Anybody know about Ridgid cordless tools?

[Robert Tarr]

Good afternoon,

I am in the market for an impact driver and just about pulled the trigger on the 12v kit from Amazon.com from Makita. That was until I saw a set at Home Depot a couple days ago. They are offering a 12v set with a right angle impact driver and a drill, 2 batteries and quick charger for $149 (marked down from $200.) The thing I liked about it is, the warranty they offer on parts, including batteries, so I thought I would ask this board if anyone here has any feedback on the tool. I do not currently have a RA drill, so this could kill two birds with one stone, plus, my in my move, I dropped my battery charger and broke the printed curcuit board on the charger, so $70 for just a new charger on a tired 18.8V set seems a tad high to me...

Well, what say you?

Thanks,

Robert

[Randy Todd]

Robert,

I am one person only and maybe my luck is particularly bad, but . . .

I have an 18v cordless drill/hammer drill that I bought when the Rigid line first came out. I have returned mine 3 times, and will be returning it a fourth shortly. My failures to date are: adjustable clutch on chuck, trigger twice, and finally, variable speed portion of trigger has died and drill will only run full speed.

Lifetime warranty is great, but waiting a month for your tool to be repaired sucks...

I'd go another direction if it were me. In all fairness, no problems with the circular saw or light, but saw has less than one battery's worth of use and what can go wrong with a flashlight?

Oh yea, I'm a busy home owner, not a contractor.

Good Luck,

Randy Todd

[Effie Lever]

Robert,

Maybe I didn’t understand you but if you are looking at an impact driver, I’m not sure you want to go with a right angle one. For most uses it is probably not the most comfortable to work with. I can't help you with Ridgid but I did just get a Makita 12v kit at HD that contains the new impact driver, a driver/drill and the two batteries and charger. It was $180 after using this month 10% discount. The power of this little impact driver is amazing. I use Makita cordless for a long time and I’m very happy with them.

Effie

[Tim Morton]

I'm very happy with my makita impact driver, I have read lots of complaints about ridgid cordless tools, none specific to the impact driver...BUT. Ridgid has its own forum, you might check out the site to see if people are loving or hating the current line.

[Corey Hallagan]

The Ridgid cordless line has some issues for a while, most notably chuck issues and battery issues. Many chucks would wobble when a large bit was used, plus frozen chucks etc. With Ridgid it seems you will either find people tht love them or hate them. I see more good than bad these days posted on them. I belive you ment to say the deal is for an Impact driver and a right angle drill/driver. That is a good deal. If it were me, give it a shot, you got plenty of time to return it if you don't like it, Just keep those reciepts. If it is worth anything to you, I have a Ridgid 1/2 corded drill that I bought. I really like it and it is the best corded drill I have ever owned. Very well made.

corey

[Silas Smith]

I have to speak up in defense of the Ridgid line. I have the 18V set and I have had nothing but good experiences with it. They are well made and I have never had them let me down. I have compared my 18V with a Dewalt and a PC and I think it is better built than the dewalt and comparable to the Porter. If it is a good deal, I would buy it in a heartbeat. Plus, where else are you going to get a lifetime warranty on a battery. I think HD will be around quite a while to honor the warranty also.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'll defend the Ridgid units too, although I have no experience with the impact drivers. I have the 18v, non hammer drill x2 battery that is a little over 1 1/2 years old. I've built over 200 feet of fence, even driving 2 1/2" lag bolts into PT 2X4, plus all the screws for the pickets (stick built fence). Then I've used it to put all the studs in on my shop rebuild (92" of walls) and it put up about 1/2 of the Hardi Plank siding (the newer Ridgid 12v X2 did the other 1/2!!). I'm pleased as can be with how they are holding up. Jim.
(SHHHHH! my wife hasn't noticed the 12v yet.)

[Pete Harbin]

Ditto. Just like Jim, I've got the 18v X2 that I've had for about a year and a half. Runs like a champ, and has tons of power. I also picked up the 12v X2 a while back when they had them on sale...also a very nice drill. No chuck or battery problems with either.

Pete

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Don't do it Robert! Take my word after 15 of OWT's tools (including Ryobi and Craftsman). My personal mission is to talk everyone out of their tools. Quality control might look good in the stores, but in the real world they just don't hold up.

[Jim O'Dell]

Kelly, that might be true for someone like you that uses them 10 hrs a day for business, but I've used these hard and no problems. I especially like how fast the batteries charge. I've always got a hot battery available. Naturally, your mileage may vary.
I also have a Makita 7.2 that is going on 17 years old, and still works, though the batteries don't hold a charge for very long. The first 3 years of it's life was used professionally installing car stereos. But it does ok for what I need in the house. I looked hard at the Makita's before I took a chance on the Ridgid. I read somewhere that the new ones have plastic gearing. That bothered me. It may not be true for the impact drivers.
I have a guy that does our radio work for the dealership that has a 19.2 v PC. He's not very fond of it, but says it works ok. Jim.

[Bill Ryall]

I have the 12V makita impact driver and love it. I would highly recommend it.

I recently got a Ridgid 18V combo kit- Hammer drill, circular saw, and flashlight in a tool bag. When I bought it, I was originally going for just a Dewalt cordless circular saw. HD had an opened, but unused ridgid kit for sale at an unbelieveable discount (less than just the Dewalt saw alone), so I got it, primarily just for the saw. I am not sure I would buy another Ridgid cordless product. I am not unhappy with them, and they do exactly what I need, and I have not had any problems. I just find them uncomfortable to use. They just don't fit my hands well, and the weight distribution makes them feel unbalanced.

Get the Makita impact driver. You will love it. Very light, and great battery life. I use mine constantly, and wonder how I ever lived without it.

Bill R.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Jim...I rarely use tools like that. Most of my everyday use stuff are deck and pergola building tools like drills and saws. I know there are many exceptions, I just hate that company and the way they handled service issues with all my tools. For the record, there weren't that many of the fatal 15 being used professionally.

I still have my grey Ridgid 2400 table saw, but since I just got a GCCS in the mail from Dino at Eurekazone, I make be giving that up soon, too.