AC Power Pack for Cordless Power Tools

[Bob Scott]

my suggestion is if you want a battery that will last all day, build you a battery belt, like the tv camera guys have, a 12v 7ah battery would last a lot longer than the drill battery itself.

Then I'll have yet another battery that goes dead with non-use.

[MrAl]

Hello again,


Dean:
Yes keeping the total series resistance low is something that has to be thought about. I thought about that when i designed my lead acid battery replacement cord so i used heavy enough wire and tested it after assembly. I found t
We also have to keep in mind that most 120vac drills were not made for heavy duty use as when putting in large drywall screws or even smaller ones. I think that Black and Decker makes one now though that is made for this kind of thing but i didnt check it out that well yet. Perhaps someone can do this.

dac:
I use a small camera case to hold my 7.5Ahr battery, with a shoulder strap. I cant do that with the big 15Ahr battery though, i have to keep that on the floor when im using it.

Bob:
Well, when it comes to this problem you either do one thing or the other, and they all have their good points and their evils. Choose your weapon.
As i was saying above, i think Black and Decker makes a heavy duty drill now that works from 120vac and is made for screws rather than drilling. Im not sure though cause i didnt check it out too good yet. Maybe find online.

[Robert Reed]

Hello MrAl
"We also have to keep in mind that most 120vac drills were not made for heavy duty use as when putting in large drywall screws or even smaller ones. I think that Black and Decker makes one now though that is made for this kind of thing but i didnt check it out that well yet. Perhaps someone can do this."
My Craftsman 120vac drill will bury 3" screws into solid oak and even snap the heads off if you overdrive them. Its just a cheap run of the mill 3/8" vari speed drill for about $30. I'd shudder to think what the big name ones would do. In fact it may actually be a B&D, since they make a cheap line of tools for relabeling.

[MrAl]

Hello Robert,


How long will it do that before it burns up the brushes ?

[Robert Reed]

MrAl
Don't know. In its heaviest use day I may have driven 150 screws into ash,oak and polar. The total depth ranged from 1 1/2" to 3", with screws lengths from 1 5/8" to 3".many of them had no pilot holes while the majority had clearance holes. For myself,I have never had to replace brushes on any of my tools, only shaft bearings. I don't do commercial day in day out work, but I have pumped out 200 pieces of high end furniture in the last 15 years. I am currently winding up a 7 piece project. So my tools do get a get a good workout over a period of time.Maybe my saving grace is that I listen to the tool for overload situations and then back down if necessary.

[haklesup]

Aside from any modifications to the charger or PM schedules where you run the drill for nothing more than to use the battery, the best advice for keeping the batteries fresh is to leave them on the charger full time and not store it in a freezing cold garage or roasting hot shed. A battery left to go extremely dead (<20%) will loose far more life than any battery held at full charge. All battreries loose capacity over time, charged ones do so less extremely. Most cordless tools (save maybe harbor freight brands) have a lot of engineering that goes into the charger and battery. If you have a new LiION tool, just leave it on the charger all the time you are not using it. That new generation of tools has not reached the low cost brands and the brands that have it are reputable WRT quality and engineering.

[MrAl]

Hello again,

Robert:
Oh ok maybe you have a well built drill then. That's nice. Does it ever smell once you are done putting in screws?

Hackle:
I agree that the Li-ion based drills are a whole 'nother ball game. The battery chemistry is different so the charge regime is totally different. I wouldnt leave my charger on full time though with the NiCds as that seems to kill them in a year, and i have seen this happen a lot.

[Bob Scott]

For myself,I have never had to replace brushes on any of my tools, only shaft bearings. I don't do commercial day in day out work,......

I used to have a nice Sears brand 3/8" variable speed and reversible corded drill with a Jacobs chuck. It had a plastic casing and sintered bronze bushings for the armature. Just for something to do, decided to replace all the grease in the gearbox with lubriplate. Makers of power tools never seem to lube the gears properly or with enough grease.

I noticed that the inner and outer diameter of the bushings were identical to commonly available ball bearings, so I installed the ball bearings. I removed the plastic power cord and replaced it with a longer 15' rubber AC cord, 16-2. Rubber doesn't go as stiff as plastic in cold weather. Last thing I did was reverse the wiring on the "reverse" switch. (Before, I had a tendency to accidentally bump the switch into reverse every time I grasped the drill with my right hand.)

I took it to work one day because our shop drill was missing. Mine got stolen too. Somewhere, somebody has a really nice Sears drill with "R SCOTT" carved into the bottom of the case. With the ball bearings it should last forever.

[dacflyer]

Mr Al.... suggestion.. 15AH battery backpack heehee, just kidding.

just found on my junk shelf, a long forgotten brand new 5 volt 50amp switchmode PS
any takers ? price is right

[MrAl]

Hello again,


Bob:
Wow, that's funny because i was always wondering where that "R SCOTT" came from on the bottom of my drill!!

(he he just kidding of course)

dac:
Oh yeah ok, ha ha, a backpack would do it. That thing is pretty heavy though and unfortunately it is shaped like a regular battery (sort of like a big brick) so it's hard to carry close to the body. If it was more elongated (like flatter instead of brick-like) i think it would work nice in a backpack.

[Dean Huster]

We also have to keep in mind that most 120vac drills were not made for heavy duty use as when putting in large drywall screws or even smaller ones. I think that Black and Decker makes one now though that is made for this kind of thing but i didnt check it out that well yet. Perhaps someone can do this.

There have been a lot of posts since my last post. As observed, it's not a problem finding 120vac drills that can drive screws. I do construction for a living and every 120vac variable speed drill I've ever owned is capable of driving screws, some better than others. In fact, I have to be careful when driving 1/4" lag screws because two of my drills will twist the heads off! None of the cordless drills I have could ever do that. The 120vac drills sometimes have two gear choices, so you can drive screws a lot darned faster than a cordless, even with the cordless at high speed. And running a cordless on the high gear range, if it's LiION, will overheat the battery rather than discharging it, and rather than a quick 15-minute charge, it's a 45-minute cool-down period! Been there and done that plenty of times.

[jollyrgr]

I used a high powered laptop "brick" power supply. Gutted the batteries out (most), ran power supply connections to battery OUT terminals. Not as powerful as batteries but it works. I say most as "stem" that goes into the drill had the contacts on a battery up inside it and that is how it was mounted.