Black & Decker 18V Cordless Drill

[KC7CN]

Found a couple for $25 on the Clearance shelf at our local Walmart in Albany, Oregon last week; marked down from $48.00. It uses the same battery that's in our cordless B&D hand vacuum; as Martha Stewart would say "that's a good thing!". They also had some Skill cordless tool attachments that I missed out on. (guy ahead of me bought them all )

I am pleased with this drill - it does a good job - especially considering what it cost. We were shopping at another Walmart in Salem, Oregon today, and they had 3-4 but the price was $35.00.

-Don

[KC7CN]

I see there's been a lot of views on this hot B&D cordless drill post - but no replies Well how about a Craftsman 2-speed cordless drill for $19,95 - (66% off)! In addition they offered a $3.00 Product Protection plan good for 3 years: Anything goes wrong with the drill, charger, or battery, you get a full refund.

-Don

PS It's kind of nice to have a drill for every bit

[radhak]

I own/ed both the B&D and the Craftsman. The B&D died pretty early, and foolishly I bought a new battery for it, which too died soon. Bigger problem for me was that even when working well, it did not work well: it was not up to drilling holes in hard oak, and would jam every so often.

I started out loving the craftsman (bought as a bundle of a two - a regular and and a small-head one for the small spaces) so much that I went and bought their hammer-drill too. Very powerful, so I ignored the somewhat heavy weight. All these share batteries, so it was all good. Till it started running out of juice very fast - as in, within 20 minutes of the last charge! I could have charged all 4 batteries just this morning to go thru some series of drilling/driving, but would end up having discharged batteries even before a first use at around noon, needing to be charged at the time I use them. Yes, it's been 4 years since purchase, but I somehow felt they should last longer.

Now, I'm on the lookout for some decent Li-Ion products cheap enough for me. Maybe I'll also get an impact driver while I'm at it.

Not to pour water on your find, but just my experience. If you only have stuff to attend to around the house and nothing heavy duty, you might still be able to get good use of either, I'm sure.

[cabinetman]

I see there's been a lot of views on this hot B&D cordless drill post - but no replies

I could never figure that one out. Even a "Hi...how are ya?" would be nice.

The price is right. My objection to the 18V and larger, is that if using the drill for extended lengths of time on a regular basis, the overall size and weight can get tiring.

I posted a review some time back on a 14.4V Skil/Firestorm. No responses to that either. For an all around drill with enough power and light weight it is still my go-to drill. They may still be available as a special.

.

[LCHIEN]

the weak point of any cordless tool system is the battery. Its also the expensive part.
batteries have finite lifespan and their choice of chemistries is a tradeoff that affects the price of the unit. NiCad are the cheapest and last the shortest. NiMH are more expensive hold more power per charge and last longer. But still, I don't think I get more than a few years life from them. LiIon batteries are the most expensive. I'm hoping the lifetime is improved.

If your toolmaker's battery only lasts a few years (2,3,4 is typical) and they make the only replacements then the replacement batteries will be expensive. Might as well plan on buying new tools at that point.

I decided to buy Craftsman C3 tools for my cordless. Reason no. one being that it seemed like they were going to make the line for a long time and the batteries would be interchangeable among the tools. Also the line is popular so the possibility of third party replacements is out there - competition and quantity reduces the prices of replacement packs over non-popular, single-sourced packs.

It paid off because Sears has come out with compatible LiIon packs for the C4 tools so they now have both LiIon and NiMH batteries available. New charger required but you get the benefit of LiIon. The charge is bigger and lasts longer and the packs are lighter. I'm hoping they last more years - time will tell.

