Experiences with cordless drills

I ran 12V Ni-Cad and then Ni-Mi for many years then it became hard to get the DeWalt batteries and replacement brands were not as good so got one of their 18V Li-Ion brushless compact drills and it is so much better being lighter, smaller, more powerful and the battery life is many times that of the older ones. Where I might be charging several times a day I can go a couple of days between charges when doing similar work. Also got a circ-saw for these which has plenty of power though is a bit more bulky than the old one I used to run and throws the dust out a bit more.

When buying look at what Ah batteries you get as they often keep the costs down with 2Ah ones which are probably OK for less intense DIY use rather then the 4 or 5Ah that I now use.

After using Hitachi and Bosch drill/screwdrivers (nicad batteries) heavily for several years, I bought a compact bosch (nicad) as the batteries were about dead on the earlier ones. Didn’t last long, so I spent a lot of dosh on a makita (Lithium)). Still got it and use it for screw-driving or rough drilling - the electrics are very, very good but the bearings at the chuck are totally naff, substandard and utter rubbish. I haven’t bought anything from makita since. The really top end are probably very good, but my screwdriver was not the cheapest by a long way!

I no longer buy the green bosh offerings - the light blue is more appropriate to my usage. As with most things - you get what you pay for.

I am on my second 12 V Panasonic drill. About 25 years ago, it was rated the best by a trusted consumer organisation. It cost $400 back then. I do not want an 18 volt drill as they are too heavy and I don't need the power. I use it to tap small holes, mostly 8 BA and even 10 BA but I accept that I will occasionally break one, usually when I get greedy and don't back out often enough. I'm not sure they even make drills anymore.

I have a Ryobi One with drill, hedge cutter and rdciprocating saw heads. Lots of other heads available I like it. Recharge is very quick, so I manage with two small batteries, which keeps it light.

My present mains drill was a mains powered Black & Decker 400W hammer drill with both a 2 speed mechanical gearbox and an electronic speed controller. Excellent piece of almost unstoppable power, especially in low gear. This was bought some 45 or so years ago.

A long time ago I bought a Black & Decker 7.2v cordless drill. Pretty much useless for anything heavy, but ok as a screwdriver or drilling small holes. This uses in situ NiCd cells which have been changed twice now. Biggest problems is that usually one or more cells more or less permantly fails. Probably its biggest use was winding the legs up and down on an old caravan.

Then I was bought an 18v either NiCd or NiMho B&Q drill. Much better, but still problems with one or more cells failing.

Neither of the above battery drills was any match for the mains drill, indeed, at times it was a sheer joy to turn to the mains drill just to feel the seemingly endless power available.

Then, following the purchase of a new caravan, along with stiffer legs which the 7.2v couldnd't cope with, I bought an Aldi 18v battery drill complete with two lithium-ion battery packs. For various reasons to do with my health, it hasn't been used that much, but the impressions are that it is more powerful than the B&Q drill, handles the caravan legs with ease, but still doesn't begin to compare with the old mains drill for sheer power.

Probably the biggest advantage for me is that the battery drills are reversible - handy for undoing reluctant screws plus their portability, but for sheer power I still prefer the mains drill.

Peter G. Shaw

My 18V Li-Ion is considerably lighter and smaller than its 12V predecessors but is more powerful. if you want smaller then the 10.8V range would suit your needs

I have a now retired Bosch, purchased with 3 lithium batteries nearly 17 years ago - It worked very hard; during the year of my move from SA to Namibia, it inserted over 1200 130mm long screws into tough wood that made up all my machinery shipping crates. It has hammer drilled many holes in concrete, many holes in ali and steel, and tapped thousands of holes. Retired early this year as now the batteries have finally given in and are no available - they are a odd shape, so hard to fit 'equivalents' .

I replaced it with a DeWalt brushless 18volt - it is more powerful and much lighter than the old Bosch.

However, I have a real beef with it - being a hammer drill, the chuck is spring -loaded, which is OK - The Bosch was the same, as are all of them. But this one has 4 to 5mm of sloppy spring back and that makes it almost impossible to use for some tasks - I use the machine a lot for rough tapping, esp in aluminium. However, the sponginess of feel when making tap-to metal contact with small taps , esp when retracting to clear swarf, makes re-entry without cross threading almost impossible. Likewise ( and I am sure we have all done this..?), when mothering a (rough) hole though sheet metal, the drill will grab as it exits and pull through, maybe cutting the hole, albeit roughly, or maybe jamming in the mess. So you retract, spin the drill up and approach the hole with intent, holding the drill firmly and let the drill bit nibble away at the bits preventing the hole from being one. With this spring in the chuck, you touch the metal, push a little so the drill cuts, and then the chuck springs fowards and jams again. I know this is not the engineering way of drilling holes, but under a car, fitting covers, a fuel tank, etc.

The Milwaukee equivalent drill has less than 1mm movement, and the spring is a strong one.

The Makita equivalent , a bit more movement, but also a strong spring.

Brushless is quieter and they seem very much lighter. I don't think the brushless drills have noticeably more torque, and my Bosh brushes are still fine after all its use.

I hate this DeWalt, and cannot return it..The chuck ALSO loosens in hammer mode, at the drop of a penny..

So, something else to look out for in cordless drill.

Joe

EDIT : I emails DeWalt asking instructions as to how to remove the chuck, ( with a view to fitting something else..) - had to ask twice, and was told to send it to an accredited service center...Googled how to, fit a large allen key in the chuck, small end , and tighten - place drill on workbench, hold it down, and smack the allen key to loosen chuck anti-clock - I got to the point where I was sure the gearbox was going to strip and gave up. It lies close to the bin now..

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 22/10/2020 12:32:48

Joe,

Are you sure there is not a screw, into the spindle, through the bottom of the chuck body? If there is, it is likely a left handed thread.

Agree with NDIY, my old (now retired) DeWalt had a Torx bolt into the spindle, accessed by opening the chuck fully - I think it was LH thread, cannot recall now.

Recently went with Milwaukee as a replacement, a little runout on the chuck, but for a hand-held tool it's perfectly fine. Also got one of their impact drivers which is great, but rotates a little fast for me - slower would be more user-friendly,. And I know it goes slower if you don't depress the trigger fully, but it's a fine line.

And finally - and I have no personal experience of these - I see that battery adaptors are available so old tools can be used with newer batteries and vice versa. May be a bit bulky though.

Rob

Suppose I had better continue - having hijacked the thread...

There is no retaining screw at all - should be as per the photos below.

I gently heated the drill shaft in the chuck ( with a good heat gun and 8mm nozzle), and smacked the allen key, nothing. Heated some more and filled the chuck with penetrating oil, left it, smacked it, nothing. Heated it again till really hot, poured ice water into the chuck - it fizzled and spat madly - hit the allen key with ALL my might - NOTHING! Got mad, put the drill in the woodwork bench vice, heated that chuck till it was smoking hot, and smacked that allen key with a 2kg hammer - I tried clockwise, and counter-clock..Nothing, other than the drill still works fine....I give up.

View down the chuck throat - that spigot is the drive shaft through the chuck. The hex looking thing is the chuck body, not a nut or bolt head

And this lucky bugger got his chuck off...clearly see there is no retainer.

BTW, the silver body of the drill, as seen below, is all PLASTIC! not cast aluminium, like my old bosch...I heated the threaded shaft so much, that plastic was starting to soften...with some luck perhaps the bearing is also gone now. Did I mention, I hate this drill..