Cordless Drills for steadies etc.

[Robtel]

Hi All,

I would appreciate advice/ views re cordless drills and power generated by them.

Due to a couple of health issues (plus not getting any younger) I try to make things as easy for myself as possible when using the caravan. For a good number of years I have been using a cordless drill to operate the corner steadies. Originally I had a £14.99 14v cheapie from Makro which worked fine for a couple of years although did need recharged very regularly. When I changed to current van with heavy duty corner steadies I found that this drill did not have the power to fully wind or unwind the steadies. I put this down to, at least in part, that the battery was past its best and bought a 24v cordless drill. This seemed to have the power to do the job. I also use it for screw pegs for the awning. There is only one battery with this drill and I am again finding that I am having to re charge very often, it dosen't seem to have enough power supply to wind corner steadies and peg out awning without being recharged halfway through awning. Screwfix are currently offering an 18v cordless with 3 batteries which I thought might solve this problem. The batteries are 1.3 Ah batteries. Question is does the 18v or 24v describe the amount of power (strength) generated at any given time or the amount of power held within the battery, i.e. same power produced but only for a longer period of time. Also the battery power of 1.3 Ah what does that mean.

As you will have guessed electricity, in any shape or form, is not my strong point. I don't mind upgrading my drill but I don't want to find out the new drill doesn't have the power for the job.

Sorry for the untechnical explanation and thanks for any help you can offer.

Robert

 

[taylor.paul]

Rob

The amperage is the most important issue when it comes to batteries, however when you do not use them for a while all will lose there charge, i am a tradesman and use battery drills every day the only thing i would say is buy a drill for 100 it will last, buy one for 20 it wont (well not all the time) i would recommend a 12/14 vlt 2-2.5 amp they are light enough and are more than up to the job, go for a Makita , Dewalt or BLUE bosch units they are commercial grade and built to last!! hope this helps

Paul

 

[DeliDave]

I use the Ryobi 18volt one that screwfix do its about

 

[Willy_5041515]

I use an Xtreme DF06W27, 3.6V Lithium-Ion battery, screwdriver to wind the steadies on my Swift Challenger fitted with heavy duty steadies. This fits in the palm of the hand and works for at least 2 departures and 2 arrivals without recharging. The advantages of the Lithium-Ion battery arethat it does not loose it's charge when not used and can be recharged rapidly without fully discharging (no "memory" as in a NiCad).

Because it's only a screwdiver, as opposed to a proper drill, the "chuck" is only a hexagonal hole designed to tke screwdiver bits. I was able to make a simple adaptor using variuos parts out of a screwdriver kit and a socket set.

I bought mine in Homebase for about

 

[JeremyClarksson]

Power is Volts X Amps

So a 1.3Ah battery at 18V will produce appx 240 Watts for 6 mins

(1.3A x 18V) / 0.1 hr

This would be the same as a 2.6Ah running 9V

or 0.65 Ah running 36V

So...

If the voltage goes up so does the power for the same size (Ah) battery

And a higher voltage battery drill can produce the same power with smaller (Ah) batteries.

Bear in mind that the actual current consumed by the drill depends on the power of the drill so running time on batteries will depend on

1/ power of drill

2/ voltage of battery

3/ Ah of batteries

4/ Efficiency of battery and drill

Some more expensive types of batteries are better at delivering power/hold charge longer/may be lighter or smaller.

If you really want a good one ask a builder friend for their recommendation but it may be pricey.

Personally I would avoid a drill with nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries.

 

[Robtel]

Thanks to all for the prompt responses. I have taken all the advice on board and have had a look around on the web for a good quality drill with batteries of around 2.5Ah and not NiCad batteries (didn't know about the memory thing but found other references to that on the net as well).

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Robert

 

[gary]

I would also throughly recommend 'Ryobi' I have the 14V version which is lighter but still adequate, it came with two batteries and a 1hr charger.

No their not the best but they come a close second, but again their nowhere near as expensive!

 

[Garfield]

I use cordless drills professionally and have found Black and Decker the best of the budget drills, they are owned by the same co that owns Dewalt and the 14v B&D battaeries fit a De Walt drill, The Dewalt drill replaced a B&D drill that wore out so I kept the B&D batteries, the Dewalt batteries have now failed but the B&D batteries are still going. PS the Erbauer drill I got from Screwfix was rubbish and the Makita 14v drill also failed, sending a flame out the side that burned my hand

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Just to put another viewpoint

I have 2 Bosch drills and a replacement battery is about

 

[RogerP]

I got a Bosch with 2 batteries from B&Q for about

 

[RayS]

I've been out of the techie stuff for a few years, so you may well get better advice from others. the probalem with Ni Cad batteries is that they have a "memory" which means you should really get them fully, not partly dischared before charging. Li-on does not suffer from this effect but is more expensive.

When my drill battery will no longer run down the legs, i hold the chuck lightly in one hand and apply just sufficent squeeze to make the thing work while running the battery fully down before recharging. This should improve the life somewhat.

Unfortunately, the cheapo drill chargers do not have an indicator to show when the battery is charged, so there is some risk of overcharging. In due course i guess Li-on will get cheaper, but until then I think the best idea is two batteries, run down to flat before charging. this is a particularly good idea if HID aka coopilot is in charge of winding.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

The cheapo Aldi battery has a series of LEDs on the side to show the state of charge

 

[martin.]

Try an argos JCB 18v drill, 2 batteries, 15 minute charge and quite powerfull for what you need, made by Dewalt.

Had mine 4 years now and still works a dream.

Or you could try my Bosch one that I have for work but it's

 

[Willy_5041515]

At the risk of sounding boring, and having read the above suggestions, my Xtreme screwdriver (see my earlier response above) has Lithium Ion batteries, weighs a few ounces, fits in the palm of my hand, costs

 

[WatsonJohnG]

At the risk of sounding boring, and having read the above suggestions, my Xtreme screwdriver (see my earlier response above) has Lithium Ion batteries, weighs a few ounces, fits in the palm of my hand, costs

 

[Fourtrack]

I got a Bosch with 2 batteries from B&Q for about