The other solution is buying the sale $25 cordless tools and throwing them away when the batteries die.
In the meantime treat your batteries well and they'll last longer. Tips for prolonging batteries:
1. if you don't have smart charger that senses when the batteries are full and cuts off charge, don't overcharge them by leaving them on too long. (16 hours max if they need a full charge) Overcharging will heat the batteries and damage the chemicals inside.You can tell if the batteries get too hot by touch.
2. Stop using the pack once the tool is sensed to be slowing down or losing power. DOn't push it until it stalls out from lack of power.
3. don't let them get too hot or too cold.
4. charge them up every few weeks, and use them a bit. batteries that self discharge and sit empty of charge seem to do worse than batteries that are used lightly.

[radhak]

...
I decided to buy Craftsman C4 tools for my cordless.
...
It paid off because Sears has come out with compatible LiIon packs for the C4 tools so they now have both LiIon and NiMH batteries available.

a. Whoa! You mean I could simply buy better battery-packs (and charger), maybe for cheap? That's great news!

b. For once my googling fails me : I cannot find Craftsman C4 tools anywhere. I see the ones labeled C3, which seems similar to the ones I have, but are the 'C4' tools very new? I found this list and this.

[durango dude]

Believe it or not - I'm still using an old 10 volt B&D Firestorm (12 yrs old)

I'm not particularly fond of it as a tool - but it did come from SWMBO ---- and so I don't fuss --

The battery does less and less each year, though --- it's getting close to the end of its useful life.

[LCHIEN]

a. Whoa! You mean I could simply buy better battery-packs (and charger), maybe for cheap? That's great news!

b. For once my googling fails me : I cannot find Craftsman C4 tools anywhere. I see the ones labeled C3, which seems similar to the ones I have, but are the 'C4' tools very new? I found this list and this.

Ha,ha. Its C3, I can't count, or its tool model number inflation or something.

http://www.craftsman.com/c3/nb-100000000043004?pageInd=NB&vName=C3&isSEOCanonURL=true&catgroupId=100000000043004&catalogId=12602&catalogInd=NB&vertical=C3&isSEOUri=true&storeId=10155&reqURI=%2fshc%2fs%2fc3%2fnb-100000000043004&i_cntr=1367434699584

in all honesty, I have only the drill, an impact driver, a Right angle drill, and a flashlight in the system.
I am of the opinion that unless you really, really need the cordless portability for offsite work, cordless circular saw, router, sander etc are not a good tradeoff for limited power and run time.

[cabinetman]

I am of the opinion that unless you really, really need the cordless portability for offsite work, cordless circular saw, router, sander etc are not a good tradeoff for limited power and run time.

My thoughts too. My only jobsite cordless will be a drill. If there's no power at the site, I bring a generator.

.

[iceman61]

My thoughts too. My only jobsite cordless will be a drill. If there's no power at the site, I bring a generator.

.

My thoughts exactly, although I do also have a couple of 18v Milwaukee Impact drivers. I've been itching to purchase a track saw but even that will have a cord attached. I've tried a cordless circular saw and reciprocating saw and was not impressed at all.

[KC7CN]

I own/ed both the B&D and the Craftsman. The B&D died pretty early, and foolishly I bought a new battery for it, which too died soon. Bigger problem for me was that even when working well, it did not work well: it was not up to drilling holes in hard oak, and would jam every so often.

I started out loving the craftsman (bought as a bundle of a two - a regular and and a small-head one for the small spaces) so much that I went and bought their hammer-drill too. Very powerful, so I ignored the somewhat heavy weight. All these share batteries, so it was all good. Till it started running out of juice very fast - as in, within 20 minutes of the last charge! I could have charged all 4 batteries just this morning to go thru some series of drilling/driving, but would end up having discharged batteries even before a first use at around noon, needing to be charged at the time I use them. Yes, it's been 4 years since purchase, but I somehow felt they should last longer.

Now, I'm on the lookout for some decent Li-Ion products cheap enough for me. Maybe I'll also get an impact driver while I'm at it.

Not to pour water on your find, but just my experience. If you only have stuff to attend to around the house and nothing heavy duty, you might still be able to get good use of either, I'm sure.

