# Lithium ion drills



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Looking into changing over to these from nicad drills. Any recommendations? Any brands or models to steer clear of? Voltage-weigh ratio issues?
I'd prefer domestic, but quality is my most important criterion.


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

I like my new 20v dewalt stuff


----------



## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Are you in service?

All of the major brands put out good product. I've had good experiences with Milwaukee's performance, pricing is fair, and I've used the 5 year warranty when my impact driver fell in water.


----------



## johnlewismcleod (Apr 6, 2012)

I like Milwaukee...their line includes lots of really cool tools that share the same batteries so you can build up a pretty awesome collection.


----------



## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

My hilti works like new and I've been abusing it for 6 years.. Still original batteries. 

I'll never buy anything else, and I've had them all.


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

GREENPLUM said:


> I like my new 20v dewalt stuff


How long you have you had them? Any issues?

The 20v Dewalt drill and impack driver are on sale for $200 for the pair. Sounds life a howling good deal if the product is any good.


----------



## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

You say you prefer domestic. Well nothing is domestic anymore. They all outsource manufacturing to slave labor camps in china ect.. 
Hilti on the other hand is a German company that still manufactures in Germany, they don't gut their own economy to save 75% in manufacturing costs. This goes a long way with me as they have not sold their soul to the globalist devil like all corporation have done here. 
The apple manufacturing facility Foxconn, in Taiwan actually had to put up suicide nets around the facility due to the high number of workers (or slaves) jumping off the building and committing suicide due to 20 hr days and poor work conditions. This is where our manufacturing jobs have gone to places like this and I spend my money with companies that do not sink to these greedy levels. I have a 12 year old American made sawzall that is still going strong and I think Milwaukee has gone to sh*t since moving its manufacturing to china.


----------



## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

UN1TED-WE-PLUMB said:


> You say you prefer domestic. Well nothing is domestic anymore. They all outsource manufacturing to slave labor camps in china ect..
> Hilti on the other hand is a German company that still manufactures in Germany, they don't gut their own economy to save 75% in manufacturing costs. This goes a long way with me as they have not sold their soul to the globalist devil like all corporation have done here.
> The apple manufacturing facility Foxconn, in Taiwan actually had to put up suicide nets around the facility due to the high number of workers (or slaves) jumping off the building and committing suicide due to 20 hr days and poor work conditions. This is where our manufacturing jobs have gone to places like this and I spend my money with companies that do not sink to these greedy levels. I have a 12 year old American made sawzall that is still going strong and I think Milwaukee has gone to sh*t since moving its manufacturing to china.


Hilti is based in Lichtenstein, not Germany, and their product is made all over the globe, including Asia.


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

Milwaukee or dewalt Hilti too.


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

TX MECH PLUMBER said:


> Milwaukee or dewalt Hilti too.


Are you recommending these three manufacturers?


----------



## PLUMB TIME (Feb 2, 2009)

Bit and brace, youngsters.


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

Plumbus said:


> How long you have you had them? Any issues?
> 
> The 20v Dewalt drill and impack driver are on sale for $200 for the pair. Sounds life a howling good deal if the product is any good.


Ive had them for about 1 month, no issues yet, the batts seem to last forever comin off the nicad.

That deal for 200 gets you a 12v impack (small) and a 20v 1.5a non hammer drill ,,,,,,,for 100 more you can get the 20v 3.0a impack and 20v 3.0a hammerdrill,,,spend the extra franklin :thumbsup:


----------



## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

You'll pay more for hilti but it's well worth the money. It's quality is unmatched. It is impossible not to buy goods manufactured in slave labor camps but I do my best. Whenever I have an option I will always buy a good produced in our country vs. a similar product produced in a slave camp.


----------



## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

We are having terrible problems with dewalt? Always liked em but not for me anymore, the terminals where the batteries make electrical contact are wearing out and they are less than a year old! 4 sets on 4 different trucks with 4 different users and all have same problem:yes:


----------



## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

Killertoiletspider said:


> Hilti is based in Lichtenstein, not Germany, and their product is made all over the globe, including Asia.


