Cordless drill questions

[jwnge]

Why not Rigid, lifetime replacement in tools and batteries, seems heavy duty and not too bad a price.. and "FREE" replacement..

 

[Soundguy]

'free' as in you are paying up front for an actuarial warranty based on statistical failure and tool life rates

soundguy

 

[KubotainNH]

Why not Rigid, lifetime replacement in tools and batteries, seems heavy duty and not too bad a price.. and "FREE" replacement..

This would be great if it works like a Craftsman hand tool, bring it in and swap but from what I read it's a pain to get the bad piece replaced. If your out the tool for 2 weeks then to me it's a useless warranty. I'd like to hear if anyone has any experience with using the ridgid warranty.

 

[ericher69]

Go look at the drills, you want one that fits your hand well. I have a Milwaukee that I really like, it's my 2nd one. I still have the 1st one I got when my 18 year old was a baby and it still works just not as comfy as the newer one. You may want to look into Ridgid, they have a lifetime warranty but not sure how good it is though. Bird mentioned Batteries Plus, they can rebuild battery packs. They rebuilt my old unit. Any of the big names will do the work you want, comfort is the key in my book. I would like one of those small impact drivers though.

One last thought for you if you buy a new unit, modify the old one so you can attach it to a cigarette lighter or with battery clamps. It would make for a good backup especially if you have a portable jump starter to plug it into.

Rigid warranty is excellent!!!

If you jump through the loops to register

1. Copy original receipt
2. Place arrow next to item being
registered on receipt
3. Cut out UPC from box
4. Fill out warranty card
5. Mail everything to rigid

A++

 

[crazyal]

I've washed my hands with Makita. I've had several of the 14v (orange batteries) die sooner than they should have. Replaced them with the Nickle Metal Hydride batteries with good luck so I bought an 18v with the NiMH batteries. It's the blue one with back accents with a 3 speed gear box. With in a couple of months the top gear stripped out and I was told the warranty wouldn't cover it. But at least I still had low and medium so I didn't get it fixed. A year later medium stripped out and now low sounds kind of iffy. I'm sorry but if the gear box is weaker than the power of the motor then I don't trust the engineers to design the new models.

I'm probably going to get a Milwaukee (even though they are Chinese owned). The DeWalt for $99 seams kind of interesting but I'm guessing they had to cut corners to get the price that low.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I've washed my hands with Makita. I've had several of the 14v (orange batteries) die sooner than they should have. Replaced them with the Nickle Metal Hydride batteries with good luck so I bought an 18v with the NiMH batteries. It's the blue one with back accents with a 3 speed gear box. With in a couple of months the top gear stripped out and I was told the warranty wouldn't cover it. But at least I still had low and medium so I didn't get it fixed. A year later medium stripped out and now low sounds kind of iffy. I'm sorry but if the gear box is weaker than the power of the motor then I don't trust the engineers to design the new models.

I'm probably going to get a Milwaukee (even though they are Chinese owned). The DeWalt for $99 seams kind of interesting but I'm guessing they had to cut corners to get the price that low.

Those $99 DeWalts actually hold up well. They just don't have all the "frills" that their more expensive drills have. They also have the lighter battery packs which don't run as long between charges but are considerably lighter then the XRP packs and if your doing a lot of screwing (like metal roofing or drywall) then you will appreciate the lighter weight. Heck, we use a couple 14.4 DeWalts just for drywalling because of their lighter weight.

 

[Scooby074]

Sadly I don't know of any cordless drills that are not made in China.

May i present to you FESTOOL in all its green, expensive, German made glory!!

Festool Power Tools

Lee Valley Tools - Festool

Bosch also makes cordless tools in Switzerland, but lately ive been seeing them coming out of china.

Dewalt makes a fair bit of tools in Mexico too

 

[Grateful11]

I looked around for quite some time after I bought a house 7 years ago. I found the supposedly best of the best-Makita, DeWalt way to expensive, and the Ryobi the cheapest not only in price but reliability. I ended up going with the Craftsman kit which consisted of the DrillHammer Drill, Saws All, Light, two Dia Hard 19.2 volt battery backs and rapid charger. I have countless hours on them, especially the drill-had the saws all replaced once under warranty because the trigger stopped working. & years later and I'm still using the origional batteries! Paid $140 for the whole kit and couldnt be happier.

My dad has the Dewaltt kit, paid almost $300 4 years ago and has already purchasd two battery xr replacements at a wopping 120 bucks each. My crafstmen outruns and out torcs his dewalt enay day-even with my origional batteries and his new.

My craftsman drill is also lighter and I like the grip better than his DeWalt.

We had the Ryobi here at work and both batteries were dead within wo years.

