Ok so we are remodling the house and the time has come to finally get a decent cordless drill the little 12v unit is less that par for doing what i need to get done i would be better off with a hand held screw driver. Ok back to the question I can pick up from home depot a ridgid reconditioned 1/2 In. 18 V 2-Speed Drill/Driver for about 150 bucks wich is perfectly in my budget. But whats up with the reconditioned thing? all seems good to go with the drill no problems i can see and for 150 bucks you cant go wrong. i have used some of the smaller 14v and down ridgids and liked them. the only reason i dont want dewalts is because all of the cordless drills and other tools in the shop are dewalt and i would like to keep our house tools seperate. so if any one could shed some light on the reconditioned thing would be a big help. thanks in advanced

 

Don't know about the reconditioning thing.. But if you have other Dewalt cordless tools I would stick with them because the batteries are interchangeable.. Nice to have extra batteries...

 

the dewalts are all 12v and 14v and are not enuff juice for what i need other wise i would do that.

 

Reconditioned drills do they get new batteries??? Check out sears I got a 18v drill and saw for about 200 bucks and got 2 new batteries. If your other smaller drills are dewalt your new 18v charger will charge the small batteries. I also had a craftsmen 18v drill good drill but didn't last long.

 

thats odd, my deewalt is an 18 volt system..... best advice I can give you is to get a total of 3 of the longest run time battteries you can find, and a dual charger..... reason? I know for a fact that you can still kill one faster than you can recharge it, having a 3rd in the rotation will eliminate down time especially when using heavy draw items like their sawzall, a handy 300 wate inverter is nice to have int the truck for charging duties when away from outlets, best item to have with the drill is the drive adapters, 1/4 3/8th, and 1/2 inch socket makes getting things together and apart fast, even handy for after getting lugnuts loose getting them the rest of the way off.

 

I know it's the wrong time of year but just after Christmas I bought a Milwaukee combo that had 18V cordless 1/2" hammer drill, sawzall, circular saw, light, jobsite radio, charger, 3 batteries, and a bag to carry it all in for $350. It was regular $700. I have used both dewalt and milwaukee and have found milwaukee to be a far better product. Keep your eyes open for close outs on special packages like that.

 

I have a Craftsman 19.2 I got of of Ebay about 2 years ago. Does whatever I need it to.
I will say however, if money was not an object, I would have a Dewalt 18V like my stepfathers. It has a way superior chuck and clutch compared to mine and is more "torquey" (is that a word?) You can tell the difference in quality between the two. I think his was close to $200 for just the drill, I paid $130.00 for a Drill, trim saw and flashlight.

For the money I vote for Craftsman, I would imagine for about $99.00 you could get a nice 18 or 19.2 volt drill.

 

thanks for all the input guys this is great i think iam goin to go with the ridgid 18v comes with a two battery charger and batterys case and its reconditioned for 150bucks the ones that are not reconditoned are like 280 bucks if this turns out to be a good drill then i will step up. my buddys who are hvac tech use the dewalts and swear by them and so do i but i was thinking of tryin somthing differnt and plus keeping the shop tools and my tools seperate are nice. still dont know what hte reconditioned means maybe batterys dont know.

 

I have the Rigid and have been fairly impressed with it. The "reconditioned" is probably a return that was sent back for warranty work. It should carry the same warranty but I don't think I paid $145 for my new one.

Mine came with 2 batteries and dual smart charger....it cools the battery prior to charging.

 

i think home depot is having a sale.

RIDGID
Reconditioned 1/2 In. 18 V 2-Speed Drill/Driver

Model ZRR84015

Price: $149.00/ea

2-speed transmission and 24-position die-cast clutch ring for durability and matching power to the task
• Locking carbide ½ in. keyless chuck holds bits securely during operation
• Auxiliary handle for greater control
• Includes case and Rapid Max™ twin battery charger capable of charging 2 batteries simultaneously in 30 minutes

Brand RIDGID
Model # ZRR84015
Assembled Depth (In Inches) 20.86
Assembled Height (In Inches) 16.53
Assembled Weight (In LBS) 5.5
Assembled Width (In Inches) 5.82
Battery Type Rechargeable
Case Included Yes
Charger Included Yes
Chuck Size 1/2 In.
Chuck Type Keyless
Forward/Reverse Rocker Switch Yes
Number of Batteries Included 1
Side Handle Yes
UPC CODE 648846050867
Voltage 18 Volts
Warranty (Parts) 90 Day Satisfaction Guarantee; 3 Yr Limited Service Warranty

 

I have a dozen or more cordless drills in my production shop and have found the Milwakees to be the most durable for rugged daily use, and their warrenty work is the best.
Used Makitas for a long time but their warranty work got to be so hit and miss i refuse to use them any longer
I have a number of Procter Cables that are doing real well for us, never had the opprotunity yet to test their warranty work
Dewalts are a pretty good tool but have a durability issue in our applications

 

I didn't see this addrressed but make sure the batteries are new.

Edwin

 

as far as the rigid cordless drills go, theyre great while they last. Im not gonna start a rigid vs dewalt war here, but i bought an 18volt rigid cordless drill/ hammer drill. Before the chuck got smoked it was a tough son of a gun, i dropped the battery from a lift i was working out of i was up maybe 8ft, and the battery didnt charge any more after the fall. I know the batteries arent ment to take falls. so w/ in a year the chuck was smoked and i was one battery down, no big deal. i ended up getting a good deal on a 14v rigid drill i used it for about a year, the beging of this year rolls around and im drilling through some 1/4" thick 2x3" angle iron, and smoke starts pouring out of the part of the drill where the motor is housed. I stop drilling, pull the battery out and hope for the best, well the motor is shot. Ive got an 18v dewalt drill/ hammer drill, I havent looked back since. thats just my 2 cents

 

i have bought many milwaukee tool reconditiond from graingers. don't know what was wrong with them but i have had 0 problems.

 

I bought a Dewalt 12V years ago and had it through building my house. Drilled lots and lots of studs with it for wiring. Also helped build about 6 bridges for Eagle Scout projects w/ my sons Troop. Lots of wood deck screws. I really liked it. After 7 years the Batteries finally gave out. 2 new batteries are the price of a drill. I looked long and hard at Craftsman due to pricing, but I have had no experience with them. I decided to go with Milwaukee, based on my experience at work with them. As I said I really liked my Dewalt & I have a lot of corded stuff. But after using this Milwaukee, it's the only thing I'm buying from now on. It's only a 14.4V, but I swear it's got more torque than my bro's 18V Dewalt. Let us know how you like the Ridgid. They build the best pipewrench's and threading gear, but I don't know about their portable electric stuff.