Cordless drill
Submitted: Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 10:35
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Member - Des
Really dumb questions; please be gentle ....!
Would like to get a cordless drill for
home and general use (to replace old cord model). They seem to be available in 12v, 14.5v, 18v etc. I am not going to renovate the house or build decking - how much is enough for light duties and occasional use?
Is it possible to get attachments so I could use it to tighten/remove nuts, and for household things like sanding and buffing timber?
Is it possible to recharge a drill from a 12v cig plug, so I could use it travelling?
Any suggestions about brands and models? Don't want to spend a heap but don't want something that will fall to pieces after 2 goes.
Reply By: Member - Roachie SA- Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 12:05
Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 12:05
Des,
I have a 7.2v cheapy that the battery died on and I did what the other blokes have said. However, being worried that 12v might be too much for it, I rifled through a box of stuff I had and found a cigi plug with different voltage outputs on a switch on the side. It goes from 3v to 12v in steps. I tried the 7.5v setting first and it was pretty slow, upped it to 9v and better and then I thought, "what the hell" so I bumped it up to 12v setting and it goes really
well. I now carry it in the camper trailer.
I also have a 12v rechargeable with 2 batteries and have wondered the same about charging directly off the truck's system. Haven't tried it yet, but will get around to it one day. I can see no reason why this wouldn't work, so long as I get the polarity right!!
Cordless drills in general are a fantastic invention and are now very powerful compared to the original offering of 10 to 15 years ago. Hard to justify buying a 240 volt unit anymore unless it's a hammer drill etc.
Good luck
AnswerID:
66132
Follow Up By: Member - Jiarna (SA) - Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 18:05
Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 18:05
Panasonic and Hitachi even put out a range of cordless hammer drills. Maybe some others have as
well.
FollowupID:
327005
Reply By: cwebb - Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 17:24
Friday, Jul 02, 2004 at 17:24
I have a 12 month old Black & Decker Firestorm II cordless drill which is 14.5 Volts.
I think its best feature is that the keyless chuck is removable. So what happens is you have a drill bit in the chuck, do some drill holes etc. Then in 1 second remove the chuck. Then in the shaft is a removable screwdriver bit. So you can then do some screwing, then reattach the chuck to resume drilling.
Also has a battery life indicator (LED's), which is probably not too useful. I think the battery pack is Nicad, so will probably show decent power levels until the battery quickly dies, as Nicads seem to do.
You pay a bit more for this drill but even for occasional use, its one of those things that is a pleasure to use years to come. The $20 ones are abysmal in quality and balance. I know they're cheap, but I think it is one of the few things in life that quality does matter.
Cheers
AnswerID:
66165
Reply By: Member - Camper (SA) - Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 17:12
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004 at 17:12
Yep! You get what you pay for.
Cheap cordless batteries fail early and the clutches for setting drive torque are not much chop.
I usually come back to Makita for price, reliability and longevity, They don't play the handyman/tradesman game either. Ive got other brands but I usuallylook at Mak first.
No cordless is going to give you the grunt of a good quality 240v. But the convenience is great!
Camper
AnswerID:
66411