Corded vs cordless tools

[Hobby_Man22]

I don't have a single cordless tool. Really the only cordless tool necessary is a drill mainly out of convenience. You run outside real quick and hang something on the fence and be done.

Now with that being said I still have the two dewalt corded drills I bought like 17 years ago. Looks like they still make the models changing nothing other than adding rubber on the handle. So my point is what is the lifespan if I went out and bought a 20v drill and a 20v 1/4" impact driver. Those are sweet btw. The reason I never bought these cordless tools is because I always figured after a couple years they'll change the battery design and you'll have to buy a new tool. Opinions?

 

[zendriver]

I have a set of Chinese made Craftsman 19.2V Li-ion that are 13 year old and still work fine. Original batteries, but they are still easily available.

I almost never use corded tools, unless that's the only option.

If I have to do something like long duration hard drilling, I'll use a heavy duty corded drill, VS cordless.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I prefer cordless. It’s much more convenient and at my shop there isn’t really a close place to plug in anything near a workspace. I do have two corded Black and Decker vintage drills that I got free at yard sales but I’ve never used them they do work though. I always grab my Porter Cable cordless drill and it does what I need it to do. But I much prefer air over either one because of the power and sound.

 

[Walkers]

If you buys DeWalt, Milwaukee, Mikita, they are not likely to change any time soon, as they will have a lot of pissed off customers. You will likely be able to get current 18v batteries for at least several decades. Buy a drill and impact driver set. You will be hard pressed to return to corded tools afterward.

 

[lardy1]

Most of my power tools are old, contractor grade corded tools. Nearly all made in USA. When they stop working I'll replace them. I'm currently on my fourth cordless drill. None of the four can hold a candle to my corded drills. I get that cordless is now the way to go. But simple economics rule in my case.

 

[M635_Guy]

Not everything needs to be cordless (e.g. miter saws for most of us), but lots of things benefit massively from going cordless - nailers, routers, circular saws, drills, impacts, etc.

I do not trust "house brands" (e.g. the new Craftsman, Kobalt, etc.) but I do think you can rely on Milwaukee, DeWalt and Ryobi to maintain compatibility/stability for a long time to come.

I kinda hate cords, so I'm willing to live with the risk.

 

[alinc100]

Since you are in Texas, the likelyhood of freezing is minimal. Lithium Ion batteries do not like being stored in cold ,freezing temps. Here in Michigan I bring all my batteries, Makita,Craftsman,DeWalt into the basement work room for the winter. Also if you get a couple extra batteries you can rotate them through your usage/tools/charger and keep them maintained,full charge and ready when you are.
And once you go cordless the options are unlimited. For example if you were to go Dewalt at HD right now when you buy the charger and (I believe) a 2.0 battery you get a choice of a free multi-tool, random orbit sander or hackzall for $99 + tax. It's a great way to add a tool and then have a spare battery ready to go.

 

[Packard V8]

Most of my power tools are old, contractor grade corded tools. Nearly all made in USA. When they stop working I'll replace them. I'm currently on my fourth cordless drill. None of the four can hold a candle to my corded drills. I get that cordless is now the way to go. But simple economics rule in my case.

For true. Those of us old enough to have been around since the beginning got shafted three or four iterations ago. For years, go to any garage sale, Habitat store, pawn shop, thrift shop and there would be boxes of useless battery powered tools. The NiCad batteries just weren't ready for prime time and the voltages kept increasing.

But yes, today's LiOn batteries are infinitely better, albiet infinitely more expensive.

But no, they're not going to last forever. I've gone through several Ryobi 40-volt batteries and chargers.

And yes, I've got AC-powered everything which are from thirty to seventy-five-years-old and will be working after I'm gone. In home use, it's impossible to wear out the top quality AC powered tools.

jack vines

 

[Black300zx]

There's definitely a place for corded and cordless in most of our use cases, and everyone is going to be different in what's best. If you've gotten by without a need to go cordless, then kudos to you!

