PDC test

[neeleman]

When Festool took over the collection of Protool battery drills (PDC, DRC, DWC, DR, PD) last year I was a bit surprised.
These Protool drills were first sold around 2009-2010!

The same goes for the Festool C/T 12/15 V Li-ion models.
They also were first sold around 2009-2010. The Centrotec-FastFix chuck system even dates from 2003-2004.
Later the T 18 followed in 2012 and finally in 2015 the long awaited C 18 .
But they all are based on the same principle, motors and electronics from 2009!

Why can't they design new model (Impact) drills or updated chucks like the Bosch FlexiClick?
It's actually 5-6 years now since new models came out (except for CXS/TXS/BHC).

Other manufactures bring out new drills every year or even twice a year!
I agree that if the Festool drills are good there is no reason to bring out new models.
But Festool also wants to compete with the others and want to bring out the best machines in it's class.
So what holds Festool down?

BTW.
Every day I carry one drill to my jobsites and it's a Protool PDC 18/4 and I can do nearly every job with it.
And I know it has it's limitations but I still like it.

 

[Throwback7r]

How about instead of saying the test is not right. How would you make the test better? I could easily do a test between my Milwaukee 18 Fuel drill and a PDC if need/ wanted.

 

[KescoNY]

How about instead of saying the test is not right. How would you make the test better? I could easily do a test between my Milwaukee 18 Fuel drill and a PDC if need/ wanted.

Couldn't agree more.  Perfect example.  I was doing a job for walk in closet today that also required some work with rafters in the attic. 
My milwaukee fuel was in the attic with a switchblade on it and my PDC was in the closet doing assembly, mounting plates, etc with all the adaptors and centrotec set.  In my opinion neither drill could have replaced each others location efficiently.

Its what the tool can provide for you in your type work not how many holes you can drill with a spade bit 

 

[glass1]

$900 of drills. Pdc =$600 m18=$300. I am going to keep my old c12 nicad with all its attachments going a little longer.

 

[sae]

Finally watched this.

Weird that the Panasonic overheats after 4 holes? Seems unlikely that it's operating correctly.

Interested to see if he comes clean about the clutch setting or not, he wouldn't be the first one who didn't understand how the electronic clutch works (also from OZ  [embarassed]):


...from the vid description...

This is our second go at the video, having stuffed up with the Metabo clutch on the first attempt.

 

[Staniam]

Interesting video. I have the PDC and love it, it's done everything and more that I've asked of it. That Metabo looks sweet, along with the Panasonic.

 

[Nigel]

A little surprising to me this test. I think it's a fair way to test the drills for power and endurance if everything is equal like new drill bits,clutch setting etc. You could say you would never do anything like that and you probably wouldn't but what if you were up a scaffold and  you wanted to drill out some long holes with an auger bit for a frame. You get going with your Pansonic or PDC and it cuts out almost immediately due to the protection [bite tongue].What do you say? 'well that's OK it's protecting my motor and batteries'. I'd be saying something else! [eek] I know my Makita will drill them out no problem and it's at least 7 years old.

 

[Throwback7r]

$900 of drills. Pdc =$600 m18=$300. I am going to keep my old c12 nicad with all its attachments going a little longer.

The M18 fuel is 229 from " the orange store" and the PDC might be 600 but it does come in a Sys 2 that is 72$ also has the right angle chuck that you really can't get with the Milwaukee drill. So pick the one that works for you.

How would you change this test? Would you drill 1 inch holes until they stopped or how fast they drilled a certain size hole? What about material that your drilling into ? Would you do how nice of a hole "subjective totally"? Drill bit runout?

 

[Laminator]

Demographic's  post nailed it for me.  I really like the PDC so far and for what I mainly need a drill for it is excellent.  It is not even close to replacing my 3 speed brushless makita impact in my tool carry bag.  Now , if Festool does make an impact (without useless gimmicky features), the makita will be left at the shop, and I really hope this happens

 

[Shane Holland]

Final results video posted.

 

[demographic]

Final results video posted.

I'm just getting "Please sign in to view this video."
Then when I click to use the main Youtube site it tells me that the video is private.

Can't say I've ever signed into Youtube before.

 

[joiner1970]

Weird it worked for me.

EDIT just checked and now it does say sign in like you say. It worked earlier

 

[sae]

I scrolled around in the video before it went private, maybe he's making revisions.

Short story is the PDC was last, Bosch next, then the Hitachi, then a 3-way tie between the Panasonic, DeWalt, and Makita, then the Metabo, and Milwaukee was on top.

Reasons given were lack of torque (he did note his error about not having it past the last clutch setting and credited Nippychippy, but didn't affect his rankings), about half the battery life of the top finishers (which surprised me, 5.2Ah on a brushless motor should be decent, no?), and the high price.

 

[Nippychippy]

Ha ha I got a mention. I did find It hard to believe about battery life but at the end of the I know what my pdc can do and I very happy with it. And that's just one persons very of the test if some else did the same it might be different

 

[Jak147]

I find the whole torque issue a little odd as my pdc is an animal in gear 1. So far it has sheared a13mm hss bit on the break through, a 32mm auger in oak (the 1/4in shank mind) and had a damn good go at my wrist on several occasions. I had to check the Festool site my self and sure enough 60NM is its max torque.
Now if that Milwaukee is producing 130NM then it should come with some serious warnings as it is likely to stop the earth spinning. Surely there is some discrepancy in what is actually being measured here.
Is there such a thing as peak torque and average operating torque?
I would quite like to see the auger test he did. There are a few snip-its in the results but no actual details, seems like a lot of effort to go throu and not actually show it

 

[Shane Holland]

I had to check the Festool site my self and sure enough 60NM is its max torque.

I would bet the numbers were taken straight from the manufacturers' websites rather than being independently measured/tested. Festool typically understates their numbers, I'm not sure about other brands.

We need a cordless drill "tug-of-war" test. Put a piece of hex bar in the chucks of two drills, lock 'em down and hit the trigger. See which survives.

 

[Throwback7r]

[member=48572]Shane Holland[/member] Send me a PDC to test I will put it up against the Milwaukee 2704. I will even send it back to you when I am done. I bet I would hear a lot of beeps!

I had to check the Festool site my self and sure enough 60NM is its max torque.

I would bet the numbers were taken straight from the manufacturers' websites rather than being independently measured/tested. Festool typically understates their numbers, I'm not sure about other brands.

We need a cordless drill "tug-of-war" test. Put a piece of hex bar in the chucks of two drills, lock 'em down and hit the trigger. See which survives.

 

[kixnbux]

Some reason these won't play for me and I can't find them on you tube. Anyone have the channel name by chance?  I won the PDC Festool Quadrive last month. Still haven't received it but I'm curious about it

 

[Shane Holland]

Try this.


Or this.

 

[GhostFist]

Kinda off topic but who uses spade bits any more? If I have to do quick and dirty holes I use speed bores.