# Kowasaki drill



## NothingsLevel (Aug 27, 2006)

Have you looked on eBay for replacement batteries?

Or, if you're giving up on the drill, you could probably sell it there w/o the batteries.


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

NothingsLevel said:


> Have you looked on eBay for replacement batteries?
> 
> Or, if you're giving up on the drill, you could probably sell it there w/o the batteries.


Thanks but i would rather not wish a tool that is so undependable on someone else.
Deck hand


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

*Kawasaki Battery drill*

Hello

I sent a thread about the Kawasaki drill 19.2 ,I own. 
Man It's " bad " I mean it's only two years old.
Both batteries won't keep a charge , after charging I can't drive more then three 1 1/2 "screws , the drill dies to a halt. I found that Kawasaki has a recall on it's chargers.
I think mine is one of them. Until you hear from me stay away from these
drills.
Deck hand


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

*Battery Charger recall*



deck hand said:


> Not complaining just buyer beware
> Two years ago I bought a Kawasaki drill from Costco 19.2 volt two batteries
> I have always had trouble with both batteries dying right after charging then using for about five min. or screwing in about ten screws. really worthless tool Costco said they would help me If I had the bill from two years ago???
> I use my old 12 volt Craftsman again.


 Wed. Nov. 7th.
Well I just got off the phone with Alltrade Tools LLC.
They handle the Kawasaki Drills.
Apparently There is a recall for real!! My Charger is on their list. They are sending me a new Charger free of charge. I had to promise to remove the Electrical cord from the charger and dispose of the charger properly. "They are a fire hazard" 

Deck Hand


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

*Kawasaki Battery drill's up date 11/30/07*

:thumbsup: Hello Fellow Tool Men / Women
Re guarding the Thread about the bad Kawasaki drill.
I entered on this forum about a month ago. {read history }
The company has replaced my battery Charger. RE called<
I have charged my drill to instructions printed in the new booklet.
Left the drill on my back porch over night, which the temp.was about 28 degrees F.
This Morning, I tested the power and burned my hand trying to hold the chuck from turning.
Now this drill is working fine for around the house use. 
I will update this when I put it thru full use!

Deck Hand


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Nine people were injured from the bad Kawi chargers bursting into flames and blowing up (...I'm not kidding)


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

*Re Kawasaki drills*



slickshift said:


> Nine people were injured from the bad Kawi chargers bursting into flames and blowing up (...I'm not kidding)


When and where where did you find this information. I would lke to research this further.
Deck hand


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## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

deck hand said:


> When and where where did you find this information. I would lke to research this further.
> Deck hand


I got my Consumer Reports today and it's flagged as a recall item. There was some verbiage about explosions.


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

handy man88 said:


> I got my Consumer Reports today and it's flagged as a recall item. There was some verbiage about explosions.



Thanks 
Deck hand


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## Joe Schmidt (Dec 7, 2007)

*Just Bring it Back to Costco*



deck hand said:


> Not complaining just buyer beware
> Two years ago I bought a Kawasaki drill from Costco 18volt two batteries
> I have always had trouble with both batteries dying right after charging then using for about five min. or screwing in about ten screws. really worthless tool Costco said they would help me If I had the bill from two years ago???
> I use my old 12 volt Craftsman again.


I got the replacement charger today. What a piece of garbage. The old charger charged at 1.2A, the new one charges at 400mA. The old charger shut off automatically, the new one does not, and tells you to remove the batteries after 3-5 hours.

The problem with the batteries dying is not related to the old charger, it was an issue with the charger causing the battery to melt or explode (probably a problem with detecting proper end-of-charge which is a tricky thing to do with NiMH batteries).

I'd get the replacement charger, then bring it back to Costco and tell them that the replacement charger is unacceptable because it a) doesn't charge, and b) is worse than the original charger.


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## End Grain (Nov 17, 2007)

Joe Schmidt said:


> I got the replacement charger today. What a piece of garbage. The old charger charged at 1.2A, the new one charges at 400mA. The old charger shut off automatically, the new one does not, and tells you to remove the batteries after 3-5 hours.
> 
> The problem with the batteries dying is not related to the old charger, it was an issue with the charger causing the battery to melt or explode (probably a problem with detecting proper end-of-charge which is a tricky thing to do with NiMH batteries).
> 
> I'd get the replacement charger, then bring it back to Costco and tell them that the replacement charger is unacceptable because it a) doesn't charge, and b) is worse than the original charger.