For me, I was somewhat building my took collection from scratch, but i had a few corded tools that did the job just fine because I'd never need to use them more than 10ft or so from an outlet.

My old Milwaukee circular saw is a prime example. I finally grabbed a 5.5in Ryobi circ saw yesterday when my wife asked me if I could replace a bunch of fence boards at her farm. Last time it was only a couple that needed replacement, so I got by with my M12 hackzall. No way I'm going to go that route again for 10-20 boards

 

[subroc]

Well, I am not sure what you are asking. I expect these lithium ion batteries to be around for the foreseeable future. Unless...

I like my battery powered stuff. A lot. I started with a 14.4 drill. It worked great for everything I needed a drill to do. I sold it and bought an 18v Dewalt set. I added more 18 volt tools. Sold some stuff, Bought some Dewalt 20 volt Litium Ion battery powered stuff. The adapters came along so I power my earlier 18 volt stuff with the 20 volt batteries. I now have 25+ pieces between lights and drills and saws and yard tools, 20+ batteries etc. The idea of dragging a cord when a cordless tool is available seems like a waste of time to me. Plus, anyone ever swept a bench or work surface with a cord or airline and dropped some box of stuff on the floor?

Anyway, I guess I would ask, why wouldn't you want cordless tools.

Good luck

 

[American Locomotive]

The main issue with most corded tools is that the vast majority of them are still stuck in 1995, as that is around when most manufacturers started really pushing cordless development. They're all still use brushed motors, are loud, bulky, and lack all of the features most modern cordless tools have.

There are some exceptions. For example, both Hitachi/MetaboHPT and DeWalt now have corded brushless angle grinders, which are really sweet.

For the most part, I prefer cordless tools these days. The exceptions are for sustained, heavy work. So in this case, that usually means angle-grinding or cutting with a recip saw. Don't get me wrong - I still use a cordless angle grinder and cordless recip saw frequently, but they just can't do that work sustained.

 

[Neggy]

I have a M18 Hackzall and it does what I expect it to do, I do not expect it to do constant long run times. I cut tree branches with it for the most part... when the palm tree branches fall I cut them up into 6 foot lengths for ease of moving them.

The battery and brushless motor technology has made quantum leaps over the last 10 years, the electric stuff, especially in the 18V and up department.

I bought a bunch of M12 stuff I am really happy with including a stubby 3/8 impact I have in FL and a 1/2" one I have here at the shop in NH that is getting constant use on customer cars... it has not given any indication that it is getting tired and it has turned out to be a really good purchase.

The only other M18 tool I have besides the Hackzall is the high torque 1/2 inch gun... and that can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

We had a customer beat his lug nuts on with one and it took us almost 3 hours to get the wheels off the car... I had to caution him not to do it again.... after he had a good chunk of change added to his bill for new lug nuts, studs, and extraction time.

The M18 line has a lot of interesting tools, but at my age I am getting "tooled out" as I am not working much due to taking care of my 92 year old Mom full time.... but if I see something i think I'll use and it is reasonable money, I'll buy it.

PS the only time I have used my compressor in Florida in the last year was to lift and lower the motorcycle lift table. My M12 inflatior with a 4AH battery keeps the tires to the various vehicles inflated. When I get a ding from my garage security camera it is usually my neighbor helping himself to one of the M series tools.... he has come to enjoy them

 

[WAID]

As a general rule of thumb I avoid cordless tools. For home use, I'll probably be able to pass my corded tools down to my son and have them work. Battery powered stuff is at the mercy of the campanies making the batteries. I do have a drill and impact driver. I will probably replace some gas lawn equipment with cordless stuff at some point in the future as cords are a hassle in that application. Mostly waiting for that market to mature a little and have aome better battery format stability.

 

[PoorUB]

I have a cordless drill and cordless impact. The rest of my tools have cords.

I look at how often I use the tool. Occasionally, I get corded. Regularly I get cordless. I have tools that are 30-40 years old I still use. If they were battery they would have been replaced 2-3 times.

