View Poll Results: Cordless battery powered tool of choice?

Voters
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  • Milwaukee

    47 42.34%
  • Ryobi

    11 9.91%
  • Hilti

    0 0%
  • DeWalt

    38 34.23%
  • Rigid

    3 2.70%
  • Bosch

    5 4.50%
  • Harbor Freight

    0 0%
  • Something else (name it)

    7 6.31%
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Thread: The great PF cordless tool debate

  1. #91
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    Quote Originally Posted by whomever View Post
    Oooohhh. can you share the details?
    Sure, I'm home today (I hope), so I'm glad to. It's an ESAB Rogue 180i.

    I spent a lot of time researching because I do use some 6010 rods in addition to 7018, and the cellulose-fluxed rods like 6010 don't run as well on small machines. They need a lot of OCV (open circuit voltage) to run. It's pretty easy to find a small portable machine if all you need to run on it is 7018. The old Miller Maxstar 150's were good for that and weigh what...12 lbs maybe? But they couldn't keep a 6010 arc going. So ESAB's older small machine is a 161LTS or something like that, and it has a great reputation for running cellulose rods, but I never got to run one. This 180i is newer and with an upgraded high end output which I may have use for.

    Like most welders on 110V, 3/32" 7018 is about as far as you can go on 110V, and IMO that's iffy because most factory specs that show 90A or so of output are showing an input over 20A, sometimes 24A or more....I'd imagine very few homeowners are going to get enough current to truly weld with useful penetration out of their 15A or 20A breakers.

    So to actually weld with any degree of seriousness, you need to run on 220V. The 180i includes an adapter cord that's really odd and I'm surprised hasn't generated any lawsuits....it's a 220V male plug with a 110V female. So a stupid person could plug that cord into a 220V outlet, forget they had done that, and then connect pretty much anything 110V into the other end of it. Again, it's a great idea for people with a brain. Miller, OTOH, has a cord that allows you to swap male ends for 110V and 220V operation. It's expensive and should be available as a 50' extension cord vs just a short adapter whip, but it eliminates the aforementioned stupidity.

    Like basically every other stick machine, the 180i also TIG capable because it's a CC (constant current) power source. Obviously the cheap / small stick machines with tapped outputs are not at all ideal for TIG because they lack a continuous current adjustment, but this one is continous and does have a TIG setting. It also has a receptacle for a remote current adjustment control (not included) which is nice for TIG.

    The 180i is advertised as weighing 18 lbs. That's the bare box. Shipping weight was probably another 10 or 15 lbs because it uses decently heavy leads. The leads use the Dinse style connectors which are not really standard in the industry (most of us use large Tweco twist-locks), but adapters are available so that I could technically also use my long leads with this little power source. Which I never plan to do BTW.

    The 220V input cord is the NEMA 6-50 standard for welding. This machine could never draw 50A, but it'll operate from a standard welding outlet which is good and which means that all of my 220V extension cords will work.

    That's what I know so far. If I finish my many busy tasks today, some of which include bumming around on the sofa, I'll report back on how it welds. Maybe another thread would be better; I do hate to hijack.

  2. #92
    Quote Originally Posted by Welder View Post
    Sure, I'm home today (I hope), so I'm glad to. It's an ESAB Rogue 180i.

    I spent a lot of time researching because I do use some 6010 rods in addition to 7018, and the cellulose-fluxed rods like 6010 don't run as well on small machines. They need a lot of OCV (open circuit voltage) to run. It's pretty easy to find a small portable machine if all you need to run on it is 7018. The old Miller Maxstar 150's were good for that and weigh what...12 lbs maybe? But they couldn't keep a 6010 arc going. So ESAB's older small machine is a 161LTS or something like that, and it has a great reputation for running cellulose rods, but I never got to run one. This 180i is newer and with an upgraded high end output which I may have use for.

    Like most welders on 110V, 3/32" 7018 is about as far as you can go on 110V, and IMO that's iffy because most factory specs that show 90A or so of output are showing an input over 20A, sometimes 24A or more....I'd imagine very few homeowners are going to get enough current to truly weld with useful penetration out of their 15A or 20A breakers.

    So to actually weld with any degree of seriousness, you need to run on 220V. The 180i includes an adapter cord that's really odd and I'm surprised hasn't generated any lawsuits....it's a 220V male plug with a 110V female. So a stupid person could plug that cord into a 220V outlet, forget they had done that, and then connect pretty much anything 110V into the other end of it. Again, it's a great idea for people with a brain. Miller, OTOH, has a cord that allows you to swap male ends for 110V and 220V operation. It's expensive and should be available as a 50' extension cord vs just a short adapter whip, but it eliminates the aforementioned stupidity.

    Like basically every other stick machine, the 180i also TIG capable because it's a CC (constant current) power source. Obviously the cheap / small stick machines with tapped outputs are not at all ideal for TIG because they lack a continuous current adjustment, but this one is continous and does have a TIG setting. It also has a receptacle for a remote current adjustment control (not included) which is nice for TIG.

    The 180i is advertised as weighing 18 lbs. That's the bare box. Shipping weight was probably another 10 or 15 lbs because it uses decently heavy leads. The leads use the Dinse style connectors which are not really standard in the industry (most of us use large Tweco twist-locks), but adapters are available so that I could technically also use my long leads with this little power source. Which I never plan to do BTW.

    The 220V input cord is the NEMA 6-50 standard for welding. This machine could never draw 50A, but it'll operate from a standard welding outlet which is good and which means that all of my 220V extension cords will work.