I saved a ton of money going with the Craftsmen.
Just my experience...

I'm with cdaigle430. After my Dewalt 14.4V charger and battery nearly burned my FIL's house down I started looking at a charger and a battery and it was like $140. I started looking online and the Craftsman C3 line was getting really good reviews. I got a 1/2" Drill, Recip. saw, Circular saw and flashlight with 2 batteries and charger with a carry bag for $160. Since then we've added a halogen spotlight, a string trimmer for quick touch ups and flexhead light. None of them have missed a beat. Made in China, Dewalt made in Mexico and basically charging the same as they were before. I like my 14.4V Dewalt drill but $70-80 for an XRP battery and $60-70 for a charger, that's out of line IMHO.

 

[JDgreen227]

I'm with cdaigle430. After my Dewalt 14.4V charger and battery nearly burned my FIL's house down I started looking at a charger and a battery and it was like $140. I started looking online and the Craftsman C3 line was getting really good reviews. I got a 1/2" Drill, Recip. saw, Circular saw and flashlight with 2 batteries and charger with a carry bag for $160. Since then we've added a halogen spotlight, a string trimmer for quick touch ups and flexhead light. None of them have missed a beat. Made in China, Dewalt made in Mexico and basically charging the same as they were before. I like my 14.4V Dewalt drill but $70-80 for an XRP battery and $60-70 for a charger, that's out of line IMHO.

I recently purchased more of their C3 tools and the same kit you did, paid the same $160. I really prefer the carry bag over the hard molded plastic cases they formerly packed the kits in, I never use my plastic carry cases as I never take my cordless tools much of anywhere. The molded cases take up a huge amount of space. When I have to take my cordless tools someplace I just pack them in one of those flip-top clear plastic 12-14 gallon storage bins.

 

[mx842]

EXACTLY...all my old Craftsman corded tools were USA made, most by Emerson Electric, my oldest corded saw was purchased back about 1977 (!!!!) and was still working great with original brushes until it was stolen three years ago...and it was a homeowner model, not a heavy duty one. When Sears began having their corded power tools made in China, they lowered the prices, then really lowered the quality.

Sadly Sears is the same as most of the other large older companies that are still around today. I have some old Craftsman end wrenches and sockets that I know are at least 60 years old and I still use them today. The new stuff is just not built the same way. I stopped buying their tools awhile back because the ratchets are junk and the so called chrome starts to flake off before you get them home almost. At one time though it was the place to go when you needed some new tools. When I was still in the boat business I did have a go bag with nothing but craftsman tools in it that I would carry when I had to go to the river to work on something we couldn't figure out at the shop. They were cheap and if one fell over board it didn't hurt as bad as if one of my snappy or mac tools wrenches hit the drink. I went over board one time when it was 39 degrees when a 3/8 drive snap on socket set fell overboard. I stood there watching that $400 plastic case full of shiny sockets disappear into the 20+feet of water and in an instant I went in after it. I came out with it after three tries and after that the snappy and Mac stuff never left the shop. In fact the dumb part is that I hardly ever used that fancy stuff and it stayed in my big fancy tool box most of the time. I kept most of the tools I used everyday in a tool cart I could roll up to the boat and it had nothing but old tools, Craftsman, Stanley, Proto, that no one would steal or if they somehow got left in a boat by mistake it didn't hurt so bad. Proto....now there's a tool that was well made in its day, I still have most of an old Proto socket set I bought 40 years ago and I still use it almost every day. I've used that ratchet for everything from a pry bar to a hammer and it is still in the top of my tote tray and the first ratchet I grab when I have a rusty bolt to break loose.

I still have a lot of old craftsman tools that are still working but I don't use them anymore because they are awkward to use, don't feel right in my hand but the motors and frames are solid, they just are not user friendly. The other major tool companies figured out early on that tools needed to be user friendly and fit the job and adjusted but Craftsman stayed the same year after year. I do have an old Craftsman orbital sander that is kick azz. That thing is I know over 50 years old but it is the best sander I had until it got crushed awhile back by a tree that fell in the last hurricane we had. I wanted to get it fixed but there are no parts for it but the guy at Sears said they would replace it if I could come up with a good story (besides getting hit by a hurricane) but I didn't feel right doing that so I just carried it home and maybe one day I'll find another one at a yard sale I can frankenstine for parts.

They just don't build stuff like they used to for the most part and if they do build good stuff it cost an arm and a leg. Welcome to the, got to have it right now and it has to be cheaper than dirt world of, Wally world and the big box stores. Where it is cheaper to replace something than it is to fix it if it breaks. That goes for everything from TV's to socket wrenches and it just reflects today's world we live in.