dodge610
Well-known member
I am looking at a few of the porter cable 20 volt 1/4in. impact driver. I do not know much about the porter cable brand. Are they worth getting or should i look at different brands. They have a decent price point.
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Porter Cable
- Thread starter dodge610
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Parabellum
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I would go DeWalt or Bosch
white91formula
Well-known member
I have had some of the 18v stuff for years without problems. They are owned by dewalt so some of thier stuff has dewault internals. Look for a "d" in the model number. They have never let me down but there is better options out there. The batteries are also expensive, atleast for the 18v, compared to other brands with much less capacity.
What is the main purpose of use? Just home use? Youre probably good but I other brands have better battery options. I am in the middle of converting to milwaukee myself.
What is the main purpose of use? Just home use? Youre probably good but I other brands have better battery options. I am in the middle of converting to milwaukee myself.
AdamRos19
Well-known member
Dewalt and porter cable are both made by Stanley black and decker. Very similar cordless tools- I would not be surprised if the premium versions of PC are similar to the baseline or moderate dewalts in almost all specs even similar batteries. I know several people with them very hard to beat for the price my old ni-cad stuff lasted me 6 years before I decided to replace them- and only did that because I wanted Li-ion and one battery platform.
lbgradwell
Well-known member
...PC used to be a fairly good name.
PC used to be a very good name back in the day. But then it was acquired by the Stanley borg who "re-positioned" the name as a mid-price brand.
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kctyphoon
Banned
PC is marketed (these days) to be a home owner grade of cordless tools, rather than contractors or professional grade. Stanley owns a few different brands of cordless tools now, PC is one, Dewalt, and Mac tools are others. I believe PC's warranty also won't cover hard use damage since it's not considered a professional line (from things I've read on here). For light occasional use I'm sure they are fine. I'm sure they would even survive harder use, much like Ryobi does, but you'd be asking a lot of them to keep up the constant abuse of big jobs. Failures will probably be more frequent for them. Another thing is PC seems to have undergone a lot of change in not a huge amount of time, so platforms or tool design may only stick around for a few years - where as Dewalt is still making and supporting the same tools they made 20 years ago with only slight modifications to newer models.
If money is a factor - which it usually is, for general home/ hobby use I don't think you'd have a problem. If you can step up to Dewalt or Milwaukee a lot of doors open though when it comes to quality, tool choices, battery choices, availability, ect... As the saying goes, invest in a complete system and not just the first tools you're buying. Don't shrug off the brushed tools from someone like Milwaukee, in favor of the new brushless stuff PC has or is coming out with.. My brushed Milwaukee impact driver is stronger than the brushless Dewalt I also have. I have the Milwaukee fuel line too, along with many of the brushed counterparts. I can promise you the base model Milwaukee stuff is nothing to overlook.
If money is a factor - which it usually is, for general home/ hobby use I don't think you'd have a problem. If you can step up to Dewalt or Milwaukee a lot of doors open though when it comes to quality, tool choices, battery choices, availability, ect... As the saying goes, invest in a complete system and not just the first tools you're buying. Don't shrug off the brushed tools from someone like Milwaukee, in favor of the new brushless stuff PC has or is coming out with.. My brushed Milwaukee impact driver is stronger than the brushless Dewalt I also have. I have the Milwaukee fuel line too, along with many of the brushed counterparts. I can promise you the base model Milwaukee stuff is nothing to overlook.
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Loscaldazar
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I'd avoid Porter Cable. I have their 20V line up and my drill has something wrong with it (about a month out of warranty). I believe it to be the front main bearing or something like that. It still works to run a wire brush, but is useless for drilling now. My 1/4 impact is fine, but that has been used about a dozen times, and the angle grinder is still going, but again, rarely used, and when it is used, it's for quick jobs that I don't want to get an extension cord and a corded angle grinder out for.
The power and performance is decent, but the line up is limited and based on my experience, they aren't built to last. If I could do it all again, I'd go for Ridgid Gen5 in this price point, or Milwaukee if you want to step up.
And for the record, I had the nicer line up of PC 20V tools. They have a father's day special line (more plastic, weaker motors, larger and heavier) and a heavier duty line with more powerful motors and are smaller/more compact. I had those heavier duty ones, which are fairly close to lower end DeWalt. Not pleased that the drill is having problems already.
The power and performance is decent, but the line up is limited and based on my experience, they aren't built to last. If I could do it all again, I'd go for Ridgid Gen5 in this price point, or Milwaukee if you want to step up.
And for the record, I had the nicer line up of PC 20V tools. They have a father's day special line (more plastic, weaker motors, larger and heavier) and a heavier duty line with more powerful motors and are smaller/more compact. I had those heavier duty ones, which are fairly close to lower end DeWalt. Not pleased that the drill is having problems already.
JMSVIDEOPRODUCTIONS
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I just went thru the "what cordless tool set to buy" debate myself... I wanted to start replacing my large collection of Ryobi... I spent a week or so researching and asking around from contractors to friends to looking at a ton of on-line reviews. I took a hard look and almost bought the Porter Cable line of 20 volt cordless. I love the design and they seemed really well-built. My biggest problem was that hardly anyone has them - wonder why? and they don't seem to be a consistent brand. I didn't want to invest in all of the tools and then they change battery design and new batteries don't fit the older tools - just went thru that with Ridgid a couple of years back. So I would up buying a small 20 volt Dewalt drill and two battery with charger kit from Lowe's for $129.99 and I loved it. I had never even touched a Dewalt product but I was hooked on the quality and the battery life. So got on Craigslist and found a used 20volt Drill, Impact, Recip saw, Circle saw and LED Flashlight kit for $175.00 - even came with two of the larger batteries with the meters on them - so for about $300.00 bucks I got into Dewalt full speed and I'm a happy camper. I think just by the shear amount of folks that use Dewalt they must be pretty tough tools. We shall see.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Once upon a time Porter-Cable was as good as it gets. Then Stanley bought them and now they're Lowes version of Ryobi. Another great brand bites the dust. Their routers are still good but the rest of there stuff has gone down market.
maxpower_hd
Well-known member
I have two PC routers and a circular saw that are older. They have Made in USA stickers still on them. I love all three. Now I'm not sure you can find a power tool made here.
