Is Harbor Freight Discontinuing their Chicago Electric 18V Cordless Tools?

Youtube viewer mixwell1983 is curious about the state of the Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 18V cordless tools, in particular the 18V impact driver I reviewed years ago.

mixwell1983 writes:

I wonder if they still have these? I cant find it on their website as of 2017. Maybe they ditched it for the hercules/bauer line ??

Soon after reading his comment I visited the Harbor Freight website to see if they still had the Chicago Electric 18V impact driver or any other Chicago Electric 18V tools. My search revealed that Harbor Freight no longer sells the Chicago Electric 18V impact driver, at least on the website they don’t. The search also showed the same thing for the Chicago Electric individual 18V drill and hammer drill kits. Three of their 18V tools from that brand are missing but the Chicago Electric 18V cordless line is still alive as they still sell the 1/2″ impact wrench kits, recip saw baretool, circular saw baretool, the 4 piece combo kit with drill, recip saw, circ saw, and light, and individual batteries and chargers.

But the question still remains, is Harbor Freight discontinuing the Chicago Electric 18V cordless line? They haven’t yet but my opinion is that I think they will. It makes sense that they pulled the drill/hammer drill and impact driver kits as those were around $55 from what I remember and that’s just too close in pricing to their new in house Bauer 20V brand which are around $60-70. At that price nobody would buy the Chicago Electric 18V drill, hammer drill, or impact driver kits which come with slow chargers and ancient nicad battery tech because for literally a few bucks more you can get better spec’d Bauer 20V tools with faster chargers and up to date lithium ion batteries.

It still makes sense that Harbor Freight not completely kill off the remaining Chicago Electric 18V tools just yet as they do serve a good purpose. For example the new Earthquake 1/2″ impact wrench is priced at $249 which is a deal for what it is but at $129.99, the Chicago Electric 1/2″ impact wrench offers a decent but lower priced alternative for those on a tight budget. The Chicago Electric 18V 4 tool combo kit also offers a decent deal at $109.99 for users looking for a set of cordless tools at a lower price point which is something not yet available in the Bauer 20V line. My guess is that if Bauer comes out with a similar priced 4 tool combo set, even if slightly more, it would make the Chicago Electric 4 tool set not worth buying.

What do you guys think? Should they completely kill the Chicago Electric 18V tools or keep them alive?

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13 Comments

  • JAMES says:

    Where can I find replacement batteries?

      • Terry says:

        They have no batteries for the 18v Chicago electric, i am looking for replacement battery also.

        • Javier says:

          Seems the only way to buy batteries is to buy the 4 tool combo kit which is a lot of $$$ just for a battery.
          Honestly if I were you I’d jump ship and buy into another battery platform, from a brand and retailer that isn’t known to abandon their customers.

          • Josh The Tooldude says:

            I’ll have to check in store next time I’m in there and comment what I find out.

          • Franklin says:

            Ditto, my local HF has the combo sets on clearance, I was willing to buy several for the right price just to get the batteries. Sale price was $129 for the combo which is cheaper than just two De-Walt batteries. But they would not give me a price cut to buy two or three of what they had left. I am retired and would never have to buy another tool if I had these batteries. But now it is the principle of the thing. I will try not to support Harbor Freight with any purchases in the future. We don’t really need all that Cheap China crap anyway.

  • alan says:

    harbor freight sucks

  • Scott Perry says:

    Since HF has apparently decided not to support their old Chicago Electric tool line with a continued supply of cordless batteries for these good tools, after discontinuing the sales of the actual tools, this forces many of us to have to throw away our perfectly good cordless Chicago tools. My next cordless tools will be name-brand, as name brands are less likely to leave their old customers high and dry like this.

  • Scott Perry says:

    My next cordless drill will be a Makita. Name brand and good pricing. $149 for drill, 2 batteries, a charger, and a nice looking case. See: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Volt-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-1-2-in-XPT-Drill-Driver-Kit-with-Two-2-0-Ah-Batteries-Charger-and-Hard-Case-XFD10R/206025680.

  • Paul says:

    How do I get battery replacements for the Chicago electric?

    • atbillp37 says:

      Same issue. Have drill/driver & reciprocating saw. Both work great. Only one of three batteries works properly. Male + – input pins to both devices. Use B-D 18 v battery with male output pins to jumper to Chicago devices?

  • John says:

    I hate it when someone sells me a product and then stops selling the product. They should buy it back at a reasonable price if you upgrade. I seen a Ryobi set at Home depot on sell for a little less HF. They have carried Ryobi for years. I have learned a good lesson. No more HF tools for me !!

  • Michael Leo Kelsch says:

    discontinuing 18 volt batteries and tools would be another big mistake by harbor freight.

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