible stuff SBD is incredibly successful and seems to being showing no signs of streamlining their offerings. What do I know? Harbor Freight has how many different battery systems?
What I am curious about is the fate of the Sears Hometown, Hardware and Appliance, and Outlet stores. They are franchised by another corporation that is not bankrupt. Guess who owns that? Eddie Lambert, of course. The stock in those stores belongs to Sears Holdings. If Sears goes under, they will have to be stocked from another source if they stay open. I was in my Sears Hardware a few weeks ago and things looked pretty bare but I went back a few days ago and they now seem well stocked.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

The last Sears Hardware near me closed about a year ago. The last Sears near me is closing at the end of this month. I was actually in the store today, trying to get a couple warranty exchanges on a couple Craftsman hand tools. The tool section was a complete mess, but eventually I found some of what I wanted. There were none of the new 20V tools in stock - not really surprised - you don't give CPR to a dead man.

 

[cwhocares40]

I have a Craftsman 20 volt Bolt-on Model 900.16496. The trigger no longer works. Any ideas on where to get parts or how to repair?

 

[dstblj52]

I have a Craftsman 20 volt Bolt-on Model 900.16496. The trigger no longer works. Any ideas on where to get parts or how to repair?

you can either try with craftsman good luck or look up the black and decker clone and try here https://www.toolservicenet.com/

 

[mrvm]

Simply stay away even if it’s dirt cheap on clearance. Problem solved

 

[Bubba Fett]

I would hesitate on any Sears Craftsman cordless tools no matter how low the price is. Eddie Lampert and the rest of the upper management have run Sears into the ground, and they don't deserve another penny IMO.

 

[dstblj52]

I would hesitate on any Sears Craftsman cordless tools no matter how low the price is. Eddie Lampert and the rest of the upper management have run Sears into the ground, and they don't deserve another penny IMO.

I would agree but from the discription it sounds like he already owns it

 

[Bacon!]

I have a Craftsman 20 volt Bolt-on Model 900.16496. The trigger no longer works. Any ideas on where to get parts or how to repair?

Are you certain it is the trigger that failed? Have you taken it out and electrically tested, isolated that it it is the switch instead of the transistor on the separate metal slug attached to this assembly? That's a very useful thing to do because the transistor can be replaced separately, is not a Sears part # but given enough info a suitable replacement could be found on an electronics supplier site for a buck or two plus postage, but depending on how they manufactured it, may or may no require some soldering, or may just be a connector that slips onto the transistors legs, which is what it looks like in the video linked below.

While you have it out, get the part # off the switch, and manufacturer if that is shown.

I saw a video where someone repaired a broken wire going to the motor, if you are uncertain it's the trigger switch that failed you might check for that too, but in the video I saw no part # visible but if the same as yours, offers a pretty good look at the form factor so should allow you to make a match if you find some listing on amazon or ebay that isn't specific to the Craftsman models it works with.

The other option is see if the switch assembly can be opened, hopefully after isolating it to the switch (really probably more of a potentiometer), whether there is a mechanical failure or just something like a carbon track buildup or wiper that needs some tension added to it, or if non-recoverable such as severe scorch part or molten plastic preventing alignment of the assembly.

There's really too many directions to go in without your already doing more investigative work and/or telling us what that uncovered. More details. Maybe that is just a waste of time but it's the usual place to start to make it easier for us to help.

I could go on and on speculating but it may not be productive without more info. I mean I know in the ideal world we all just want the link to the part to swap but when it's not so simple to find that, the devil is in the details to work with what you have.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

As suggested in the post above ^^^, your best bet is going to be opening it up and figuring out at the component level what has failed. Although the Craftsman 20V Max line is BATTERY-compatible with the B&D 20V Max, the Bolt-on line is different from what B&D offered. Perhaps if you could find out who actually manufactured the Craftsman 20V Max tools, you *might* have a chance. Maybe it is the same OEM who made the B&D 20V Max stuff.

It might be worth calling "Craftsman", just to see how they would handle the call. Just realize that at this point you're calling Black & Decker, since they own the Craftsman name that Sears sold off. Please report back.