The drills that I have are made in Germany. I check where things are made before I spend my dollars on them.


----------



## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

UN1TED-WE-PLUMB said:


> The drills that I have are made in Germany. I check where things are made before I spend my dollars on them.


My Hilti cordless drill says made in Lichtenstein, but the batteries are made in China.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Plumbus said:


> How long you have you had them? Any issues?
> 
> The 20v Dewalt drill and impack driver are on sale for $200 for the pair. Sounds life a howling good deal if the product is any good.


The 20v line is awesome, but the 3.0 ah batteries are much better than 1.5 ah


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

deerslayer said:


> We are having terrible problems with dewalt? Always liked em but not for me anymore, the terminals where the batteries make electrical contact are wearing out and they are less than a year old! 4 sets on 4 different trucks with 4 different users and all have same problem:yes:


Are you using the 3.0 ah batteries?


----------



## AndersenPlumbing (Jan 23, 2010)

I am very partial to Milwaukee. I have had very good luck with thier batteries and their warranty is pretty good too. 

I've been using the M18 since they came out and very happy with them. I recently started using their M12 stuff. Very compact, powerful and the batteries are very cheap, you can load up on a bunch of them and charge them via a 12v car charger.


----------



## Plumbbum0203 (Dec 14, 2011)

Try chicago from harbor freight...Noooooooooo... I buy ryobi. They are cheap and if they break or I loose them no big deal. Never lost one yet. I still have the same ryobi drill for last few years. Works for me.


----------



## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Plumbbum0203 said:


> Try chicago from harbor freight...Noooooooooo... I buy ryobi. They are cheap and if they break or I loose them no big deal. Never lost one yet. I still have the same ryobi drill for last few years. Works for me.


Some folks play the cheap tool roulette.

Buy cheap tool, buy longest extended warranty, break tool one way or another, get replacement.

I don't


----------



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

JK949 said:


> Some folks play the cheap tool roulette.
> 
> Buy cheap tool, buy longest extended warranty, break tool one way or another, get replacement.
> 
> I don't


That's ok for a sole proprietor, but what about dealing with employees who aren't responsible? When things break down, production (unlike costs) goes in to the toilet. Can't have them twiddling their thumbs while I chase around for replacement tools.


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

Any cordless tools are for employes to buy if that want them. Boss provides corded saws and drills.


----------



## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

TX MECH PLUMBER said:


> Any cordless tools are for employes to buy if that want them. Boss provides corded saws and drills.


I think I use to work for you !
Thanks for the great tools boss.:laughing:


----------



## tungsten plumb (Apr 15, 2010)

JK949 said:


> Some folks play the cheap tool roulette.
> 
> Buy cheap tool, buy longest extended warranty, break tool one way or another, get replacement.
> 
> I don't


The ryobi lithium ion set isnt half bad actually. Ive had a set for about 3 years with no problem. I'm bout to go in a tool shopping spree though and I think im gonna go all bosch.


----------



## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

Ive hopped over to Milwaukee from Dewalt. Only reason is Dewalt has fallen behind in the power tool race.

Between Milwaukee, Dewalt and Makita I don't know any difference in performance.


----------



## alberteh (Feb 26, 2012)

Makita is my go to brand. battery technology is a bit older that the newest from milwaukee/dewalt but used and abused for years with no problems. (one drill dropped 4 stories onto solid ice. broke the handle: epoxied it together and it worked for another year until it fell into water). 

That said boss just bough milwaukee 18v brushless a month ago. so far so good but its only been a month. Very powerful.


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> I think I use to work for you !
> Thanks for the great tools boss.:laughing:


I'm an employee nit the boss. I think most companies here don't buy the cordless tools


----------



## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

alberteh said:


> That said boss just bough milwaukee 18v brushless a month ago. so far so good but its only been a month. Very powerful.


