Upcoming CXS / TXS 18

Maybe not the scientific help [member=8111]CumminsDiesel[/member] - But at the time the new Milwaukee M12 arrived here I had it for a couple of days, tried it out but returned it.

From what I recall, it too has the higher pitched sound, I felt it was slightly higher than the Makita CXT 12 I own, but a less than the CXS 12 at its high speed.
 
FestitaMakool said:
Maybe not the scientific help [member=8111]CumminsDiesel[/member] - But at the time the new Milwaukee M12 arrived here I had it for a couple of days, tried it out but returned it.

From what I recall, it too has the higher pitched sound, I felt it was slightly higher than the Makita CXT 12 I own, but a less than the CXS 12 at its high speed.

Thank you!
As far as I understand, the CXS 12 and CXS 18 are the same drills internally?
I mean the high pitched sound should be the same on both CXS 12 and CXS 18 ?
 
Folks. I think this is going a bit over the top.

The original CXS was an exceptionally quiet drill driver.
BUT. It paid for it with performance - which the "casual" customers complained widely about.

The CXS 12 (18) follows the "standard" approach of "noise be damned, I want the powa!" - which is par for the course in the "online" social media world of today.

It is really (on average) as noisy as any other brushless drill driver out there. Its "it is quiet" advantage went away but it is not exceptionally noisy vis-a-vis the competition either.

=========
Why "over the top?"
Because there is pretty much no other (modern) driver on the market as quiet as the old CXS. Almost no one*) wants a "quiet but weak" driver, so no one makes one. Not anymore.

*) serious pros like folks here do, but the general populace just does not, unfortunately

[member=8111]CumminsDiesel[/member]
Your best bet is to go to a dealer and get one in your hand.
Possibly even choose a unit which is quietest - there may be some variance. No level of measurement can address the individual feeling on this. Everyone hears different frequencies differently and there is also the variance between individual tools. One M12 may be/seem louder while another combination of units may have it vice versa. The same between any set of CXS 12 / CXS 18.

That said, if you care about noise, just stop and get the older model. These last for a decade of daily use and there is unlikely to be as quiet a driver on the market anytime soon.

Besides, the CXS 18 is more of a C18 replacement, so if someone wants a quiet drill, the C/T 18 is the better option. For the small/light C series, the CXS 12 it is. If used as an install driver - so no full-power use - it is not that noisy anyway.
 
Ya, I agree with everything Mino said. I purchased the original CXS 10.8 in 2013 with the "stick" 1.5 Ah batteries. When the 2.6 Ah batteries were released in 2016, I purchased two of those.  I use the CXS 10.8 with the 2.6 Ah batteries 95% of the time, I avoid using the smaller ones because of the short run time.

I purchased the CXS 12 last November and since that time, I've only used the CXS 10.8, once or twice and that was because it was close at hand. The CXS 12 is a little work horse.  [smile]  Recently I drove in 66 each #10 x 3-1/4" into 2x materials and have driven in 20 each #10 x 2" screws and it still has 2 LED's of charge left. If this was the old CXS 10.8, I would be on my 3rd battery at least.

If I'm going to mount a bunch of cup hinges or drawer slides inside cabinetry, then I'll go for the CXS 10.8, otherwise the CXS 12 is the charm.

And remember, if you don't like the noise, just don't pull the trigger all the way back. The CXS 12 is quiet until about half-throttle.
 
Couldn’t agree more with what Mino summarise. (You’re ok [member=61254]mino[/member] ? [big grin])

Also what Cheese says, the CXS 12 is a compact very well equipped and well handling drill.
Also that with half throttle its quite quiet too.
I’m also one of very few I understand that actually liked the fwd/rew switch on the Milawaukee.. haha! But the oddities of setting the Milwaukee down with either of the batteries (normal and high capacities) didn’t work for me, so is the thick grip because it houses the batteries.

But that’s me, and the CXS 12V ticks all the boxes for me.
Except: The electronic clutch is not sensitive enough for very small screws..
But that was easily bypassed with these two:

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So here's the deal, this is a photo of the trigger of the new CXS 12. The pencil mark closest to the body demarcates the 0 rpm mark, while the pencil mark furthest away from the body demarcates the maximum drill rpm.

The 2 very narrowly spaced red lines demarcate the very narrow band that the noise levels resides in. It is an extremely narrow audio band that is an annoyance. If it annoys you...squeeze the trigger more or squeeze the trigger less.  [big grin]

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I think the CXS 12 is a damn fine replacement for the original CXS. The size, weight and balance in the hands all feel very similar, the best differences being: 

- I don’t need to have a specific CXS charger with me,
- It takes the same chucks as my bigger drills,
- Has that bit more power that i always felt it ‘needed’

The sound of the drill isn’t great, I’d obviously rather it was quieter, but after a few months of use, i have to say that i don’t mind it.. And let’s be clear, in actual use under load, it doesn’t sound half as bad as when a YouTuber holds it to the mic and spins max power/revs with NO LOAD. .

I think festool could, and already should have done a better job with the sound, but if you think it’s the drill you want, i would seriously recommend trying it for a few weeks yourself rather than relying on such anecdotal evidence.
 
Practical inside-cabinet-use:

I switched to the opposite; from drilling with the CXS 12 and screwdriving with the CXS 18..
The CXS 18 does make less noise, and therefore I switched around and pre-drilled with the CXS 18 and used the CXS 12 for screwdriving.

Both are very good drills in use, the trigger control and ability to be well controlled holding the drill in awkward positions has been really great on the latest SYS-Port-alike project.

