Battery Tool Kits

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reckedracing

TTIWWOP
VIP
So I have a battery drill, and ryobi or ridgid tool set, and all of the battery no longer accept charges.
Debating on purchasing new battery, or just buying a new kit.
I know Dewalt is the best and contractor grade, not sure it's worth the price but... you get what you pay for and all that.
I'd like to have a drill, circ saw and recip saw. Currently checking out the lowes sales for these 10 piece and 7 piece sets. Anyone know if the 20 volt Max is that much better than the 20 volt non-max?

All opinions welcome.
 
I am a commercial carpenter, and all the trades seem to be going Milwaukee. I have had my Milwaukee set for 2 years and love it. The fuel line is awesome. but there regular stuff is good. The have a huge line up of tools, and the batteries will work with landscaping equipment. Their impact wrenches have some impressive number and seem good. 5 year warranty. I sent my hackzall out for service and received a brand new one. Home depot has some really good deal on them sometimes, especially when they go on sale for the deal of the day.

Go brushless on the impact and drill with whatever system you go with. For the other tools determine if its worth spending the money to get brushless for how often you will use the tool. For example the brushed Milwaukee grinder is good for small stuff and lighter use. The brushless fuel grinder will keep up with a corded grinder but has more cost.

Dewalt is very good, a lot of guys still have them and swear by them. I will have to look into the max,but I think its the brushless line.
 
Milfuckee fuel line
Makita
Milfuckee regular line
Dewilt
Cryobi / rigid / kobalt

All of these are pro-sumer to home gamer level tools.

And they all run on the Gillette plan, of selling you the tool cheap(ish) then bending you over on the batteries (blades) for the rest of your life.

For home gamer use the cryobi / rigid / kobalt will do the job all damn day for less money with cheaper batteries. Seeing that you are not making your money with these, I'd get the lowest cost ones that will get the job done and have a reasonable level of support.

Personally I'll probably be grabbing a cryobi set around Black Friday for dirt cheap with a couple batteries and maybe the 30 minute charger. Because they should be more than enough for what I'm ever likely to do with them. And the lithium batteries are backwards compatible with the older blue tools.
 
my old dewalt drill driver was awesome. unfortunately i don't remember if i left it somewhere or let someone borrow it :(

my friends all have milwaukee equipment. i used a cordless impact to remove the crank bolt off my kia. it was painless... my corded impact couldn't get it. the milwaukee impact was almost 300 though.


i'm with E - i'll also be looking for a cheap ryobi multipak. something with a drill/driver, flashlight and a spare battery. i've currently got a harbor freight driver/light combo that is absolute shit but worked awesome for 3 years and i spent $30
 
So my old tool set is a Ridgid combo pack, I think it used the old 18v Ni-Cad batteries.

I started researching just buying new batteries.
2 Ni-Cad batteries are $150 from amazon, but I found the below post.

My set was a hand me down, and the 2 battery charger only had one functional side, so I'm thinking of just buying a new charger and battery or two.

2 batteries, a changer, and a tool for $180 currently at home depot.
I think I have a drill, recip, circular, and a light, can't even remember what's in the kit.


The original dual charger should NOT be used for lithium ion batteries!
There are now 4 generations of the single charger.
The first generation single should not be used to charge lithium ion batteries
Any charger that has the words "multi-chemical" or "Li-ion" are OK to charge ANY Ridgid battery.
Using the wrong charger with the lithium ion batteries is at your own risk and if the batteries fail
they may not be exchanged by the lifetime agreement or 3 year warranty.
All 18V batteries being Ni-cads or first run lithium-ion or the newest third generation X4
lithium-ion batteries will work with ALL Ridgid 18V power tools and for that matter even the dual voltage
power tools 18V/24V.
 
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The batteries are a slippery slope, too. Because you figure once you have the battery, you might as well get other products in the line. Then you're really fucked, because now you have all these tools married to the batteries.

