Lifetime warranty rigid cordless tools

Sgtmac

Sgtmac

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Sgtmac
This may be old news...but I had a nice discussion with a guy at Home Depot about a buying a new Cordless drill and impact driver.

He showed me a smoking deal on the rigid brand cordless power tools and they are advertised to have a lifetime warranty on the tools, chargers and batteries....sounds to good to be true?

He was told they can offer that because ultimately less than 20% of the tools sold get registered in the 90 sign up period.

I think this deal only applies to packaged kits, not individual items.

I'm gonna do it unless someone has had a bad experience?
 
I've had good luck with mine. I was also sure to register it!
 
I'm too big of a Makita fanboy to deviate -- fwiw Ive never had a single person use one of my Makita power tools and not comment afterwords that its nicer than what they have.
 
I too am a marital fan but the thought of never having to she'll out money for batteries is very appealing.

I go through several batteries a year with my makitas
 
Sgtmac said:
I go through several batteries a year with my makitas
Click to expand...
Now that is impressive. WHat are you doing with them. I would think I use my Makitas and Dewalts everyday...and have never really had battery problems with either. YOu must put the hammer on them?:yes:
 
I've had a set (came with a bag containing 2 drills, 2 batteries and one charger) of these for about 5 years now. Used primarily for inspection panel R&R on Citations, Hawkers, Falcons, Lears and Challengers. When I left working on the floor for a desk job they didn't see much action anymore so both batteries wouldn't charge anymore, but replacement batteries were available for about $60 IRRC, and still working great.

I would buy them again.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-1...er-Tool-Only-R82008N/202566684?N=18gZ12l2Z18g
 
I have a few Rigid set, and the batteries seem to die after a few years. Some of mine were covered under warrenty and others were not, and could never figure out which were which. The batteries seem to be the most expensive part. I also have the Lowe's in house brand (forget the name) in my house on the east coast, and the are barely used and the batteries all are dead.

If you use them regularly they are great. If you use them not so often I think the corded variety are probably a better option.
 
jesse said:
I'm too big of a Makita fanboy to deviate -- fwiw Ive never had a single person use one of my Makita power tools and not comment afterwords that its nicer than what they have.
Click to expand...

x2 :yesnod:
 
I have this problem. I don't use my drill too often, so the batteries quit. Is there anything you can do (besides use them daily) to prevent this type of battery failure? Is there a different type of battery that I could buy that won't have this issue?
 
John221us said:
I have this problem. I don't use my drill too often, so the batteries quit. Is there anything you can do (besides use them daily) to prevent this type of battery failure? Is there a different type of battery that I could buy that won't have this issue?
Click to expand...
Store hem discharged. Do not leave them in the charger. That's really inconvenient so no one does it. But it's the way to make the battery last longer.
 
I love my craftsman too much, they last me about 2 years and about 3 years on the batteries.
 
John221us said:
I have this problem. I don't use my drill too often, so the batteries quit. Is there anything you can do (besides use them daily) to prevent this type of battery failure? Is there a different type of battery that I could buy that won't have this issue?
Click to expand...

What kind of batteries?

They all die eventually, but nicads can sometimes be revived if you are willing to take the risk of having them blow up in you face during the process.
 
John221us said:
I have this problem. I don't use my drill too often, so the batteries quit. Is there anything you can do (besides use them daily) to prevent this type of battery failure? Is there a different type of battery that I could buy that won't have this issue?
Click to expand...

My Makita lithium ion batteries are roughly three years old and still work like the day they were new.
 
I just went with the Dewalt 12v Lithium ion and really like the smaller size, lighter weight. I've only had them for about three months but I built a workshop in the back yard and they performed very well. The interesting thing about the Lithium ion tools is that the first 10 pages of the manual now consist of warnings and instructions on how to charge the batteries without burning your house down, :rolleyes:
 
Sgtmac said:
This may be old news...but I had a nice discussion with a guy at Home Depot about a buying a new Cordless drill and impact driver.

He showed me a smoking deal on the rigid brand cordless power tools and they are advertised to have a lifetime warranty on the tools, chargers and batteries....sounds to good to be true?

He was told they can offer that because ultimately less than 20% of the tools sold get registered in the 90 sign up period.

I think this deal only applies to packaged kits, not individual items.

I'm gonna do it unless someone has had a bad experience?
Click to expand...

