I have tried several types of drill to wind my corner steadies, and non have been very successful. The main fault seems to be the battery power loss when the drill is not being used. So, if I go away for a fortnight, the drill is OK to lower the steadies, but by the time the fortnight is up, there is not enough power left in the battery to wind up the steadies. I am thinking of getting one of the lower priced lithium - ion types, as I believe that these suffer no power loss. Any ideas??
Re-chargeable drill / steadies
- Thread starter Rodone
- Start date
I use a drill for both the steadies and engage/disengaging the mover and can easily get more than a fortnight out of it. I just got a Focus cheapy. A battery voltage can degrade with temperature so try not to leave it in the awning/back of car the night before you use it.
Mike Mc
Mike Mc
Rod l agree with Mike should get more than a fornight, in fact l used mine after month to drill four holes on hammer, still worked fine.
NigelH
NigelH
Rod
Old adage, you get what you pay for.
I bought a Makita 18v cordless with spare battery and free tool kit from screwfix
Old adage, you get what you pay for.
I bought a Makita 18v cordless with spare battery and free tool kit from screwfix
Mechanically you get what you pay for, however rechargeable power tools are a problem for DIY users. Unlike laptops, phones etc, power tools use very old fashioned battery technology, usually NC batteries. These are a nightmare. If you leave them they quite quickly lose charge. Leave any length of time without charge and the battery deteriorates. Charge them before they are fully discharged and the battery deteriorates etc, leave them on ch. Professional users are ok because the power tool get regular use and the battery cycled properly, but DIY users who need the tool once in the blue moon nearly always end up with dead batteries. I give up on these and just use corded tools. No use for corner steadies, so I just use the manual too.
Hello William, I'm glad it's not just me then ! My last cordless drill, was probably used only when I went away in the van, and as you said, this would not have given the battery any charging regime. In the end, it would only hold a charge for a day or so. Your explanation however, explains why I seem to have little luck with these tools. The newer lithium-oin battery that some of the tools now use, seems to get over part of this problem as they do not have a memory, and only discharge very slowly. BUT, they apparently start to lose their overall capacity from the very day that they are manufactured, regardless of use or charging ! Not so good then. I think, like you I will use the old fashion hand crank - and get some excercise!
William
The Makita are Lithium - Ion batteries 18 v , 3.0AH
They seem to hold their charge extremely well and take a hell of a bashing before needing a recharge.
Do you think these are better than nicads? The Dyson we have also has a lithium batery.
Cheers
Dustydog
The Makita are Lithium - Ion batteries 18 v , 3.0AH
They seem to hold their charge extremely well and take a hell of a bashing before needing a recharge.
Do you think these are better than nicads? The Dyson we have also has a lithium batery.
Cheers
Dustydog
Hello Dustydog,
I think that you will find that there is a difference between lithium and lithium - ion batteries.
I think that you will find that there is a difference between lithium and lithium - ion batteries.
Yes Lithium ion batteries are much better than NiCads, but also much more expensive and some manufacturers who have adopted them for Laptops etc have had spontaneous combustion type problems with these batteries. Often NiMH batteries are the best compromise of being almost as cheap as NiCad but with less memory effects etc, however they are not suited to power tools as they do not like giving the sort of power flow these tools need.
I use a 18V Makita battery drill in my trade of errecting poultry houses.
Mine will run for about an hour driving tec screws 6mm dia by 40mm long into tin and wood on one battery. The charger has the spare in doc and ready for use before I run out of power. The drill has survived a 15ft fall into water, several falls off roofs of 10ft onto stone and still works fine after two years of this abuse.
Battery's stay charged for days if not used.
I also have a little old 16.8V power devil drill which I use for the van steady's. It holds plenty of charge to allow a fortnight of touring before needing a re-charge.
I need my power drivers as I suffer arthritis in the arms and shoulders which is realy agrivated by manual screw driving actions.
I the gadget world we live in today, one can get chargers to work off the car supply to charge anything. So being able to charge your drill without mains power should not be a problem. Just pop down to your local Maplins to see what they offer.
Steve L.
Mine will run for about an hour driving tec screws 6mm dia by 40mm long into tin and wood on one battery. The charger has the spare in doc and ready for use before I run out of power. The drill has survived a 15ft fall into water, several falls off roofs of 10ft onto stone and still works fine after two years of this abuse.
Battery's stay charged for days if not used.
I also have a little old 16.8V power devil drill which I use for the van steady's. It holds plenty of charge to allow a fortnight of touring before needing a re-charge.
I need my power drivers as I suffer arthritis in the arms and shoulders which is realy agrivated by manual screw driving actions.
