Great Expectations - Big Disappointment

Hello,

I recently purchased a Milwaukee 2691-22 18V Compact Drill Driver / Impact Driver kit. The purchase was mostly for the impact driver for an ongoing deck project.

After receiving it last week, I charged both batteries before use as indicated. I only used the drill driver to pull out a few screws from an access panel and subsequently close it up. Yesterday, I used it to drill a 3

1/2" hole through the side of the house with a hole saw. A couple of pieces of wood shingle, which I removed to keep the hole saw clear, then the sheathing and so on. As I proceeded, I removed the pieces, so as to not load up the hole saw. The drill quit part way through, so I switched batteries. Then the second battery quit as well. No slow down, as in a discharged battery, but just dead. Perhaps that's how these new batteries are supposed to function, I'm not sure.

Not quite what I was expecting from an 18V battery pack. I really don't think that I overloaded the tool. If I did, then this definitely isn't the right tool for me. I have other Milwaukee tools, both tailed and tailless, that have performed well over the years. I was just looking for something with a bit more power and battery life.

I've used my other tools over the years to drill holes with a hole saw in

1/2" or 3/4" plywood without any problems. In thicker material, I just drill a bit, break out some of the pieces with a screwdriver, then drill some more until the hole is completed. Anything wrong with that technique? It has always seemed to work for me in the past.

Another disappointing feature is the battery meter button. It's more of a cap rather than a slight bump, which seems to me like it would break or crack after pressing it over time. Pressing it put a dimple in it and it didn't return to its original shape. Not a big deal, but still not something that you expect from a new tool. It just seems like a bad design to me.

Then there was also the fact that the drill driver kept popping out of drill mode. With that I gave up on it and am going to return it.

As I said, I was mostly interested in the impact driver and the drill driver and second battery were just extras.

Any comments or suggestions on what to look for going forward?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply to the group.

Peter.

Reply to
Peter Bogiatzidis
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No experience w/ the new models; I'm perfectly happy w/ my old 18V Milwaukee Reds (have two; one about 10-11, other 8 or 9).

A 3-1/2" holesaw is a fair load, still I'm pretty sure mine would handle that easily w/o discharging a battery pack. I do believe that is the discharge characteristic of the new batteries, however.

There was a review of drivers in a recent Fine Homebuilding done by a duo (or perhaps trio) of contractors who used them and judged them independently. I don't recall who came out on top; wasn't in the market but did look like a pretty level-headed and realistic review.

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Reply to
dpb

Caveat: I'm a home handyman at best.

I'd have chosen a corded (1/2") drill for a job like that. Binding draws a lot of current, which isn't good for batteries.

Reply to
gdguarino

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a 3.5" holesaw, I don't even think cordless. That's a job for a Milwaukee Magnum Hole Shooter 1/2" with a tail. At least when you stall then, the Magnum will at least throw you off the scaffold/ladder

Reply to
Robatoy

Lithium-ion batteries. They have a protective circuit that cuts them off at a certain level of discharge to prevent excessive discharge that could result in explosion. If you let them sit without charging long enough they'll hit another level of protective circuit that prevents them from being charged.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a 3.5" holesaw, I don't even think cordless. That's a job for a Milwaukee Magnum Hole Shooter 1/2" with a tail. At least when you stall then, the Magnum will at least throw you off the scaffold/ladder

Reply to robatoy... I have a Magnum hole shooter. Was drilling holes through studs for wiring with a 1 inch augur bit. Did not have room for the side handle. Bit caught and darn near broke my wrist. I also have made a LONGER side handle for it. WW

Reply to
WW

------------------------------- I'm surprised you're not bitch'in about how your wrists feel after that 3-1/2" hole saw got caught and ripped the drill right out of your hands.

I have a 1/2", right angle, corded, 200 RPM, Milwaukee that get's used with any hole saw 2" and larger.

Keeps my hands and wrists happy and unhurt.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Aint that the truth. I don't know how many times I've just about broke my wrist using mine.

Reply to
Rich

Li-Ions often have a current trip, as well. A bogged down drill trips the "fuse" until the battery is recharged. This is a bad application for Li-Ion powered tools.

Reply to
krw

Ditto

I also us mine for driving lag screws, some as large as 1/2 x 8.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

Don't recall who wrote the story, but several years ago somebody wrote a funny ass story about about their dad's "Hole Hog" with a bad switch and what can happen.......

I wish I had saved all those stories.....

Maybe Luigi saved that one....

Reply to
Pat Barber

Pat, you posted this yourself on April 30, 2003........

Here ya go.

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Subject: Ode To A Corded Drill (and a repost of an oldie)

Wonderful stuff Tom.....

Now for an "oldie" about drills:

(The Beast)

This reminds me of an old PC (maybe even Rockwell vintage) gear driven drill that my dad had. We called it "The Beast". (I really have to write down some of the injuries that I have seen).

Anyway The Beast was a very large T Handle drill that was an ungawdly large and overpowered gear driven monster.

This thing was HUGE. With the T handles you could brace one of the handles and really torque into some serious wood. My dad got it from a barn builder that had retired.

This thing could go through an 8-10" beam like buttah.

The problem with The Beast was that every once in a while the trigger would stick. This was very bad. You pretty much had to pull the cord to get it to stop.

Many repair places could not find the problem and the switch was replaced twice. So the modus operandi of this thing was to have one person use it and another hold the cord so it could be unplugged (it was the only big drill we had for heavy work).

Well one day my dad was building a split rail fence. He would put the vertical post in the ground and then drill the holes for the horizontal rails with the post firmly held by the dirt. (you can probably see where this is going).

Well, dad was drilling a hole in a post about 3.5' above the ground, and he was using The Beast. He was getting leverage by bracing his hip against the shoulder rest of the drill.

The Beast got bound and it started to turn. It very quickly latched onto my dad's shirt and pants and very promptly twisted the clothes in his nether region into a very tight not.

It had only rotated 2-3 times but jeans do not have much slack and so my dad was a hurtin unit. He almost became a Eunich that day. The spotter (me, all of about 8 years old) did a good job by pulling the cord in time.

Kind of made up for the time that I scared the willies out of dad while I was going to cut off the head of a chicken he was holding..... but that is another story.

When I was about 13 I was using The Beast to drill a hole for a toilet. The floor in the area was all covered with sawdust and other usual construction dirt.

I had my brother spot me and I was bound and determined to not let The Beast bite me.

I braced theT handles against my legs and I grabbed on to the handles with a death grip bar none. I fired it up and all was going well.

Then it bound and because I was so well braced (and standing on sawdust) I started to rotate with the drill. I yelled to my brother to pull the plug, and he in his warped sence of humor thought my spinning was quite humorous. So instead of pulling the plug, he stood there and held the cord so it could wind around me.

First around my legs, and then as he held it higher all the way up my body. The varmint let the full 100 feet of cord tie me up like a mummy.

He and the other workers got a real chuckle out of that little mess.

A few years later The Beast was stolen out of the back of our truck. We were not exactly sad to see it go. We did think about notifying the police that there was a dangerous animal on the loose, but we figured we could just watch the hospital emergency rooms for strange injuries if we ever wanted to get The Beast back.

Brook "9.5 fingers

------------------------------------------------- Regards, Roy

Reply to
Roy

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