Customer Reviews

Black & Decker 9078 3.6-Volt Ni-Cad Cordless Screwdriver

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is a great cordless screw driver. It is small and powerful with 40 in-lbs of torque. The combination directional on-off switch location is perfect. It also has a no run middle position so it doesn't turn itself on in your back pocket. Used it to take apart my forced air heater and some window hinges. Power and run time was good. Its battery is built in so you just can't throw in a spare battery pack if you run it down. Since I liked this screwdriver so much and it is so inexpensive I bought another one after having the first one for a month. Now if I run the first one down, I have another to take its' place. The clutch works great and I like the adjustable settings a lot. The settings with the automatic spindle lock allow me to sink the screw and then with the power off tighten the screw that extra quarter turn. Yes, I could of bought the 7.2 volt Dewalt ... but I found it too heavy and awkward, not what you want unless your into building muscles or pretending you are Tim the tool man. My advised is buy this one.

At this price point for an electric screwdriver, I have one recommendation: temper your expectations. With that I am happy to say that this screwdriver exceeded my tempered expectations.

Pros:
Even at its bargain price, this screwdriver comes with a torque clutch and a folding body style. The thick black and orage plastic casing make the screwdriver very tough. Scoffs and scratches are usually not noticeable. The speed is great, sometimes too great, such as when driving a screw into a plastic drywall anchor, where too fast may soften or melt the plastic.

To my surprise, this screwdriver is fairly powerful. I don't know how much more powerful an electric screwdriver needs to be. I've driven 2" long screws into studs with this thing and it has never stalled. In fact, sometimes the screwdriver's power make it difficult to hold without folding it at an angle to get more leverage.

Cons:
The one serious complaint I have is with the torque clutch. With a setting that goes from 0-20 I would have expected a lot of adjustability. But even at its lowest torque setting, the clutch on my screwdriver has rarely slipped. I don't know if this is a problem with my particular unit, but it's very annoying to have to hand-tighten screws in fear of stripping them.

And from the "have the cake and eat it too" department, I wish that the screwdriver is smaller and lighter. It is not huge but it is larger and heavier than I expected.

Buy overall, this is a great screw driver. If the torque clutch had a more effective range of adjustment I would have given it 5 stars.

This is a really good design for a cordless screwdriver, but it runs out of battery power very quickly. Don't plan on it for big jobs. Since the battery is contained in the screwdriver, all you can do is plug the whole unit into the charger. I had one of the older models from black and decker and although you couldn't fit it into tight places, you could swap out batteries and keep on working.

I've owned this driver for over two years, and it's been a tough, useful tool. I bought it after my first trusty Black and Decker screwdriver developed problems holding it's charge (it was over 7 years old, so I'm not complaining at all).

Pros:

o a fairly long time between charges.
o fairly powerful especially considering it's only 3.6v
o clutch mechanism (some of the cheaper screwdrivers omit this very useful feature).
o automatic clutch lockout (so you can use it like a manual screwdriver is the battery dies or it does not have enough torque to finish seating a screw).
o articulating feature makes this more comfortable to hold than straight-line drivers, but still give that ability for situations where it's needed (like manually driving screws when the driver does not have enough torque or the battery dies).
o tough and durable (for a non-professional level tool)

Cons:

o slow speed can become tedious if you've got a lot of screws to drive.
o switch is a bit clumsy to use.
o no variable speed control which makes it difficult to use in delicate situations.
o built-in battery takes a long time to recharge (say overnight at least). When the battery dies you're done for the day.
o surprisingly bulky, even with the articulating feature.
o automatic clutch lockout sometimes does not engage properly. Can be rather irritating.

I'm giving this 4 stars based on the fact it's a good buy for an under thirty dollar screwdriver.

If you want the ultimate screwdriver, check out the Metabo Powermaxx Plus, which I recently reviewed with 5 stars rating (it also does angle driving and drilling). However, for those who cannot justify spending over a hundred bucks for the extra capabilities and quality, this Black and Decker 3.6 volt driver may be just right.

I have just bought my third B&D 3.6 volt screwdriver because I want to have a large shop and wanted to have one available in several areas. This is a very good screwdriver. Not too large but great for getting into smaller places or just to carry around. The power is much better than the 2.6 volt ones. It will handle most every day wood working for the weekend worker. If you want to do heavy duty work move up to the big brother of the 3.6 volt. I like the design, looks and overall quality.

Good for light tasks, but not powerful enough.

