I’m sick of my crappy drill and I’m ready to buy something that doesn’t suck. I’m 95% decided on DeWalt. I expect at some point I’ll get some other cordless tools, so I want to start out with a good power specification so I can reuse the batteries.
A bit less than ten years ago I worked on construction sites for a few summers, and almost all the cordless tools were DeWalt 18V tools. I see on their website that they have 12V, 18V, 20V, 36V. I assume the higher voltage means more power available to the drill, but probably not any longer running time. Is that correct?
Seems like 18V was enough for professional construction crews to use, so I can’t think that I’d need more power than that on a regular basis. We did have a monster of a corded Milwaukee drill for some tasks, but I think I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
It also looks like I can choose (in some cases), between Li-ion and NiCad batteries. Is there any reason at all to choose NiCad over Li-ion?
I LOVE my 18V DeWalt Hammer drill, but it is heavy, espcially if you have to do a lot of work with it. That goes double if the work is going to be over your head. You’ll tire out quickly. For that specific reason, at work, we picked up a 12V Milwaukee drill. the 18V DeWalt is great, but if all you have to do is hang a light fixture, it gets to be a PITA to try to balance the drill in one hand and the light fixture in the other while you’re standing on two milk crates.
If you’re not going to be pushing the drill very hard, the lighter weight 12V drills are nice since you can do a lot more work before your arms start getting tired. We just resided our building with it. It really did hold up well just driving screws in through the wood siding into the wood behind it. But if you’re going to be doing a lot of drilling or you want to be able to swap the batteries into a circular or recip saw, you might want to go with an 18V.
DeWalt drills are the bomb-diggity. 18v will be sufficient for any household task. For the beefier versions, you’re just carrying around a much heavier drill for no good reason.
I was surprised they even still make normal “cordless” consumer products with NiCad batteries (I’m sure there are still some good uses, like as a cheap backup battery for something that’s not mobile). I feel like they stopped getting used for anything else around a decade ago due to bulk and weight.
I had a Dewalt 12v drill it was OK, but not quite powerful enough to sink a long deck screw every time.
One day I dropped it one too many times and the nylon gears broke inside. I went to an 18v Dewalt and it kicks ass and takes names. Metal gears so no worries about dropping it.
It really has all the power you will need.
Two other things. The 18v circular saw is my favorite saw. Cuts great and light as a feather. Also the Li-on batteries are much lighter than the Nicads.
I have the 12v MAX drill and impact driver, and am very satisfied. Light, surprisingly powerful, and not too expensive. Plus, the batteries recharge in about 20-30 minutes.
I also have a DeWalt Max, and it kicks ass. In fact, if you’re used to the old Makitas, etc., you’ll want to be very careful at first not to over drive your screws. My power drill is a Bosch HD19 hammer-drill, which also kicks serious ass.
The Bosch is small and powerful (600 in-lbs of torque), but there are lots of good drills out there.
I have less trouble with Li than NiCads. I think Lithium batteries keep a charge longer when not in use, for one thing, and I think they last longer (over time).
Since I’ve never been good at putting things back on the charger, I gave up on the cordless drills and bought a corded Dewalt (this one, I believe) and a big-ass extension cord.
Might be one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.
If you plan to drive a lot of good sized screws, say #12 or larger, get yourself an impact driver rather than a drill. Yep, you need a drill, but if you’re building a deck, an impact driver is a lot faster.
If you are going to be working in the cold at all, avoid the Lithium-ion. I was unpleasantly surprised by taking a fully charged one out to work on a roof and it promptly stopped working at about 40 F. Took it back inside and it was fine again.
I definitely have a preference for cordless. I find myself constantly plugging and unplugging the cord, and the weight of the 18V drills doesn’t bother me much (and starts to matter even less when you’re at the top of a ladder holding up the weight of the cord).
Although people are saying new batteries every 2-3 years? That seems like a short lifespan. Maybe I should just get the corded one…
No experience with the Dewalt lithium cells, but the 18v Milwaukee lithium cell drills we have around work have issues with the battery thermal overload safety circuit tripping frequently under prolonged use.
Yeah - if you are on the ladder I can see it. I had some good cordless units, batteries gave out after ~4 years (and were slowly worth less and less). I gave the whole rig to a kid starting out his business - so that he would only have to buy new batteries.
Note - I LIKED them, but as a tool for a homeowner corded just seemed better.
I just found that stringing a quick extension cord (I clip it to the ladder) meant that when I suddenly found 2 hours to do some work at home - i could just grab the drill and get to it. Burned by lack of charge, or dead batteries once too often.
[QUOTE=Joey P;]
I LOVE my 18V DeWalt Hammer drill, but it is heavy, espcially if you have to do a lot of work with it. That goes double if the work is going to be over your head. You’ll tire out quickly…
…the 18V DeWalt is great, but if all you have to do is hang a light fixture, it gets to be a PITA to try to balance the drill in one hand and the light fixture in the other while you’re standing on two milk crates.
If you’re not going to be pushing the drill very hard, the lighter weight 12V drills are nice since you can do a lot more work before your arms start getting tired.
[/QUOTE]
Very true. I don’t know the actual weight, but after holding up my 18V hammer drill for a while, a 12V drill feels about as heavy as one of the 18V batteries alone.
Hammer drill is one of those functions you may not think you need very often, but when you need to put a hole in brick or concrete, you’ll really appreciate it. As someone else mentioned, it’s also useful for driving long deck screws or lags.