Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Woodworking (rec.woodworking) Discussion forum covering all aspects of working with wood. All levels of expertise are encouraged to particiapte. |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to rec.woodworking
|
|||
|
|||
Li tool warning - a really long rant Part 1
OK - my favorite old drill cordless just died. I will give the old
girl a Viking's funeral one day. It was supposed to be a POS that did just the dirty work, but wound up being so reliable it became my "go to" drill. I bought it for a song, and it wound up lasting 7 years under constant use. So, off to buy a new cordless. A little research here, more on the net, etc. Li is the rage. And according the the Milwaukee regioinal rep, it will be the mandate within the year. He told me they will cease manufacturing other types of batteries for DIY and "pro" grade tools within 12 months. I have since verified this with the tool dept. manager at my favorite HD. No reason to buy a dead technology, right? So no more NiCads. And with HD having their sale on all drills at 15% off with the return of a dead drill, that seemed a logical place to start. What an eyeful. I wanted 2 - 3 Ah rated batteries for uninterrupted use. Since I do a lot of repairs, I may have to drill a bunch of screw holes immediately followed by driving the holes full of screws. I don't think I should have to replace the battery on a drill except once a day, so the closer to 3 Ah I got the better off I felt I would be. Enter the DIY/semi pro niche. With only one exception, all the drills I looked at had 1.5 Ah rated batteries. I was floored. Why? I asked if I could get a model with a 3 Ah battery, and was told some models don't offer one. DeWalt does, at an extra cost of $99. Makita had a 3 Ah battery, and it was $99 as well, but sold out. It will NOT be replaced as Makita will be selling a double pack of 1.5 Ah batteries for $129. The counter to my incredulous remarks was "they may be half the power, but they only take 15 minutes to charge! SO WHAT!! If I am replacing siding on a 2nd story roof, or on my back drilling a hole in some hard to reach place, in a hot attack working, etc., what do I care about how little time it takes to recharge? So a little research on the 'net was in order. Seems like many "pros" have had a lot of problem with this new slimline version of the LI drills and tools. I think just about any comparison between tools and their corresponding performance using these tools would be accurate as Ridgid, DeWalt and Milwaukee all use A123 brand Li batteries, and I think Makita does as well. Before I am corrected, I know that DeWalt has taken steps to get away from these batteries in their compact series batteries and has or will be moving to Sony to cut costs. As is usual though, it cuts performance as well: http://dewaltownersgroup.com/index.php/topic,224.0.html So to put this into perspective for those that like visual aids compared to the written word, here is a vid that graphically shows the difference between a 1.5 and 3 Ah battery performance. Remember, same cell mfg, same technology. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnF2Uh4oFfg Note that the 3 Ah battery drilled 37 1/2 holes, compared to FIVE holes (are you kidding me... FIVE holes... they should rebrand that tool as Fischer Price !!) from the 1.5 Ah batteried drill. There is plenty more empirical evidence available to show this is NOT unusual, or even out of the norm. I would care if it drilled ten holes, I would still be saying, "that's it ?!?!". I found out years ago that it isn't as simple as "since one battery is half the size of the other it will last only half as long". There is complicated engineering going in inside the battery that spreads the drain and generated heat out over the amount of cells in the battery. More cells = more usable life by a factor of X. (No engineering patter needed here, those that are interested can easily find countless posts by the EE wonks on this simple protocol). So why would I intentionally buy a tool that performs poorly? I won't. At least not now. In the future, I may not have a choice. I am thinking that the manufacturer's saw a marketing opportunity based on the 15 minute recharge time and beating that horse for all they can. Good for them! We get screwed with poorly performing tools at high prices again! Robert |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Tool ReReview - Refurb Delta Unisaw - Part Two (Long) | Woodworking | |||
Tool ReReview - Refurb Delta Unisaw - Part One (Long-what else?) | Woodworking | |||
BT, phones and more. Long rant. | UK diy | |||
A contractors rant--LONG | Home Repair | |||
Long Rant - Tool Addiction | Woodworking |