Should I get 18 volt or 24 volt Cordless drill, saw ... ?

[Paul McHale]

I am going to buy a dewalt cordless drill and reciprocating saw
(sawzall). I have a fixer upper and can use the tools. Is it worth
the extra money to buy the 24 volt? I am not a contractor, but don't
want to wish I had more tool down the road. Are there downsides to 24
volt other than price?

PS Most people I know wish they had purchased a higher voltage.

Thanks,

Paul McHale

[TURTLE]

"Paul McHale" <pmc...@doubleesolutions.com> wrote in message
news:bkj0itcses3ji51dp...@4ax.com...

This is Turtle.

I'm a HVAC contractor and use a 14.5 volt Porter Cable drill and it does
just fine, I would call the 18 and 24 volts drills just more power .

TURTLE

[Joseph Meehan]

I have a 12V drill and the 18V hammer drill and the saw you are
talking about. The 12 is enough for the drill and certainly the 18 is
enough for anything I have tried to use it for.

--
Dia 's Muire duit

Joe M

[J&K Copeland]

Buy the 18volt combo pack with the drill, the recripicating saw, the power
saw and a flash light. Now. Plug in the the charger and make sure there's
always a battery on charge.

The 24 volt drill is too heavy except for the plumbers that use it to drive
the 3" hole saws.

James...

"Paul McHale" <pmc...@doubleesolutions.com> wrote in message
news:bkj0itcses3ji51dp...@4ax.com...

[davefr]

Unless you have a highly specialized application, these voltages are
overkill for a cordless drill. You will pay a large weight and size
penalty. (12v-15v for a drill is just right). My 12v Panasonics have
never let me down and I've never had the desire to have more voltage.

18v for the saw is fine, but I'd really think twice about whether you
really need the cordless feature. You can't beat a corded Super
Sawzall and they are cheaper than cordless.

[Sylvia Steiger]

I read with interest the other responses to your question. I don't have
either (although I'm looking lustfully at the Dewalt 5-pc 18v cordless
set) but what kind of fixing-upping are you looking at? I'm curious
because we've been building a shed since 1943 (okay, slight
exaggeration) and one problem with the drill that just died was that it
didn't have the power to get screws out of used wood. I bought a Dewalt
corded 5.4 amp drill as a replacement and WOW! what a difference. You
may not need that much torque but then again you may.

However, I have used the 18v cordless model and thought it had enough
power to pull a long train. ;)

--
Sylvia Steiger RN BS
Remove "removethis" from address to reply
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SylviaRN/quilting.htm
Cheyenne WY, USDA zone 5a, Sunset zone 1a
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SylviaRN/land.htm
Home of the Wyoming Wind Festival, January 1-December 31

[Norm C]

I have the 18 volt hammer drill and recip saw at work.(HVAC).I've cut 1-1\2
and 2"black pipe several times on 1 charge.Also steel shafts etc.When I
ordered it ,I was skeptical,but it really is handy.

Norm C--
"If We Quit Voting Will They All Go Away?"

"Paul McHale" <pmc...@doubleesolutions.com> wrote in message
news:bkj0itcses3ji51dp...@4ax.com...

[Image]

As a DIY person, the 24 volt would be great. I recently spent a weekend with
the vendors from Makita, Dewalt, B & D (Firestorm) and Porter Cable.
The 24 volt is killer! BUT...... I wouldn't want to carry it around all
day to make a living. I wonder how long it will be before we see work. comp.
claims for wrist injuries...

They are nice, but they weigh a ton.

My 2 cents

Kyle

[Doug Boulter]

Paul McHale <pmc...@doubleesolutions.com> wrote on 08 Jun 2001:

> I am going to buy a dewalt cordless drill and reciprocating saw
> (sawzall). I have a fixer upper and can use the tools. Is it
> worth the extra money to buy the 24 volt?

