Discussion Seeking free advise - Current 'cordless power tool with interchangable 18/20 volt Lithium battery' owners plz check in.

[DesiPower]

Are the batteries interchangeable? Doesn't seem so, maybe some makes are, not all?
Trying to find which make has the widest range or type of tools; As the batteries seem to be the most expensive parts, which one should I invest in? Besides regular stuff like drill/driver/sander, also looking for Fan, flash/flood lights etc (maybe even car jump starter?)
Who has the most sales during Black Friday or otherwise, who will help me fill up my garage the fastest with more stuff that I do not need?

Looking for advise from current owners, which one do you own, what do you link/dislike the most about them? Would you but something different if you had to start over.

TIA

 

[Captante]

I got a Ryobi lithium-cordless set several years ago really cheap at a Home Depot black Friday sale. Too lazy to go dig it out and check model but the set came with three battery-packs which fit all the tools in the set.

After all discounts I believe I paid about $50 for a $130 +/- set... not the best quality as its 75% made of bright neon-green plastic but for my light use its fine.

 

[lxskllr]

Batteries are only good within brand, so when you buy, you're buying into the whole ecosystem. Boss got a Milwaukee Fuel set on my recommendation. Works great til it doesn't. Two impact drivers have gone up on it in less than a year. My recommendation was from reading the experiences of others on the web. I couldn't recommend them at this point. I need to take a look at the one driver. Maybe it's something he's doing wrong, but it's a pretty straightforward operation...

 

[Captante]

Isn't Milwaukee lower-end stuff all Chinese now?

I have an ancient Milwaukee corded drill that weighs at least 10 lbs and will twist your wrist painfully if you don't pay attention. Power it up and the lights dim!

 

[lxskllr]

The Milwaukee he got was their top of the line brushless gear. Chinese, like everything else. He was using it to screw in oak fence boards. Heavy use, but not unreasonable.

 

[UsandThem]

Are the batteries interchangeable? Doesn't seem so, maybe some makes are, not all?
Trying to find which make has the widest range or type of tools; As the batteries seem to be the most expensive parts, which one should I invest in? Besides regular stuff like drill/driver/sander, also looking for Fan, flash/flood lights etc (maybe even car jump starter?)
Who has the most sales during Black Friday or otherwise, who will help me fill up my garage the fastest with more stuff that I do not need?

Looking for advise from current owners, which one do you own, what do you link/dislike the most about them? Would you but something different if you had to start over.

My vote would be Dewalt's tools and batteries.

It's been a few years since I bought any new tools, so I checked prices, and it appears that the tariffs have increased their prices since that time. Dewalt always carried a premium, but man they are even pricier now.

As far as places with the best prices, I got mine at Lowes, Home Depot, and Amazon when they have a good sale. For example, two years ago I picked up a Dewalt cordless brushless drill, cordless brushless impact wrench, two batteries, and a bag at Lowes for I think around $170.

 

[Captante]

Chinese, like everything else

Sad but not surprising ... I have a bunch of my dad's power tools some of which are well over 50 years old BUT still work just fine! (including that Milwaukee drill)

Don't make em like that anymore!

 

[spacejamz]

the black and decker and porter cable 20V batteries are the same.. however there is a notch in the battery compartment you can dremel out so you can use the batteries in either brand ( just youtube or google it)....I bought a few BD drills on clearance at walmart for like $30 that had two batteries so I am good on batteries. I have the drills, impact drill, jig saw, leaf blower, weed eater and circular saw (this one is still on the box as I will probably stick with corded)...

 

[Exterous]

Ryobi seems to have great sales from time to time - usually after the holiday shopping season when they clearance out leftover inventory. I picked up a brushless drill, 7 1/4 saw, charger, 2 batteries, right angle drill and drywall screw gun for $150 a few months back (the last two items were from their "2 free tools" promo when buying a combo pack so I had a fair number of options to choose from). I keep an eye on slickdeals for those sales but I think I'm pretty much stocked up at this point. I've had my original drill and saw for ~10 years now and they've done just fine finishing basements, building shelves etc. Might not be as high of quality as professional tools but they've done just fine for homeowner stuff

 

[akugami]

As others have stated, power tool batteries only work within the same brand. But keep in mind, sometimes even with the same brand, a new generation of tools may come with a change in battery form factors and housing. Some tool brands may actually have more than one battery form factor. As is the case with Milwaukee and their smaller M12 line and larger M18 line.

Ryobi seems fine for the home DIY'er. They do have a decent amount of tools to use. I've even seen professional contracters use Ryobi. Just because it's a budget tool doesn't mean it's a bad tool.

Keep in mind some tools, you're better off with a corded tool if you plan on doing a lot of work with it. Things like grinders or saws. But cordless drills and drivers are as good as corded these days. Just keep a spare battery if you plan on doing extended work.

