Comments on: How-To: Convert a Battery Drill to Wall Power http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/ All tools. All the time. Your source for news, information, and reviews of hand tools, power tools, and tools of all kinds. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:08:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Toolmonger » Blog Archive » Toolmonger’s Top 5: The Week in Tools http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-35718 Toolmonger » Blog Archive » Toolmonger’s Top 5: The Week in Tools Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:31:26 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-35718 [...] How-To: Convert a Battery Drill to Wall Power This link to a great post over on Instructables definitely got some attention this week.  Check out comments to see some of our readers’ concerns about the process.  Heads up, manufacturers!  As you can see from the popularity of this post and others like it, this is something Toolmongers want! [...] [...] How-To: Convert a Battery Drill to Wall Power This link to a great post over on Instructables definitely got some attention this week.  Check out comments to see some of our readers’ concerns about the process.  Heads up, manufacturers!  As you can see from the popularity of this post and others like it, this is something Toolmongers want! [...]

]]> By: Chris http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-33443 Chris Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:05:28 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-33443 Instead of big car batteries I use smaller lead-acid batteries. Two of them fit nicely on my toolbelt to power my 24V drill and I have 2 more charged up available. You can get 5.5 Ah 12V ones for $10. Instead of big car batteries I use smaller lead-acid batteries. Two of them fit nicely on my toolbelt to power my 24V drill and I have 2 more charged up available.
You can get 5.5 Ah 12V ones for $10.

]]> By: Nate Bezanson http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32771 Nate Bezanson Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:54:04 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32771 I got connectors from performance-pcs.com and built a harness that mates with a standard ATX power supply, bringing out all the 12v it can offer. That way, I get solid connections without having to chop off the ends, which means if I ever have to send it back under warranty... ;) PC power supplies, and switching supplies in general, need a certain minimum load when they're turned on. In most cases, the switching element can't go down to a truly 0 duty cycle, meaning if you don't have that load, the output voltage can skyrocket. This should be listed in the specs for your particular supply, and you can easily provide the load with a power resistor or a car lightbulb or something. I got connectors from performance-pcs.com and built a harness that mates with a standard ATX power supply, bringing out all the 12v it can offer. That way, I get solid connections without having to chop off the ends, which means if I ever have to send it back under warranty… ;)

PC power supplies, and switching supplies in general, need a certain minimum load when they’re turned on. In most cases, the switching element can’t go down to a truly 0 duty cycle, meaning if you don’t have that load, the output voltage can skyrocket. This should be listed in the specs for your particular supply, and you can easily provide the load with a power resistor or a car lightbulb or something.

]]> By: Perry Jones http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32756 Perry Jones Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:16:21 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32756 Cybergibbons's car battery idea is a good one, but another high-current 12V DC source is a commodity computer power supply. For example, here is a $13 power supply that's rated for 19 amps at 12V: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817174026 Cybergibbons’s car battery idea is a good one, but another high-current 12V DC source is a commodity computer power supply.

For example, here is a $13 power supply that’s rated for 19 amps at 12V: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817174026

]]> By: Don Bradshaw http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32582 Don Bradshaw Sat, 10 Mar 2007 13:24:23 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32582 Lee, Don't hook the 120 V AC wall supply directly into a DC motor...this will be a disaster. Even if you stepped the voltage down in AC througha transformer and current limited it, the motor still won't run right. You need that AC/DC conversion. Daniel is right - a higher current DC supply is what you need. Current limiting is critical. Lee,

Don’t hook the 120 V AC wall supply directly into a DC motor…this will be a disaster. Even if you stepped the voltage down in AC througha transformer and current limited it, the motor still won’t run right. You need that AC/DC conversion.

Daniel is right - a higher current DC supply is what you need. Current limiting is critical.

]]> By: Cybergibbons http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32529 Cybergibbons Sat, 10 Mar 2007 11:11:37 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32529 I bought a cheap 10.something volt drill a few years back, and the battery pack died after a couple of months of use. I just soldered a flying lead and some croc clips onto it, and now I use it connected to a car battery for work on, well, cars. It's lasted a good few years like that, and the torque is certainly a fair bit more impressive than it used to be. I bought a cheap 10.something volt drill a few years back, and the battery pack died after a couple of months of use. I just soldered a flying lead and some croc clips onto it, and now I use it connected to a car battery for work on, well, cars. It’s lasted a good few years like that, and the torque is certainly a fair bit more impressive than it used to be.

]]> By: Daniel Rutter http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32516 Daniel Rutter Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:05:02 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32516 You can run a cordless drill well enough from a high current DC supply - several amps, at least - that has current limiting so it won't just pop a fuse when you exceed its limits. The current limiting will also serve as a torque limiter. If your cordless drill has its own torque-limit clutch and you set that loose enough, then you'll be able to keep the draw low enough to run the drill from a standard plugpack, but the drill won't be good for much. As soon as you run the torque up far enough that the motor can get close to stalling, it'll look pretty much like a dead short and start blowing fuses in simple power supplies. You can run a cordless drill well enough from a high current DC supply - several amps, at least - that has current limiting so it won’t just pop a fuse when you exceed its limits.

The current limiting will also serve as a torque limiter. If your cordless drill has its own torque-limit clutch and you set that loose enough, then you’ll be able to keep the draw low enough to run the drill from a standard plugpack, but the drill won’t be good for much.

As soon as you run the torque up far enough that the motor can get close to stalling, it’ll look pretty much like a dead short and start blowing fuses in simple power supplies.

]]> By: Lee Gibson http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32469 Lee Gibson Sat, 10 Mar 2007 04:47:52 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32469 OK, COOL. I remember a few posts about this topic on Toolmonger a <a href="http://toolmonger.com/2006/11/25/reader-question-to-over-volt-or-not-to-over-volt/ " rel="nofollow">couple months ago</a>, and I'm still wanting to sit down at a work bench and electrocute myself making one of these work. Any suggestions on where I could read more about running DC motors on AC power? Yeah, I'm gonna die. : ) OK, COOL. I remember a few posts about this topic on Toolmonger a couple months ago, and I’m still wanting to sit down at a work bench and electrocute myself making one of these work.

Any suggestions on where I could read more about running DC motors on AC power?

Yeah, I’m gonna die. : )

]]> By: nrChris http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32430 nrChris Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:48:42 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/09/how-to-convert-a-battery-drill-to-wall-power/#comment-32430 Saw this on Make this morning. The comments on the Instructible lead me to believe that the WalWart won't provide enough ampherage on startup. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that some hybrid battery / wall adapter would be the best solution. Seems like you can't lose if you try it on a junk wireless drill--I know that my the battery on my cordless detail sander will probably crap out soon so I will get to try this out first hand. Saw this on Make this morning. The comments on the Instructible lead me to believe that the WalWart won’t provide enough ampherage on startup. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that some hybrid battery / wall adapter would be the best solution. Seems like you can’t lose if you try it on a junk wireless drill–I know that my the battery on my cordless detail sander will probably crap out soon so I will get to try this out first hand.

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