What's a good drill for drilling through a metal panel DeWalt Volts etc..

[mrclean]

I currently have a few Ryobi drills both a 7.2v, and a 12v, which with my bit attachment had a really hard time drilling through a thin sheet of metal on a control panel. My question is what is the recommended drill for drilling through metal panels ? 14v, 18v any specific brand such as DeWalt??  etc ?

[Ken Layton]

A corded drill is best. However, a cordless can work. The higher the battey voltage the more powerful the drill. Many contractors use DeWalt products in the 18 volt and 24 volt power.

[Kevin Mullins]

I've had a 14.4v Hitachi cordless drill set for several years now, still running strong on the original batteries. With a good hole saw it will drill a metal control panel beautifully.
I'm personally don't care much for the cordless Dewault stuff. Their corded stuff is awesome, but my stepdad seems to be constantly replacing batteries because they just don't hold up take good charges after awhile. (or the charger itself craps out) But others may have had better experiences with them.

[channelmaniac]

I've had my 12v DeWalt for 9 years now. Bought a new battery about 1 1/2 years ago.

It worked great using one of those Unibits to drill holes in a control panel through the metal and the wood underneath it.

You should be using sharp drill bits.

Oh, and if you're using a wood type hole saw then that's your whole problem!

RJ

[Ken Layton]

I've had a 14.4v Hitachi cordless drill set for several years now, still running strong on the original batteries. With a good hole saw it will drill a metal control panel beautifully.
I'm personally don't care much for the cordless Dewault stuff. Their corded stuff is awesome, but my stepdad seems to be constantly replacing batteries because they just don't hold up take good charges after awhile. (or the charger itself craps out) But others may have had better experiences with them.

The Dewalt chargers usually have a diode short circuit. Costs about a dollar to replace. Dewalt used too small of a diode causing it to fail. If you search the USENET group sci.electronics.repair you'll find a post I made describing the repair to Dewalt chargers.

[richms]

I'm guessing they must build the 110v ones differently, because in all the dewalt chargers I have being given to look at the transformer has gone. Not a part you can order so it writes the charger off. They say that its because it was used on a generator blah blah as ways to get out of warranty repair on them too.

[Ken Layton]

It was the 120 volt AC powered charger I fixed. I think it was for charging either the 14 volt or 18 volt batteries.

[Kevin Mullins]

Hmmm..... I think I still have one of his dead Dewault chargers around here somewhere, might have to dig it out some day and take a look at it. It's for the 18v cordless stuff I think. He bought a new one so quickly I didn't bother to look at his old one.

[Ken Layton]

Part of my post from June 27, 2006 on sci.electronics.repair

"I fixed a Dewalt battery charger for a friend a couple of months ago.
It had a shorted diode (the bad one had obvious burn marks on the pc
board). I used an NTE 5809 (3 amp, 1000 volt, same as 1N5408) to replace the original one. BTW you'll need
a Tamperproof Torx T-10 to open the case to access the pc board."

Also note I believe the original diode was only 3 amp 100 volt rating  (1N5401).

[phreak97]

i found a cheapo power drill does the job perfectly, it's the holesaws where you have to spend the money.. cost me AU$90 for two holesaws and the attachment i forget the name of.. they sure worked though:) i bought cheap ones before that and it just flatttened off the holesaw teeth and ruined my paintwork.

[richms]

Yeah, the better drills just tend to last longer and have more power - you dont need power with a holesaw and I actually find the very light cheap drills get more use then my 24v monster just because of holding it.

[Xiaou2]

 You could very well have a defective bit, of a dull bit.   It makes all the
difference in the world.

 Also, when drilling metal... Use med speed, low to med pressure, (be patient.. metal takes a long time to scrape away) and helps
to use some lubricant oil.  Remove chip buildup frequently from the
crevice.  Douse bit in cool water every so often and pause for a little
while to allow bit and drill to cool if drilling thru deep metal.