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DEWALT CORDLESS TOOL USERS: HELP!

| Posted in General Discussion on May 1, 2001 11:15am

*
As you may know by now, Dewalt has just released an AC adaptor for their new 24 volt line of cordless tools.

After talking with Dewalt’s Customer Service? and Research & Development people by telephone, as well as, company representatives at a recent trade show, they have told me repeatedly that Dewalt has NO intention of helping out the loyal customers that already own cordless tools that run at less than 24 volts.

It seems to me that customers who own tools that run at less than 24 volts need an AC adaptor MORE than those with the new, stronger voltage. If they really wanted to help us, they would design one with a sliding voltage switch to select the voltage of the tool you’re running (9.6, 12, 14.4, 18, 24).

What do you think? Dewalt told me that their extensive research tells them that sales would not support this item. If YOU could use this AC adaptor with variable voltage, PLEASE call Dewalt at 1-800-4-Dewalt and express your interest. Also, thank them for their loyalty to existing customers.

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Replies

  1. Jim_Nation | Apr 01, 2000 04:16am | #1

    *
    Hey I second the call for AC adapters for the 14.4V for me. The sliding voltage sounds good too. If DeWalt won't do it I may cobble one up and see what it would cost to produce. Send your orders.

    1. bkunkle | Apr 01, 2000 04:44am | #2

      *every dewalt tool ive ever bought excluding the 12 miter saw has been junk junk junk junk they can keep the shit tools if anyone wants to argue that point i will be happy to tell how every dewalt hand tool ive bought has lasted less than 18 months

      1. JRS | Apr 01, 2000 05:54am | #3

        *bkunkle,I've been very happy with the DeWalt tools I own, and will certainly buy more in the future.John

        1. The_Tennis_Court_Builder_...on_t | Apr 02, 2000 12:25am | #4

          *Yellow crap....near the stream,aj

          1. bkunkle | Apr 02, 2000 11:14pm | #5

            *I am glad you had some good luck when you need parts just put a post up on this board im sure there are plenty out there.Ive got 3 trim routers 1 plunge 1 sabresaw 1 beltsander all of wich are less than 2 years old and cant be used.they are desighned to look industrial but are a far cry to matching portercableormakita oh ya 3 cordless drills neveragain Boyd

          2. Jeff_J._Buck | Apr 03, 2000 12:58am | #6

            *How much for the lot of them? I'll pay shipping, seeing as how they're junk. Jeff

          3. bkunkle | Apr 03, 2000 01:51am | #7

            *Jeff no problem ,I check the status on the drills tomorrow the plunge outer works but has a tendency to throw bits I cant let it go for shipping but if you want the trim routers and belt sander its not a problem. gave the saber saw to one helper and the skill saw to another when they give up ill send toughs as well. Boyd

          4. Luka_ | Apr 03, 2000 04:22am | #8

            *AJ,i > "Yellow crap....near the stream"You have probably eaten too many corn chips. Vary your diet a bit more. p.s. You let that stuff get in the stream and yer asking for lawsuits from your neighbors downstream. Besides, it's not good for the crawdads. (stream lobsters)

          5. Shakey_Jake | Apr 04, 2000 03:09am | #9

            *Nailer, Am I missing something here? You want an adaptor on the end of an electical cord to plug your cordless drill into a receptical. I'm quite happy with my 18 volt Dewalt. It has all the power I need when the battery is charged. When the battery starts to lose it power, I put in a new battery. Granted I'm fanous for having the spare dead battery, but I'm getting better at keeping the charged. I picked up a 24 volt at Home Desperate. I think an optional A-frame on wheels would be nice. It feels more like a demolition tool than a drill.

          6. Aaron_M | Apr 05, 2000 05:56am | #10

            *a "friend" dropped my dewalt 18.8v, bounced once off the side of an 18/12 steel roof then landed in a steel truck bed. total fall, about 50ft. it works good now that i glued the handle back on. battery too.

