drill slips under high torque?

[John Doe]

Getting right to the point... I put a 1/2" drill bit into my new Makita (6349D, a big/heavy drill), set it on high-speed 0-1700 rpm, and drilled down through a 2x4. It was set to drill mode with the clutch locked out, but it slipped anyway. I don't think it's the drill bit slipping in the clutch. Is there a high torque override that causes it to slip in the drill mode? Is there something wrong? Or should I re-examine what is happening?

Thank you.

[Joe Bemier]

Current models seem to use keyless chucks and these can slip. I do experience slippage from time-to-time. My first guess would be that the bit is biting down and the bit/chuck is where the slippage is coming from.

[John Doe]

I just put a 1/4" quickchange (hex shank) drill bit in the chuck of my new Makita one half-inch, 18V 6349DWDE purchased online from Tools Plus

Then I made absolutely sure that the clutch was locked out using the switch put to the left, and the speed setting put to the back firmly set on high/3. Then I drilled hard down through a 2x4. The thing slipped somewhere inside the housing. I repeated the experiment with the same result. I didn't bother having the handle installed, and some of you are probably much stronger, but there wasn't even enough torque to cause wrenching.

Before using the thing, I spent some time practicing changing the gear switch one notch and then running the drill, before changing it to the next notch, to make sure the gears meshed properly.

Clearly it's defective. I read a user review that mentioned defective gearing, but I think that was after significant use.

This will be the first online purchase I return.

Thank you very much for the reply.