Ridgid drill/driver kit with 2, 2.0AH batteries

[sternwake]

So i picked up the '20v max' Dewalt 8" polesaw today.

Old man did not notice the ship to home vs ship to store option on online checkout, but i needed some lumber, so no huge deal.

The 4.0ah battery does claim 80watt hours, not 72 like the MaKita, Ridgid, or Ryobi 18v 4.0 batteries.

It is false advertising, in my opinion.
Right off the charger, and spinning the chain for less than a second unloaded, it read 20.6v.
Basically same as maKita and Ridgid.
5 lithium cells in series, at 4.2v each is 21volts.
So all of them refuse to truly fully charge the battery, which is good for lithium, but makes a liar of the true useable capacity, unless the 10 cells are over 2000mah each, which is certainly possible.

For the dewalt 4.0 ah 20v battery to truly be 80 watt hours, it would require 10 special lithium cells with a nominal voltage of 4.0 v, instead of 3.6v.
So, Marketing lies. 20v printed on tools and batteries has to be superior to 18v right?


The dewalt charger itself has 3 red lights. Just solid red when done. The AC/DC voltage converter is inside the cradle, and is generally the same amount of bulk/volume as the RIDGID wall wart and smaller charge cradle but much smaller than the dual bay Makita charger.

I did not check charge rate of the dewalt charger, nor check battery voltage out of the box.
The Dewalt battery has 3 LED lights to indicate battery state of charge, not 4 like makita and ridgid, and ryobi. Lights oriented like makita will require removal from hanger to see the lights, something i dislike in actual use.

The Makita batteries have a slightly smaller footprint than ridgid or dewalt, but Makita is taller. The ryobi are taller and wider, and a smidge longer. Least pocketable, by far.

I've not used the polesaw yet.
I had already sweat enough, before going to the depot.

There's a Floridiot built fence. 8' tall in back yard, 10' 4x4.posts every 6 feet, into sand. Have not yet found concrete around any of them.

Fence is leaning inwards, and bowed/stretched up top, a good amount, after Hurricane Ian. At worst, 14" out of vertical.

Fence was rebuilt after Irma knocked it over in 2017.
It's starting to lean more and more, so I've got to stop it before it falls entirely from time or the next inevitable storm.

Lost 2.5lbs sweating, in 2 hours, in 93f heat and 82% humidity, investigating and planning the fence lift.
But no mosquitoes out midday , like morning or evening, which are not much cooler anyway.

While i am sure it is possible to bypass the internal acdc converter on dewLt ryobi and maKita chargers, i really like the Ridgid wall wart and small cradle. Fits in small ba kpa k nicely.
Im using it now to power the 60mm delta pocketfan and its 8-23vdc input 15watt USB-C source, which is charging a SoFirn HS-40 headlamp.

I think the Ridgid battery warranty , occasional battery deals, like two for 99$ with chaRger,and the ability to feed the cradle via a dc to dc charger, no inverter needed, make it the DIY'ing Vandweller friendliest power tool battery system.

The Battery adapters mean one does not have to stick with one tool brand anymore, or just toss perfectly good tools because 2 new bTteries with charger, and 2 new tools are just 20$ more tha 2 new batteries alone.

I wish i knew of the adapters before i abandoned my maKita drill driver and worthless batts but good charger in California, but then i would not have had reason to go with Ridgid and there is no regrets regarding that decision.
Shame i could not have waited a bit more as the subcompact brushless drill and Impact driver2x battery & charger combo kit are just 10$ more than my brushed veraions via a HD 'special buy' currently offered.