TomB19

New member
I have a bunch of PowerXchange cordless tools. It's unfortunate they have two battery systems with the same name and voltage. Mine are the style with angular batteries, not the brick shaped batteries.

Here is my opinion o

1/2" Hammer drill - Excellent. Lot's of power. Metal gear case. Cannot say enough good about this tool. I really believe it is competitive with the high end brands.

1/2" Impact driver - Good. Modest power for the format. It is built well with a housing that is mostly metal. The issue here is that it's good for about 80~90 ft*lbs of real world torque and that's not a lot for a 1/2" drive tool. I would not buy it again.

1/4" hex drive Impact driver - Great. Amazing power for the format. Drives lots and lots of screws on a charge with either lithium or NiCD. Probably has as much power as the 1/2" square drive format of this tool. The only down side is the long body. It would be nice if it were shorter, like the higher end brands, but it's still a great tool for me. I have been using mine daily for four years and have zero interest in changing.

Circular saw - Adequate. Not quite enough power to be useful. With a sharp blade, it is just OK. The blade that came with it was junk. The depth adjustment on mine broke early on and the adjustment lever fell off. It was just glued on. It is not built well.

Reciprocating saw - Junk. The blade holder on mine broke after cutting a couple of studs out of a house renovation. I ordered another from the service center and it broke on the first cut. This tool should never have come to market. It probably wouldn't take much of a redesign to make it OK, as it has sufficient power, but the breaking blade collet makes it worthless. Shame on me for not taking mine back for a refund.

Angle grinder - Good. This tool looks junky. It feels junky in the hand. It has barely enough power to be useful but it has enough. Put on a decent DeWalt abrasive and do some work free of a cord. The batteries even last pretty good on it.

Lithium battery - These are cheap batteries. They are not in the same league as Milwaukee or Bosch but they do a surprisingly good job. It's a treat to be able to grab a tool and expect it to work... every time. I love lithium.

NiCD battery - These are OK. They are dead every time I go to use one, just like any NiCD battery pack would be. Packing 15 cells in series is not a good idea. My batts still work OK but there is no way the cells are balanced and healthy in there.


Overall, I think they should only sell the drill, hex impact, and maybe the grinder. These tools work OK.

If you're thinking this is a poor man's Milwaukee cordless set... you are not thinking correctly. Buying this set was an expensive lesson that will end with me buying a bunch of Milwaukee stuff.

I'll always use the drill and the impact driver. I'll probably also keep the grinder around as it is useful on occasion.

If you want an entire range of cordless tools, Look at Milwaukee M12/M18, Bosch 18v, Hitachi HXT, etc.

If you want a cordless circular saw, reconsider. Do you really need it? Ok... now please reconsider again. You don't really need it. If you continue to insist on buying one, look at the Bosch 36v saw or the Milwaukee 28v saw. Those saws can do some work but they are still not the equivalent of a corded saw.
 
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