So I have have an Milwaukee impact, drill, saw zaw, buffer, weed waker and leaf blower.

Except for the leaf blower, all the tools have been great. The leaf blower works fine performance wise, but chews through batteries too quickly. I'd say someone with a city lot would be fine, but I have 1/2 acre and I have to rotate three batteries to make it worthwhile.
 
I have a Ridgid X4 hammer drill and also X4 impact gun. They are of varying ages maybe 2-5 years old. A couple of the batteries have stopped charging but the tools are pretty durable.

Used Milwaukee for work about 7 years ago and they were pretty bulletproof.
 
Keep an eye out at Home Depot with holiday deals. They usually have get 1 or 2 free tools when buying a kit.

I think in the spring, fastenal has good deals on Dewalt.
 
I finally replaced my old electric drill and after some research and getting some drills in my hands I ended up with the Kobalt drill. It’s a very good drill with the main benefits being cheap replacement batteries.

Only downside is the risk of Lowe’s killing off kobalt.

so far it looks like they are sticking with the brand but who knows what tomorrow may bring.
 
so i checked out the kit I have and it only includes the recip, drill, and a flashlight that i think needs a new bulb.
not sure its really worth it to pick up batteries just to keep 2 old tools in service that have undetermined life left to them.
they have a good deal on a dewalt 8 or 10 piece set, but i'll keep an eye on black friday and similar holiday sales.

i don't even use the tools much, but i feel like a chump having to borrow a drill from someone when i needed it.
 
Another thing to factor in to your decision, is what do people you know that are likely to help you with a project run. If they run _____, you having _____ means that the batteries will be compatible across both of your tools. (Label your batteries to keep them from growing legs)
 
Ditch the old set. The newer stuff will be lighter, and more efficient. You said you have a drill, I don't know if you have ever used an impact driver, but once you use one you will wonder why you were using a drill for screws. I have some older Ridgid that I used before switching to Milwaukee. It is poorly balanced and eats batteries compared to the newer stuff. You said Nicad, so I am figuring that its atleast 10 years old.

Like E said about the batteries, its nice for me that most people are running Milwaukee because I can borrow an extra charger or battery in a pinch.

Whats your budget?
 
Budget, I'm not sure on that yet.
I want to do some home projects, but the likely hood of that happening are probably pretty low.
So I'm torn between wanting quality tools, and the realization that they will mostly collect dust besides the various odds and ends stuff around the house.
I was looking at the Milwaukee sets. More comfortable with the sales on Dewalt prices.
 
For my drill motor battery's, I run Makita. I've had the same setup for 12 years and only have replaced batteries. They're excellent. I have a handful of tools and they're great.
 
ryobi has served me well. I've added a few li-ion batteries to my old blue tools and it works great. must be 15 years old now and still chugging along.
 
Just finally upgraded to a Milwaukee fuel surge impact. Came with a charger and a 5AH battery and a 9AH battery. Was $300. Red is basically all I've used at work the last couple years so I wanted to have my own at home finally.
 
The fuel surge impact is fucking sweet. Nice and quiet, has great control on speed 1 for lighter work. A regular impact will be better for longer screws but the surge was not designed for it. I got mine with the sheetrock gun and 2 batteries for $199 a year and a half ago. I was thinking the last thing I needed was another impact but I love it more than the fuel impact I have.
How heavy is the 9 amp?
 
The fuel surge impact is fucking sweet. Nice and quiet, has great control on speed 1 for lighter work. A regular impact will be better for longer screws but the surge was not designed for it. I got mine with the sheetrock gun and 2 batteries for $199 a year and a half ago. I was thinking the last thing I needed was another impact but I love it more than the fuel impact I have.
How heavy is the 9 amp?

The 9 amp is a tank. It's a little overkill for the impact. The adjustable speed is a nice feature. I always default to 3 though and just use trigger control to vary speeds.
 
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