(COMPACT SERIES PART 4) BOSCH COMPACT 36618-02 vs DEWALT COMPACT DC720

[kanxrus]

THIS IS PART IV OF A SERIES OF TESTS BETWEEN THE DEWALT DC720 vs OTHER COMPACT DRILL IN IT'S CLASS.

THIS IS A TEST BETWEEN THE NEW BOSCH COMPACT 36618-02 vs THE DEWALT COMPACT DC720KA! CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING - PART I PART II PART III  IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THEM YET.

THIS TEST WILL COMPARE INTERNAL SPECS, DEMO TESTING, WEIGHT, FEATURES AND BENEFITS!

WEIGHT:

INTERNAL SPECS:

FEATURES AND BENEFITS:

ONTO THE TEST:

In TEST I, we used a piece of 2x12 fir. We also used a 1" spade bit. The test was conducted to see how many holes could be drilled on a single charge, in 2nd gear. We wanted to push these little compacts to see how efficient they use energy under heavy draws.

The Bosch 36618-02 drilled 26 1/2 holes, beating out all others tested so far. The Dewalt DC720ka again beat our previous three tests and drilled 40 holes.

DEWALT DC720 Drilled 40 Holes, or 23 holes per Ah. (Compact DC9099 1.7Ah)

Bosch 36618-02 Drilled 26 1/2 holes, or 20 holes per Ah. (SlimPack BAT3609 1.3Ah)

During Test II & III, we wanted to test heavy torque applications. Test II was driving a 6"x3/8" Lag into a 4x6 piece of Fir. Test III was driving a 2", & also a 2 9/16" self feed bit. The Bosch 36618-02 could not complete either test. The Dewalt DC720KA completed the tests.

For more detailed photo's on both drills... HAVE A LOOK INSIDE!  BOSCH 36618-02 DEWALT DC720KA

[kanxrus]

Some people have complained about these test's being done with a NiCd battery instead of Li-Ion. If I used the Dewalt Lithium battery I would get complaint's about Ah being almost double. So I will illustrate that the Dewalt XRP Lithium battery will perform the same under the same heavy loads as the NiCd battery. Here is a quick video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpd9AEm9x_g#noexternalembed

[RynoHawk]

Is there any other testing that shows battery lifetime comparisons with these tools?  When I say lifetime, I don't mean 20 vs 23 holes but rather how many charges you actually get out of the battery before it needs to be replaced.  Some manufactures are claiming much higher charge cycles vs their competition and it would be great to see what is what in a head to head test like this as batteries are very expensive to continuously replace.  Also, a hidden benefit with Lithium Ion seems to be that they hold their charge much longer than Nicad in between uses which means less charging and more lifetime.  Do you know what the effect is in this case?

[kanxrus]

Welcome to the forum Rynohawk!

There is currently no other testing being done. I simply don't have the budget, time, or desire to drain and test every battery out there!

You bring up a very good point about Lithium. Discharge is a huge benefit, it's nice to pick up your tool and go without having to wait on charging, and like you said kill a life cycle in the process. However, most professional's use there tools everyday so self discharge is not a huge issue.

How effecient a tool uses energy is a huge factor. When you talk about cycle life of a battery. If I can get more work done per charge, then I don't have to recharge the battery as often, which also leads to longer battery life.

When you mention "some manufactures claming much higher charge cycles" who exactly are you talking about? As far as I know, Nano-Phosphate is still the best option as far as cycle life goes! Dewalt is the only one jumping outside the box!

Dewalt- A123

Bosch- Samsung

Craftsman- Samsung

Milwaukee- Samsung

Hilti- Sony

Makita- Sony

Hitachi- Sanyo

Ridgid- E One Moli

Panasonic- Panasonic

Almost all of these batteries are made by electronics companies. Bosch, Milwaukee, and Craftsman all use the same Samsung cell. Yet all three claim a large difference in cycle life?

There are pleanty of independent sites out there with great battery technology. This being one of them BATTERY UNIVERSITY

According to this site, Nano-Phosphate almost doubles cycle lifes over any other lithium ion chemisty.

[golem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrU_BDkJRG8

[kanxrus]

Thanks.

[luselrios]

Genleman and Gentleman:

Okay let's be honest here, I have been a DeWalt fun Forever, but all the tests I see here and on the website are from other brands with li-on Batteries while you use the DeWalt Nicad Batteries, I recently bought a Dewalt compact Combo which includes the drill and the impact driver,  and to be honest I am not to satisfied with the performance of the comact Li-On battery from Dewalt.  I also own a Makita compact kit i think the Makita outlasts the Dewalt.

I haven't yet put them head to head but I will, performance wise the Dewalt is a far superior tool but Li-On batteries are the most expensive and to my opinion the lowest performers.

I will let you know the Results, and for the Record for the people on the Dewalt side don't be so cheap please inlcude the belt clip with your tools. something as little as that coul affect the decision on what  brand to purchase.

[kanxrus]

If you look at the post date, the compact test's were all done withe the most current compact tools on the market. Dewalt did not have a compact Li-Ion tool at that time. I no longer have the space required to do more testing.

As far as the battery goes, It is true that the Dewalt Compact Li-Ion DC9181 battery is only 1.1Ah, compared to Makita's 1.5Ah. Both companies are

[jakeru]

Great test data.  Thanks for gathering it.

Adjusting the number of holes drilled per unit of battery mass, on these similar weight drill bodies, could allow us a chance to compare battery technologies:

  Bosch Li-Ion : 26.5 holes drilled with a 11.6 oz battery = 2.28 holes per oz battery weight

  DeWalt Ni-Cad: 34.5 holes drilled with a 30oz battery = 1.15 holes per oz battery weight

This would seem to indicate the Li-Ion battery technology used in the Bosch drill has about double the energy density as the Ni-Cad battery technology used in the DeWalt.