I usually avoid the low cost tools but couldn't resist the B&D and the Craftsman. One of my two Makita 12V drills died - and I missed not having two drills! The B&D is not a Makita, but it fits my hand and does the job. The Craftsman by all rights is a step up with the two-speeds and LED work light, but doesn't fit my hand as well; the Forward/Reverse button seems to stick out too far!

I would love to have a Li-Ion powered Cordless drill and a nice impact driver! The battery issue is a real problem - I was planning to look into the Ridgid for that reason alone. The real problem is this years tool money is all used up! For a plunge base for my Colt trim router and a Porter Cable 4212 Dovetail jig. Maybe I can squeeze in a new spindle sander

[woodturner]

batteries have finite lifespan and their choice of chemistries is a tradeoff that affects the price of the unit. NiCad are the cheapest and last the shortest. NiMH are more expensive hold more power per charge and last longer. But still, I don't think I get more than a few years life from them. LiIon batteries are the most expensive.

Another important difference is that NiCads "wear out" as a function of charge/discharge cycles, while LiIon "wear out" due to age. So, if you use a tool infrequently, NiCads can last many years, while LiIon will generally lose capacity within two years. That's why we often get brand new "bad" LiIons - they have worn out due to their time in the supply chain.

For example, I got one of the Rockwell hammer drills on clearance - and the batteries were bad out of the box. Fortunately, Rockwell (as well as Rigid) offer free replacement batteries, a big selling point IMHO.

4. charge them up every few weeks, and use them a bit. batteries that self discharge and sit empty of charge seem to do worse than batteries that are used lightly.

A battery that is discharged below its self-discharge potential will be damaged. In other words, stop using the battery when it starts to slow down or weak, don't use it until the tool completely stops.

Optimum storage conditions vary with chemistry - NiCads should not be recharged if they will not be used, because the number of cycles wears them out. Just store them with whatever charge they had on them, let them self discharge, and recharge them when you need to use them next. In contrast, LiIons do last a little longer if charged before storage, and will hold a charge, so they will be ready for the next use.

[Cochese]

In other words, stop using the battery when it starts to slow down or weak, don't use it until the tool completely stops.

A function of the Lithiums is that the tool doesn't slow down - it either works or it doesn't. When it stops, throw it on the charger.

I let a Lithium die because I ran it out of usable power and then neglected to recharge it for a week or two in cold weather. It's past its ability to charge again.

[Stytooner]

A couple of my Lion batteries for my 20 V max Dewalts have a charge indicator on them. Just a button that you push that shows the charge level with three led's. That is a very useful feature. Lets me know before I start a job if I will need a newly charged battery or not as well as when to charge them.
This isn't something I have ever seen in any of my other cordless tools, but would like to see that widely implemented in the future.
I also didn't think I would care for the three led's that light on front of the tools when the trigger is pulled, but they have proven to be a very nice feature as well. It is pretty much a premium tool though. I gotta say that it ranks an A+ where other B&D, Dewalts, Hitachi's were at best a B- mainly for battery life and strength.

[cabinetman]

A couple of my Lion batteries for my 20 V max Dewalts have a charge indicator on them. Just a button that you push that shows the charge level with three led's. That is a very useful feature. Lets me know before I start a job if I will need a newly charged battery or not as well as when to charge them.
This isn't something I have ever seen in any of my other cordless tools, but would like to see that widely implemented in the future.
I also didn't think I would care for the three led's that light on front of the tools when the trigger is pulled, but they have proven to be a very nice feature as well. It is pretty much a premium tool though. I gotta say that it ranks an A+ where other B&D, Dewalts, Hitachi's were at best a B- mainly for battery life and strength.

My 14.4 LI, has the three LED's at the rear of the drill with a separate button to check the charge. Not actuated by the trigger. I really like that system. You can tell the extent of the charge while using it or while it's sitting on the charger.

.