I the gadget world we live in today, one can get chargers to work off the car supply to charge anything. So being able to charge your drill without mains power should not be a problem. Just pop down to your local Maplins to see what they offer.
Steve L.
I had the same problem with a cheapo drill so I dismantled the battery pack and inside were about 10 or 12 AA size batteries in series. So I bought the same number of C size with solder tags and made up a beefy battery pack. I think you can get them in Maplin.
Unfortunately the cover wouldn't go back on but it just so happened that a two pint plastic milk container was the right size so as a temporary measure I cut it to size lengthwise and bound it all up with plastic tape until I could find a more suitable solution.
Well two years later and it's still has the milk container but the good news is that it will last well over 5 or 6 weeks without a recharge and thats doing the steadies and the mover.
Unfortunately the cover wouldn't go back on but it just so happened that a two pint plastic milk container was the right size so as a temporary measure I cut it to size lengthwise and bound it all up with plastic tape until I could find a more suitable solution.
Well two years later and it's still has the milk container but the good news is that it will last well over 5 or 6 weeks without a recharge and thats doing the steadies and the mover.
HAAAARGH??? Batteries, I looked in the garage 1 day and found I had 4 perfectly good cordless drills, all different makes, none of them expensive, none of them working!! Why? Knackered batteries. Went on the web armed with all the battery details as it happened all 12 volts, only to find that even the cheapest battery cost more than I paid for the whole product! How can that be? Solution:- Was wandering round a car boot one day and came across a stall with small 12v. batteries about the size of one of the kellogs individul cereals box. Looked unused (assured they were!) Bought 1, -
Are all these posts WIND-UPS ? April 1st has gone.
Why is everyone so obsessed these days with using an electric drill to do a job that, by hand, takes 30 seconds per corner steady at the most and takes a minimum of effort? To use a drill means that you still have to go to each corner of the caravan and still bend down, all that you don't do is move your arms quite so much. I have noticed that most users of drills still give the steadies a final turn with the brace to get them firmly down.
To be able to use a drill you have to make sure it is charged (a job that takes longer than the job it saves) and then carry around in the car a not inconsiderable weight - all to save less than a couple of minutes of gentle exercise.
How long will it be before we have electrically propelled Aquarolls or Wastemasters or self winding jockey wheels so that we don't have to expend that little bit of energy that will help keep us all in better physical shape?
Have a happy Easter caravanning !
John
Why is everyone so obsessed these days with using an electric drill to do a job that, by hand, takes 30 seconds per corner steady at the most and takes a minimum of effort? To use a drill means that you still have to go to each corner of the caravan and still bend down, all that you don't do is move your arms quite so much. I have noticed that most users of drills still give the steadies a final turn with the brace to get them firmly down.
To be able to use a drill you have to make sure it is charged (a job that takes longer than the job it saves) and then carry around in the car a not inconsiderable weight - all to save less than a couple of minutes of gentle exercise.
How long will it be before we have electrically propelled Aquarolls or Wastemasters or self winding jockey wheels so that we don't have to expend that little bit of energy that will help keep us all in better physical shape?
Have a happy Easter caravanning !
John
Unfortunately John I'm not as fit as most, as I suffer from arthritis of the shoulders and elbows. I've already had two operations to fix my right side and now I'm waiting for operations to fix the left side.
I have to use power tools where at all possible to ease the pains I suffer.
Regards.
Steve.
I have to use power tools where at all possible to ease the pains I suffer.
Regards.
Steve.
I solved the problem by getting the wife to do the steadies. Actually she volunteered as she felt she was not doing anything while I p....d about hooking up everything.
funny...on every forum, this topic always get somone telling you to go workout, for the record I'm fit, not over weight and my body fat index is on the low side.
Hi Rod One.
I've been using rechargeable drills for years and usually purchase cheapies in France.
They all worked well for a while but ALL suffered from the inability to hold a charge for any length of time.
Last year I looked for a Bosch PSR 300LI particularly because I had read of the advantages of LI.
When I went to buy I was very shaken. The drill looks like a toy.
I took the plunge. The result was astounding.It weighs next to nothing and performs better than my previous 18v drill. Torque is high and I have no trouble whatsoever. My van weight is 1650kg and always fully loaded.
I've been using rechargeable drills for years and usually purchase cheapies in France.
They all worked well for a while but ALL suffered from the inability to hold a charge for any length of time.
Last year I looked for a Bosch PSR 300LI particularly because I had read of the advantages of LI.
When I went to buy I was very shaken. The drill looks like a toy.
I took the plunge. The result was astounding.It weighs next to nothing and performs better than my previous 18v drill. Torque is high and I have no trouble whatsoever. My van weight is 1650kg and always fully loaded.
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