With that said, I"m a Milwaukee fan. I've had some for years and have not had them break down. My dad still does a lot of fixing and building and uses mostly Milwaukee power tools. Haven't had issues, and some of those tools have taken years of abuse. Haven't had issues with an old Milwaukee M18 Fuel drill and it gets used to put 1/4" holes through brick and cement walls, 1/4 holes through walls with sheet metal, and to drive screws into said walls. For camera jobs and Ethernet runs. No problems with it at all. For lighter duty jobs like hanging sheet rock, I usually stick with an M12 Fuel driver.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

+1 for Dewalt. Love their batteries and tools.

What I love is that their batteries are interchangable with all their tools. Hell, I have a shop-fan that can run on the same re-chargeable battery as my drill, along with a bluetooth outdoor speaker from them as well that can run off the batteries as well.

 

[Midwayman]

I have a dewalt setup and I really like it. Unfortunately they can get really pricey. Its considerably cheaper to buy bare tools than ones with batteries so it pays to get 2-3 packs and just swap tools in the long run. I have tired cheaper brands before, but in the long run the frustration of them not working was never worth the couple bucks it saved up front. At least for tools you'll use a LOT live a driver/drill combo.

 

[lxskllr]

Small update. I looked at the boss' impact driver today, and it Works For Me™. He did say the problems were intermittent; he'd reverse the drive, and it sometimes wouldn't go back forward without removing the battery, and same with the whole thing stopping. Remove/replace the battery, and it would work fine. I dunno :shrugs:

 

[Red Squirrel]

You kinda have to pick one and stick with it. I ended up going Ryobi route. Most of the tools are cheap and sometimes they even have kits with multiple tools that go on sale. I even got myself a chain saw that runs on all the same batteries.

 

[Captante]

Small update. I looked at the boss' impact driver today, and it Works For Me™. He did say the problems were intermittent; he'd reverse the drive, and it sometimes wouldn't go back forward without removing the battery, and same with the whole thing stopping. Remove/replace the battery, and it would work fine. I dunno :shrugs:

When I bought the Ryobi set there was a similar Milwaukee set for about $25 more.

Sounds like the only difference aside from price would have been red plastic instead of green!

 

[sdifox]

I have had ryobi dewalt and hitachi. I am ok with Hitachi. DeWalt was better but not sure if it was a generational thing. The ryobi was garbage.

 

[bigi]

No - to batteries will work with 1 brand only.

I am a Makita 18V guy. Have like 12 tools and 5 batteries. Needed a 18ga brad nailer. Well, it happens that this is probably the only tool from Makita line that sucks. It is expensive and in general people hate it.

It happens that there is an adapter to use my Makita 18V batteries with Ryobi tools. Got 18V Ryobi nailer, adapter and all is good.

Now, if in need, I know I can grab cheaper Ryobi tool and use my Makita batteries.

There are other adapters as well.

FYI.

 

[BoomerD]

Isn't Milwaukee lower-end stuff all Chinese now?

I have an ancient Milwaukee corded drill that weighs at least 10 lbs and will twist your wrist painfully if you don't pay attention. Power it up and the lights dim!

Sadly, it's ALL Chinese crap nowadays. I used to have a link that told which factories made what brands of cordless tools...but it expired a few years ago. IIRC, all of the major brands were made by 3-4 factories...

I got tired of the crappy build of Ryobi stuff. Switched to Ridgid for most of my power (and cordless) tools. Not quite as "polished" as Milwaukee or Dewalt, but dependable as hell. I have 4-5 batteries...all interchangeable within the brand.
This year, I picked up a Dewalt 20v. cordless string trimmer and 20v. cordless chainsaw. The trimmer is pretty much hustma low-end trimmer with a battery pack instead of a cord...works, but nothing special. The little chainsaw (12" bar") works great for what I needed it for...cutting driftwood logs and general tree trimming in the back yard. Batteries for both are interchangeable.

 

[DesiPower]

Thanks everyone for the input, I finally went with Ryobi. Main reason was their selection of tool and they go on sale frequently!

 

[LikeLinus]

Makita 18v. For smaller jobs, ive got a Bosch 12v set that is great.

 

[DesiPower]

Update:
After some research I went with Ryobi family. Started with buying a Drill and couple of batteries and charger from ebay. Now have a huge and growing collection of some useful and some novelty products, I do go camping a lot and some of these have been very handy. Very happy so far with the performance and quality. Most were impulse purchase from Directtoolsoutlet.com. Achived my goal of filling by garage with mostly needless power toys!!!

7 Batteries
3 charger
Area Light (Lantern)
Dual Function Inflator
Bluetooth Speaker Radio
Hybrid Portable Fan
16" Lawn Mower
Jet Blower
Trimmer/edger
Handheld Vacuum
6 gal wet/dry vac
Drill
Sander
Hammer Drill
Reciprocating Saw
Rooter
Angle Grinder
DIY Home Made phone charger with 3D printed parts