As far as cordless goes I have no experience with PC. I have used several others though and like Makita and Bosch. Milwaukee is pretty good too.
As far as cordless goes I have no experience with PC. I have used several others though and like Makita and Bosch. Milwaukee is pretty good too.
I have the following drill/driver from dewalt.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-20-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Combo-Kit-with-Soft-Case/50169133
My brother has the following drill/driver from porter cable.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABL...ion-Cordless-Combo-Kit-with-Soft-Case/4751832
I currently have been using both on the construction of my deck. I have had zero problems with each and battery run time has been pretty much the same(1.5amp battery). Both perform the same driving 3" deck screws as far as speed goes.
Some advantages to Dewalt:
lighter
better ergonomics
better led light
a bit quieter
A lot more tools in the 20V lineup(depends on if you would want to buy more cordless tools)
Some advantages to Porter cable:
cheaper
I really like the magnets on the top of the drill/driver great for extra bits or screws.
If I didn't have the dewalt to compare I would have no problem with the porter cable especially if its just for home owner use. But, for the $20 difference I would buy the dewalt.
Hope this helps.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-20-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Combo-Kit-with-Soft-Case/50169133
My brother has the following drill/driver from porter cable.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABL...ion-Cordless-Combo-Kit-with-Soft-Case/4751832
I currently have been using both on the construction of my deck. I have had zero problems with each and battery run time has been pretty much the same(1.5amp battery). Both perform the same driving 3" deck screws as far as speed goes.
Some advantages to Dewalt:
lighter
better ergonomics
better led light
a bit quieter
A lot more tools in the 20V lineup(depends on if you would want to buy more cordless tools)
Some advantages to Porter cable:
cheaper
I really like the magnets on the top of the drill/driver great for extra bits or screws.
If I didn't have the dewalt to compare I would have no problem with the porter cable especially if its just for home owner use. But, for the $20 difference I would buy the dewalt.
Hope this helps.
Empty Pockets
Well-known member
PC used to be as good as it gets. I have several of their routers from 25 or more years ago. *** are still going strong (also all made in USA). When they droppef the model 100, I was beyond upset. It was a good light to medium duty all purpose router.
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My dad has PC 18v NiCd tools. Next door neighbour has PC 20v LiIon tools. Each use my Bosch 18v more than their own.
For non cordless tools there are some gems branded PC. 330 sander, the floor DP that Lowe's sells, its' cousin the bandsaw, rat tail angle grinder, and anything old enough to be prior to the B&D purchase. For woodworkers, they were never equivalent to Powermatic across the board but were a staple in a lot of cabinet shops for decades.
Do not buy the PC planer. No bueno.
For non cordless tools there are some gems branded PC. 330 sander, the floor DP that Lowe's sells, its' cousin the bandsaw, rat tail angle grinder, and anything old enough to be prior to the B&D purchase. For woodworkers, they were never equivalent to Powermatic across the board but were a staple in a lot of cabinet shops for decades.
Do not buy the PC planer. No bueno.
Heavy Metal Doctor
Well-known member
I have both of the PC 18v and 20v sets of drill / driver and even the assortment set (grinder, sawzall, circular saw). I know it's not popular around here, but I have had great luck with mine and would highly recommend them as a great value for the price. They all get used regularly on home projects (anything from a new mail box post to building a pole barn to fab / body work when my kid had minor wreck with their car). One drill goes with me in my travel tools. A second 18v set of drill / 1/4" impact are used just about everyday at work for the last couple of years, maybe more like 3 years now.
B_Bimmer
Well-known member
I know two contractors who use all porter cable and have for many years. I did myself until I forgot my drill outside for a week in the rain and at the same time ended up with a dewalt set as part of a package deal I bought. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them. They hold up great and are less likely to grow legs.
i'll go against the grain.
i have a porter cable kit, 18v nicd. the drill has been through more abuse than anything i own and it wont stop running. same with the sawzall it came with. the circular saw was OK just at the battery up fairly quick.
upgraded to the lithium kit and couldn't be happier. honestly, for the price in my opinion they cannot be beat.
when i originally got my 18v kit years ago i was going to buy the same kit but a Dewalt, and noticed the warranty was exactly the same, so i went with the porter cable.
however now i think the warranty is 1 year for the PC and 3 for dewalt
i have a porter cable kit, 18v nicd. the drill has been through more abuse than anything i own and it wont stop running. same with the sawzall it came with. the circular saw was OK just at the battery up fairly quick.
upgraded to the lithium kit and couldn't be happier. honestly, for the price in my opinion they cannot be beat.
when i originally got my 18v kit years ago i was going to buy the same kit but a Dewalt, and noticed the warranty was exactly the same, so i went with the porter cable.
however now i think the warranty is 1 year for the PC and 3 for dewalt
Back in the day Porta Cable was awesome. Still have a bunch of Porta Cable tools purchased in the 80's and 90's that are still running strong. Not so sure anymore. Been buying Milwaukee lately and have had pretty good luck but not without problems.