Battery drill

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Looking for a 3/8 battery powered home owners drill. I see brush or brush-less and different type of batteries. What are the main difference between brush-less and brush type and N-Cad or LI-ION type of battery Willing to spend ~ $100-125. Thank you . Ed Hayes
 
Why not a corded drill? I use mine so infrequently that I decided on a corded drill with a lifetime warranty.
 
Do the paperwork for the Rigid lifetime service agreement/warranty and buy their drill in your price range. Battery or motor type doesn't matter too much for infrequent use.
 
money buys you power. torque, in this case. for people that use their drill daily at a jobsite, brushless is king. for the rest, it really doesn't matter.
what does matter is what is your intended use? just to drill some small holes and small screws? or maybe large holes and drive large screws? $50 will get you the first category. $100 to $150 might get you the 2nd. for me, I stay away from Ryobi. too heavy.
eventually, after several years, the battery will go bad and the replacement battery will cost as much as a new drill. personally I like the concept of the Ridgid deal as long as you register for the free lifetime warranty. but since I already have Milwaukee and Kobalt, that's where my money went. mine get used daily in the home garage.
 
Holy Moly they don't still sell drills with Ni-Cad batteries do they?! If so, avoid like the plaque! LI-ion is the way to go.
 
This is what I recently bought for a particular task at work. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with it. It fits very nicely in my hand, feels very durable, and has plenty of power for a 12 volt tool. It is pushing the limits of your budget.

Our maintenance shop converted from Dewalt to Milwaukee power tools a few years ago and the techs are very happy with the new tools, including drills, drivers, impacts, handheld band saws, heat guns, etc. A few of us at work have also started using Milwaukee at home. These are very good tools. the drill I bought is only my second experience with Milwaukee 12v tools, the first being a 3/8" ratchet. Both are very good tools.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M1...07-22/204300706


Another option that you may consider is the Rigid. I have no experience with Rigid power tools, but there have been a lot of very good reviews here on BITOG. Why I recommend it is because of the lifetime warranty that includes even the batteries. You just have to register the warranty to get the lifetime. If you fail to register it, it is a 3 year warranty.

With the lifetime warranty, you will never need to worry about the expense of replacing batteries. For casual home use, this may be a great choice for you.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/12-Volt-Lithium-Ion-3-8-in-Cordless-2-Speed-Drill-Kit-R82005K/205754094


I don't know if you can even buy NiCad drills any longer, but you wouldn't want to. Brushless would be nice if you were using the drill as a professional, but for casual home use you don't need it.
 
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I have had the Ridgid 18v Lithium-Ion for over 5 years. I used to burn out a drill a year. But thanks to the lifetime service argreemet (you have to register it on-line) I have had free replacment batteries and a free replacment motor and transmission.

When I get new batteries I do have to re-register them, but it only takes about 3 minutes.
 
In the dec.2017 issue of Consumer Reports,they review 24 drills with Bosh($160) ranked number one in the 12 v group and DeWalt ($260); on top in the 18 to 20 volt group. The Home Depot Ridgid ($100)was rated as a best buy,check out the review!
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Do the paperwork for the Rigid lifetime service agreement/warranty and buy their drill in your price range. Battery or motor type doesn't matter too much for infrequent use.


I purchased the corded Rigid and registered for the lifetime warranty. I don't recall if I realized batteries for their non-corded drills were covered or didn't want to deal with the headache of lost capacity/replacement due to infrequent use or if it simply cost more than I wanted to pay at the time. So far, I've only used it to drill holes in drywall and wood studs - pretty light duty.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
In the dec.2017 issue of Consumer Reports,they review 24 drills with Bosh($160) ranked number one in the 12 v group and DeWalt ($260); on top in the 18 to 20 volt group. The Home Depot Ridgid ($100)was rated as a best buy,check out the review!


I work with about 10 guys who use and abuse their cordless drills and impacts five days a week. Nine of us have Milwaukee Fuel products, one guy has a DeWalt. Our Milwaukee tools will run circles around the DeWalt products, so much so that it's almost funny. The DeWalt drill also tore out the gearset/transmission very early on, but I guess I had to replace the chuck on my Milwaukee, so none of them are perfect.
The DeWalt user always mentions how his DeWalt products are a POS, but I think he will stick will DeWalt so nobody else will borrow his tools.
 
For general stuff around the house, I use this more than any other:

Bosch 12V PS-31 on Amazon

Very light, compact, with built in LED and the power to drive screws and drill up to 1/2", even in metal.

I own three cordless Makita drills and two drivers that are much larger (14.4 and 18) and two corded drills, including a 1/2" beast for major work.

But this Bosch is what I use nearly all the time.
 
This is a great little drill in your price range. I have one now almost 10 yrs and the battery is still good and it gets used!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Vo...PH102/207005162

For occasional homeowner use this is good and comes with 2 batteries, its 12v not 18v. Personally for almost the same money I would go with the first one, it has hammer and the battery and charger allows for expansion. You cant go wrong with Makita, the Milwaukee are good cordless tools but their batteries are the worst I ever used (Milwaukee CS is terrible if you want them replaced under warranty).
I ended up getting rid of the tools because I got sick of buying batteries.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-12-Vo...D05R1/206729249
 
I think the choice between a corded and cordless drill depends greatly on the user and intended use. I could not imagine using a corded drill for my uses. I use my drill/driver outside on the deck, side of the house, around the car. All those places I could probably get an extension cord to, but it would be a pretty big pain.

A while back I bought the 18V li-ion Ridgid drill/driver combo, and more recently bought the 12V drill/driver kit from Bosch that Astro14 suggested. I think I've used the 18V Ridgid once since I got the Bosch. Lithium batteries can put out plenty of power and the smaller form factor makes it much easier and less fatiguing to use.

My suggestion would be to get a lithium powered 12V cordless drill/driver set. I like my 18V Ridgid enough to recommend this one. The impact driver is nice to have in case you need to do a larger job with a lot of screws. The kit also has the benefit of including 2 batteries (2Ah and 4Ah) so you can always have one charged up. https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-12-Vo...9000K/205358335


Also, if you do go with Ridgid with the Lifetime Service Agreement (LSA), make sure you register it online like others have said. Also worth noting is that I believe that only the batteries sold with the kits qualify for the LSA, individual batteries are not covered (they have a 2 or 3 year warranty, or something like that).
 
I'm with the corded drill crowd. Cheap, lots of torque, always ready, never have to wait for it to charge or replace a battery. With a decent extension cord it can operate anywhere I need to work.

I can see where contractors would use cordless for convenience, or rural people using it far from electricity.
 
They had the Milwaukee 12 volt impact + 3/8 drill with 2 batteries for $99
and it came with a 3rd 6ah battery.

At Home depot. Deal will probably come back for the holidays.

I might pick up the 12volt "dust buster" type vac seems real good for small messes.. where you dont
want to drag out the big shop vac.


Also just missed a bosch deal where you got a free 4ah battery with purchase of bare tool.
 
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