Well, you have made the purchase, and now you want to avoid all of those mistakes which can destroy your expensive cordless drill. Hmmm, right. I will help you answer this: How to maintain a cordless drill in the best possible way so that it can last for years to come.
If I summarise it, keep your Makita cordless drill batteries charged, do not mishandle the chuck, avoid dropping your drill, use high quality & sharp drill bits, avoid holding your tool at an angle unless necessary, keep it lubricated, store it properly, blow off all dust after every job, avoid testing it to its upper limits, select the proper mode and never misuse your cordless drill.
Now I will dive into details of whatever I said (in a single breath, LOL) above.
Let’s start with the batteries, which are like consumables and eventually die and need a replacement. We will discuss how to extend its life to get the most out of it.
How to increase your cordless drill battery life?
Batteries are consumables. For some, they will last longer than the drill itself (mostly if used wrongly) and for many, it will eventually need a replacement. A good Li-Ion Battery which is charged and discharged properly using a balanced charger will last around 1000-1500 cycles.
Most of the time, the battery management system in your high-end cordless drill will take care of the discharge rate, and the charger will take care of the charge rate. You don’t need to worry about that.
Also, note that most of the manufacturers offer different warranties for the battery than the tool itself. For instance, Milwaukee offers a 2-Years warranty on batteries and offers 5-Year for the tool.
You have to do the following to maximize your cordless drill battery life:
Run the drill at a lower speed if you are not in a hurry. High discharge currents will affect your battery life.
Do not fully discharge your drill till it dies. Better to charge your Dewalt cordless drill battery once it is discharged to 50 percent. That will maximize its life. Use partial discharge cycles.
When the drill is not in use and plans to store it for a few days, discharge it around 10-20 percent.
Keep your drill and drill batteries at an optimum temperature of 10-20 °C.
Avoid charging your battery at 0 °C or below than this.
Please avoid using your drill at sub-zero degree Celcius temperatures before warming it up. Keep these pads (Check on Amazon) under the battery or in the toolbox 30 mins before you plan to use it. Avoid overheating it. In the end, the battery should not feel super cold to your hands, but should still feel colder. The best temperature at which a battery should operate is 20 °C.
Keep your battery and charger away from water or liquids. Avoid any splashes.
Never force a battery to fit in the charger as it should slide in easily.
Can you leave a drill battery plugged in all the time?
The answer is, technically yes, practically, you should avoid. All drill batteries or batteries in general stops charging more when it is fully charged. This is because the battery voltage rises to the same level provided by the charger. Hence no potential difference is left behind to cause flow of charge.
Further, most of the chargers automatically turn off charging when the battery fully charges.
Why should you avoid this? Because it is a safety hazard and can cause an incident. Other than that, there is no issue in keeping it plugged in all time. To learn more about battery charging, check this post on charging a battery even if you don’t have a charger.
How do I know if my drill battery is bad?
Ok, so after the battery life ends, you will have to replace it. Many parameters can determine if the battery is no more good. If you know this stuff, this will help you drastically answer this question: How to maintain a cordless drill and its battery?
Reduced Peak performance: Once the Dewalt cordless drill battery loses its max power, it can not deliver the same amount of current (learn more about how battery currents work in this article); hence the peak output torque will be affected. If this is an issue, you can change your battery a bit earlier or get a bigger battery pack.
Reduced Time: Another biggest indicator is reduced runtime. Your drill will no longer be able to work for longer periods of time than it used to do when it was brand new.
Quick Charge: Your charger will quickly indicate that the battery is fully charged, or the battery indicator will light up quickly to show it is charged more than 50 percent.
Inconsistent Battery Level Indications: At the end of your battery life, the indications will no longer work predictably. It will dramatically lose the levels, and this will be very inconsistent. For example, while using the drill, it may show almost juiceless and will show a 30-50 percent charge level when left stand still for a few mins.
Confirm Battery Voltage: The last thing you need to do if you want to become dead sure if the battery is bad is to check the battery voltage. For a lithium-ion battery, if the voltage level is less than 3.2 volt per cell (a 12-volt battery has 3 cells and an 18V battery has 5 cells), then the battery is bad. Higher Battery voltages are a bad indicator of power tool battery health as the voltage will drop in milliseconds as soon as the load is applied.
How to make your cordless drill last longer?
Ok, so after the batteries, let’s talk about the drill itself. There are a few things, and taking care of them will help you increase your drill life far beyond your imaginations. Following are a few tips you should take off.
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