Customer Reviews

Skil 2362-01 7.2-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Drill/Driver

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I enjoy my Skil cordless power drill; it's lightweight, small, has plenty of power for my use (household stuff, driving screws), and the charge seems to last a long time. However, there's an important note everyone considering this drill must know:

Don't leave the drill sitting in the charger, it will zap the battery. It comes with a nice charger base that makes it look like you can just keep it there, charging, when not in use, like a cell phone. Don't. You will have a dead drill immediately. I think there is some small print somewhere in a hard-to-find place in the directions that says to unplug the charger when in use. It should be in very large print, capital letters.

Secondly, unlike most rechargable products, this one came in the package fully charged. I took it home, immediately put it in the charger for a few hours like most appliances, and killed the drill. I took it back to the store where I bought it, and fortunately they let me exchange it. The lady at Customer Service said it was the second one someone brought back that week. I'm so glad I figured it out to avoid making the same mistake again.

Otherwise, great drill.

This is closer to an electric screwdriver than a drill. It was not quite what I expected but I may have misread the description. This would be a good tool for an apartment dweller who just needs to hange pictures or install a little shelf. Not for heavy duty use. It's ok, but I would not buy one again.

I purchased this drill for under $40 and couldn't be happier with its performance, weight or ease of use. The drill fits easily into my hand (which most consider to be small...) and doesn't aggravate my shoulder with too much weight when drilling overhead.

This drill replaces a 10+ year old Craftsman drill and thus far I'm impressed. It charges quickly and holds a charge long enough to complete a home project like putting together a piece of furniture, with a charge still left on the drill. I don't notice it having problems drilling into wood or sheet rock and for basic projects at home, it's great.

Changing bits is a breeze. The set of bits that come with the drill seems complete enough for most light to medium projects at home. It's also easy to see what direction you're drilling as there are arrows on the top of the drill that light up and show you. You also have a charge indicator that turns red when it's at 30 percent or less.

Don't leave it in the charger, or if you do, don't leave the charger plugged in. The battery will last much longer with proper discharge and recharge practices.

Pros:

Good speed
Nice quick change chuck
Efficient motor brake
Comes with handy kit of bits (including 3 hex shank drill bits)

Cons:

Wery weak in overall
Recharge needs considerable amount of time
Almost useless remaining battery capacity indicator
Speed adjustment handle is very rough
Delay before starting actual drilling (that delay gets longer, as battery runs out)

The most important thing you should consider: If you planning to use this tool for direct screwing, without pre-drilling, into hardwood, HDF/MDF, any other reasonably dense material, then go and select different tool.

This tool is cheap. So, used LiIon battery is also cheap. And cheap batteries are limited to maximum current they can give in short amount of time. If you draw too much current from such battery, it will just explode. So to avoid that, this tool has internal current limiting circuitry. In real life, using this tool, you may face the following problem very often: You're directly screwdriwing into hardwood, or HDF, and suddenly, motor stops. Why? needed force power requirement exceeds the battery capacity, so electronics cut off the power. This generally won't be an issue if you're screwing into gypsum board or other light materials, such as MDF, or using smaller (2.5X40mm for example) screws into hardwood or HDF. Going to 3X40mm is also relatively easy, but anything else above it will be almost impossible.

The speed adjustment is also very rough, which means that you have to be very precise in pressing the knob, to achieve desired speed.

You may say, that I'm asking too much for it's price, but wait, I also have very cheap, around $15, 3.6v NiCD screwdriwer, which of course does not has speed adjustment, quick change chuck or motor brake, but it can screw in 6X60mm screws into hardwood without stopping! I've tried to do same with this tool, the screw went into hardwood only for 5mm!

So, this tool is good for:

PC/Electronics assembly.
Screwing small and medium sized screws into gypsum boards, light wood, thin sheet metal, plastics or MDF.

Can't be used for:

Screwdriving into hardwood, HDF, or medium (1mm or thicker) sheet metal.

Conclusion:

Need more power/torque for same price? - Go get same priced NiCD tool.
Like the benefits given by lithium? - Go get more (at least 2 times) expensive LiIon tool.

Update 13.02.2010.

I've opened this unit, and on PCB labeled "MAIN PCB" Replaced 47mf/35v electrolytic capacitor with 100mf/35v one. This almost completely solved not enough startup torque problem.

Update 28.07.2011.

Drill died. It won't turn on, and also won't charge. I'll have look inside and probably - will sent to trash.

This item works great for lots of small projects around the house. Very small and easy to use and has a good battery life. Just one item to remember is to remove it from the charger when the charge lite turns green so you don't overcharge it and shorten the life of the battery.

The Skill lithium drill/driver is a good buy for a lithium-powered tool. I found that it took a couple hours to fully charge after I got it home from the store, but after I fully charged it, I had difficulty driving a 1.5-inch screw into pine. Then it was almost impossible to unscrew. Had to keep pulling and releasing the trigger until it came out. I doubt it could drive 3-inch screw, which I often need to do. I guess 7.2 volts just isn't enough.

after using this product a total of perhaps a dozen times, it will not longer recharge.

Being that it was so heavily discounted here I figure why not. It turns out that I got what I paid for. Mine was weak, the light would show that is charging but the unit is dead and this is within a month. Better buy one from Snap-On.

This cordless driver is just another great product made by Skil Lithium ion powered cordless drill technology! If you are a person with great propensity to do some skills at your garage, home or even work - you got to have this tiny incy wincy yet powerful and portable device that can unscrew your day out of this stubborn world of nuts, bolts and all fasteners alike. It's powered by Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery that can hold a charge for a very long time unlike the NiCd old- fashioned rechargeable weak batteries. This tool is perfectly balanced in weight distribution and the torque is suited just for its purpose. Again, like I have said in my review for the Skil Cordless Ratchet, as a busy Auto Service Mechanic, I use this daily in my job to loosen screws even at tight spaces and it comes with different screw driver bits. I like it because it holds a charge longer than the time to remove all the screws a car may have. It has a power indicator that tells you when to recharge it and charging is fast and it has control against over-charging and you don't have to empty the power before charging unlike NiCd batteries.

If you got the skill you need this SKIL Cordless Drill/Driver! Skil is a great brand because they make a greater product than their name!

The first one i left on thne charger and it fried the battery but it is a great tool for the missus and ME