Cordless Tools Reviews

This is a great concept, when it works. I took it back after last Christmas & exchanged it 4-5 times within 4 months time, all quit. They need to work on Quality Control. This is a light that most mechanics or handy people would love! It is such cool a light - too bad it is not reliable. We so wanted one to work.

What I ordered and what I received was two different animals !!

NOT GOOD >>>>>>>

I ordered this item at the same time as a Bosch "BRUTE",made in Switzerland, 18 volt drill, only to find that the drill uses a BAT026 and is not compatible with the BATO18. SO had to return the O18 at my expense.

I bought this kit thinking it was a bargain. Truth is it failed me horribly after about a dozen uses. First casualty was the spiral saw. That broke after the 2nd use. The button to lock the chuck, which is required to change bits, stripped itself. So much for that, but I figured that was okay because I still had the drill and saw which, for the price I paid, was a good deal. Next fatality - the saw. Tried both batteries, and both batteries had a full charge, but after using it to cut some MDF for a speaker box then trying to cut some pressure-treated plywood, the motor burned itself out. Another tool down. Now, I don't necessarily blame the tool here. Home Depot won't cut pressure-treated wood for you, so maybe the wood was just too much for this saw. Okay, no problem. The drill was still working.

Well, the final nail happened this week when the charger for the batteries died. Now i can't charge the batteries making this set pretty much useless. I have a nice tool bag for what I wind up replacing hem with. Buffalo Tools supposedly has a warranty...good luck finding someone to call to make a claim.

If you are using these only fo emergencies where a corded tool isn't around, they might be okay. My advice would be to stay away from this set, take the money and buy a good model of the one tool you're going to use the most (probably the drill), and stick with name brands.

My first experience with a Campbell Hausfeld product was two hours ago in Wal-Mart. I suppose that itself should be a hint as to the quality of the device. When I took it to the lab and performed the first step as advised by the user's manual, it failed immediately - no red light came on, indicating that the charger was not working. I exchanged it for another specimen but of course now I'm waiting for that one to crash too.

I have this particular charger and it's a waste of money. A month after I bought it, the timer wouldn't work in the "on" position. Another month later, the timer wouldn't wind down. You could set it for 15 minutes but the charger would stay on forever. Lost a couple of batteries before realizing this was the problem. 6 months later, it doesn't work at all.

This charger also doesn't include a diode to prevent draining the battery if the charger is unplugged. It might also drain batteries when turned off, but I can't verify that.

I'd recommend spending $$$ more and getting a better charger. I did.

Liza's Dad

I wish I would have read the other reviews. It would have saved me two trips, one to buy it and one to return it. They claim it is good for small solder joints? It will vaporize fine copper wires. The tip stays hot longer then a few seconds and if you look at the tip wrong it breaks and a new tip costs more than a new cold heat. I have tried it several times on differnt items I really wanted it to work but it just didnt seem like it worked on anything. I returned it and purchaced a butane soldering iron for my portable needs it works great almost everywhere.

After about fifteen suscessful uses of this tool, I was simply solder twisted phone wires and the tip broke. NOW..everthing in the instructions said the tip was fragile. But their description of fragile stretchs the imigination to its limits!

So I called customer service. After a fifteen minute wait a polite service rep informed me that this is NOT uncommon. I said I had tried to purchase a replacement tip locally. (Chicago) I was informed that the tips are only available from Coleman and (her words) "they are expensive". How much?

16.95 plus shipping. THAT'S MORE THAN I PAID FOR THE DARN THING!

Draw your own conclusions. I will never, ever buy another Coleman product.

1 star is the only way I could post this consumer warning..Amazon will not allow a lower submission.

Many of you must have noticed that various manufacturers of power tools are "giving away" flashlights with cordless drills, etc. Well, this is how they make money, by charging $4-5 for ONE flashlight bulb! What a ripoff. In my experience, these light bulbs are cheaply manufactured and blows out in matter of weeks, not years.

I recommend that you search for "4-LED Flashlight" on Amazon.com and, for a bit more money, buy one of these LED models for which you NEVER have to replace the bulbs.