We have been using these little suckers for about a year and a half now and I kinda thought that by now everyone might have had some exposure to their use. I first tried one out that one of the turd herders had when he was putting in some metal vents on a contract site we were on and I've been hooked on them ever since, so I went and got 3 of them for us to try out.
It took our guys about a day before the complaining stopped about having to use a "new" tool and once they got used to them they just loved them. Now all I hear about is the adapters that get lost sometimes. Magnets only have so much power and sometimes even the best of us get in a bit too much of a hurry.
I don't know how much money we've saved in 12/14.4/18/36 volt batteries for the drills we had before but it must be in the multiple hundreds of dollars since I hardly see any of the guys or myself for that matter, pick up a regular cordless drill much any more. (I do admit to being a bit of a dinosaur though, because my faithful old Dewalt still swings from my belt however).
We have tried a Makita, 2 Dewalts and a little B&D unit that looked kind of crappy and cheap but it has not quit even after being dropped a few times and they all seem to work and last very well. I have only had to replace one Makita battery pack so far and that was only because a bit of metal somehow got into the Makita drill/battery connection and shorted out the contacts with the resultant and not to be unexpected high heat coming from the battery pack. About the only thing they have trouble drilling through is an inch of oak or maple when we have to drag out the Milwaukee Hole Hog.
I think the only time we go back to a regular drill anymore is for rough-ins in good old spruce studs when the Milwaukee has to drill 150 3/4" holes for the NM in the studs. There is no battery powered drill that can do that anyway so it's a moot point.
The big problem now is the whining I hear when someone has to actually drag out a cord for the good old Milwaukee and actually have to start the generator too. My gosh times are tough these days.
If the guys that make these things now go to a small keyless chuck instead of the 1/4" drive, they'll make a pile of money on new sales.
Anyone else here had any experience with other brands?