I've worked with various Rigid brand tools, no complaints.
 
I use the 18 volt DeWalt, the battery lasted about 4 years of daily use. I had the Miketia prior to buying the
DeWalt.

both were good tools.
 
JHW said:
Store hem discharged. Do not leave them in the charger. That's really inconvenient so no one does it. But it's the way to make the battery last longer.
Click to expand...

This was the best plan to keep NiCad batteries from croaking, but is outdated for lithium. Most lithium chemistry cells will see the least degradation in storage if left at about 40% charge.
 
PW_Plack said:
This was the best plan to keep NiCad batteries from croaking, but is outdated for lithium. Most lithium chemistry cells will see the least degradation in storage if left at about 40% charge.
Click to expand...
but since no one can determine state of charge to 1% or even 10%, the advise has to be simplified. "Discharged" means "not fully charged" as in "don't charge it till the light turns green and then store it"
 
JHW said:
Store hem discharged. Do not leave them in the charger. That's really inconvenient so no one does it. But it's the way to make the battery last longer.
Click to expand...
Tried both ways. I had two rigid sets and a total of 5 batteries. The ones I stored in the charger lasted about as long as the one I did not. It is almost cheaper to buy new sets than batteries when the sets are on sale. The warranties cover the batteries, but when I bought my first set the lifetime warranty was not there, and when I bought the second set it was after a hurricane and evidently I never registered, though I thought I did.
 
Thanks for the heads up OP.

I'm running Makita brushless. Just got 'em for Christmas this year. We'll see how they hold up ...
 
douglas393 said:
Tried both ways. I had two rigid sets and a total of 5 batteries. The ones I stored in the charger lasted about as long as the one I did not. It is almost cheaper to buy new sets than batteries when the sets are on sale. The warranties cover the batteries, but when I bought my first set the lifetime warranty was not there, and when I bought the second set it was after a hurricane and evidently I never registered, though I thought I did.
Click to expand...
or you can cut the batteries open and change the cells. You just need to be able to solder and willing to live with the case being obviously epoxied or taped back together when you're done. It cost me ~$6 each to change the cells in my ryobi 1+ batteries. Of course there was the additional cost of my wife rolling her eyes at my "frugal" nature.
 
JHW said:
or you can cut the batteries open and change the cells. You just need to be able to solder and willing to live with the case being obviously epoxied or taped back together when you're done. It cost me ~$6 each to change the cells in my ryobi 1+ batteries. Of course there was the additional cost of my wife rolling her eyes at my "frugal" nature.
Click to expand...
I like it. What did you replace them with?
 
Silvaire said:
The interesting thing about the Lithium ion tools is that the first 10 pages of the manual now consist of warnings and instructions on how to charge the batteries without burning your house down, :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Boeing's Dreamliner group would like to borrow a copy of those instructions.
 
douglas393 said:
I like it. What did you replace them with?
Click to expand...
cut one open and see what kind of cells are in it. They'll look sort of like D-cells. See what's written on the cells and order the same thing from one of the online places. Odds are you'll be able to find something of the same type and voltage with more mamp*hours
 
John221us said:
I have this problem. I don't use my drill too often, so the batteries quit. Is there anything you can do (besides use them daily) to prevent this type of battery failure? Is there a different type of battery that I could buy that won't have this issue?
Click to expand...

Problem is, if you go to a different battery technology you will likely have to buy a new charger as well. Finding one that will fit your particular tool can be a problem. Some tools that have been around for awhile are no longer supported by the manufacturer. As an example, I have a good Bosch cordless drill that I can't find a decent battery for. There are exact replacements available - but they are all aftermarket and mostly junk.

Dave
 
We have multiple Rigid cordless drills, corded drill, cordless impact and multiple batteries. All are coverded under the LTP (Lifetime plan). This includes tools, batteries and chargers. This LTP is only good IF you register the tool and accessories. Most never do and then need service a year or two down the road only to find out that the warranty expired!.

Getting the batteries covered under warranty and more recently a drill repaired was challenging! Only certain Home depots (HD) will accept the tool for repairs. This means the store you bought it from may not service it. I dealt with Home depot service and it took 2.5 months to finally get the tool repaired!! If you don't deal with HD, then you have to send it to an independent service center. Most of these guys don't want to deal with Rigid since they get paid almost nothing to repair the tools. Yea, while the LTP looks good up front, plan on hassles!

YMMV
 
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