Customer Reviews

Black & Decker Firestorm FS1800D 18 Volt Drill (Tool Only)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fine drill for the average home owner, or just for anyone to keep a power drill around the house.

Pros:
- The battery lasts a long time, had plenty of power for most general household jobs.
- Clutch control helps prevent you from over torquing more fragile materials (plastic, drywall, etc...)
- Quick release chuck makes going from drilling to screwing fast. The drill bit can stay in the drill while you slap on the quick release chuck over it to drill holes.

Cons:
- The quick release chuck function makes it an inaccurate tool as the poor fit and finish of the removable chuck makes the drill bits wobble. I've had this drill for quite some time now, and the problem existed from day 1. While drilling for simple jobs is ok, if you want to drill something for exacting specs, this drill is not the right tool for the job.

However, for the low price, it is designed more for general home use, rather than a commercial/professional precision instrument.

I bought this drill new with a black and Decker combination set flashlight, saws all.skill saw, jigsaw, and the 1800D, 3 batteries, radio charger and single battery charger. a great price by the way for a tool set like this. I am not sure what the drill would have cost as a single purchase. I had never been a big black and Decker fan. I had always gone with the dewalts, and Milwaukee, and porter cable. to my surprise this drill keeps on going and going. it is at least 4 or 5 years old. The batteries are just now starting to not hold a charge for very long. I intend to buy new batteries or maybe another black and Decker where the same batteries will operate both. I have put this drill to the max heavy duty usage. numerous decks, framing, and light stuff as well. I would buy another if I could find one. I'm sure you could get stuck with a lemon of any brand. But this has been one tough drill.

This is an excellent general purpose drill. I have had two of them for several years and they are still going stong. Yes showing a few signs of wear but I use them alot. I have built a two story work shop 12 x 16 in my back yard using them almost exclusively since the high priced and high powered porter cable cordless drill I bought since owning the black and deckers burnt up. All the siding was put on with screws driven by these drill/drivers. Am currently looking for others in that they are getting very hard to find and quite pricey. Some sob just outbid me on ebay at the last second. Hope you drill a hole in your leg. Just kidding. sorta. Buy them while you can. Sure wish walmart would carry them. One review stated his had problems from day one. That happens with anything. Should have taken it back. Mine have been great.

I had another Firestorm that worked well for years. I wasn't sure if the removable chucks would connect to this one since it was a 1/2" but they work just fine even though the old ones are 3/8" The drill batteries work fine too. This works great!

Great tool and the quick change chuck is a big time saver, nice clutch too!

I ALREADY OWNED THIS DRILL BUT I LOVED IT SO MUCH THAT I WANTED TO PURCHASE ANOTHER ENCASE THEY STOPPED MAKING THIS ONE. I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE DROPPED THIS THING FROM A TALL LADDER RIGHT ONTO CONCRETE AND IT KEEPS WORKING LIKE NEW. IT HAS PLENTY OF POWER AND THE BATTERY REALLY HOLDS UP WELL.

THe drill attachment kept falling off and the bit would not stay in the holder at times and the drill started smoking and quit running. I liked the 2 in 1 drill and screw idea but it needs perfecting and the drill burning up dictated poor quality, i threw it away. I have other B&D tools that perform well, this one didnt.

I've had almost every 'Firestorm' tool made, from 12-v up to the newer 24-v, and two of the FS1800 Firestorm drills like this. While the chuck detachment is nice for 1/4" drive bits, I found out what I was missing one day, when a friend and I decided to tear out a 'curtain wall' in our shop office and re-fit it with trim to hide the curtain-wall line.

Ok, first off, it was a dead wall, no power in it...and the wall was 12'4" x 7'4"...so not that big. We made it a 'quick afternoon' project before we were to head to the lake. I had charged my Firestorm drill up, batteries were fully topped off...and packed into my truck with wrecking bars, sledge hammers, etc. He pulls up in his truck, sausage-biscuit in hand, and I ask him, "where's your tools?"...he looks around, opens his truck bed toolbox...starts digging. I figure he hasn't got anything needed. He pulls out gloves, then wrecking bar, goggles, and a sledge hammer. I ask him, "have you got a finishing or ripping hammer for putting the trim back in?" He replies, "hey, I have these sheetrock screws that will match the trim, let's just screw the trim up, instead? I say...ok...(again, I had my 18-v Firestorm, and I figured it would come in handy...so I figure it is all we need). I'm game, let's do this...so we go at the wall, and have a NIGHTMARE...the wall was 1980's industrial carpet FULLY GLUED down. We have to rip it off to see the panel lines because it isn't sheetrock below the carpet, it is 1/2" CDX plywood! Ok...3-hours of sweating, and we finally get the carpet off and plywood off...only to find that all the studding was done with 4-inch screws! Great! Glad I brought my Firestorm...well, my friend sees this, walks out to his truck, and comes back in with his beaten, battered, scarred Milwaukee 18-v drill. He mumbles something about he hasn't charged the batteries in a month, and don't know how much help he will be. Lovely. So, we start working...and 1-for-1, we start pulling screws out of the wall framing to remove it. The original builder had went NUTS with screws...in total, there were HUNDREDS of them there! This wasn't a load-bearing wall! Well, this is where it got interesting...my fresh Firestorm, with fresh fully-charged 18-v battery starts to get weak...and weaker and weaker it goes, until it is dead. No problem, I pop in another battery, also hot and freshly charged. We continue to work. The wall is now down...and we have to put up the cover-strips of walnut 1/2" x 4"'s, to hide the joint line...and so we start. Well, before we finished...and we had been staying near-even on number-of-screws-driven/removed, my 2nd battery weakened and died...and I could hear his Milwaukee slowing down, but not like the Firestorm had. From large amounts of use, I knew that my drill had worked as it always had...there was no excuse, that's just the amount of work you get out of a battery pack. So, I started razzing him, that while I wasn't paying attention...he had quietly been putting in more Milwaukee battery packs! He denied it, and told me if I didn't believe him, search him for the others I thought he might have...and I did! No extra packs...that Milwaukee really ran like that! He told me that he had played with Firestorms once too, but that after getting his used at a pawnshop for $50, that he'd never own another brand...then he admits, he'd got the batteries and a charger at the pawn shop also...USED!

Well, I got over my Firestorm addiction...if you need to work, you really should look at the Milwaukee 2601-80 drill, before buying the FS1800 in any of its various formats...the 2601-80 is a little more pricey, but then again...it is also twice the drill...if you really are going to work it, there is no comparion...and I was just lucky to get to participate in such a match-up, to see that drills really aren't made equal...no matter what anyone says.