Welcome *Joe Schmidt*!

If you really like the Kawasaki, wait a bit until the factory can come up with a more realistic and acceptable fix to the problem. I'm guessing that the 400mA unit is just the end result of their scramble to ship a stop-gap measure so that they don't have to recall the batteries themselves or even the tool.

If you're ambivalent about keeping the tool or unloading it or if you don't perceive any value in waiting, then that is a different matter altogether.

Good luck with whatever you choose.


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## Joe Schmidt (Dec 7, 2007)

End Grain said:


> Welcome *Joe Schmidt*!
> 
> If you really like the Kawasaki, wait a bit until the factory can come up with a more realistic and acceptable fix to the problem. I'm guessing that the 400mA unit is just the end result of their scramble to ship a stop-gap measure so that they don't have to recall the batteries themselves or even the tool.
> 
> ...


The "factory" is done with it, they're not going to spend any more time or money on it. Most people will just accept the crappy charger. A few will return the tool to Costco and get a new one.


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## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

Kawasaki makes great engines, for lawn care and snow throwers. Given that, is this Kawasaki drill really a harbor freight special from china with the Kawasaki logo? I've never seen or heard of Kawasaki power tools until I saw them next to Dewalt in Costco.

Bottom line. When considering power tools, stick with Milwaukee, Bosch, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Hitachi, or Makita and generally speaking, you can't go wrong.


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

deck hand said:


> When and where where did you find this information.





handy man88 said:


> ...Consumer Reports ...it's flagged as a recall item. There was some verbiage about explosions.


Ayup...it's in there


handy man88 said:


> Kawasaki makes great engines, for lawn care and snow throwers. Given that, is this Kawasaki drill really a harbor freight special from china with the Kawasaki logo?


Yes...that idea anyway
It's AllTrade Tools out of China
They licensed the right to call their line of power tools "Kawasaki" by paying Kawasaki licensing fee
The same way a Christmas ornament company would pay MLB and the Red Sox money to put the Red Sox logo on the ornament, or a costume company would pay Disney to put Shrek on a Halloween mask


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

slickshift said:


> Ayup...it's in there
> 
> Yes...that idea anyway
> It's AllTrade Tools out of China
> ...



You know guy's I wish I were able to start a national Law that decrees 1/2 of everything must be made in our USA. I don't blame the unions for our job losses. We the people who have bought this cheep stuff 1/4 what it would take to make it here. We have lost our manufacturing plane. 
Don't you think the Dollar stores, Wal Mart's and Alde's grocery stores are
Planned ? $10.00 an hour jobs are here.
If the US was to go to war Who would make the War supplies ?

Sorry!! just blowing off steam. 

Deck hand


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## Joe Schmidt (Dec 7, 2007)

handy man88 said:


> Kawasaki makes great engines, for lawn care and snow throwers. Given that, is this Kawasaki drill really a harbor freight special from china with the Kawasaki logo? I've never seen or heard of Kawasaki power tools until I saw them next to Dewalt in Costco.
> 
> Bottom line. When considering power tools, stick with Milwaukee, Bosch, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Hitachi, or Makita and generally speaking, you can't go wrong.


Yes, Alltrade just licensed the name from Kawasaki. Actually it was an excellent drill, and I had no problems with the drill, the charger or the batteries despite the dire warnings in the recall notice to stop using the charger immediatey.

It was definitely an order of magnitude better than what Harbor Freight sells. I have an old Makita cordless drill, and the Kawasaki was better in terms of features, battery longevity, and torque.

The current Kawaski tools at Costco still use the old style charger (1 hour charger). This whole recall was really related to faulty batteries that apparently could not tolerate the high charge rate. When you go to the recall page, they want the serial numbers of your batteries. When I was at Costco today I was talking to someone looking at the Kawasaki cordless tools, and he said he had a later production run that was not subject to the recall.

Costco gave me no trouble with the return, even though it's probably been at least 1.5 years since I bought the drill, and almost all the bits that came with it were gone.

All they have now is the four piece set of tools (drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw, flashlight, and two batteries for $130). 

Actually the batteries are Ni-Cad, not NiMH, since Ni-Cad's have some advantages in power tools.


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