PutnamEco

I see a surprising number of Ryobies on job sites here in my area. I'm assuming they do get the job done. I think a lot of these guys may be writing them off as consumables though. Theft is a consideration in my area as well. I hear the batteries are a weak spot.

I'm pretty much a one man band, if you would like to call that a "company". I can keep up to five batteries in cycle with my three bay charger and two single chargers, I don't like abusing them though, so more often I'm working with a corded tool if possible. If your working a set of batteries hard, especially here in Florida, you'll find batteries often won't be able to be charged because of overheat errors popping up on the charger, once you get a battery to that point, it usually takes two or more hours to get them back in service. One thing I can say for my Makitas and Hiltis, their fan cooled chargers do get overheated batteries back up and running faster, but I really wish they would offer multi bay chargers...

Wouldn't a porta band be better for cutting stuff like that?

We can't get them here either, so don't feel bad. I don't really remember, but they had been on a bunch of blogs a couple of years ago, along with a lot of speculation, on if or when they might be released.

Doesn't matter what the label says, same guys are getting paid for the tools, they're just trying to get more of your money.... Wait until Stanleys FatMax power tools become more widely available.

3 batteries per hour times 8 hours equals And your amusing all these batteries are in top shape to boot, at about three years old most Lith-Ion batteries are at 60%-70% capacity of a new one. What happens when you have a few tough cuts thrown in as well. Circular saws and angle grinders are even tougher on batteries. Hulk must be a wimp if he can't burn through a couple dozen batteries in a day. Only recip saw that might give you a problem doing this is the Hilti 36v., and you don't want to know how much a set of those batteries cost.

Figuring a run time of 15-20 minutes (even less for a circular saw) someone would need approximately 25 batteries to keep a sawzall working steadily all day. At $125 per M28 that would work out to $3125 for batteries. Without multiple chargers, they will not be able to charge all the batteries before the next day. After about 4 battery packs of continuous use, a cordless sawzall is getting uncomfortably hot to hold, where as corded sawzall working an hour or so, is just getting warmed up. Corded tools just make so much more sense for heavy use.

Stanley has had their Fatmax demolition screwdrivers out for at least 5 years now. Stanley and Dewalt tools have the same parent company and most of there hand tools appear very similar.

I think part of the problem is that the press would be comparing them to regular corded tools and the adapted cordless tools would not have a good showing, bad press = not a lot of tools sold. Like you mentioned as well, someone is probably sitting on the patents and they may be making it difficult to license them. It has been my experience that even 28v/36v reciprocating and circular saws fall short of the performance of their corded equivalents. especially when they are run hard, which may be another problem, cordless tools are not rated for continuous duty, something they may be exposed to, should some one put a plug on them. If your really into it, I'm fairly certain a power supply that could supply the required current could be sourced easily and it would not be terribly hard to gut a battery to make into an adapter...

At least Fluke is still made in USA. My 15+ year old Fluke 77 is still going strong, so is my 30 year old analog Simpson for that matter.

Is the Klein still made in USA?

Why not? I take my Festools all the time and never had a problem. From what I've been told Protool is Festools more durable "professional" line. Have I been misinformed?

The problem is not that there isn't enough current to supply a cordless tool, the problem is that cordless tools even working with line voltage does not equal the performance of corded tools.

Re: Wayne & BigYin What do you guys think of ProTool? I hear even less about them then I do Metabo. They are totally not available here in the states and the Festool that we have available here is some IMHO pretty impressive stuff. The electric clutch on their drills is very innovative.

I remember Dewalt had converter battery pack type thing in their 24v line back about 6-7 years ago. As I recall it turned mediocre cordless tools into pretty poor corded tools. It might be a little different with todays larger voltage tools coming close to the performance of a corded tool, but even so, if you really need a corded tool, why not go all the way and get a no compromises corded tool? This is one of the reason I keep harping on larger voltage tools and multi bay battery chargers. If you have enough batteries and the capacity to charge them you should be easily able to run a cordless tool continuously. Sawzalls, angle grinders and circular saws can all easily deplete a charge before a second battery can complete a charge. 36v tools can almost keep up with me, although I would prefer to have more time to cool batteries before charging them again. My V28 tools would need half a dozen or more battery packs and both my three bay charger and a single charger or two to keep one of my saws going, and all the batteries better have a full charge at the start of the day. At 18v I can usually run my drills and impacts for longer than it takes to charge a battery so this is not that big an issue with these tools, as a couple extra batteries can usually solve any run time problems. 12v, I don't think so.... TL:DR Until batteries can run cordless tools longer than it takes to charge them, they will never be a viable alternative for corded tools.

It would appear that this charger has a battery defect indicator light.

I'm sure there are some gardeners using them, I don't think many landscapers will be interested though. Cordless blower could make Caddy Shack style housecleaning a viable option.

I can't find much on this charger, only this Batteries & Chargers * Power LED: Indicates if the charger is plugged on an energy source * Evaluate LED: Indicate when the charger is analyzing the battery status * Defect LED: Blinks when the pack is defective * Charging LED: Blinks when the battery is charging, stays when the pack is charged. If the battery stays too long on the charger it will blink slowly for indicationg the maintenance charge * Temperature LED: Blinks when the pack is too hot (120°) or too cold (32°] and need to be cooled / warmed before getting charged Lith-Ion batteries cannot be trickle charged. Here is a link for the equvilent charger from AEGs range. It is a direct download link to a PDF file. http://www.aeg-pt.co...4203-BL1218.pdf None of what I researched mentioned anything about a flashing power light. The manual I linked to did mention that the power and full charge light would fade when the battery was fully charged and the charger went into standby full mode. could it be you have some kind of power line issues?

What they really need is more safety simulations and a lot less lectures. Don't get me started on the sad state of education!

With Stihl, Husqvarna, and Makita already in the market, it probably won't be long before everyone has a stake in the game. Some of this new generation of cordless equipment has got my interest. I'm waiting to hear some longer term reports on just how durable this stuff is. I'm hoping to see more 36v cordless tools, like circular and reciprocating saws, angle grinders, and roto-hammers. I'm getting really tired of all this compact this, 12v that, give me some tools with enough power to get some real work done. I just don't understand why companies come out with things like a cordless chop saws and only offer them in 18v. Hope you get your home sorted out quick.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) builds are not mandated by law, they are green building certification program. We do have contractors licenses here in the states, plumbing being its own category, these requirements are managed by each individual state. Some states do require certifications to do certain types of work as well. We do have some national standards that are upheld. One of our equivalents would be all the recent RRP laws they have put in place. There are very few places left where you can escape this kind of bureaucracy especial in the first world countries. Luckily I don't think we have it as bad as Wayne does in his country. Some states contractors license tests are merely to insure that you know you have to pay taxes and buy workers comp. insurance and obey building codes.

My first thought would be that it is a lubrication failure. If you also recently changed gears, they may need some time to break in as well. Bearings usually end up making some noise or set up a vibration or wobble before they fail

Well, at least the bureaucrats have job security....

Hot Wheels in 1:1 scale

Safety card questions to go on site??? Is that law, or is that management covering their butts. We are required to have somethings posted at job sites (mostly labor laws and MSDS for any hazardous chemicals), but never have to submit to a quiz as a prerequisite to entering a site. With some of the stuff I have seen on jobsites an intelligence test might have been more appropriate. But you know what they say, "make things idiot proof, and they'll send a bigger idiot"