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Dewalt 18V Cordless smoked

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I've had this Dewalt 18V tool set for 10 years or so. Light duty usage. Well today it started smoking when using it. Electrical fire / smoke coming from inside the drill. Man it stank. Has anyone had their cordless do this?

I'm still working getting our remodeled basement finished so I needed a replacement ASAP. Lowes had the 20V Dewalt on special for $99. So I went to take a look. Started to get it but talked with a salesmen and ended up going with a Kobalt 24V instead. One thing they mentioned was Dewalt not standing behind their warranty items as Dargo mentioned years ago here on FF. Here is a link to his thread:
http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=15425&highlight=dewalt+drill

This Kobalt carries a 3 year warranty and I was told they stand behind their product. Guess I'll find out. Anyone else try the Kobalt cordless drills?
 

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nope, I'm pretty much a Milwaukee and Makita man. I've had an old B&D commercial grade 4 1/2" grinder I rescued from the dump about 10 yrs ago. Just needed a new cord and it's done some hard work for me and still going strong.
Mike
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
You let the smoke out and a tool rarely ever functions again! :yum:

I have some Kobalt tools that are great just not any powered stuff.

I have a Makita drill that uses the old 9.6 stick battery. Still chugging along after years. Wore out a bunch of batteries.

I’ve had really good luck with Milwaukee corded stuff over the years so I bought a M18 drill and impact driver set a few years ago and they are great!
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Hey Doc - I have Dewalt cordless tools but am short on batteries. Your drill is toast but if you don't have other tools that use the batteries, I may be interested if you want to part with them.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Who sells Milwaukee stuff? My cheap A/C Skill 7 1/4" saw bit the dust so I replaced it also while there. Lowes now has Craftsman, along with Dewalt and Kobalt and a few others but I didn't see any Milwaukee power tools. I bought a Kobalt 7 1/4" saw also.

BC I still have the Dewalt reciprocating saw and circular saw and flash light that all use those batteries. I was hoping to find another Dewalt drill that used the same batteries so that I only needed one batter charger on my workbench. No such luck.
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Who sells Milwaukee stuff? My cheap A/C Skill 7 1/4" saw bit the dust so I replaced it also while there. Lowes now has Craftsman, along with Dewalt and Kobalt and a few others but I didn't see any Milwaukee power tools. I bought a Kobalt 7 1/4" saw also.

BC I still have the Dewalt reciprocating saw and circular saw and flash light that all use those batteries. I was hoping to find another Dewalt drill that used the same batteries so that I only needed one batter charger on my workbench. No such luck.

Home Depot sells Milwaukee.

There’s several places online. cpomilwaukee.com often has good sales. They also have reconditioned stuff. I got a rebuilt 7 1/4 circular saw with a new 9 amp battery from them last summer.

Heres their recon stuff:
https://www.cpomilwaukee.com/milwau...ndition&prefv1=recon&prefn2=series&prefv2=M18
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
Who sells Milwaukee stuff? My cheap A/C Skill 7 1/4" saw bit the dust so I replaced it also while there. Lowes now has Craftsman, along with Dewalt and Kobalt and a few others but I didn't see any Milwaukee power tools. I bought a Kobalt 7 1/4" saw also.

BC I still have the Dewalt reciprocating saw and circular saw and flash light that all use those batteries. I was hoping to find another Dewalt drill that used the same batteries so that I only needed one batter charger on my workbench. No such luck.

Fastenal. CPO is a great place too but it is online and if you are in the middle of a project and need it now, that may not work.
 

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I said I have Milwaukee and Makita tools. 2 Makita 4 1/2" grinders, the old B&D grinder already mentioned, a 1/2" Milwaukee corded drill that will wind you up if it binds, a Milwaukee 12v 1/4" hex driver, an 18v Milwaukee drill, an 18v Milwaukee impact driver and a Makita metal chop saw. One good thing about the Milwaukee charger is it has ports for both 12v and 18v batts. I had a Makita 4" grinder I put thru hell for over 20 years 'til the smoke leaked out of it. So I guess you can say I'm pretty sold on the two brands.
Mike
 

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
I said I have Milwaukee and Makita tools. 2 Makita 4 1/2" grinders, the old B&D grinder already mentioned, a 1/2" Milwaukee corded drill that will wind you up if it binds, a Milwaukee 12v 1/4" hex driver, an 18v Milwaukee drill, an 18v Milwaukee impact driver and a Makita metal chop saw. One good thing about the Milwaukee charger is it has ports for both 12v and 18v batts. I had a Makita 4" grinder I put thru hell for over 20 years 'til the smoke leaked out of it. So I guess you can say I'm pretty sold on the two brands.
Mike

I had a bunch of Makita 14.4 stuff. When I started collecting the M18 Milwaukee I gave the Makitas to my wife to put in the barn. They still get a lot of use.
 

jwstewar

Active member
I've been with the DeWalt 18-volt crew since about 1997. Still using the original drill and 5 3/8" circular saw I bought then. Since then I've added another drill, angle grinder, 6 1/2" circular saw, recip saw, flashlight, and 2 impact drivers. Have gone through a few batteries but never any problems with the tools themselves. Including dropping the drill and impact drivers from heights. My wife dropped the one impact driver on Saturday 3 times from the top of the barn. Pick it up and keep on going. I keep trying to find an excuse to buy a new Lithium set up, but I can't find it because everything just keeps working. We've put a lot of screws in and out with the barn. We are either rearranging something or the goats are breaking something. I'm not saying the newer DeWalt stuff is as good as the stuff I have, but I would be pretty hard pressed to moved to a different brand.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Today I used the Kobalt 7 1/4" circular saw for prepping / cutting wood for the dock to be built later this week. I like it. Seems much better made than my old Black an Decker and Skill saw that I just wore out. Course both of those are old technology ....made last century.

Tried out the Kobalt drill also and I like it. Can't say it's better than my old Dewalt but I think it will perform as good as the Dewalt did. It is lithium. Woo Hoo. :D
 

FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a Makita and love it. However I also have a WorX which is Handy.

The Makita and the WorX were about $80 bucks each.

That said, I own at least 5 cheap units from Harbor freight. They cost about $21.00 and for most work are adequate. And you can have two or three of them chucked up with different bits at the same time. Real handy. For the price of one Makita or Bosch one can have four of these.
In the last 15 years, only one of them has failed.
The Bosch failed after one year of service. The unit is fine but the 18V battery went fzzzzzt. New batteries are 20V don't fit, and cost $50.00


jus' sayin'
 
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Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I've been with the DeWalt 18-volt crew since about 1997. Still using the original drill and 5 3/8" circular saw I bought then. Since then I've added another drill, angle grinder, 6 1/2" circular saw, recip saw, flashlight, and 2 impact drivers.


Same here ..... I have gone through a bunch of batteries over the last 20 years of ownership of my combo kit. Just recently added a 20V impact last year. They make an adapter to use the 20V batteries in the 18V tools .... :thumbup:
 

k-dog

Member
My dad has a bunch of the DeWalt 18 volt tools. His 1/2” hammer drill has been smoking and stinking for over a year. He keeps using it and it keeps going.
I bought the Ryobi lithium one set and for the price, it’s tough to beat. It’s not the most powerful or the strongest, but for what I need it for it has worked quite well plus they have so many tools for that line up.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Have you decided yet, Doc?

No decision to make. I bought the Kobalt before I posted this. Happy so far but only used it once. It seems as solid as my ole Dewalt was.

I threw out the one that smoked. Could not stand the smell. Not sure if it would have kept working or not. LOL
 
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