Powerful 18 Volt Cordless Drill/Driver with Lifetime Warranty!

Hawg, I’m an absolute fan of Ridgid tools in general. I got the 24V combo set incuding the circular saw, flashlight, reciprocating saw and the hammer drill. The only complaints I have is although well balanced, these 24v batteries make these things heavy. I kind of wished I’d purchased the 18V version, because of that reason. The other complaint is that hammer drill has too much power for delicate work. With the heavy battery and all that power, you really have to be carefull or you’ll strip scews and over torque things. But, I guess it is a hammer drill. I’ve got a 12V DeWalt to take care of my light work.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

I, too, favor Ridgid tools. I believe the LI is supposed to be lighter than the NiCad. That would bring 18 volt tools back to the top as an option.

Rigid is definatly the best drill between Ryobi and Rigid. We have rigid drills in my shop class and ryobi as well. Rigid definatly is better in durability and battery length. Especially with the lifetime warranty, it really makes this tool number one for the beginner tools.

-- Your not a true woodworker until you blow your nose and saw dust comes out! (WoodWorker Rule)

I’ve had a Porter Cable unit, but when the batteries and the charger died I decided the replacement cost was not worth it. I bought a Sears set at less than half the price. It lasted about 2 years and definitely had an easy life. So I tramped into HD and announced “I want a drill with a power cord!” When I explained I what I had experienced, they informed me of the new warranty. Still waiting for the registration to be processed. More than twice the price of the Sears, can’t say it’s twice as good excepting the warranty.

-- Don, Royersford, PA

We have always had Makita drivers. And love them. But the batteries have gone kaput so we decided to look for new drivers since the batteries cost so much. Because of LJ, and this blog, we purchased a Rigid 12 volt LI driver for $99 and we could not be happier! Lifetime warranty and performance that was awesome. The torke is perfect and seems very strong. We are looking at the 18 volt one, but not sure why the 12 volt one wouldn’t achieve all the power we need. These seem really well built and the battery charges in 30 minutes.

I never thought I’d say that about any Rigid product! Made me a strong believer. My husband keeps looking at the Milwalkee and the Dewalt and I keep saying 3 year warranty?? I love this lifetime warranty. How smart.

This weekend, we looked at the Festool and thought it was an awesome system. 3 times the cost and a 3 year warranty. No comparison for me. You can purchase attachments that will make the driver do what Festool will do, for the amout of things we drive that would need those attachments.

-- Ellen -- www.goodadvertising.com/woodwork

Understand the warranty…

Save your paperwork and don’t expect to walk into a Home Depot and exchange the tool for a new one:

“HOW TO OBTAIN SERVICE UNDER THE LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT YOUR LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AND PROPER PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION MUST BE PRESENTED WHEN REQUESTING SERVICE COVERED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.

To obtain service for this RIDGID� tool under the Lifetime Service Agreement, you must return it to One World Technologies, Inc., attn: RIDGID� Hand Held and Stationary Power Tool Technical Service, 1428 Pearman Dairy Rd, Anderson, SC 29625, freight prepaid, or take it to a designated service center. You may obtain the location of the designated service center nearest you by calling (toll free) 1-866-539-1710 or by logging on to www.ridgid.com. All authorized RIDGID� power tool service centers are approved to provide service under the Lifetime Service Agreement. When requesting service under the Lifetime Service Agreement, you must present your Lifetime Service Agreement Identification Number and proper personal identification (a valid driver’s license, passport, or military I.D. or a valid Social Security card with photo ID). The designated service center will repair or replace any part covered under the Lifetime Service Agreement, at our option, at no charge to you.”

Also, what is “proper maintenance”?

“WHAT IS NOT COVERED

This Service Agreement applies only to the original registered owner and may not be transferred. This Service Agreement only covers wear and tear or failure of the tool arising under normal usage and proper maintenance. It does not cover any malfunction, failure or defect resulting from misuse, abuse, neglect, alteration, modification or repair by anyone other than an authorized service center for RIDGID� brand hand held, pneumatic and stationary power tools, any damage or malfunction inflicted upon the tool by the user or other external sources, or any failure to comply with the warnings and instructions in the operator’s manual.”

Unfortunately, lots of folks think “Craftsman Hand Tool”, when they think of Lifetime Warranty, where the transaction is no questions asked, right at the local store. That is not the case for Ridgid’s warranty.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

You DO have to send in your original receipt from Home Depot along with the original UPC to obtain the lifetime waranty,but that is not too much for you to do. I had NO problem obtaining service for my planer from Ridgid once I registered the product online at Ridgid.com. Once you have a Ridgid tool registered, you are covered and all you have to do is call their customer service to obtain a repair order. I got a repair order and took it to the local repair center in Tucson, where they repaired it with no problems.

I bought a new Ridgid cordless jigsaw from Ebay, but Ridgid would not give me a lifetime warranty unless it was bought direct from their marketers (Read Home Depot there.) Ridgid has had some problems with their bandsaw, but I have been extremely happy with my ridgid tools, which include their jobsite table saw, the cordless tools here, a full-head nailer, and plus their thickness planer.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Ellen, the 12 volt should provide all the torque you will need. The Lithium batterys provide more torque than an equal voltage, so, the 12 volt will provide almost as much as the 18 volt. I was impressed with them at the demonstration at my Home Depot, but I already had all teh drivers I needed.. LOL

Anyway, I am sure you will be pleased with the Ridgid tool you have.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Been thinking about this drill. You just can’t beat Ridgid’s warranty. That tells you a few things about the company. There price seems to be on par with competitors. Thanks for the review!

-- All trees have projects inside of them, it is your job to get them out.

Ridrgd has great tools

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

To preface, I run a site where I recommend what I think are the best cordless drills For 18v drills I recommend Panasonic and Makita. I’m always second-guessing myself for whether I should recommend Rigid because of the lifetime warranty. But from my experience and the large number of reviews and comments I’ve read on the Internet, Panasonic makes the best drill and Makita is next for a cheaper choice.

My thinking is that you get a decent warranty with the other tools as well, and as noted above it’s going to be somewhat of a pain to keep up with your warranty information, and let’s face it, if you’re going to buy the best cordless drill on the market, in 15 years are you going to want your drill repaired or to get the next thing that’s out.

So I keep coming back to the position that if I wanted to buy the best cordless drill (18v) I’d get a Panasonic. Also, BTW, for a 24v cordless drill I recommend the Milwaukee V28 line.

What do you guys think?

The Ridgid battery warranty is great….....if the repair service shop has a replacement battery. I turned in my dead 18v in May and just got a replacement Oct 30. The battery were back ordered and on some boat from China. All said Home Depot customer service could not help, eventhough they had 18v batteries on the store shelf FOR SALE, they could not warranty the dead battery. You just have to wait. Make sure you registar your complete unit, drill,saw,light, charger and BOTH batteries or the warranty will not cover you. Do not lose the little card they send for warranty work.
The drill is good, just a little heavy and the chuck does some time lose the bit even if the chuck is tight to start.

I have the Milwaukee V28 and love that kit….I also have the Dewalt 36 and it is not that bad either. The Milwaukee warranty is better then Dewalts though but I got such a great deal on the Dewalt I could not pass it up…..I had a Makita set I gave to a former employee when he was having financial problems….All of them were very good tools….I have used Rigid tools in the past…and they are not too shabby either….As long as the manufacturers keep up with their warrantees….that will show the true character…

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!