          7. Duncan_Mahoney | Apr 07, 2000 04:44am | #11

            *Isn't the point of a cordless tool that it's cordless? That you don't have to lug an extension cord around and find an outlet? Before I started using a cordless drill, I put in screws and drilled holes with a really nice VSR Porter Cable 3/8" drill. I still have it, though it doesn't get out of the toolbox drawer much anymore. But if I was going to lug a cord around, I don't think I would want it attached to a tool designed to run on battery power of any voltage. The power supply or transformer probably weigh as much as a battery so now you'd have the weight of both a battery and a cord drag around. Just my 2 cents.

          8. Bill_Dudley | Apr 11, 2000 07:03pm | #12

            *to the fellows who think Dewalt is junk: It's a good tool for the money, We have 100 people in our industrial contracting biz. We have a ton of dewalt drills, recip. saws, grinders, etc. I repair about twenty tools a quarter. excluding the 10 milwaukee portabands last month (good tools, rough users).P.s all my personal tools are yellow and work great.

          9. JRS | Apr 11, 2000 09:06pm | #13

            *Ditto Bill- I would add that I own tools from just about every major mfr. and no mfr. has a perfect track record. From my experience, I've had more trouble with Makita than any other. This doesn't necessarily reflect others experiences. I don't automatically condemn Makita as "Blue Crap"(Although I would classify their tool boxes as blue crap without hesitation.PC has the best tool boxes in my estimation).It just seems to me that DeWalt gets more than their share of trashing on this board and at Knots-it seems there is a very vocal few that rarely miss an opportunity to stick it to them. I wonder if this has more to do with their local supplier/parts vendor than DeWalt itself?JohnP.S.-I used to own a Makita portable table saw, and I now own the DeWalt-the DeWalt is vastly superior.

          10. Jeff_J._Buck | Apr 12, 2000 01:07am | #14

            *E-Mail me and let's try to work something out. Jeff

          11. The_Tennis_Court_Builder_...on_t | Apr 14, 2000 12:45am | #15

            *garbage disposal grinders.....yellow crap....near the Makita blue stream,aj

          12. Frank_"Mad_Dog"_Maglin | Apr 14, 2000 04:00am | #16

            *Drifting from the yellow stream peacefully into the blue.

          13. JRS | Apr 15, 2000 12:10am | #17

            *GIGO

          14. Richard_Howard | Apr 16, 2000 03:34am | #18

            *I want to put my two cents in for Milwaukee tools. Dont seem to hear much about them on this site. I own mostly Makita and Milwaukee tools. They each seem to have their own personalities. Milwuakee seems to make durable no non-sense tools made for the long haul. But they dont pay as much attention to fit and finish as Makita. Makita tools seem to be flawless in design and manufacture, but dont have that solid feel you get with Milwaukee. As for Dewalt, someone here said it best when they said that their design team is WAY ahead of their manufacturing team. They design great, but dont execute to the finish. Just my impression. Plus, I like the color red.

          15. Bill_Dudley | Apr 23, 2000 12:59am | #19

            *hey you, The one crapping near the stream, I'm new to the site. What brand of tool do you like?

          16. The_Tennis_Court_Builder_...on_t | Apr 23, 2000 09:36pm | #20

            *Decrap falls far from de stream,,,,ecologically speaking....or at least downhill from it....Tools....I like Makita, Metabo, Milwaukie, Porter Cable, Honda, Paslode Impulse...None are yellow....Not crapping near the stream,aj

          17. Mark_"if_I_were_a_carpenter | Apr 25, 2000 06:19am | #21

            *Well, it seems that this posting has turned into the old "ford-chevy" debate regarding dewalt vs. the other guys. Frankly I really miss the old Black and Decker industrial line, which was scrapped when b&d introduced dewalt, the watered down version of their good tools. The b&d sawcat was the best circular saw I've ever had in my hands, and now I have to settle for the dewalt version. Although this saw still out performs any other circular saw that I've used recently, it still is just a shadow of the sawcat. I think Bill summed it up best when he said "It's a good tool for the money". I've found this to be pretty much true. Dewalt tools aren't the best tool out there, but they do a good job considering what you pay for them. I bought a delta 12"miter saw last year and it was a complete piece of crap, wouldn't cut a true miter to save its life! I boxed it back up, took it back and bought a dewalt 12" instead, I've been happy with it so far. Of course, I'm the only person who ever touches my miter saw, I think that factor alone has more to do with tool life and performance than anything else. O K ... back to the actual subject. I took one of my old worn out batteries for my 12 volt drill and cobbled a cigarette lighter plug and 50' of cord onto it for "emergencies". so far I haven't had occasion to use it for the drill, but it did come in handy one time when I left my lights on all morning while working by myself in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a temporary power pole. Believe it or not, I used the dewalt charger to charge my truck battery and I swear to you it actually worked!