 

[dstblj52]

As suggested in the post above ^^^, your best bet is going to be opening it up and figuring out at the component level what has failed. Although the Craftsman 20V Max line is BATTERY-compatible with the B&D 20V Max, the Bolt-on line is different from what B&D offered. Perhaps if you could find out who actually manufactured the Craftsman 20V Max tools, you *might* have a chance. Maybe it is the same OEM who made the B&D 20V Max stuff.

It might be worth calling "Craftsman", just to see how they would handle the call. Just realize that at this point you're calling Black & Decker, since they own the Craftsman name that Sears sold off. Please report back.

It was sources through black and decker so I doubt it's all that different

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

It was sources through black and decker so I doubt it's all that different

That's entirely possible. I wonder what the depth of knowledge is about these things within the walls of SBD. Look forward to hearing how things work out with "cwhocares40". I wonder if he's still following this thread given that he hasn't posted since the initial post on the topic.

​

 

[Kenskip1]

Well, I may as well jump into this one. I now own three Craftsman 20 volt power tools. A cordless angle grinder, (not the cheap one) and a 3/8ths and 1/2 impacts wrench. All the lug nuts on my F150 are torqued to 150lbs.The 3/8 dive impact removed the lug nuts . Yes it took a second or two but it did the job. The 1/2 drive specifies it has 350 lbs of loosing torque. For the price I believe that this is a good buy. I am not a professional but have been known to work on vehicles. Brakes ball joints, that sort of thing. So I am happy with my craftsman 20 volt tools.

 

[Torque Test Channel]

Well, I may as well jump into this one. I now own three Craftsman 20 volt power tools. A cordless angle grinder, (not the cheap one) and a 3/8ths and 1/2 impacts wrench. All the lug nuts on my F150 are torqued to 150lbs.The 3/8 dive impact removed the lug nuts . Yes it took a second or two but it did the job. The 1/2 drive specifies it has 350 lbs of loosing torque. For the price I believe that this is a good buy. I am not a professional but have been known to work on vehicles. Brakes ball joints, that sort of thing. So I am happy with my craftsman 20 volt tools.

The brushed model is rated at 350, that one pictured is rated at 275.

The reason you've been happy with Craftsman is you mainly have their impacts, which factually, not just our opinion, are very underrated.

 

[driftpin]

I have many of the 19.2V tools, nearly all of my OEM Li-ion batteries are depleted. I used Amazon prime to source replacement batteries, they arrived charged, and seem to be functioning equal to the XPR Sears 19.2V batteries. I also got a pre-C3 19.2V non Li-ion battery for a older craftsman drill, and it also is working well with the Amazon battery. Like one of the other posters, I looked for one that had good ratings, they arrived promptly and have worked like the OEM. As-long as I can obtain decent non-OEM replacements, I see no need to change platforms. It's hobby work and around the houses maintenance.

I agree about trying to discover the exact cause of the trigger not-working. You might find it's something you can repair without having to replace the entire switch.

 

[Kenskip1]

The brushed model is rated at 350, that one pictured is rated at 275.

The reason you've been happy with Craftsman is you mainly have their impacts, which factually, not just our opinion, are very underrated.

You are 100% correct on this. However I chose the brushless 275 for two reasons. Yes I would like more muscle however, the weight of the brushed model could have given me problems. I have have had two surgeries on my neck and this has to do with my muscle control on my right hand and arm. The extra weight can cause me to literally drop the tool. In other words, I only have partial strength in my right hand Plus the brushless model fits better in my hand. In situations like these it can be a royal pain being right handed, Ken

 

[Torque Test Channel]

Haven't even tested the brushed model, not sure what it makes. The brushless 275 one particularly, a very good buy for the $

 

[Badgerstate]

Im probably a bit biased but Ive got a few Craftsman V20 tools and I think theyre pretty awesome. Im coming off of being a Ryobi tool user for a number of years now and IMO, Craftsman is an upgrade over Ryobi in every way.
Ive got the brushless 1/4" impact driver, the V20 flashlight, V20 trimmer/edger and V20 leaf blower and couldnt be happier.
At this point, I dont miss Ryobi at all. The only Ryobi tool I have left is my One+ random orbit sander and Im just waiting for that thing to die so that I can replace it too.