These little batteries are light, but they don't last very long. I only get 2-3 hrs drill time and less on more power hungry tools like saws, great for a radio. They also wear out fast. If you use them hard they will only last a few months and then your off to your factory warranty center. I have had my drill for 18 months and have worn out 4 batteries, if they weren't giving them away I would be very upset. Overall I still like the lightness of the batteries but that is it. They really need to come out with an improvement on this model. If I have a tough job for the battery tool I reach for the old NI CAD it heavy but it gets the job done. The "work hard till the end" is ok but it would be nice if you got a little warning that you were about to loose power. It is no fun to try to change the battery on a drill that is buried 2 or 3 inches into oak. Ridgid 130383001 18 VOLT COMPACT LITHIUM ION BATTERY PACK
I bought this battery and never held a charge. It was quite a bit less expensive than at Home Depot but worthless. I ended up having to buy one at regular price. The battery came in a plastic bag which should have given me pause. It must have been either a factory reject or refurbished. Do not waste your money.
FIRST, I mean no disrespect. Here is a message I just sent to Ridgid:
I purchased a Ridgid, 18 Volt Cordless Drill-Driver, MN R86007 on July 3, 2009. I bought and used it for homeowner level chores only, even though I am a 25 year veteran of the building industry. Neither the tool nor the batteries have been abused in any way. The tool is fine. In fact it's an EXCELLENT product!
My only problem is the batteries!
The two batteries I got with this tool stopped holding a charge about three monts ago, despite VERY light use since purchase. I have used many, MANY different cordless tools in my professional building career, starting with Makita in 1981 (also excellent tools). I have never, EVER experienced the kind of disappointing service from ANY cordless tool battery as I have with these. In fact, I have Makita NI-CAD batterirs that are still working after 8 years! The replacement costs for Ridgid, Lithium-Ion batteries are unbelievable -- especially since the whole LI technology will soon be upstaged! IMHO, the cost of replacement (even at Amazon) is preposterous, because ANY battery that sells for this price should perform very well for at least three to four times longer than these. I hope Ridgid tool users are not victims of the morally reprehensible practice of "planned obsolescence"! I keep hearing how proud you folks are of your tools and your warranties. I hope your policies rise above the rest of the power tool industry.
Please advise: What can I do to fix this problem?
Kind regards,
I have now had to replace the batteries on my 1 1/2 year old Ridgid tool set twice because of battery problems. The protection circuit in the batteries goes bad and won't allow the batteries to provide enough current to work properly. I'm sure glad they have a 3-year warranty - maybe by the time I get my 3rd set of batteries Ridgid will have fixed the problem.
Buyer Beware! I bought this nice shiny 18V Lithium Ion cordless 4 years ago....it has been NON-stop trouble. Last year, right before the "lifetime" warranty ran out (more on this below) I had it serviced and the repair shop that does repairs on these units called them "overpriced junk"...they said that they USED to be good quality, now just expensive.
2 new batteries, new parts/contacts etc. on drill
ONE year later - ONE dead battery (says it charges but doesn't run the drill) - ONE intermittent battery that sometimes works and then cuts out
******RIGID CUSTOMER SERVICE*****
Rigid has some 3rd party vendor that provides customer service through some type of web link called "Dashboard" where you have to log in everytime to find out anything. Evidently the job of this OneWorld service is to NOT do ANYTHING for their customers as I was stonewalled and eventually sent away with "we can't find your account" (whatever that means)....MEANWHILE their box sells the product as "LIFETIME WARRANTY"
REALLY? Who wants a new customer ? Hopefully not many of you end up in the same boat -spending very good $ for such junky product AND service.
I'll try to keep this mellow.
I bought a Ridgid cordless drill about 1-1/2 years ago to replace my well-used 10-year-old cordless with failing NiCads.
The first one I bought had one battery (it came with two) that was DOA. Home Depot exchanged the whole thing (they had not single replacement batteries in stock.) The batteries have never held a charge for a very long shelf life. They're supposed to. These never have. Now they don't even really take a charge. I charge them 'til the charger indicates they're charged. Can't even drill ONE HOLE! Yeah, so it's hickory, so what? Not ONE.
I rate this a "DO NOT BUY".
The only good thing about this drill is the orange carry bag it came with, and I'm not terribly fond of the color.
When I bought my drill a few years ago, I was thrilled to find one w/ Lithium Ion batteries. I've always felt that NiCad was a poor choice for power tools, given its "memory" issues. However, both batteries that came w/ the drill stopped taking a charge in about a year. I just went back to using my old Dewalt (whose NiCad batteries have lasted over a decade), since I couldn't find my receipt. It wasn't until I saw other reviews here that I learned I could have gotten replacements just based on the serial number. Since I have so much invested in the drill, I plan to buy one battery, and have them just replace it whenever it goes bad. Amazing that they can't make a decent one, though. Will never again purchase a Rigid tool!
Though these Rigid batteries work well and hold a reasonable charge, their life expectancy is way too short and Rigid provides TERRIBLE warranty service. I live in a city of 500,000 people and can find only one "authorize service center" and he says the wait on replacement batteries can be as long as 3 months.
As a customer I find this intolerable. Either produce a quality product or provide quality customer service. I rely on my drill and can not wait several weeks for a replacement batteries (I have two) and can not afford to waste 50+ dollars purchasing new batteries every 6-8 months.
The service center has to pay in advance for batteries and so does not stock them. When I dropped my batteries off he said he was waiting on 10 batteries from Rigid. In my estimation, Rigid has a significant battery problem that it can not fix, and there is a tidal wave of batteries coming back to them. They are overwhelmed and are probably "refurbishing" them and pushing them back on the market. - Battery Packs - Battery Pack - 18 Volt - Battery'
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