 

[SamuraiJack]

I have a 10 year old cordless drill that is still going strong. The batteries charge so fast that there is no waiting around for one to charge. my company has converted everything to cordless and have several hundred tools going strong. I don’t thing you can go wrong with the big name brands.

 

[bassJAM]

I wouldn't worry about the staying power of corded tools, they are made for commercial daily use and these days I think manufacturers have learned to pick a battery platform and stick with it. I bought a Bosch impact driver and drill combo 10 years ago when I bought my house. That impact driver gets used every weekend from home projects to automotive stuff and it's still kicking, as are the original batteries (which are stored in my unheated garage year round). Over time I've added bare tools such as a circular saw, reciprocating saw, vacuum. I might pull out a corded tool these days for big jobs, but cordless is certainly up to the task. I build a 12x12 raised deck/kids playset last summer using my cordless tools for 99% of the work, only pulling out the hypoid drive circular saw for the final trimming of the deck boards after they were down, mostly because I'm far more accurate in straight lines with that saw. I wasn't sure 2 battery packs would get me through 8 hour days of driving structural screws and making cuts through 4x4's but they did it no problem (I was often charging one pack while using the other.

If you stick with Bosch, Dewalt, Makita and Milwaukee you're good to go for a minimum of a decade, probably much longer. Ryobi seems pretty good as well.

 

[CJM8515]

i went pretty much all cordless. and I have about 15 or so. years ago I bought some a porter cable 9.6V nicad drill, that little thing didnt give up till a few years ago (10 years old?). Then I found on clearance some cheapo porter cable lith ones, but the batteries were 2ah so they were decent but nothing special. They still work well too.

These days I have all milwaukee cordless. They cater to mechanics with all their M12 and M18 impacts. I have only had 2 issues in like 15+ tools. 1. The 3/8 cordless impact selector would move easy and get stuck between switching loose to tighten. sent it back no more issue they gave me the updated model and 2. the drill (and I tried like 4 different models as they came out with new versions) chuck *****. it is out of round. $50 rohm chuck fixed that though.

I wont use a cordless power saw, sanders or sawzall, nor grinder. just to power hungry. Hell I did buy a cordless weedwacker and blower however and been quite happy.

I see no reason to use corded stuff except for the heavy duty tools

 

[ike]

Dewalt's 18v cordless line came out in the mid 90's, then they switched to the 20v (lithium) style battery around 2010.
They still sell the 18v batteries, I can go to my local Home Depot and buy one today. I can also buy an adapter to run the old 18v NiCd tools off the new lithium batteries.

So if you bought some new Dewalt 18v tools in say 1996, you can still walk into the store today, 25 years later, and buy the batteries of your choice to run them.

Given that information, the 20v tools for sale today should be good for at least another 25 years, and since the 25 year old 18v tools can use their batteries with the adapters, that would put the 18v tools as not obsolete for about 50ish years.

Based on this, I wouldn't worry too much about cordless tools from a reputable manufacturer becoming obsolete any time soon.

 

[Bighead38]

i went pretty much all cordless. and I have about 15 or so. years ago I bought some a porter cable 9.6V nicad drill, that little thing didnt give up till a few years ago (10 years old?). Then I found on clearance some cheapo porter cable lith ones, but the batteries were 2ah so they were decent but nothing special. They still work well too.

These days I have all milwaukee cordless. They cater to mechanics with all their M12 and M18 impacts. I have only had 2 issues in like 15+ tools. 1. The 3/8 cordless impact selector would move easy and get stuck between switching loose to tighten. sent it back no more issue they gave me the updated model and 2. the drill (and I tried like 4 different models as they came out with new versions) chuck *****. it is out of round. $50 rohm chuck fixed that though.

I wont use a cordless power saw, sanders or sawzall, nor grinder. just to power hungry. Hell I did buy a cordless weedwacker and blower however and been quite happy.

I see no reason to use corded stuff except for the heavy duty tools

Funny because the m18 sawzall is one of my favorites. It’s a beast.