Hefted the Fuel stuff yesterday, sooo light! 3 speed impact driver! I've never worn out brushes on my power tools.


----------



## phishfood (Nov 18, 2012)

JK949 said:


> Hefted the Fuel stuff yesterday, sooo light! 3 speed impact driver! I've never worn out brushes on my power tools.


I have, on 18v Milwaukee drills. A lot of really heavy drilling in wood and concrete, after a few years the brushes were gone. 

I never could wear out the brushes on the 18V DeWalt drill, mainly because the drill was shot out inside of 6 months.


----------



## johnlewismcleod (Apr 6, 2012)

Plumbbum0203 said:


> Try chicago from harbor freight...Noooooooooo... I buy ryobi. They are cheap and if they break or I loose them no big deal. Never lost one yet. I still have the same ryobi drill for last few years. Works for me.


Only people I know that use Ryobi (besides hacks) are sparkies...do you have a confession to make, Bum? :whistling2:

:jester:


----------



## Plumbbum0203 (Dec 14, 2011)

johnlewismcleod said:


> Only people I know that use Ryobi (besides hacks) are sparkies...do you have a confession to make, Bum? :whistling2:
> 
> :jester:


Hahahaha... I get my nuts busted by the guys at work all the time. But at least I went public with my ryobi drill. Funny you say a hack uses them. A apprentice at work said they were for handy homeowners.


----------



## rusak (Sep 20, 2008)

I prefer Makita, their green colored line of tools is rugged.


----------



## moonapprentice (Aug 23, 2012)

At our company every cordless tool is hilti from hammer drills, impact, regular drill w hammer option, circle saw, and sawmill. They are very rugged and all accept the battery. Otherwise Milwaukee hackzall, and pex expander are other cordless we use. Hilti program is great for large company free battery exchange and tool replacement is nice. Corded superhawg and 3 tooth bits a must. Oh and paslode framing nailer gas and battery operated is a must to. Happy plumbing to all and to all a good night!


----------



## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

In order from best to worst; Hilti, Milwaukee, Makita, everything else. I used to have Hilti stuff when I worked for one of the big boys. They were really nice, but they are real spendy. Milwaukee makes some good stuff, and their M12 line is real popular in my truck, I have a Makita cordless and impact set. I think I picked it up for 200 a couple years ago. I've been trying to beat them down so I can buy Milwaukee's new fuel line but, they just won't die.

Whatever you buy, make sure it's quality stuff. Nothing worse than having your drill die halfway through some job that needs to be done in a day. Some shutdown or repipe will screw you when your tools die. Tools don't make it on my truck unless I know I can pull it out, beat the crap out of it, and do it again the next day. You can't afford downtime especially in service, it's not like you can just borrow someone else's for the day to get you through.


----------



## damnplumber (Jan 22, 2012)

*Lifetime warranty is hard to ignore*

Rigid has a lifetime over the counter warranty (even batteries) at Home Depot. 

But, I decided to updrade my Craftsman 19.2 batteries to Lithium Ion because I already have a large collection of the 19.2 tools that I am happy with and didn't want to re-invest.


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

damnplumber said:


> Rigid has a lifetime over the counter warranty (even batteries) at Home Depot.
> 
> But, I decided to updrade my Craftsman 19.2 batteries to Lithium Ion because I already have a large collection of the 19.2 tools that I am happy with and didn't want to re-invest.


I did that last year and was not happy with the crafstman lith batts at all. So dumped craftsman and went to millwakie I too had a lot of craftsman tools


----------



## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

I bought a makita kit about 3 years ago. I've beat on the stuff pretty good. No real complaints. I did burn up the drill with a 4 1/4 hole saw once and was out of warranty. There were flames coming from the back. I went to the tool store and $15 later my drill works great. The grinder is my only gripe. If you put to much pressure it cuts off and to much pressure isn't much pressure at all.


