Cordless Tools

   / Cordless Tools #11  
Battery. Not even a question here. I've the early kit to yours (5 3/8" saw) and first thing I did was pick up a 3rd battery. Like others have said you can have one on the charger as you are running down. Only occasionaly do I wish I had a 4th battery like when I bought a metal cutting blade for the saw and was cutting 20' pieces of metal siding into 8' pieces for transport. That drained the batteries pretty quick. Of course my batteries are also 4 or 5 years old. Probably need to replace them but they are about $80 at Lowes and for $179 I can get a new drill, 2 batteries, and another charger. Wonder which way I'll go?
 
   / Cordless Tools #12  
<font color=blue>"Now you guys have me thinking I need the battery instead of the drill bits."</font color=blue>

You don't need to think about this!

Pretend a battery is really a FEL, and you're the newbie that isn't sure whether you should get the tractor with the FEL or not. What advice would YOU give the newbie? Get the FEL, right???

Get the battery - you'll be glad you did!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And you'll realize that all of us that said you should get the battery are geniuses!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
   / Cordless Tools #13  
All in unison now... battery! I'm running an older Dewalt 12V set. Started with a drill and two batteries. I thought I was golden. Added the saw which came with one battery. I specifically got it to match the battery. Three is the bare minumum. Since I've now got two chargers, I think four or more may be the right answer.

What the heck did we all do before cordless tools /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / Cordless Tools #14  
<font color=blue>"What the heck did we all do before cordless tools"</font color=blue>

I don't know about anybody else, but I had about a dozen extension cords located all over the place so that I didn't have to go dragging one around!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
   / Cordless Tools #15  
I vote for the battery, and here's why ...

Let's suppose you have two freshly charged batteries. You use the first up and head for the shop for the second one, then you tell yourself, well , while I'm here, I just put the drained one in the charger so that one will be ready. This is a bad idea IF the battery has just been used. You can tell, it will be warm. A warm battery will take a charge, but not a full one. You will shorten the life of the battery. With 3 batteries, you would always have a cool battery to charge, unless you forget like I do.
 
   / Cordless Tools #16  
I'm getting mixed signals here.../w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif Do you guys think he should get the battery or the bits?/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I think that this may very well be the first topic with violently unanimous agreement in the history of TBN./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
 
   / Cordless Tools
  • Thread Starter
#17  
Ok, OK! I surrender!

I will get the cotton-picking battery, but I'd better not be sorry, 'cause I will let you know about it if I find that I have plenty of juice but no bit to make the hole with!

Thanks for the tips. I had never heard about a cool battery charging better than a warm one. Any other tips for a cordless neophite will be much appreciated. Should I make a bracket for the tractor fender to hold the drill and the saw? I envision something like a quick-draw holster -- maybe a Don Hume rig (hmmmmmmm...........).
 
   / Cordless Tools #18  
<font color=blue>"I will get the cotton-picking battery, but I'd better not be sorry, 'cause I will let you know about it if I find that I have plenty of juice but no bit to make the hole with!"</font color=blue>

Alright Clemson! /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif Way to go!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Smart decision!/w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif What made you decide, anyway?/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

Now, as for your thinly veiled threat, well, the saw cuts both ways! Once you realize that we were right, each one of us that advocated getting the battery expects to receive a big <font color=red>ThankYou</font color=red> from you! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
 
   / Cordless Tools #19  
Wow, this is pretty one-sided. Guess I'll have to chime in on the other side. A drill without good bits is nothing but a crappy anchor. You have two batteries, and that should be plenty for most projects.

I've had a Porter Cable 19.2 volt drill and saw combo for a little over two years now. I've never run out of battery juice on a job yet, but I guess there's always the first time. This has included some pretty significant projects like building a home office in my garage.

To be fair, I've always been near an electrical outlet when completing a big project, so the one-hour charger has always been available. Yes, charging a warm battery isn't a good idea, but they cool down in about 10 minutes, then I put them on a charger.

Y'all must work a lot faster than me I guess. Heck my saw is rated to cut something like 100 2x4's on a single charge. You'd have to get with it to use up a battery in less than an hour. And if you did, it's probably time for a brew anyway./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I can't help but notice that a lot of the folks advocating multiple batteries are running lower-voltage tools. A 18 volt tool with a fresh battery will work circles around any 12 volt.

Another thing, I switch one battery between the drill and saw as I'm working, while the other is charging. A little bit of a hassle, but not bad at all. When these batteries die, I'll get two more fresh ones.

In summary, if the choice is between a third battery and getting a good set of drill bits, I'd go with the drill bits every time.
 
   / Cordless Tools #20  
<font color=blue>"In summary, if the choice is between a third battery and getting a good set of drill bits, I'd go with the drill bits every time."</font color=blue>

Hmmmm/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif. There's always a trouble maker in every group! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 

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