I thought I was going to be in the minority here, but I agree with
most of the rest of the replies. The 18 and 24 vold drills are too
heavy for general use. I personally own two of the 14.4s and these
do fine on even serious all-day remodeling jobs if you have an extra
battery.

I don't own the recip saw, but I do own the 14.4 circular saw. Based
on that experience, I'd strongly suggest the 24 volt saws. Even
then, if you're going to be doing work all day, a plug-in saw is far
superior.

There's a good review of cordless recips in the current issue of the
Journal of Light Construction (www.jlconline.com)

--
Doug Boulter

To reply by e-mail, remove the obvious word from the e-mail address

[Renata]

You gotta check capacity (amphr) since voltage alone isn't enough.
The combination of volt and amphr is the key. For circular saws the
Panasonic 15.6v (3 amphr) and Milwaukee 18v (2.4 amphr) saws have a
higher amphr rating than the others and will cut longer. Didn't see
these ratings on recip saws.

Milwaukee has the established rep as the premier recip saw, but that's
the corded version.

The PC recip looked pretty nice.

I have a 14.4v Makita drill and it's fantastic. Once in a rare while
I've needed more oomph and an 18v did the job, but it's bloody heavy
for general use. Course, I do have smaller hands (and muscles) than
most guys.

Renata

On Fri, 08 Jun 2001 00:07:13 -0400, Paul McHale
<pmc...@doubleesolutions.com> wrote:

[Paul McHale]

Thanks for all the great replies. From a rookie who bought a fixer
upper, many thanks.

I am going to get the Milwaukee 14v drill and the Milwaukee corded
sawzall.

Due to the many recommendations, I am shying away from the 18v and 24v
models due to extreme weight. The Milwaukee has the best reviews on
Amazon and the 14v offer 390ftlbs of torque where the 18v dewalt only
offers 400ftlbs of torque.

I bought the sawzall tonight and will probably pick up the drill
tomorrow. If anyone has comments/input please feel free to write at
any time.

paul
pa...@desinc.com

[jeremiah....@gmail.com]

Man how things have changed in a few years. Now that I look back on this conversation and compare it to what is out on the market now as far as cordless tools. Most brands are still making their corded tools, but not much has improved in the last say 5 to 10 years. Heck, there are a few that are not even making new or upgraded corded tools any longer. However, if you look at their cordless tools, you'll see that they are actually surpassing the corded tools in performance and weight.

[Fred McKenzie]

In article <305a0057-4983-4c10...@googlegroups.com>,

One of the biggest improvements has been in battery technology. A
lithium ion battery will hold a charge for at least a couple of years.
Ni-Cd batteries need to be recharged after a few months. Lithium ion is
in a smaller package for similar Amp-Hours.

I found a DeWalt adapter that lets me use 20 Volt lithium ion batteries
in older tools that came with 18 Volt Ni-Cd. It is nice to be able to
use the tools without first recharging the batteries!

Fred

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <fmmck-B423D1....@46.sub-75-242-165.myvzw.com>,
fm...@aol.com says...

>
> One of the biggest improvements has been in battery technology. A
> lithium ion battery will hold a charge for at least a couple of years.
> Ni-Cd batteries need to be recharged after a few months. Lithium ion is
> in a smaller package for similar Amp-Hours.
>
> I found a DeWalt adapter that lets me use 20 Volt lithium ion batteries
> in older tools that came with 18 Volt Ni-Cd. It is nice to be able to
> use the tools without first recharging the batteries!
>
>
>

As just a home owner I may not use a battery powdered device for months
at a time. Always irriatating to me that the nicads are either in need
of a charge or have gone bad and will not even hold a charge even though
they may have only been used 5 or 10 times. Hopefully the lithium ions
will hold their charge and not go bad just sitting around for 6 months
at a time.

I usually have to buy a whole new drill as I can often get the drill and
2 batteries and charger for what the 2 batteries cost. Most often the
new drill will be an improved version.