Power supply for 18 V dewalt cordless tools

E-mail me. I think I have them for $79

Didn't read the two batteries for 108.99. I was thinking one battery. Sorry.

Hello William:

I have given up on the battery operated drills. They are in a pile of drill motors and batteries. Maybe ok for the weekend fix it guy who wants to hang a paper towel holder.

I have used the battery operated drills enough to never have one again. Except for a 90 degree angle drill, I have use for at times.

I have replaced my bettery operated drills with a 1/2 inch chuck 115 Volts AC operated key less chuck. And I bought a 100 and 50 Foot extension cords, have a kick ass reversable and variable drill motor will travel, Ten-4.

I drill out 3/8 solid aluminum rod, down the center, and then have a 1/4

- 20 Tap in my 1/2 inch keyless chuck drill motor, tap the hole in a second, works great for production parts.

Jay in the Great Mojaave Desert, .... just down the road ah ways from the fillin station.

William G Darby wrote:

Ideally you would need a transformer (probably a pretty hefty one!), a rectifier, a couple of capacitors and a regulator plus a few other items such as a case, etc. You might get by with something simpler but it probably wouldn't be a very good idea.

But if you're going to go to the trouble of powering it with A/C why not just buy an A/C drill? Here's one that looks comparable to yours for about $90:

And if you don't need the 1/2" you could buy a 3/8" for even less. It's cheaper than extra batteries and you'd still have the cordless for when A/C isn't available.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

Thanks !! When I read your first post I kinda thought that's what you had done. I think the $108 is a VG price! Again ... thanks.

Bill

I am coming around to that point of view as well, but damit they are so darned handy!!

Bill

Your 18V tools will likely run on 12 volts albeit slower. Maybe just use a deep cycle 12 marine battery for much longer run time. I've seen photos of battery pack mockups with contacts and cables running out to connect to the boat's battery for middle of nowhere repairs.

Bit of a strange compromise I suppose but for the right application could be just the ticket.

StaticsJason

Thanks Keith

No, I am in pretty good shape when it comes to AC drills. The thing is that the darn batteries cost so much that it's not worth the cost to keep the tools on the road. But the only sawsall I own is an 18V dewalt and it seems a shame not to be able to use it while I have on hand all the components to put together a DC power supply for it.

I have already bought the B&D 3/8 drill for about 40$US, (two of them), essentially for the batteries. The extra drills are handy for sequential type work.)

Thanks again

Bill D

>

found them at lowes in fl. near Orlando for two for $79.00

if you just want the power not the portability, you have had suggestions, but if it were me i would kludge an avail battery onto it. make some kind of terminal adapter for the cheapest new or replacement battery avail. it couldn't be any more difficult or look any more cobbled up.

--Loren

i blow hot and cold on this subject, have a life time supply of drills, both kinds, and will someday find a cheap enough source for ni-cad cells that it makes sense to rebuilt the bat.packs.

my favorite cordless tool is a 4" trim saw, 18v, will cut 4 feet of

1/2' plywood and keep on running. amazing (to me), --Loren

Hello William:

One other consideration that comes to mind with all this, is use a extension cord between the drill and the battery charger. You will have to get creative to wire it up.

The Battery charger may not run the drill motor, but will keep the battery charged up, somewhat. The wire I would use would be just light Zip Cord used for lamps and stuff, available at hardware stores.

The resistance in the wire will limit the current, protecting the battery charger I am thinking. I don't know how much current the drill motors take but its probably high for starting and sinking wood screws and such down, and of course thats where the battery comes in, supplying the high current. As the drill would be off most of the time, it would allow the battery to be charged.

I am thinking that the drill motors may take as much as 20 amps of current for the peak usage. So that would require a 18 Volt DC power supply, at a current rating of 20 or more amps. And the wire it would take would be something like 12 or 10 gage wire. So now you have a expensive power supply and are no longer wireless.

Jay >

Hi Jay

I gave that a thought or two. About the same as running a cordless electric razor with it plugged in.

As per your comment there are a ton of unknowns. I rather liked the idea of the PSU for bullwork type jobs, but you are right about the high amp draw at only 18 volts. My 1/2" AC drill is rated at something like 10 amps at 120V so that's about (120/18*10)= 60 some amps by comparison on 18 volts. Hefty draw!!

In any case it all seems like a can of worms and not worth doing and if I factor in that replacement batteries are ,, while not cheap, at $108 for two, they are a lot cheaper then full price here. I think that's the way I'll go.

Thanks for the ideas

Bill

One option that may be stupid or workable. A 12 and 6V lead-acid battery in series, and a couple of chargers for them. Ensure they are of the same capacity, and never discharge too much. (below 10 and 5V)

Depending on how the thing is constructed, you may or may not need a smoohed power supply to get the variable speed working.

I'd start off guessing that you need at least 20A at 18V (360W) to equal the torque on batteries. Do you have the means to test the current when the tool stalls?

On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 01:03:26 -0400, "William G Darby" pixelated:

Unless they're used daily and recharged, the batteries go down far too quickly. I let mine sit for a few weeks when my knee was acting up and the life was several minutes: it was 75% down when I got back to it.

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I've had good luck with mine. It's a Milwaukee drill-driver with 2 batteries and the fast charger. Had it about 10 years, and the batteries are still good, about 30 minutes of pretty heavy drilling and screw driving, by which time the other battery is charged. I have gone months without using it at times. It's also very handy for assembling those damned elmer's glue and sawdust computer desks.

Of course, when I want to drill 3/8" - 1/2" holes in 1/4" - 1/2" steel, I grab a corded drill.

Pete Keillor

What's that Lassie? You say that William G Darby fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Sat, 6 Sep 2003 02:31:19 -0400:

I have heard of places that you can send your dead packs away to, and they will rebuild them with new cells for less than factory replacements. Bigger better cells too.

You are showing your age Dan, I can recall Lassie come home quite well (1943).

Yes, I had looked into that but the local guys want quite a bit and I don't want to get into 2 way cross boarder shipping. Perhaps I'll ask again!

Bill

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 19:53:07 -0400, "William G Darby" wrote something ......and in reply I say!:

I run my 12V cordless on a gelcell. If I am doing a lot of work, say drilling several holes, I attach a small 12v/2.5 A battery charger. One of the simpler variety. This will considerably extend the working life. I know it's not recommended to charge gel-cells with these chargers, but if you are using heavily and watch out, you should do no damage. Works for me. I never leave the batteries charging when I walk off, even for a coffee break. Do all this at your own risk.

The batteries are large capacity. They are cheap. I hang the battery of a bum-bag around my waist mostly, when I am not connected to the charger. Then I leave the charger aside and attach during breaks in the job.

18V gets a little messier, but should be doable.

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