----------



## JWBII (Dec 23, 2012)

Bought the dewalt lithium 1.5 impact/drill combo. Batteries die too quick for my liking but charge up very fast. No complaints other than that. I absolutely love the dewalt sawzalls, the ability to turn the blade 4 different ways is a handy and I mean handy feature. 

I will be upgrading batteries to the 3.0 when I get frustrated enough with the 1.5 lol.

I think Milwaukee makes the best bit assortment. The one with the long Phillips and long flat are the best IMO.

Ryobi is the only ones I've seen that make the tile bits for the impact drill.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

JWBII said:


> Bought the dewalt lithium 1.5 impact/drill combo. Batteries die too quick for my liking but charge up very fast. No complaints other than that. I absolutely love the dewalt sawzalls, the ability to turn the blade 4 different ways is a handy and I mean handy feature.
> 
> I will be upgrading batteries to the 3.0 when I get frustrated enough with the 1.5 lol.
> 
> ...


3.0 ah batteries are much better. I got both and the 1.5 aren't even close to the 3.0 batteries.


----------



## justin (May 14, 2010)

Hilti. Only way to go....... Why would you even buy anything else? 


Oh yeah i use milwaukee. I wish i could WANT to afford hilti. Its scary. I get same warranty with milwaukee. I play like i have hilti. Milwaukee is the same color too. 

Ryobi is hated on by us professionals, but it isnt so bad. Its cheap on the pocket book too. Take care of a tool and you can use any one of the leading brands as long as the next.{maybe). The key to it is using a corded tool for a corded job. Dont use cordless to drill double plate 2-9/16 holes. Thats a cord job.


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Never used the Hilti cordless. What makes them so much better?


----------



## justin (May 14, 2010)

Will said:


> Never used the Hilti cordless. What makes them so much better?


Can u say " german" .


----------



## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

Yea the gerrys make great tools cars and more


----------



## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Are they made in Germany or just a German company? Bosch is a German company too (I believe). But most of there stuff in made in China.


----------



## justin (May 14, 2010)

Will said:


> Are they made in Germany or just a German company? Bosch is a German company too (I believe). But most of there stuff in made in China.


Dont know. I would think that hilti is genuine and not douched out. But, you never know.


----------



## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

Will said:


> Never used the Hilti cordless. What makes them so much better?


They aren't all that much better, except for the fact that they have metal gearboxes as opposed to plastic, and the batteries last longer, the flip side is they are also heavier.

If I used a cordless drill a lot I would probably look at other brands, but I used to go weeks at a time without ever taking it out of the truck.

And Hilti is not a German company, it was started and continues to be headquartered in Liechtenstein.


----------



## kiddplum (Feb 7, 2010)

*lithium ion*

upgraded to the 18 volt ridgid about 3 years ago nothing special 1 battery went dead but lifrtime warranty impact drill seems to lack variable speed also have m 12 drill sawzall impact sawzall is a joke impact is nice and small got a great black friday deal on a makita 12 volt drill and impact in a metal case for 99 dollars love it for no hub couplings


----------



## BOBBYTUCSON (Feb 8, 2013)

I highly recomend Milwaukee for their 12v line, their line caters to plumbing greatly. The wirsbo pex expander, copper cutting tool,pex cutting, inspection camera, all that stuff saves time and lasts a long time, batteries are great. I use all ridged cordless tools for my 18v selection, you absolutely cannot beat their lifetime free battery program if you register your tool online and mail in the proof of purchase and reciept.the batteries are made by Samsung, last long and their cordless tools are made in the same factory as Milwaukee by global Ind. I hate supporting the slave drive overthrew, but there are nolonger any cordless tools made in America so we have no choice anyways.


----------



## Plumb Bob (Mar 9, 2011)

I prefer Makita LXT, uses 3.0 ah batteries


----------

