Questions about the PDC 18/4 for Electrical work..

[idratherplaytennis]

Let me preface this by saying- I've tried searching all over, and I swear I'd made a post somewhere asking this before but I couldn't find anything when I did searches for myself- so here goes..

Does anyone have any experience using the PDC 18/4 or any other Festool drills for work in the electrical trade? I've seen the durability videos, so that isn't really of any concern, but when comparing stats of top end drills offered by the other 2 brands that are heavily used in the industry (Makita and Milwaukee- Makita which I already own a large amount of cordless in, although 5+ years old which is why I'm considering this update to my drill set) there are strong discrepancies in certain areas. The top end no-load rpms are highly superior on the Quadrive at 3800 vs the 2000 for the teal/red brands, yet teal and red have toque ratings at 1090 and 1200 in lbs which is far more than the Quadrive at 354 (in wood) and 531 (in steel). I was just wondering if anyone knows if these numbers are bloated by the other manufacturers or something. The ability of the right angle drilling would be great since I'm sure 90% of the drilling that goes down is either 5/8-1 in holes through studs for conduit, with attaching boxes to walls. I'm sure I'm still stuck using an impact for a lot of stuff as well- but if I can get away with a drill only and not worrying about an impact, that would help.

The other thing is I am applying to get into the trade- and the only real experience I have is working with a few people in the trade when working on my families various rental properties- which is more of old work with some renovation where as I know I will be doing a lot more varied work when I get into the trade. I know it makes more sense to go with what a lot of the people use around me- but I also know that I've had issues in the past adjusting to other tools that are outside my preferred brand (I used a coworkers dewalt impact earlier this year when mine was too far away, and because I wasn't used to how his impact works, I slipped out of the screw and buried the impact into the base of my thumb nail holding the block up... that was a nice 9 month heal).

Just looking for personal experience input if anyone has some. I've tried out the quadrive at the Festool roadshow and I'm totally impressed, but like I said- I am mostly looking for practicality to see if others use it for trades or primarily only with woodworking. I'm totally ignoring how I would justify the cost of the drill to someone in the trade because I know it would be justified in the remodel/apartment maintenance work I do, and if I can kill 2 birds with one stone on both jobs, that works for me.

 

[bobfog]

I have the latest gen Milwaukee Fuel 2 18v drill with 2000rpm top speed and the HUGE 135nm of torque. The 3800 rpm of the PDC is great in theory, but in practice not needed for smaller drill bits and not torquey enough for larger bits, so provides a theoretical advantage that doesn't actually have much practical value. I'd go wth the Milwaukee any day for drilling through joists, etc.  If you need the right angle access I'd highly recommend the Milwaukee Hole Hawg.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Years ago, Wood magazine did a test of cordless drills, were they actually tested to maximum torque the drills produced, rather than relying on the ratings stated by the manufacturers. One of the things they stated, was that under their test conditions none of the drills showed torque equal to what the manufacturers claimed. The tests showed torque rating that were far below the manufacturers claimed ratings, with the exception of the Festool drill tested, which actually tested somewhat close to what Festool claimed. The festool was not the most powerfull of the drills tested though. I believe some of the drills, both red and blue, might have tested higher than the Festool, but the difference was far less than the manifacturer provided numbers would imply.

The tests were done long enough ago that I don't believe any of the drill models are still being manufactured. The manufacturer privided ratings may still be less than accurate in many cases.

 

[greg mann]

PDC turns at 1850 in 3rd gear and will snap the heads off 1/4 lags faster than you can react if you don't have the torque settings right. I think it would be a fine drill for your intended purpose.

I use mine to run up the roof on my pop-up camper and for the levelors. It will do it all in high gear if I stupid enough to go that fast. (I'm not, but I am forgetful)

Torque in the low gears will spin you around if you're not ready for it.

 

[Throwback7r]

The PDC is the only Festool that I have sent back. There was a few things that It would not do and I went through 3 of them and worked with Festool directly to correct the issues I had with it. I have bought a Milwaukee and a extra systainer for it and haven't looked back. The nice part about Festool is that you get 30 days to decide on if it works for you! So just buy it and run it through your paces drill some 1 inch holes in 2x4's hammer drill into some real concrete with a 3/8 bit. See if you like it. Also, go out to Home depot and get the Milwaukee Model 2897-22 for only 350 and do a side by side test. Keep the drill you want and enjoy it.

Hope that helps.

 

[idratherplaytennis]

Ahhh, I figured this would be the case- as much as I reeeeeeally wanted to like going for it- I'll hold on to my Makita stuff for now until I get a better feel for everything that goes on. It was their top drill 5-6 years ago and it's still pretty damn decent against many drills today and I still have plenty of batteries for it.

I'll consider trying it out for the 30 day period sometime in the long future- maybe when/if they upgrade it  [big grin]