Tug

My Bosch 36 Volt combi is by far the best cordless combi I've ever owned by a clear mile, and it's brushed! The brushless drills I have are powerful and efficient, but lack that certain something that the Bosch has.

I get it on my Ryobi BL drill, just have to take battery off and back on and she's good to go. This is not temp related, just a periodic spasm in the electronics. Try clamping your hand over the motor to gauge temps. My M28 combi can run so hot that the air coming out of the motor vents starts to cause discomfort to my hand! Never shut down yet though. Lordy, I love that drill!

This is hogwash! They're all using the same cells! THE SAME CELLS FROM THE SAME CELL MANUFACTURERS! So, what exactly are Snap-on supposed to have done? There wasn't much info in that article, sounded ridiculous though.

In my hobby (RC), most people tend to run diffs and gearboxes dry for fear of turning any dirt into a grinding paste. Two clear camps with opposite views, looks like it's the same here.

You sure it's not manufacturing residue? I've had corded machines that threw out quite a large glob of grease the first time they were pushed hard. Nothing was expelled in soft use, it was only when the machine got up to full working temperature that it would eject a sizeable amount of grease, usually from the vents on the side. After that, nothing. Just a thought.

And that's all I have to say about that. (Forest Gump!)

Once any lithium cell has deep-discharged it's game over.

Could it be that the low volt detection system can't actually cut power while the machine is still working? I've noticed on my Milwaukee kit that it seems to run on even though the power has dropped significantly, but if you release the trigger and then try to reapply power it doesn't run. Perhaps the electronics can't handle breaking the circuit while it's under load? Just a thought.

This is proving to be a great lil radio! Good sound, clear reception, rugged and runs for days on one battery. One 6 Amp battery so far, haven't recharged it yet!

A 54 Volt combi to make the 996 look like a toy. Think arm wrenching torque, dispense with the side handle at your peril! And definitely not compact! I'm sick of every new drill coming out that's "more compact than its predecessor"! I hate having to tighten and loosen chucks by putting my hand over the top of the chuck! Not every drill needs to be small. Some super efficient LED lighting complete with USB outputs.

My M12 radio! Nice sound! Don't like having to scroll through the preset stations, but I'll get used to that I suppose.

My radio didn't arrive, but my spare M12 charger did. This is my charge station under the passenger seat.

Not really a tool, but my new Milwaukee M12 radio should arrive today. Really quite excited.

Nah, it's to go back when you've missed a bit!

Lithium manufacturing does seem to throw out a lot of lemons, my concern was the complex electronics in these packs, in my book complex = fragile.

Electrician.

As a sparks, I just love quality drills; combis, sds, impact. All of em. Hopefully my yellow packs won't give me any grief. Cheers for the encouraging words.

@Framer joe I watched an sds comparison vid, filmed in the far east I think, and they actually put the battery packs in a cement mixer with water and left them to get battered and wet for quite some time! Not all survived, hilti definitely did survive, can't remember all of the results, it was ages ago that I watched it. Must've cost them a fortune to put together!

Just be sure to keep them all locked up safe, too many thieving gits around!

I'll just keep using and report back to this thread should I suffer a failure. On this subject, AvE did a teardown on a flexvolt pack and I'm sure he said the method for switching between voltages is not a simple mechanical switch, but a more complicated set of electronics. I'll have to try and trace the vid and watch it again, this could be making them fragile? Found it, entertaining guy.

This doesn't bode well, I hope mine don't go south! Is there a pattern? Are they going tits-up after heavy use? From being dropped?

I recently picked up some brushed drills and was quickly reminded of how nice a decent brushed machine can be. Most of my kit is BL, they're great tools, but do lack the smooth low end speeds that brushed can deliver. I also have a Ryobi brushed impact and it's definitely my favourite/go to driver. As you've said, not all machines benefit from being BL. Your grinder reference is a key point. Also worth mentioning that the electronics in BL machines is far more complex and therefore more prone to failure. If you need the ability to drive small screws with total control, I'd say brushed. If you're only interested in all out power, BL.

I doubt the manufacturers give a damn, they're more likely to be rubbing their hands together in the hope you'll go shopping for their products!

Words can't describe the anger I feel at tool theft, so I won't bother trying. Sorry for your loss, too many of us know what it feels like.

Personally, I'm not sold on fast chargers. I've got a fair amount of experience with lithium and they're really only comfortable with 1C charging. That means a 5 Amp pack should only be charged at 5 Amps maximum. I've seen Makita chargers banging out 9 Amps! The Flexvolt charger I've got will drop the charge current down from 8 Amps to 4 Amps when charging 18 Volt packs, but that still means my 2 Amp slim pack is still being charged at 2C, that could shorten its overall life.