Review - Festool PDC 18/4 Li 4,2 Plus / Set GB, 769194 / 769195

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Jul 21, 2007
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I went to the Festool open day today at Slingers Ironmongers in Preston, and saw all the newest tools, including the new drills.

I've been thinking about upgrading from my old style T12 (without the LED light) to a newer T18, however after handling both the PDC won out, and I ended up bringing one home:

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The first surprise was that it came in an attic T-loc rather than a standard one - I wasn't expecting that. It's a size 2.

Inside the box:

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Note that the inside of the lid is lacking the picture showing you where everything goes - I thought that was now standard with Festool, but it appears not!

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There are two versions of this drill as usual - the 'plus' version and the 'set' version. The only difference between the two is the inclusion (or lack of) of the angle chuck. There is no offset chuck for this drill. The old angle chuck and the offset chuck are not compatible with these new drills, as they lack the toothed plate that those chucks engage with.

Slingers only had the 'plus' versions in stock, but were kind enough to take the angle chuck out of the 'set' version of one of the new mains-powered drills for me.

Out of the box, clockwise from the right, we have; the angle chuck; the drill itself, with 18v 4.2Ah battery & rubber bumper; depth-stop spindle; side handle; new TCL3 charger; 13mm standard chuck; and lastly an additional 4.2Ah battery, again with rubber bumper:

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The new charger is smaller than the previous version - I knew this was the case beforehand, but once you see one in person it's surprising how much smaller it really is! The pictures don't do it justice, but here's a comparison between the old & new:

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The charger now incorporates cord storage around the base - a nice touch is the little hook/tab to hold the plug end in position & stop it unravelling:

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The new angle chuck is a real beast of a thing - made from a single piece of aluminium (with rubberised coating on the outside), it's slightly heavier but seems far more robust than the old one (which in itself wasn't at all flimsy). This angled chuck is a lot easier to fit - I found the one on the C & T series a bit tricky sometimes. The included 13mm chuck is surprisingly small (I thought it was only a 10mm chuck when I saw it!) which means that the side handle can be fitted & removed with the chuck in place:

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The side handle is pretty straightforward, and can be set at a variety of angles and on either side of the drill. A hex spindle depth stop is also included:

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The base of the drill (just above the battery) has some magnetic storage for bits, and a really nice bright LED light, activated by a little push-button switch on the side:

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Also on the base are two new belt clips (one either side) which flip out from the base. I know there have been some complaints about previous Festool belt clip solutions - these seem very strong, but I don't ever use a belt clip so can't really comment much!

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The LED switch is push-on, push-off, and is completely independent of the trigger. When you do switch it off, the centre LED then comes on as a battery gauge (either solid green, flashing green, yellow, or red) for a few seconds before turning off:

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The LED light may well have a timer on it to switch it off if you forget - I haven't tried it, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The rubber bumpers on the batteries are pretty robust, but are easily removed if you don't want them on. Space is included in the bottom left of the systainer for a third battery, but strangely they don't fit in there with the bumper fitted.

Lastly, on top of the drill are (from the front) the hammer action on/off switch, the speed selector (FOUR gears!) and the torque control:

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As with all the Festool drills (except the CXS) this has the Ec-Tec electronic clutch.

Due to the aluminium gearbox housing & all-metal gears, this drill is slightly heavier than the T18, but it doesn't feel so in the hand. Nor does it feel 'nose heavy'; the balance is fantastic as with the T series.

Here's a few comparisons between my old T12 and this new drill. I don't own a T18 (which would be the nearest equivalent):

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I must admit I was really surprised when I weighed them both - Although the PDC (with 18V 4.2Ah battery) is roughly a third heavier than the T12 (with a 10.8V 2.4Ah battery), it really doesn't feel it at all.

I haven't yet used the new drill properly, but I'm very impressed so far - so much so that I'm not going to wait before sticking my T12 on eBay (well, I've got to pay for this new drill somehow!).

On a related note, as well as the 'plus' and 'set' versions of this model, there is also another model, the DRC. This is essentially exactly the same as the PDC, but without the hammer action. The price difference between the two really is negligible (in fact, due to the way the dealer pricing works, the PDC version is in many places cheaper!) so I really don't see the point in Festool even bothering to release it without the hammer action.

If anyone has any questions about this drill that I haven't covered, please feel free to ask & I'll do my best to answer!

Thanks to Mike and Gordon from Festool for the demos, and to Peter at Slingers for the free doughnuts!
 

