RUNNING A CORDLESS DRILL ON HOUSE CURRENT

[chief38]

I have collected more than a few cordless drills & tools over the past 10 years. The reason is that every time a set of batteries craps out I find that for the same price of a new set of replacement batteries I can get a brand new tool with the charger, 2 batteries, a carrying case and a bit set. I have a few DeWalt Drills that are real heavy duty and they are hammer drills as well. I don't want to spend $100+ bucks for each set of new batteries, can't bring myself to toss them, and I am tired of playing the battery game so I want to get a DC converter that will handle at least 15 - 20 Amps and will allow me to dial between 9.6 volts DC and 20 volts DC to power various drills and tools.

I am pretty handy, know my way around electronics and electricity and am able to remove the batteries from the battery case and wire in a plug to receive the cord from the DC power supply.

Does anyone here have any suggestions as to what brand and model is available to do this? I can scour the Internet (actually I did already take a quick look) but there are so many to choose from I figured I'd ask some of you guys first as maybe some of you have already done this.

Thanks,
Chief38

 

[nocheese4u]

It would be a little safer to rebuild the battery yourself IMO.

LINK

You could do it for $20-30 per battery depending how many you do at once.

 

[nocheese4u]

or cpo dewalt has a 2 pack of dewalt 18v for 99 bucks free shipping

Here is a link to the diy adapter.

 

[klondike]

I soldered the cordless battery to a cord and some alligator clips that then connected to a motorcycle battery. This in theory gave me an almost unlimited supply.
The hitch came when after my son used the setup on a project, he had left my tools sitting on the driveway, and after I hollered at him he picked up the tools and threw them in a pile in the garage. The battery was not properly protected from a short and in no time, my garage was on fire.
I think that it would have been better to have rebuilt the factory battery.

 

[Engineer1911]

Cheap solution

See post #9, it works. http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/192408-cordless-drill-question-poll-decision-has-been-made.html

 

[islamoradamark]

i hate batteries thats why i use an acog

 

[chief38]

I already own two CORDED Milwaukee Electric Drills, so it's not like I don't have a drill to use, I simply can't bring myself to throw out the two expensive DeWalt cordless hammer drills (in perfect condition) and would like to get them to run on converted DC current. I'm done with batteries! I figured I'd spend $40 -$60 bucks on a descent converter and that would allow me to run all my cordless tools continually without the ridiculous hassle of the batteries. At this point in my life 99% of all my drilling is within my home and so there is always an outlet nearby. If I were working at a construction site with no power than of course I'd buy new batteries, but other than the fact that I would like to keep the hammer drills I would not be bothering. I've even thought about just getting rid of all the cordless tools and just buying a CORDED hammer drill and then I'm done with this whole situation.

I sort of figured someone here might have already been here - done this. Well, I'm gonna give it the old college try and I'll let you fellas know if I am successful. I don't want to do anything unsafe, but DC is DC. If I can find a proper converter than will allow me to vary voltage from 9.6 to 20V DC and will supply at least 15 amps at a reasonable cost it should work well and safely. One thing I know for sure - - - NO MORE BATTERIES!

Chief38

 

[DeathGrip]

Did you look on Amazon? They sell after-market batteries for a lot less than Dewalt. About $30 for an 18v.

 

[smokindog]

I wished I had read this thread before purchasing a bench top case prep center. I've got a few of these buggers out in the workshop I'd forgotten about, going back 15+ YEARS WHEN 9.6v Makitas were tops I'd bet someone could come up with a "common design" to turn these into the drive train of a nice powered case prep device for our collective hobby! I may still put this project on my list. Maybe some trash to cash here!

Did you look on Amazon? They sell after-market batteries for a lot less than Dewalt. About $30 for an 18v.

 

[Comrad]

Any money spent on NiCad batteries is a waste for a little more than replacement batteries cost you could buy a new lithium cordless that will last for years and hold a charge too.

 

[Cpo1944]

There is a store here called "Batteries Plus" they will rebuild your dead batts for a very reasonable fee.

 

[H Richard]

If you have an Interstate Battery location near you, they will rebuild any battery at a reasonable price.

