I bought this kit five months ago to replace a well-used 15 year-old Porter Cable drill. That thing was a work horse, but it was only a 3/8 inch drill, and the old 4-volt NiCad batteries would no longer accept a charge. You know how that song goes – replacement batteries cost more than the entire drill kit did originally. Time for a new drill! I was very impressed when I received this drill. It’s compact and has a nice weight, great balance and a comfortable grip. The LED light is very useful, it seems to have plenty of power, and it comes in a very sturdy box that’s suitable for storage. The fan-cooled "Power Jump" charger and the integrated battery charge level LEDs and USB charging port are really cool features. I attached the partially charged battery, pulled the trigger a couple of times to make sure it ran, then put it away. Five months later I started preparing for a project that required a drill. I fully charged the battery in less than 30 minutes, put it on the drill and attached a driver bit. I played with it a little to get a feel for the trigger and found that it’s a bit touchy and non-linear. That may make it difficult to start a hole or a screw, but I'm sure I’ll get used to it. Unlike my old Porter Cable, I learned that I couldn’t completely tighten the chuck on this one simply by holding the collar while spinning the motor. I had to hold the drill body with one hand while forcefully turning the chuck with the other until it passed what felt like a detent in the mechanism. Occasionally, I didn’t feel the detent on first try. But when I backed off the chuck just a little, then force tightened it again, it then “clicked.” I can confirm it’s locked when the collar has a little “wiggle” between fully tight and the detent. I haven’t yet started my project, so I don’t know if the chuck will stay locked in actual use. Other users of this and similar non-ratcheting drills complain about that being a recurring problem. Another thing that troubles me about this drill is that when I release the trigger, there's a loud "clatter" inside the housing. It’s especially bad when using speed setting “2”. My research indicated the noise might be caused by the sudden engagement of the motor brake when the trigger is released quickly. I called Skil’s support line and demonstrated the noise to them. They checked another drill in their office and said that the noise was normal, and that it was, in fact, caused by the motor brake. Guess I’ll just have to see if it survives actual use. Regardless, I’m way past the Amazon return cutoff date, so I’m glad to have Skil’s 5-year warranty. UPDATE: I just gave this drill its first workout when I replaced an 8 ft section of red cedar fence. I stopped nailing fence boards years ago, because I learned that pinning them to the rails with exterior-rated screws is a far more permanent solution. I have to admit, I’m really impressed with its performance - plenty of speed and torque, and its size and weight are nearly ideal. I found that clutch position 9 was perfect to counter-sink the screws slightly, without driving them all the way through those soft boards. The battery held up very well, too. Starting from a full charge, I drove about 80 - 1 5/8 in Torx-head screws and had ¾ charge remaining when I was done. Did I say that the fence looks great?!? Best of all, the trigger was easy to control, the chuck didn’t loosen once during the whole project, and the motor brake "clatter" was never an issue. I’m very happy with this drill kit, and Amazon’s price when I bought it was the lowest anywhere!