          18. Bill_Pickard | May 29, 2000 06:52pm | #22

            *I think the idea of an 110v adaptor cord for cordless tools is a little stupid. Why not add a hose connection for a Bammer? The whole point of a battery (or impulse) operated tool is the freedom from extension cords! This is particularily important when working in a confined area with several people.And as for freedom from cords (hoses) Makita makes a nice 9 gallon portable air tank. If you put a ball valve behind the male connector on the Tee that goes into the tank, you have a good portable air system for small repair jobs like roofs, etc.Power pord for a portable tool, I don't think so.

          19. Mark_Bentley | May 30, 2000 03:59am | #23

            *I saw what you are looking for at Lowers. I think it is call the fire storm. Liked like a piece of junk. The whole point of a cordless is the less. Get serious and plug in your charger and spare battery.

          20. Ron_Seto | Jul 03, 2000 03:07am | #24

            *I'm glad to see the yellow, red and blue bashers opening their mouths. Maybe the manufacturers will read this stuff and take notice. After all, if nobody complains, then they must be satisfied.

          21. D._Ashinghurst | Jul 25, 2000 09:51pm | #25

            *I dropped my 14 volt Dewalt into Lake Sabago last summer. The battery shorted out, which was soon followed by the trigger switch. Amazingingly enough, though, the motor didn't ground out, and is still working fine one year later.

          22. tezor_ | Dec 26, 2000 11:39pm | #26

            *Just have to jump into the fray, I think that the corded adapter for the cordless tool is a good idea, the batteries are expensive, I often run through the batteries faster than they charge, and if I have the plug for the charger, and I have down time waiting for the battery, then the adapter will be a money maker, I wouldn't drag the cord up the scaffold, but would do something else close to the power until the battery is charged. Sorta makes sense in a twisted form that I can identify with. What's the problem?

          23. Phill_Giles | Dec 27, 2000 01:40am | #27

            *Best drills / best reciprocating saws / best drywall gun

          24. tezor_ | Dec 27, 2000 08:25pm | #28

            *Just got a response from De Walt, it seems they are unwilling to make a corded adapter for the lower voltage tools because they are not double insulated. It makes sense, however I might build a unit when one of the batteries die, (my brother is an electrical engineer so it will be done properly or not at all) I'll let you know if it works.

          25. Brandon_uck | Mar 28, 2001 03:44am | #29

            *Time to put my two sense in. I've had the DeWalt 14.4 cordless saw and drill for about three years, and beat on both of them, both have been droped repeatedely, especially the drill. The batteries are just starting to tire out, I think I've got a great deal for my money from DeWalt, I'd never buy another brand of cordless tools.

          26. Kyle_Bartlett | May 01, 2001 11:15pm | #30

            *I think a Ac cord adapter defeats the purpose of a CORDLESS drill, wouldn't you.

  2. nailer_ | May 01, 2001 11:15pm | #31

    *
    As you may know by now, Dewalt has just released an AC adaptor for their new 24 volt line of cordless tools.

    After talking with Dewalt's Customer Service? and Research & Development people by telephone, as well as, company representatives at a recent trade show, they have told me repeatedly that Dewalt has NO intention of helping out the loyal customers that already own cordless tools that run at less than 24 volts.

    It seems to me that customers who own tools that run at less than 24 volts need an AC adaptor MORE than those with the new, stronger voltage. If they really wanted to help us, they would design one with a sliding voltage switch to select the voltage of the tool you're running (9.6, 12, 14.4, 18, 24).

    What do you think? Dewalt told me that their extensive research tells them that sales would not support this item. If YOU could use this AC adaptor with variable voltage, PLEASE call Dewalt at 1-800-4-Dewalt and express your interest. Also, thank them for their loyalty to existing customers.

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