 

[DeathGrip]

If you have an Interstate Battery location near you, they will rebuild any battery at a reasonable price.

They also sell new batteries for your Dewalt.

 

[chief38]

Any money spent on NiCad batteries is a waste for a little more than replacement batteries cost you could buy a new lithium cordless that will last for years and hold a charge too.

I agree with the above statement but my current chargers will NOT charge L ion batteries so that means I'll need to spend about 165.00 or so for one L ion battery and a new charger.

After all this thinking looking and researching, I'm gonna sell ALL my cordless drills and put that money towards a CORDED Hilti Hammer Drill. Problem solved permanently!

Since I've grown up with corded tools and have always owned them along with the cordless ones, I am not bothered by the use of an extension cord. Those along with a Hilti Hammer Drill will do it for me.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions, and you guys have helped me to get off the "pot" and get rid of these things and pull the trigger in a Hilti.

Chief38

 

[SgtLumpy]

When my batteries go south I simply buy a new tool. It's nearly always cheaper to buy the tool with batteries than it is to buy the batteries by themselves.

Buy a slightly different tool and you'll soon have a collection of all sorts of stuff that run on the same batteries and charger.

I now have -

3/8 drill
1/2 drill
Hammer drill
SawZall
SkillSaw
Right angle 3/8 drill (handier than I'd ever imagined!)

Next will likely be a scroll saw.

Each one usually comes with two batteries. I think I now have enough batteries for ONE in every tool plus one extra. I think I have three chargers.

I find good deals a the "Contractor's Desk" at HDepot. Returned tools or whatever. Marked down quite a bit.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Alaska MJ]

Did you know that you can still buy power tools with cords already attached? And they pretty much last forever. What I do in my shop( welding business ) is ,where I use a hand tool all the time I keep a cord type plugged in at that area,then when I need to go mobile I use the cordless. And if you just charge them once a month and don't leave them on the charger all the time they too last for many years.........Just sayin.

 

[chief38]

Well, I did it! I put three of the Dewalt cordless drills including the hammer drill up for sale on fleebay this morning.

I already own 3 CORDED Milwaukee Drills and a good Drill Press so now I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a gently used Hilti Rotary Hammer Drill with a cord. I have several Dremels so I should be GTG.

Now I've just got to put my Roto Zip that I bought new and only used once to cut an outlet opening in a sheetrock wall, up for sale. It works quite well, but my problem with it is it takes 45 seconds to cut the hole and and 30 minutes cleaning up the sheet rock dust all over the place. Unless you use them outdoors for multiple cuts, they make more of a mess than they are worth!

 

[arjay]

The roto zip is great for holes in drywall and especially cement board.Shop vac in the left hand and saw in the right works pretty good

 

[venomballistics]

looking at your maximum specs of 20A at 20V .. thats a 400 Watt demand that'll need a larger VA rated transformer.
Figuring a 500 VA trafo, this part alone will cost between 100 and 400 bucks.
A rectifier to take it shouldn't be too bad .. the filter caps might sting a little .. about $30 more

Then we need a voltage regulator setup .. yeah the chip is cheap at around a buck, but it wont take the current on its own, you'll have to have some big iron transistors tracking the V reg.
You can add another $30.

Now you want it controllable ... thats easy .. about a $4 potentiometer should do it.

actually knowing what your setting it to would come in handy, Id highly recommend it. Thats a panel mount meter at $30 ...

ya cant have a high power rig floating around in free air ... it'll need an enclosure .. build it into a repurpoused box .. its kinda almost free ... for a change
sum total build cost range
$200 - $500

Now ... whats the cost of new batteries? or an outright replacement with a corded tool?

 

[gjgalligan]

I soldered the cordless battery to a cord and some alligator clips that then connected to a motorcycle battery. This in theory gave me an almost unlimited supply.
The hitch came when after my son used the setup on a project, he had left my tools sitting on the driveway, and after I hollered at him he picked up the tools and threw them in a pile in the garage. The battery was not properly protected from a short and in no time, my garage was on fire.
I think that it would have been better to have rebuilt the factory battery.

If it was me, that would be the last time he used any of my tools!