1300Ah battery fully drains after 10-15 mins drilling into concrete post - Battery faulty???

[LikeMyHome]

Dear all,

I'm drilling concrete fence post with a cordless combi drill in hammer mode and a new fully charged 1300mA battery gets flat after 10-15 mins of drilling.

The drill is Dewalt dcd776
Battery is 18V, 1300mAh dcb185 dewalt battery.
Both drill and battery are new (bought a few days ago from B&Q).

Is this normal battery runtime for drilling into concrete with this battery or is it something abnormal here (maybe faulty battery despite that it's new)??

I think 10-15 min into concrete even with 1300mAh sounds too little. Please let me know what you think?

Thanks a lot!

P.S.
I have another ~3 years oldcordless combi (14.4V, 1500mAh) Workzone drill and that lasts longer (maybe ~20 minutes) when drilling into the same concrete posts, but for easier drilling (e.g. into brick) that used to last for a few hours of drilling (many weeks of standby time), so maybe 20 minutes ino concrete now cos the battry is old.

 

[big-all]

the drill is 300w output your battery contains [1.3x18x60]1400w so would run for between 3 and 4 mins allowing a bit for losses or 4.6 if none
https://products.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/DCD776C2/

 

[^woody^]

15 minutes drilling into a fence post? That's your problem right there.

 

[cdbe]

Maybe you're hitting rebar.

 

[LikeMyHome]

15 minutes drilling into a fence post? That's your problem right there.

Could be, but still doesn't answer my question about 1300mAh battery life time.

 

[kingandy2nd]

1.3amp battery is tiny! 10 -15mins of all drilling sounds like a good effort for it.

 

[LikeMyHome]

Maybe you're hitting rebar.

Again, maybe. I fist drill with 3mm drill bit - that takes most of the time - about 15-20 min per hole.
Then use 4 and finally 6mm bits - those go thru quickly (like 1-2 mins or less).

That still doesn't explain fast battery draining on the new drill - most reviews says the battery has a long run time and they're happy with performance.

 

[^woody^]

Could be, but still doesn't answer my question about 1300mAh battery life time.

Of course it does. 15 minutes pounding away in tough concrete and you have one of the smallest capacity batteries that is made.

More than 5 minutes would be a bonus with that battery

 

[LikeMyHome]

1.3amp battery is tiny! 10 -15mins of all drilling sounds like a good effort for it.

You serious?? My other drill Workzone codless combi has 14.4V, 1500mAh battery and I've just finished the hole in the post with it - this took another ~10 mins and drained the 1500mAh battery by only 20% (so 80% charge still left). So itsn' 1.3Ahx18V running for ~10-15 mins into concrete too short?? 10-15mins is overall time including pauses+bit cooling, real work time is under 10 mins.

 

[Notch7]

most reviews says the battery has a long run time and they're happy with performance.

they are probably happy with the performance in wood, not in hard concrete with steel reinforcing.

cordless screwdrivers are brilliant -they have bags of torque and can go for hours putting in screws
cordless drills:much more limited -drilling large holes or in hard materials will kill em quickly

a 1.3Ah battery is a diy size, most pro batteries are 3, 4 or even 5ah these days

for your job, I would use a mains drill unless you have no power nearby

 

[LikeMyHome]

More than 5 minutes would be a bonus with that battery

So conclusion is that for concrete drilling I need much more powerful battery, which would cost nearly the same as the whole drill+charge+1.3Ah battery. Is it really worth investing/wasting £150 into Dewalt combi drill for occasional concrete drilling if I can buy Makita DHR202z(Hammer+SDS) with 3Ah battery + charger for under £200??

 

[^woody^]

No you dont' need a more powerful battery, you need a different drill that will drill the hole in 15 seconds not 15 minutes. An SDS.

Or you could try a better bit.

 

[LikeMyHome]

Thanks for your advise.
for your job, I would use a mains drill unless you have no power nearby

I really want cordless as I'm occasional DIYer so I don't need a serious corded beast, which is much heavier (typically 4-6kg), need long extension (~15m or more) to drill outside like back garden. So flexibility of having cordless is more important for me.

 

[Notch7]

So conclusion is that for concrete drilling I need much more powerful battery, which would cost nearly the same as the whole drill+charge+1.3Ah battery. Is it really worth investing/wasting £150 into Dewalt combi drill for occasional concrete drilling if I can buy Makita DHR202z(Hammer+SDS) with 3Ah battery + charger for under £200??

the dewalt model is available with 2 x 4ah batts for £160incl

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DEWALT-DCD...+dcd776&qid=1592838695&sr=8-2&tag=googhydr-21

 

[HERTS P&D]

15 minutes pounding away

I remember those days.



Andy