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As I'm still waiting for the sds drill to be released
The question is, is the hammer action on this drill a viable substitute
 
Paddyfin1 said:
As I'm still waiting for the sds drill to be released
The question is, is the hammer action on this drill a viable substitute

I imagine it is the same (isn) as the hammer function on my new corded Festool PD 20/4 Drill.  It is super great for brick work and light (often floors) concrete. But I ran into some celling concrete that it could barely get started on. But a Hilti SDS made short work of it. (8mm holes)

I'm not often in this kind of industrial building context though, so I imagine my new drill will be fine for most of my needs.
 
Paddyfin1 said:
As I'm still waiting for the sds drill to be released
The question is, is the hammer action on this drill a viable substitute

No, it's no substitute for an SDS drill. But it's good for the lighter jobs. I don't like the noise it makes though, it's a lot noisier than most hammer drills I've used.
 
OK, I know it's not weekend already (only Monday. Boo.) but I've used the PDC a bit today so wanted to add my initial thoughts. Today we've been overlaying a floor with 9mm hardwood ply - about 2/3rds of the floor was over existing floorboards (screwed with 25mm screws, no pilot hole) 1/3rd over a new concrete slab (6mm hole drilled, plugged, and screwed).

My mate's 24V Makita cordless SDS finally died before we started, so we used the PDC on some of the holes. First impression - the PDC in hammer mode is SERIOUSLY LOUD!!! I mean really horrendous. Very high-pitched screeching noise. But on the plus-side, it worked.

I did have a somewhat worrying problem though - on the very first hole, I drilled through the ply, into the concrete to the required depth, and withdrew the drill. The trigger was stuck in, and the drill spinning away on it's own! I ended up having to hit the trigger several times with the heel of my hand to release it. I had a quick play with it, but couldn't replicate it. About 30 holes later, it did the same again!

After looking at it again, I think that I was sub-consciously applying far more pressure on the trigger than was needed, and pressing it farther than it was designed to go causing it to catch on the housing, but again I can't deliberately replicate the result. I will need to keep an eye out for that.

Second impression - when drilling lots of holes in quick succession in hammer mode, the aluminium gearbox housing gets really, really hot. Worryingly so. Almost too hot to touch.

On the timber floor side, driving the 25mm screws in on speed 3 was a breeze. Speed 4 was a bit too fast! I also tried some on speed two which was a bit more controllable. I didn't even bother trying on speed 1 - with that many screws to drive (probably 500 at a rough guess) it would have taken forever!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it so far. The trigger locking issue is slightly worrying, but apart from that, my impressions are as follows:

General drilling/driving in timber - great.
Drilling the odd hole in masonry - great.
Drilling lots of holes in masonry - not good, but I guess it's not really designed for that. With that many holes to do, an SDS is really the correct tool.

I'll post more thoughts as I use it more!!!

Jonathan
 
Great review so far Jonny, but I had to add that any drill will get super hot when drilling concrete/used excessively. My coworker and I last week forgot to bring a SDS drill with us and we had to put in some concrete anchors when we were 300km away from home/headquarters.

So I went to the local hardware store, bought the cheapest masonry bit I could find ($9) and we started making holes in solid concrete, 1/2" hole size and about 2 inches in depth. We both use Metabo 18V LT drills and THEY GOT HOT. Just to keep the drill from burning up we just alternated between the two, always holding the hotter one in front of the air conditioner. :)

The metal gearboxes/brushes (commutator) were pretty hot but I wasn't worried, these German made drills are made to be abused.
 
Great review, Johnny.  It will be awhile before these get released over here so hopefully others will chime in with their comments and feedback.
 
I got the DRC a few weeks ago, up to now i am quite impressed. I didnt bother with the PDC as i always use a cordless sds for brickwork. ( i also got info on here from a member which said stick to the DRC)

John..
 

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One thing, i can't see it being long before the belt clips snap off  [big grin]

John..
 
Is there a real hammer mechanism á la SDS in the drill or is it more of a cheap 'hitting' drill type of rattler mechanism?

Can the hammer mechanism be used as an impact driver or is it usable only for drilling?
 
Great review, one reason I decided to buy the PDC 18/4, and what should I say, it was a very good decision. I sold my beloved T18+3 weeks ago, but I wanted to have the additional functionality of a hammer drill. The PDC 18/4 has all I need, power, speed, big capacity and not at least the familiar quality of festool! The only negative point I have to mention is that there is no possibility to use the offset chuck, but I haven't used that chuck as often as standard chuck.
 
The battery between T18 4 Ah (US)  and   PDC 18-4 is interchangeable ?

Can I use T18 4 Ah battery on PDC 18-4 ?

Or,can I charge a PDC 18-4 Battery on a T18 Charger (US) ?
 
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