Tired of Batteries, Going back to Corded Drills

[Andrew Joiner]

Typically I reach for my cordless drills first, but I want more power and they need charging when I want to work. I'm using my corded drills more often these days.

I think a Retractable Cord reel may be in order to get over the" Cords are such a hassle idea"

Anyone have a favorite corded drill/driver with a clutch? I'm tired of buying and rebuilding batteries.

[Neil Brooks]

Only slightly OT .....

I'm with you. Four or five piece Ryobi cordless set ... maybe five batteries. They're ALL always dead when I need them.

Should be a battery replacement gizmo, sold, that allows you to use them in corded mode when you want to/can/need to.

[Bill White]

Mine does not have a clutch, but I use my corded when doing pocket holes. Batteries are a real rip. $80.00 for the batt. when the whole magilla costs $199.00?
Kinda like havin' to pay extra for the in-out tables for the DeWalt 955.
I'll get over my rant one of these days.
Bill

[John TenEyck]

I've been using my two 9.6 V nicad Makita drills for 25 years, and have only bought two batteries at around $35 each in all that time. I use a corded drill for pocket holes, shelf pin holes, and other things where I need a lot of torque or have to drill dozens of holes quickly. But for everything else those two drills have done the job and keep on ticking. I keep one battery in the charger so I always have a fresh one when needed. My charger takes 3 hours, but the new ones can charge a battery in 15 minutes, in some cases, so you shouldn't have to wait long anymore. I wouldn't want to go back to corded drills for everything, especially intallation work.

John

[Jerry Thompson]

I have an old Makita also and two batteries. When it dies I will purchase another Mikita and hope they have not made is "less" over the years.

[Andrew Joiner]

Ok, so I'm not alone! Yes, I just got a quote for $100 to rebuild a pair of batteries plus shipping. So I think I'll get a cord reel and couple of these:

Ryobi 3/8 in. Variable Speed Clutch Driver $39.97 Each

[Chris Tsutsui]

All cordless tools should be lithium ion or better. Nicads are old tech that are accustomed to requiring maintenance and care to get good life from them.

If you really like corded, I suggest and love the snap-on retractable cord reel that was $32 from Costco a while back, then I have a $40 Harbor Freight 3 outlet rectractable cord real (yellow with metal housing). Both work pretty much the same, have breakers built in, and are very convenient to have in your ceilings.

I only own an old skil and craftsman corded drill that works fine. I use it for mixing or prolonged use where a battery may not last very long.

[Mike Henderson]

The only time I use a corded drill is when I'm doing some big time drilling. But for everyday drilling and driving, I'll never give up my cordless. I just got a lithium battery drill/driver and it's a lot lighter than my old NiCad units. It's so nice to just grab the drill and go - not having to find the closest outlet and run a cord.

Corded drills have their place, but not for everyday use.

Mike

[phil harold]

All cordless tools should be lithium ion or better. Nicads are old tech that are accustomed to requiring maintenance and care to get good life from them.

and lithium does not need care either????
my nicads still out do my lithiums yes they are heavier but after 5 years still work
lithiums will degrade in 3 years if you use them or not

Get a Milwaukee 0244-1 1/2-in Magnum Drill, 0-700 RPM
slow enough rpm with enough torque to drive screws and lags
It will last you a life time of abuse

[Carl Beckett]

my nicads still out do my lithiums yes they are heavier but after 5 years still work
lithiums will degrade in 3 years if you use them or not

I have had a poor experience with Li battery life. The NiCads have definitely outlasted them (and are cheaper to replace/rebuild).

But this thread is about corded tools - and a fair reminder, that there are times when a corded tool is still a great solution. For sure I have overused cordless for some of the heavy duty work. Im not giving up cordless - but at the same time can see where Andrew is coming from so he may have a good experience with it.

[Steve Griffin]

While I have a half dozen cordless drills, I still love my $60 dewalt corded. Great for things like drilling 50 pocket screw holes in hickory. At the workbench, it's often just as easy to plug something in as mess around with a charging batteries.

I wonder how many batteries I would have had to charge and replace for 10 years of using this old school drill?

I really should get a retractable cord wheel for this zone. Does anyone have one they recommend?

[Steve Meliza]

For me cordless is for driving screws and for locations not easy to get power to, corded is for the heavy work.

One lithium battery is not the same as other lithium batteries, it depends on what you pair the lithium with. For example, DeWalt has some "nano" packs (eg. DC9360) with LiFe (aka A123) cells that the RC model airplane community tears apart to use for electric powered flight as they can output enormous amounts of current (~60A) and are nearly impossible to kill from over charging or discharging and can be left fully charged with little or no degradation. What kills most lithium packs is being left fully charged as the high voltage causes breakdown in the cells, reportedly as much as a 10% loss in capacity per month. The ideal voltage to store a lithium pack at when not being used is half charged, but anything about 10% below fully charged will help extend their life.

[Scott T Smith]

One lithium battery is not the same as other lithium batteries, it depends on what you pair the lithium with. For example, DeWalt has some "nano" packs (eg. DC9360) with LiFe (aka A123) cells that the RC model airplane community tears apart to use for electric powered flight as they can output enormous amounts of current (~60A) and are nearly impossible to kill from over charging or discharging and can be left fully charged with little or no degradation. What kills most lithium packs is being left fully charged as the high voltage causes breakdown in the cells, reportedly as much as a 10% loss in capacity per month. The ideal voltage to store a lithium pack at when not being used is half charged, but anything about 10% below fully charged will help extend their life.

Steve, this is the first time that I've heard this information, and my explain why some of my LI battery packs have lasted for years and others haven't. Thanks for the insight.

[Ron Natalie]

While that is true to some extent, the thing that kills Lithiums is much as any rechargeable battery: HEAT. While the rapid chargers are usually pretty regulated to prevent this (though doing stupid things like continually unplugging and plugging a charged pack sometimes defeats this) most power tools do not have any regulation (like a computer or cellphone would) to stem heating due to heavy discharging.

[Andrew Joiner]

I wonder how many batteries I would have had to charge and replace for 10 years of using this old school drill?

My thoughts exactly as I started this thread Steve. I have 3 cordless driver/drills and one impact driver. Great tools when new and fully charged. They are all aging, but even when new some had unpredictable battery reliability. Even the expensive ones had battery issues.
I've heard varying theories on battery life NiMH vs. NiCad vs. Li-Ion. For my use a big factor is I only work daily part of the year with 4 months in the summer of 1 hr a month use.

I'm tired of this cycle: Oh, I need new batteries, but they cost so much I can just get the next greatest technology with batteries,drill and charger for similar $.

So I guess this may officially qualify as a rant? Maybe just a reality check. Sure I'll keep using cordless, I just want to solve a problem and keep things simple.

I bought the corded Ryobi D47CK. It's the only drill with a clutch I could find and a $30 retractable cord reel. To be honest I almost grabbed the latest greatest technology in cordless but I want to break cycle.