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Overall Rating

battery life and care, a note to the other one star reviewer
makita does have a 3-year warranty to cover all damages to their tools and a one warranty on batteries. i believe the problem here is that the batteries were not fully charged before use. it mentions in the instructions and from the makita rep, that all batteries need to be fully charged, 4-6hours?-not sure how long, as it’s been 2 years since i bought mine, before they are used on a job site. it would make sense that if the batteries weren’t fully charged that they would never give the full output performance. also, makita was the company that mass produced cordless drills. in the 80s everyone had a makita cordless. they didn’t invent it, it was black&decker, in the 60s, for nasa, but they made it possible for everyone to have cordless tools now. the cordless back then required that you completely drain the battery before charging. that is detrimental to batteries today, any battery, from any company. perhaps this is what has happened to all your tool batteries from makita, milwaukee and dewalt. also if you let batteries freeze, get too hot in your truck, leave them on the charger for weeks, use the tool after the battery output has dropped, eg the drill is barely turning the screw but you keep at it until it stops completely, as well as a few other things, all decrease the life of batteries. please note that these makita tools were redesigned from the ground up, improving every area of the tool. the milwaukee, which be a work horse, just added lithium batteries and changed the plastic housing of their tools. the dewalt tools took their best selling product, their 18 volt line, and added lithium-ion batteries. dewalt also has 36volt lithium-ion batteries, but i’m not sure if they settled the law suit against them for stealing the technology.
these makita tools have the best charger on the market today. it electronically charges every portion of the battery to full potential, instead of just charging until one cell is full and leaving the rest of the 1.2 volt cells to be undercharged, in effect, an 18 volt tool becomes a 14.4 volt tool. please note that for sawzall/recip saws, they require much more power than an 18 volt can provide, even a lithium-ion, for remodeling anyway, eg cutting out a door or a window. the 18 volts, regardless of manufacturer, are best for light-duty work, light pvc pipe, occasional rebar, etc. the best cordless tools known to man are hilti tools. i have their 24 volt nicad and it is the only cordless recip saw (sawzall) that could keep up with my remodeling, in fact, it is more powerful than my older, light-duty, 6 amp milwaukee corded saw! the hilti 24 volt recip saw is even more powerful than the 36 volt lithium-ion tools that boast corded power.
my favorite thing about lithium-ion (Lion) is if you only partially use the tool here and there, the battery wont need charging as often. lithium ion batteries maintain full output, in this case 18 volts, constantly and do not decrease their charge if they haven’t been used. a ni-cad battery will decrease its charge by 20% if unused, in the 1st 24 hours after its been charged. this is why if you leave it in the charger for weeks at a time, the battery will decrease its charge and the charger will re-charge it over and over again. every battery only has so many charge cycles. for nicad, it is typically 800, depends on manufacturer. lithium-ion batteries typically have 1400 (makita) charge cycles, so if they are treated properly, and charged completely the first time, they will far outlast their nicad cousins.
i love these makita tools, i am so happy every time i use them. its the subtle details i love too. like the self-maintenance, high quality, high-output motor. the led lights that turn on when you pull the trigger, the heavy-duty metal belt clip that doesn’t spin like other brands, the smart charger, and everything about the impact driver. i use the impact driver more than everything, small screws (other brands will over torque small screws) to large lag bolts, except when client’s baby is sleeping, as it does make a rattle noise, when in use. it is so light-weight and so powerful. i also bought the trim saw and the grinder too.