This might not be the greatest battery operated drill in the world, but for 19 bucks on sale, I've been impressed! I can tell that the gear box is going to be the weak point, but so far it hasn't given me a lick of trouble. This is pretty amazing because I've been using it for around 2 years now. Further, since it is my least expensive drill, it get volanteered for the abusive jobs first. Don't get me wrong, if the task at hand required a larger drill, I would use a larger drill. However, if was a job that would say, dump dry-wall dust into the drill, then the Black and decker is the one I go for.
My cousin, just purchased the Milwaukee Fuel series drills, the best in the world. He even liked the FUEL batteries so much, that he designed and SLA printed adapters for his other battery powered items from different brands to use these new batteries. As he was showing me the adapters if offered to give me his old batteries. He gave me an 18 volt Black and Decker battery. It would not fit my 12 volt B&D drill, and for good reason, the motor longevity will be effected, overheating will probably be a problem, the geartrain was not designed to handle 150% of the power, etc. WHO CARES! I've gotten a great of use out of this drill already, and putting an 18 volt battery on it is nearly irresistable!
To start, found a guide rail in a CD-ROM carriage used for the laser, I trimmed it to the width of the drill base, plus a little extra to remove the battery. Next I drilled a hole in the case of the drill. You will also need to grind or file off the index tab at the top of the battery pack used to key what voltage the battery is. I used the hole in the drill, to align the battery pack to drill it also, you want to take out the tension springs to do this so you get good alignment. You also what to take the top panel off the drill first. The pin idea is a good one because it doesn't modify the drill or the battery in such a way as to prevent the battery or the drill from working with their intended counterparts.
This thing is AMAZING! With the drill set on the high torque ratio setting, you cannot stop it with your bare hand. Pretty good for a cheapo drill.
It has been over a year and the battery finally does not hold a useable charge, and the drill is still running strong back on the original battery. I can't believe how good this cheap drill turned out to be!
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