    That's what I know so far. If I finish my many busy tasks today, some of which include bumming around on the sofa, I'll report back on how it welds. Maybe another thread would be better; I do hate to hijack.
    Thank you for sharing, I wish I had your talent.
    #RESIST

  3. #93
    What? No Festool?! https://www.festoolusa.com/campaigns...es/ready#Ready

    OK, I guess I can also agree with the Milwaukee M12. I have five of their tools and love them. Built my deck with one M12 impact driver and two batteries. Building the airplane with them now, and like their drill better than my air powered drill.
    "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master"

  4. #94
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trigger View Post
    ....like their drill better than my air powered drill.
    Air drills.

    My right index finger is covered in scars from performing Recall 872 on Dodge truck trailer hitches in the early 2000's. The dealership gave us an air drill to do the work and I was elected to be the go-to guy for the recalls because I was the youngest and the fastest. I did hundreds of them. There was no room to work, no room for a T-handle, and every time the bit would almost punch through it would throw my hand into the bolts on the truck frame and rip new skin off, even with gloves on. Lots of torque to an air drill. I own a lot of air tools, but I never bought an air drill. Bad blood, don't ya know.

    Not the drill's fault, but 15 years later a past mentor and friend of mine was killed by a giant air drill called a track drill. They're used for drilling to set explosives in quarries; they're on tracks and tow their compressor behind them. I expect they're air-powered because of the explosive environment, much like some fuel trucks have air starters instead of electric. I never got the exact details but he was crushed when it powered up while he was using tools trying to change out the bits.

  5. #95
    Member DallasBronco's Avatar
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    Feb 2012
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    Richardson, TX

    The 12V tools from Milwaukee are outstanding. I have almost the full line. Great power and battery life in a compact and lightweight tool.

  6. #96
    I'm pondering donating my Ryobi 18v stuff to my ranch and going M18 Fuel. I've already ran into two nuts that laughed at my M12 Fuel and Ryobi 18v.
    #RESIST

  7. #97
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleLebowski View Post
    I'm pondering donating my Ryobi 18v stuff to my ranch and going M18 Fuel. I've already ran into two nuts that laughed at my M12 Fuel and Ryobi 18v.
    Heh. Two crazy people or two stubborn fasteners?
    "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master"

  8. #98
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    Quote Originally Posted by LittleLebowski View Post
    I'm pondering donating my Ryobi 18v stuff to my ranch and going M18 Fuel. I've already ran into two nuts that laughed at my M12 Fuel and Ryobi 18v.
    I don't have any experience with either of your current tools. But I do like the M18 line. Here's a little bit from my experiences with their impacts.

    -The high-torque 1/2" gun is really powerful, lasts in pretty tough environments, and is also pretty dang heavy for stuff not requiring that amount of torque.

    -I like the small 1/2" gun, P/N 2755, for fasteners that are 1/2" thread diameter or smaller. It'll do 5/8" thread, but barely. Despite what the torque ratings are.

    -Drive adapters REALLY reduce torque, I think even more than on air tools. One of my customers has the P/N 2867 1" drive impact which is rated for 1800 ft-lbs in reverse. And yeah, it has good power with 1" drive sockets. In comparison, I have one of the original M18 FUEL P/N 2764 3/4" impacts which was rated at 1200 in reverse. If I put a 3/4" socket adapter on his 1" gun, and try to keep up with my 3/4" gun, it can't do it. Which tells me that an adapter rattling in between the gun and the socket absorbs more than 1/3 of the gun's torque output.

    -Same thing with nylock nuts - the nylon locking material aborbs a lot of the impact force. My small 1/2" gun won't reliably loosen a 5/8" locknut although it'll take regular 5/8" nuts off all day long.

    -There's no comparison in battery life and output power between standard M18 and M18 FUEL. Most people already know this, including you. Brushless tech is the real deal.

  9. #99
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LittleLebowski View Post
    I'm pondering donating my Ryobi 18v stuff to my ranch and going M18 Fuel. I've already ran into two nuts that laughed at my M12 Fuel and Ryobi 18v.
    I hear, and see, people all the time say they are getting it done with the M12 stuff. I have a different set of experiences. I own M12, M12 Fuel, and M18 Fuel stuff, and I FREQUENTLY have situations where only the M18 Fuel gets it done.

    If (when?) I wind up in a zero-lot-line, HOA, can't have a workshop or make man noises, worried-about-my-14 sq ft lawn, type housing situation, I'll maybe stick with the 12 volt tools.

    So long as I have over an acre, shit I want to construct (not just small projects I want to build), and a workshop, I'll have 18-20V cordless tools.

    I will also always have a corded sawzall, circular saw, angle grinder, and hamerdrill sitting in a drawer or bin somewhere. (I already own them, so why not?) Where I currently live, shit happens. If (when?) I wind up in an HOA land, I might need them but it will be so infrequently that I won't be too pissed off about the cords.

    BTW, I just bought a track saw. This past weekend I needed to break down a 1/2" sheet of plywood (one of the tasks the track saw was allegedly purchased to tackle). I used the tablesaw (perhaps unsafely). Why? I couldn't be bothered to dig the new toy.. tool... out of it's box and plug it in.

    Someone somewhere mentioned that if you coil up the cords correctly you don't have to untangle them. God bless you, I wish that was the case. I coil, I daisy chain, I do all manner of "over worked, under paid" and other tricks, and when I go to tug on the cord it is always either tangled, caught on something, or both. F that shit.
    Does the above offend? If you have paid to be here, you can click here to put it in context.

  10. #100
    I'm modestly invested in Makita and have no complaints so far. Recently bought their newer cordless hammer drill and the thing is an absolute beast. Small light duty impact driver gets used a ton, and their multi tool/oscillating cutter works well but is a bit bulky.

    Looking at trying their circular saw so I can do some more remote projects at our hunting property.

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