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DeWalt was given a court order to cease production of their 36v products and they no longer support them. This is flawed technology. I'm now stuck with 800 dollars worth of useless tools. I would have agreed with the other reviewers the day that I bought these tools, but no longer. DeWalt left me dead in the water and I will no longer buy their products along with their affiliations Black&Decker, Porter Cable, and Delta. DeWalt advertises that you should be able to get 2000 charges out of these batteries. I have two DeWalt 36v batteries and after two years of mild use they will no longer take a charge. I got at the most 50.
The one downside to this system (as compared to the Milwaukee system) is the limited number of expansion tools. In my quest for power, I moved up from the Panasonic 18V kit to the Milwaukee 28V kit to (finally, for now) the DeWalt 36V kit. I hope that DeWalt decides to expand the range of tools that can use this wonderful power source - a sander would be nice, and even some yard care tools (such as a small chain saw for delimbing jobs, a hedge trimmer, lawn clippers, etc). For example, Milwaukee offers an impact wrench, a 1/2 in angle drill, and some other tools not currently offered by DeWalt (or others) in cordless format. Of the 3, the DeWalt batteries seem to hold a charge the longest when not in use (for us non-contractor home project types who don't use their tools every other day). This feature is important to overall life of the batteries.
They should have bought these packs out when every other company bought theirs out 2 years ago. Be aware when buying these new packs that they do not offer any increase in run time over a standard ni-cd pack. It dont hold up to hard knocks very well so if you are prone to droping tools then be aware your cells in your pack may fail. Also phosphate Lithium-ion is not the best cell type to be used in drills. Both are 2.4Ah which means they last the same amount of time, So dont be fooled by some people reviews of 75%-300% longer run times. The only advantage here is they are lighter than the old packs and have no memory affect.
Just thought I'd share. They last very long compared to other ones that I have used. I usually find myself charging a battery once every week and I use them alot too. I bought this kit about a year ago and it has never let me down. No regrets. My batteries last so long that I don't even carry the charger with me in my truck. I do mostly Hvac work, installs, retrofits, things like that and this combo kit has made my life so much easier. I just leave it at home and charge them over night when I need to.
I have cut everything from stringers, rafters, to 4x4 posts with no power loss between any of them. The only problem that I have had was with the light, which was not a big deal. Good bevel capacity and the rip fence comes in handy. Overall, I am very impressed with the combo set as a whole. Overheating is not a factor, as it is with smaller drills over a long duration run time. I didn't purchase the 36v set from Amazon, but I do shop Amazon a lot. I was impressed with each and every one of the tools so much that I just felt compelled to write something. The drill is a little hard to handle on small projects because of the weight, but for everything else, it is the ideal tool to have.
Excellent power no matter whether you are ripping or crosscutting. The local factory service center has been very helpful. The batteries provide excellent power for a long duration. I would highly recommend the set to plumbers, electricians , and HVAC technicians because of the versatility of all the tools. The battery charger has a clear indicator of status and my batteries usually charge fully in less than an hour. I was impressed the most with the circular saw. There's no fading of power, the power is continuous from start to finish. The drill has a tremendous amount of power, especially in the hammer/drill setting.
The reciprocating saw seems like it has more power with more strokes per second than the corded version. This is the exception. The torque of the drill allows it to perform exceptionally well with auger and spade bits. Most cordless saws that I have used in the past were not very good at all.
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