DeWalt DC820 Review

[Trent]

Wrote this awhile back…thought some of ya might find it useful.

So your looking to get out of that plug in impact or air impact wrench huh? DeWalt’s 1/2 inch DC820 maybe for you.

Pros

Light weight
Cheap
Well built
Ergonomically built

Cons

Expensive if bought w/ batteries
Socket retainer design

Specs
Quote

1,740 in-lbs of torque to perform a wide range of fastening applications
0-2,400 rpm/0-2,700 ipm for faster application speed

from http://www.dewalt.com

I’ve had this thing for a few months now. I paid $110 before taxes from a LOCALLY OWNED dealership brand new out of the box (tool only). Will say this thing packs a huge bunch. Purchased this originally for replacing motor mounts during the cold winter months. This thing saved me tons of time and energy! Literally had thing thing under the car covered in snow for a hours (even accidentally left it out during snow storm!) and she still keeps a going.

One of the small but major drawbacks I see with this tool is the design of the socket retaining pin. Literally no quick release and you can not pull off a socket unless you take something like a small screw driver and push down. Was a pain when I had a thick 36mm socket on it. I’ve gotten to were I avoid this feature.

Very few times this thing has failed me. Only times so far have been on lug nuts. When we junked out a car we took off the tires since they were damn near new. Went through the first three just fine. Got down to the last one and we had to pull out a four way to get the job done. As for why a 36MM socket on this thing? Well I’ve gone as far as to remove spindle nuts with it! Yes SPINDLE NUTS with this small beast…all though sometimes it does take a bit of time to get some things like that to loosen up. As always just use your favorite penetrating oil (PB BLASTER in my case) and wait. Chances are she’ll come right off.

Might be thinking “ok it works good, how long does it last battery wise?” Well Never have drained them out fully yet. I’ve had it out on jobs for hours on end using batteries for two or three days until I start to feel them lag. Batteries I’m using are from a drill I purchased about a year ago.

I give it a four out of five…just for the socket retainer being the major draw back.

Topic

[Andrew Button]

I love Dewalt tools and have a bunch of them. The cordless winner however from what I can tell, and I have a bunch of these as well goes to the Milwaukee Fuel series. I have a drill, that I literally cannot kill. Even buried under snow, dropped, runover, whatever the case, incredible toosl. The 18V M2263 1/2 is supposted to be quite a beast.

[Author]

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