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elcoholic

elcoholic

KSDS 88.3 Supporter
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Drove a dozen 3" combi-drive screws into the edge a 2x4 with Phillips and square drive bits and they went in like butter. I'm going to like this driver a lot, but will keep buying the 9.6V sticks for the right angle Makita as long as it lasts. It's been 20-25 years since I bought a new cordless 'drill'. :banana:
 
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I used that tool the last couple of years to build the playcenter displays at work; you know those big old cedar two story house and swingset deals.

Worked like a champ! Drove those 1/4" lag bolts in that a regular drill would have stalled out on no problem at all. I picked up a Porter Cable one in a set last year Black Friday and have only used it infrequently here at home, but it rocks too. One hidden benefit is that the shorter length allows its use in tighter quarters, which can be quite nice.

I love mine and wound advise anyone with a regular cordless to seriously consider adding one to their tool box. You'll be glad you did!!
 
The prices are through the roof though. I have two Makitas with bad batteries. They were only 25 bucks a couple years ago and are only 12v.
 
From what I've been reading the microchip controllers in all makes of the early lithium ion tool batteries didn't protect the batteries from overload as well as they should have and that can kill them easily. Impact drivers are a better application, lower peak current and no stalling.
 
What model is that Makita? I'm on the lookout for a new set, my old Nimh Makita set is fritzed out.
 
A friend of mine let me borrow that exact driver. The ergos and power for such a small and lightweight unit really impressed me. Much more managable than my sears craftsmen 19.2 units. Now if only my 20+ year old 7.2 makita would die.........
 
djnagle said:
The prices are through the roof though. I have two Makitas with bad batteries. They were only 25 bucks a couple years ago and are only 12v.
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I bought my PC at Lowe's on a Black Friday deal last year. Impact driver, drill, light NiCD battery and charger kit for $69.99.

Be careful though as a lot of PC stuff is getting sold w/o a battery and those run $50-75 each for LiON if you want one. NiCDs aren't cheap either
 
elcoholic said:
It's the LXDT01, 3 speed, 18V, Brushless. Hopefully it sees some action today.
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Thanks. These impact drivers are the shiz, one of those tools that I find in my hand quite a bit. My old Nimh driver would do everything from turning small screws to removing lugnuts.
I've kind of got a brand favoritism towards Makita but I'm going to check out some more before I buy.
 
My Milwaukee has a cord. Full charge all the time, torque never changes. Having owned it for 20++ years now I've never polluted a landfill with an old battery or anything, it's my little buddy
 
This driver is just ridiculous. I got a chance to actually use the torque it makes. I was attaching the big casters on my flex-rack today. Drilled a pilot hole in 1 1/2" oak for the 1st of (16) 1/4" x 1" lag bolts. Set it on high and proceeded to bury the lag and twist the head right off the 1st one. Holy crap! I like this driver.
 
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Remember, Power Corrupts! :)

I have this kit in the earlier green version with 10.8v batteries and I love it. Even though it's small it has all the power I need for most jobs and it's a lot easier to wield around electronics and under sinks etc.

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I have multiples of other drills corded and cordless. After years of Craftsmen and Skil I also bought into the Ryobi 18 volt tools a few years ago as it is so modular and the Li-ion batteries still work with the Ni-cad units from years past which is pretty smart. I have to keep tools at 3 places including on an island so I have more than I should have but the Ryobi are also often on sale and used ones are all over. I have broken a few heads off things with my impact driver too!
 
Makita is the way to go IMHO.
I have sold them for 18 + years, and rarely have a problem.
The 12 volt batteries (redtop) had some issues a few years ago, but they extended the warranty to us dealers so we could replace the batteries 3+ years from the sale date.
Unfortunately the old style (NI/NIH) batteries did have a significant price hike. On the other hand, the new LI tools are much lighter, and seem to hold up as well as the old school stuff.
The last time I sold a non LI Makita ( probably a 9.6 pod drill/flashlight) was at least 5+ years ago.
The new small format (pocket driver) 12 volt drill has the same power as the full size old style 9.6, although with a shorter run time-but a faster charging time.
I replaced my 12 year old well used 9.6 (batteries were fading) with this, and use the 18 volt only for the really big stuff. In fact I use the 18 volt flashlight more then the drill.
Now they have extended the LI to 3 years across the board, including the batteries.
Haven't seen any over charging issues.
In the last year I sold 50+ of the 18 volt combi kits, that included a free tool (like the OP driver-or a grinder rep saw/vac/blower or radio). The radio by the way sounds very good.
So far I had one 3.0 ah LI battery go bad and that's it.
Makita started out as a electric motor manufacturer, and is still probably the only electric tool manufacturer that actually makes it's own motors. They seem to get the same power as the competition, with a slightly smaller/lighter format-that still hold up well over the years.
I bought my first 7.2 stick drill in 1987-metal box-1 battery-no flashlight for $249.95. It still works, (5 mn run time now) and a bit noisy, but I used it from everything to drilling out exhaust manifolds, to building several decks/home improvement etc. It got loaned out a lot as well. Awkward and bulky now compared to the new units-but those drill were legends.
Good stuff!:thmbsp:
 
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I do love my 'blue' tools, especially my LS1212 with the 140 tooth FS Tools blade on it. There's only one problem with it, the brake is slow to kick in, pretty useless really. I already changed the brushes, but that didn't help. Any insight to a fix.
 
The schematic for the LS1212 shows a separate controller that has a cap in series. Maybe changing the cap value would make it stop faster.

BTW, I was at Home Depot getting some blades and they had some of the drill/impact driver kits on sale. The Makita kit (the consumer grade models) were on sale, also MIlwaukee but I chose the Ridgid kit. My decision was based on the lifetime warranty of the entire kit, including batteries and charger, and the lowest price. I have no doubt that the brushless Makita is a better tool but will wait until the dust settles on brushless to pick one of those up. The Ridgid impact driver has the highest rated torque but we all know that real-world and mfg. ratings sometimes don't jive.
 
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