 

[Ralf11]

I prefer cordless. It’s much more convenient for one thing.

It's hard to run a cord all the way to the far end of my property. I need to do some sanding on the deck that runs down the hill in back and I was just thinking how many ext. cords I'll have to stack up to get there. (They haven't heated up and started a fire yet...)

 

[Rinspeed]

Cordless tools have their place but a quality corded tool will last a very long time. Battery technology pretty much ***** and most batteries will be obsolete within four or five years. I have quality corded tools that are 20-30 years old and still going strong.

 

[rancherbill]

If I was just starting out today, I would only buy cordless tools. Corded and Air tools are expensive and inconvenient and I think a safety tripping hazard.

I have a close to a thousand bucks ******* in compressor, airlines, extension cords etc. That 1,000 doesn't do anything thing other that make it possible to actually buy a tool to do something.

 

[subroc]

Funny because the m18 sawzall is one of my favorites. It’s a beast.

I think highly of my battery powered reciprocating saw as well or battery powered saws in general.

 

[CJM8515]

Funny because the m18 sawzall is one of my favorites. It’s a beast.

its good if you have the 9 or 12ah battery, but with a 6 or 5ah battery it ***** it down to quick. plus, i already have a corded sawzall.

i feel the saws, sanders and grinders are just to continuous use for a battery. the battery is run down to quick. plus the corded versions are fairly cheap for most people vs cordless.

 

[subroc]

its good if you have the 9 or 12ah battery, but with a 6 or 5ah battery it ***** it down to quick. plus, i already have a corded sawzall.

i feel the saws, sanders and grinders are just to continuous use for a battery. the battery is run down to quick. plus the corded versions are fairly cheap for most people vs cordless.

Buy another battery. Buy a bigger battery. Have enough batteries to do the job.

 

[CJM8515]

Buy another battery. Buy a bigger battery. Have enough batteries to do the job.

corded is cheaper in the long run in those cases. but hey thats my opinion. i might say otherwise if i was in a spot where power was an issue or i was a contractor

 

[American Locomotive]

Yup. Absurd to spend $600 on 12ah batteries to get continuous use out of an angle grinder when a $150 tool with a $25 extension cord would do the same.

 

[subroc]

Yup. Absurd to spend $600 on 12ah batteries to get continuous use out of an angle grinder when a $150 tool with a $25 extension cord would do the same.

Lot of people spending $600 for that battery?

 

[Rabid Badger]

If I'm carrying it around with me, give me battery power. I'm even starting to think about swapping my beloved Fein oscillating saw for a cordless Makita.

 

[American Locomotive]

Lot of people spending $600 for that battery?

No idea. A Milwaukee 12AH battery is $200. You'd realistically need 3 of them to run the tool continuously for an hour. That's $600 in batteries, +$200 tool + Chargers.

 

[subroc]

Absurd. Then you are exactly the guy that wouldn't benefit from a cordless tool. Stick with corded tools. No benefit to you.

I expect the rest of the cordless reciprocating saw using world would get by just fine with a couple/few 4ah or 5ah batteries.

 

[zze86]

The battery tech is pretty mature these days so I don't expect any of the cordless stuff to change much. Plus the companies AND consumers are invested enough in the current tooling that unless there is a HUGE performance increase its unlikely things will change soon.

I like the convenience of the cordless stuff. Just grab and go for the most part. I have three batteries for both my Milwaukee M12 and M18 systems so there's usually always a battery ready for me. The batteries are an extra expense although your capacity can be built up and via sales.

That being said, when I need the power, I reach for the corded/air tools.

 

[PoorUB]

To those commenting on you can buy batteries, they are available for older tools.
Well certainly they are but two batteries generally cost 3/4ths the price of a new tool with two batteries and charger.
Over the years I know I have tossed at least two cordless drills because batteries were almost as much as a totally new setup.
Now you can buy Chinese replacements at less money, but unsure of the quality.

As for battery life, I remember doing some demolition with a DeWalt sawzall. I had four batteries and two chargers running constantly to keep up.