Due to the fact that one can thread the CXS 18 on the hand on a ladder (Like the C18) which I’ve done a few times makes me smile every time. Yes it has a belt hook.. but after nearly have “walked” drills both off and nearly off on a ladder, I fancy the arm wrist solution.. [blink]
 
FestitaMakool said:
Practical inside-cabinet-use:

I switched to the opposite; from drilling with the CXS 12 and screwdriving with the CXS 18..
The CXS 18 does make less noise, and therefore I switched around and pre-drilled with the CXS 18 and used the CXS 12 for screwdriving.

Both are very good drills in use, the trigger control and ability to be well controlled holding the drill in awkward positions has been really great on the latest SYS-Port-alike project.

Due to the fact that one can thread the CXS 18 on the hand on a ladder (Like the C18) which I’ve done a few times makes me smile every time. Yes it has a belt hook.. but after nearly have “walked” drills both off and nearly off on a ladder, I fancy the arm wrist solution.. [blink]

I greatly prefer the long hook on the old CXS 10 over the short, round, stubby hook on the newer drills, personally.  Much earlier engagement and more positive hold when dropping the hook into a pocket on my side.

YMMV, of course.
 
Does anyone have any feedback on using a 1/2" Jacobs chuck with a TXS18, or photos of it mounted? I understand that its probably heavier, but how does that affect the balance of the drill?
 
I purchased a CXS 12 from Festool Recon last November but had to send it in recently for servicing. This is just a heads-up for anyone that may be experiencing the same issues.

While driving in screws, the drill motor will suddenly change in volume & frequency and the chuck will speed up or slow down on its own. Sometimes it will happen many times over a 10 minute period and sometimes it will only happen once. It's extremely random and consequently extremely difficult to recreate.

I held off on sending it back to Festool because of the random nature of this failure. It's been happening for the last 6 months and I was hoping it would become more regular or just stop working completely. Either situation would have been easier for Festool Service to diagnose. The last thing I wanted was to have the drill returned to me with a note from Festool saying they couldn't find anything wrong with it.  [sad]
 
I finally received my CXS 12 back from Festool Service today, as they have been waiting to receive parts from Festool Germany. The bad news is that it took almost 5 weeks to receive the drill...but the GREAT news is that it no longer appears to have that annoying screaming noise that it originally had.  [thumbs up]  I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet as I'm re-installing the fencing that was removed when the garage was built last fall but initial testing/playing with the drill, tells me the loud raucous noise is no longer there.

Sweet...maybe tomorrow I can find some time to thoroughly check it out.

FWIW...the parts that were replaced by Festool are as follows:
10724119...Electronic
10724114...Trip
10723955...Housing
10543173...Nameplate
 
Looks like a case of a failed electronic board, with them swapping some other visible parts just for the aesthetics aspect, possibly "compensating" for the long repair time.
 
The more I read about the new CXS 12 the more I think I have the better version with the last model w/ mechanical clutch
 
Yeah, that's how I feel too.

I'm glad I have 3 of the old style CXS drills and hope they will continue being their reliable old selves for a long time. I have other drills for more heavy-duty tasks (Hilti and Bosch, and recently a T18+3). I also have 2 old Makita 14.4V drills - there were no 18V versions yet when I bought them - that have been used very very extensively, and a Milwaukee installers drill. But I always seem to come back to the CXS when it comes to woodworking.
 
Cheese said:
I finally received my CXS 12 back from Festool Service today, as they have been waiting to receive parts from Festool Germany. The bad news is that it took almost 5 weeks to receive the drill...but the GREAT news is that it no longer appears to have that annoying screaming noise that it originally had.  [thumbs up]  I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet as I'm re-installing the fencing that was removed when the garage was built last fall but initial testing/playing with the drill, tells me the loud raucous noise is no longer there.

Sweet...maybe tomorrow I can find some time to thoroughly check it out.

FWIW...the parts that were replaced by Festool are as follows:
10724119...Electronic
10724114...Trip
10723955...Housing
10543173...Nameplate

So today between projects I decided to test the recently Festool serviced CXS 12.

Yesterday, with the torque dial set at #13, the sound was the same non irritating noise at full trigger pull, whether it was set at speed 1 or speed 2.

Last night, I set the torque dial to #Drill and at speed 1 the sound was like the day before but at speed 2 the sound was once again that horrific, irritating high pitched scream.

Earlier today I tried the same experiment and at EVERY torque setting from #1 to #Light On and at full trigger pull it gave me the same non irritating sound whether it was set at speed 1 or speed 2.

Later this morning, I picked up the drill and fully pulled the trigger. The drill was left at the settings I tried last, #Light On and speed 2, the high pitched scream was back. Moving only the torque setting to #13 and the scream went away, I then returned the torque setting to #Light On and the high pitched scream never returned...there's some weird stuff going on.

I also noticed that the #Light Off setting doesn't work as the LED continues to light.

I'm going to work with it a bit more and notice what else is wonky.
 
It would appear the new CXS 12 is indeed a miss. You shouldn't have to think or mess with any of this stuff with a tool as simple as a drill. And definitely not at the price point they're asking. For $299/$349 a drill shouldn't just 'work' it should be amazing.
 
I tried the new CXS 12 @ the local woodcraft and was disappointed with the noise! I put it back up on the shelf where it belongs! And went back to my old CXS .
From Makita to Miluwakee.. to harbor freight store brand .. when everyone else seem to be getting it right with brushless, why are we having issues with Festool? What are they trying to do differently that is causing all these issues?
 
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