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Choosing a Cordless Drill

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What do I need to consider?

Terminology explained

Professional

DeWalt cordless drill

When a power tool is referred to as professional then it is at a higher specification and more durable than a DIY one.

DIY

Designed for the non professional – i.e. for more occasional use than every day.

Voltage

This is like the engine of a car – the higher it is the more power you have at your disposal.

Amp Hours

Just like a car this is the size of the fuel tank. i.e.  the larger the amp hour of the battery the longer the battery will last between charges.

Battery type

Lithium-ion (LiIon) are the latest technology.  Just like mobile phone batteries, they are designed to be charged many times and will hold their full capacity over their lifetime. Machines using this technology are up to 40% lighter than comparable tools powered by other battery technology. Lithium Ion batteries will not self discharge at the same rate as NiMh or NiCd batteries. A Li Ion battery will only loose 1% of its charge per month as where a Nickel based battery will loose 1% per day.

Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (NiMh) were introduced to replace NiCd batteries. This was considered much greener as cadmium is a very poisonous chemical. They don’t suffer so badly from memory effect.

Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) This was the original cordless powertool battery. Very reliable but also very heavy in comparison to Li Ion batteries. It is important to discharge these batteries before re-charging them or the batteries can develop a memory effect where they will no longer take a full charge.

Other terms you'll hear

SDS

Bosch cordless drill

SDS was originally a pneumatic drilling system developed by Bosch for hammer drilling in concrete. It has since become a general term for ‘tool free change’ for example bosch jigsaws all have an SDS blade change system so you don’t need an allen key or screwdriver to change the blade.

Hammer drill

Hammer drills are pneumatic and best suited for drilling masonry and concrete. They requires SDS+ drill bits.

Impact drills

Impact drills are general purpose drills. They have an impact or percussion system for drilling masonry. This can be switched off to use on metal and wood drilling.

Torque

Torque is the twisting force or turning power of a machine. The higher the torque the better the machine will be at drilling with large auger bits or driving big screws.


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Contact us at MVF if you need more help >>

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