Like Black and Deckers other 3.6 volt driver, this one does not have removable batteries, so you cant exchange with your other 3.6 volt tools.

Try the PD600 6 volt model. Its just slightly more expensive, and can be used as both a pilot drill and a driver.

I bought this just over two years ago. I really liked the unit but like a lot of other users have said, the battery doesn't stay charged for over a couple of weeks. But you can't use it while it is plugged in and it takes too long to wait for it to charge up when you need it.

Anyway, the battery is completely dead now and I cannot find a replacement anywhere. The sad thing is that you can take the battery pack out of it very easily.

I really HATE to throw away anything because the battery dies! So much for Earth Day. All the landfills are full of good working equipment.

I love this little screwdriver. I own three so that I can always have a backup in my truck and one at home charging. (Don't leave it plugged in until you need it though -- you will gradually fry the battery -- read the instructions!)

What I like:
1) the folding handle makes it comfortable to use and easier to get into small spaces.

2) Also, unlike those that don't fold, this one drops into the pockets on my tool aprons and doesn't try to fall out as I climb ladders or crawl around.

3) Contrary to comments in other reviews to the contrary, the ratcheting clutch does work and is sensitive to the adjustment level 0-20. Those who have one that doesn't, should return it for a replacement drill.

4) I first bought a more expensive, smaller Black &Decker drill but gave it away to a customer cause it was pretty much useless. (The cute little one that looks like a tiny hand drill.)

I use mine mostly on electrical jobs where high torque is not a requirement. Also good for other light jobs like installing door hardware etc. If the drill can't quite drive the screw home, I have found that with the clutch set fairly high, I can hand tighten the last bit without pulling the trigger and just using the tool like a manual screwdriver.

On the other hand, I you want to drive lots of screws without pilot holes or do similar heavy work, buy yourself a varialble speed drill with a clutch. Different tool -- higher price but much more versatile.

Now that I am beginning to have trouble finding this model, I've had to scramble to get one or two for the future. This cordless screwdriver has turned out to be so useful and able that it virtually replaces a bulkier (and much heavier) cordless drill on my job for everything except the most difficult projects. This sits comfortably in a back pocket for ultimate ease-of-use. Newer models with comparable torque are longer and awkward in the hand, whereas similar sized newer models are weak as water in comparison. What where they thinking?

I take apart and rebuild computers all day. So I have plenty of electric screw drivers to handle desktops. However, I needed one to take apart notebooks, which I do far more often, and have a whole lot more screws. This 3.6-volt BD 9078 screwdriver works great for this use, primarily thanks to it's adjustable torque setting. Anymore voltage is over-kill for working with electronics.

With the torque setting, it's able to handle everything from standard size screws on a workstation to the tiny screws hidden in tight spots on a laptop. I've found that a torque setting of 3-4 will handle all but the smallest of screws. In which case, going down to 1-2 gets the job done.

The clutch works as it should. So if you have one that's not working, exchange it. When working normally, you'll hear a clicking noise to let you know that it's reached it's torqe limit, based on the current setting. On the lowest settings it may simply stop so you can release the trigger.

Since I need to be rather mobile, constantly charging the battery also wasn't going to work. But after a full overnight charge it has no problem lasting the entire work week on a charge with fairly frequent use. Then I just charge it up over the weekend, and it's good to go next week. It may last longer, but I haven't tried to see when it will die.

I've been using this tool for a few months now and have found it to be rather comfortable for extended use. It's also small and light enough to fit in a notebook bag so it goes everywhere I go. Just about every tech I let use it has immediatly gone out and bought one for themselves. We do agree that it could use more of a rubber grip and a less slippery trigger. The bits also have a tendency to get stuck on some of the more tight spots and will fall out. There really isn't much holding the bit in place. They also don't give you any place to store the 5 bits that are in the package.

Honestly, these issues aren't a big deal. You get used to the minor annoyances and they are easy enough to work around. And for the price, it really can't be beat. And here are the pros and cons to sum everything up.

Pros:
* Cheap Price
* Adjustable clutch/torque setting
* Small and precise bits
* Rechargeable
* Compact and lightweight

Cons:
* Could use more rubberized grip
* Bits not held in very good
* More bits, such as an extension, would be nice.

As long as you use this screw driver for what it was meant for, it should work great. Just keep in mind that it's a 3.6v driver, not an 18v drill. If it can't handle what you are trying to do, it's clearly not meant for that task. Otherwise, this one is definately recommended.