You are probably looking at this if you plan to fix a few things around the house. You might be wondering if you should get the 18 volt version. You might be wondering if you should get the Max Impact Driver, the Max ScrewDriver, or just the Max Drill Driver. That was me. Well, I'm a curious person, so I got all three Max drivers. I think, for most people though, this Impact Driver is the only powered driver you need to fix things, hang things, and assemble a few furnitures around the house.
This is an exceptionally well made tool. The build quality is excellent; just from holding the grip you can tell it's got premium materials when compared to other drills. The power on these little Max drivers are also surprisingly strong. I have a bigger 18v lithium-ion Hitachi, but I really can't tell the difference in power between the Max (12v) and the 18v lithium for most of the stuff I do around the house.
In case you don't know how impact drivers work, imagine a vice grip locked around the drill bit. Then imagine a hammer rapidly tapping the vice grip around to help turn/rotate the drill bit when it is "stuck." That's why these things work so well when driving long screws in to hard wood.
One reviewer commented that the Max Screwdriver has impact-like feature. I don't think that is true. I think he might be referring to the torque control knob similar to a drill driver. This is nothing like the Impact Driver. You can really feel the difference when you use both. When challenged, the Max ScrewDriver will either bounce out of the screw then strip the screw head or just start free spinning because of the torque control setting, but the Impact Driver will really drive the screw in when you simply hold the trigger all the way down. If you didn't want the screw to over tighten, then you can apply less trigger pressure, and it will tap lightly, still without stripping or free-spinning. The "Impact feature" only turns on automatically when there is a need for it, so it is actually quite okay for delicate screwing as well if you know how to adjust finger pressure on the trigger.
So the Max Impact Driver pretty much can do everything the Max Screwdriver does, but better. I think most people use the Screwdriver when they are screwing things in to delicate parts like electronics and computers. But even for that, the Screwdriver is over-powered and over-sized. You don't need that much power for electronic stuff, and the Max ScrewDriver is still too big to reach all the small areas inside, for example, a computer.
Do you need the 12v Max Drill Driver? I have it, but I rarely use it. I rarely use the 18v Hitachi drill driver since I got the Max Impact Driver. You can still drill very well with the Impact Driver if you have hex-shank drill bits. It's actually easier to switch the drill bits on the Impact Driver, so again, I prefer the Impact Driver even for drilling. Most other reviewers will tell you that the Impact Driver seems to be better at drilling as well. Yea, I don't know why they are making the other two drivers in the 12v Max series. I'm not a pro, but for non-pros doing non-pro stuffs at home, I think all you need is this Impact Driver.
I was putting in some self-drilling screws in to a metal frame to install a backyard gate latch. I tried using both the 12v Max Impact Driver vs. 18v lithium Hitachi drill driver. Initially, they both drilled the drill-portion of the screw in with similar effort (I can't tell any difference), but when the self-drilling screw got to the thread part to screw through the metal, the impact motion kicked in, and it kicked the Hitachi's butt out of my backyard. DEWALT DCF815S2 12-Volt Max 1/4-Inch Impact Driver Kit
I wasn't sure if I should get the 12 volt driver or the 18 volt. I wanted it to be as light as possible for the wife to use, but still wanted a tool that would do the job.
Glad to report that the 12 volt has PLENTY of power, & lasts surprisingly long on a charge!
I tightened up screws on my 20X20 deck, then sank 3" lag screws into 2X4's for a shelf building project, doing one wall and then part of another before the battery finally ran down.
I have switched battery's, finished the second set of shelves, had the kids out playing on the deck with it tightening more screws, used it at a friends house that was painting & removed all the grates & switch covers, took beds apart...this thing has been USED!
Bought it 12 days ago...and still on the second battery...anyway no need to worry about this not having enough power or lasting long enough! Its great!
If you are still using a regular drill to sink screws, you have GOT to try one of these! You'll never go back to a drill for screw driving again.
Also the oversize bag is great with this as I carry a box of impact bits, socket adapters, 1/4 socket set, box cutter, small pair of pliers, and a pair of side cutters. Seems to be everything I need to do jobs around the house.
The Dewalt impact driver is a useful little device that performs nicely and is well worth the price I paid for it. It has good torque, is small and compact, and fits the hand comfortably. The only complaint is the charge capacity of the tiny little battery pack. A fully-charged battery will not last beyond maybe 24-30 screws into, for example, five-quarter deck boards. While the battery pack charges rapidly (about 45 minutes), I have three battery packs and that still was not sufficient to complete the deck project I was working on.
I have only had this for 1 week and have completed four jobs with it and have not needed a charge. I am a hobbyist, and am used to the power that Lippo batteries can deliver compared to their same wattage counterparts, in most cases you need speed controllers and different motors to handle them without burning something up. This is where the next generation of tools comes from, if you look at the amps these batteries can put out you can see where the power comes from. I am not sure about these ( as I could not find that much info on them) but I am sure these are really 11.2 volt batteries, which would be 3 cell lippos, with at least an max output of 30-40 amps. Compared to conventional NI-CAD batteries pale in comparison. Lippo batteries hold twice the charge and do not dwindle over age (in other words deliver full power until they die, which this tool must have something built in to prevent that as once a lippo is completely depleted can kill the battery) and do not have any memory effect. The reason I say these are really 11.2 volt lippos is that is how they come as each lippo cell is 3.7 volts, unlike conventional 1.2 volts. Also when they are charged they normally charge to well above their rating, these probably charge to 12.6 volts. When I drove a 4 inch by 1/4 inch screw into a 2x4 using only a 1/8 inch 2 inch deep pilot hole, I was sold. It just kept tapping that bolt until it was flush, no ratchet needed. So much power from such a small light weight tool. - Battery Packs - Cordless Tools - Hand Tools - Power Tools'
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