 

[The Cobbler]

this is an ongoing debate, and I didn't read all of the posts.
Cordless have their place. I wouldn't be without a cordless drill & driver . I have corded tools that are 35 yrs old still going strong . sure I need an extension cord, but who cares? they work just fine for what I expect of them , and the work I do. how many battery tools will be around in 35 yrs?
now, lets say for a window installer, yes, cordless makes sense for recip saw etc.
I'm quite happy to not buy into the all cordless theme.

 

[Marc Voorhees]

FWIW, I bought my 20V porter Cable set 8-10 years ago, and they are in excellent condition, never burned out a battery, and an still able to easily find new batteries if I wanted. I have corded tools for certain jobs, jigsaws, hammer drill, circ saw. But the cordless tools are my daily drivers for pretty much everything around the house.

 

[JazzBlueRT]

Not everything needs to be cordless (e.g. miter saws for most of us), but lots of things benefit massively from going cordless - nailers, routers, circular saws, drills, impacts, etc.

I do not trust "house brands" (e.g. the new Craftsman, Kobalt, etc.) but I do think you can rely on Milwaukee, DeWalt and Ryobi to maintain compatibility/stability for a long time to come.

I kinda hate cords, so I'm willing to live with the risk.

Ryobi is Home Depot's house brand.

 

[Kscardsfan]

I don't have a single cordless tool. Really the only cordless tool necessary is a drill mainly out of convenience. You run outside real quick and hang something on the fence and be done.

Now with that being said I still have the two dewalt corded drills I bought like 17 years ago. Looks like they still make the models changing nothing other than adding rubber on the handle. So my point is what is the lifespan if I went out and bought a 20v drill and a 20v 1/4" impact driver. Those are sweet btw. The reason I never bought these cordless tools is because I always figured after a couple years they'll change the battery design and you'll have to buy a new tool. Opinions?

You’re 20 years behind the times in that mindset. The only corded stuff I’ll buy going forward is going to be stationary tools or stuff that I just can’t justify the price of the cordless version in. I’m still using corded worm drive saws, but that’s a limited amount of time left on those I’d bet.

 

[finn]

I think the last corded tools I bought were a Milwaukee drill and a Ryobi drill, about ten years ago, and a Bosch and Dewalt miter saw, Gave the Riobi hammer drill to my son, and use the Milwaukee maybe one day per year.


The tools I commonly use are almost exclusively battery powered, or air tools, with corded limited to a few grinders and bench tools like the drill press, aforementioned miter saws, and belt sander. Even the impacts are battery though, as is my newest angle grinder. I should have waited for battery miter saws to enter the market instead of buying corded.

I do have corded tools that are fifty years old, but they are mostly dust collectors.... that any tool will be desirable to use after fifteen ten to fifteen years is a weak and bogus argument for not switching to battery. Time brings technology advancement and obsolescence to old power tools.

 

[subroc]

I see a constant here. Some posters have a corded tool that is decade/s old. They will not upgrade or change from a working corded tool to a cordless tool therefore the OP needs a corded tool.

 

[American Locomotive]

Absurd. Then you are exactly the guy that wouldn't benefit from a cordless tool. Stick with corded tools. No benefit to you.

I expect the rest of the cordless reciprocating saw using world would get by just fine with a couple/few 4ah or 5ah batteries.

What are you on about? I never said cordless tools had no benefit (to me, or anyone). Battery powered angle grinders and recip saws are extremely useful tools.

I simply said the exception will be for sustained heavy work. Tools like battery powered angle grinders and recip saws are extremely hard on batteries, and even the biggest, baddest batteries will be flattened in about 20 minutes by the latest angle grinders. If you are in an application where you are using those tools almost continuously, you will be much better served by a corded tool. Those are really the only two applications and situations where cordless tools still lack.

Your reply of "Buy enough batteries for the job" is absurd, when a 12Ah battery is $200, and you'd need three of them + 2 chargers to run an angle grinder or recip saw effectively continuously.