Brushless motor battery drills - unsatisfactory speed control, or just this model?

[happysteve]

Have had a Makita BHP458 (non-brushless) hammer drill for years, I love it, it's pretty indestructable and the torque's great, but the chuck's finally going.

They seem to be moving to brushless motors now (for most of their combi drills). I've only recently bought a battery SDS drill (after 2 jobs in a row needing sockets sinking into brick walls and no available power sockets for my Hitachi 230V SDS beast), and the Makita brushless SDS drill I got (DHR242) is rather disappointing in one respect, in that the trigger is really tetchy. I'm sure there isn't a fault with it, but the minimum speed is too fast (at least for chiselling), and although you get some degree of variable speed by how much you squeeze, the nature of SDS drills means the drill's jumping around too much to control it accurately (particuarly since the lowest pecussion speed is quite fast). So it's kinda ok for chasing/sinking holes in brick, but put some lightweight engineering block in the way and you can't control it accurately enough. So I end up using the (much beefier) Hitachi 230V drill, because you can accurately control the impact rate and take it right back down to "lazy".

I'm just a bit concerned that brushless drills have a "minimum" speed, and/or that the speed can't be as easily controlled. Is that generally the case, or is my Makita SDS drill just a bad design on the trigger?

 

[ashrow]

I have just (A month ago) replaced my same drill......it is pants compared to the exact model i owned previously and brought about 3 years ago. it almost that you have to push the drill to get it to engage something else internally to work and then it goes full hog and to far.
Now i have seen your post i may research this further as i thought it was just a user error on my part

 

[Pauls0212]

I have the 242 and cant fault it.. low speed if needed to start controlled via the finger no problem and a beast if you start pushing. I just hold it and let it drill, no pushing needed as with most sds. also got a brushless dhp481 this is also easy to control.

 

[happysteve]

I've got no problems with the "drill and hammer" setting on the SDS, that's fine, eats hard brick for breakfast.

It's the lack of low speed control that really irritates me. For example, on my Hitachi 230V SDS drill, I can get the speed as low as about 0.5 to 1 RPM... so if I put a chisel in after drilling, and it's at a random angle, I squeeze the trigger gently until it's lined up, then lock to hammer only. Similarly, my (non-brushless) combi drill, I can set the speed really low.

But it's just not an option on the brushless SDS - lowest speed is too fast. I wondered if this was the nature of this model, or brushless motors in general.

Thanks for the replies so far, I appreciate the feedback, and would welcome more

 

[buzzlightyear]

I have two makita sds drills in the van one 230 v the other 36 volt batt .not a problem .

 

[Pauls0212]

I understand now, yes its to fast... i used to press a few times till it was lined up but now i use the intermediate position and put the chisel where i need it

 

[robd]

Get a Milwaukee battery SDS and stop messing about ?

 

[123]

@happysteve if it's the chuck that's going on your BHP458 (now DHP458) why not just replace the chuck? It's relatively simple, cost effective and lots of videos on youtube on how to do it.
I've a couple DHP458 and it's a great combi drill, plenty of torque. I've also got the brushless big brother DHP481 which is a weapon.

Also have the DHP242 SDS Drill, but have never noticed your issue, if I needed to adjust the chisel I'd just put in the dot position and set angle I'd want.

 

[PEG]

All of these issues,are of no concern,to a Hilti owner...

 

[happysteve]

@happysteve if it's the chuck that's going on your BHP458 (now DHP458) why not just replace the chuck? It's relatively simple, cost effective and lots of videos on youtube on how to do it.
I've a couple DHP458 and it's a great combi drill, plenty of torque. I've also got the brushless big brother DHP481 which is a weapon.

Also have the DHP242 SDS Drill, but have never noticed your issue, if I needed to adjust the chisel I'd just put in the dot position and set angle I'd want.

Using the dot is how I line the chisel up, it's not a problem. It was just an example of how, on another make of drill, they had set up the trigger to give such a variable output you didn't need to use the dot and line it up by hand.

Great suggestion about replacing the chuck, though! Too often we throw away stuff that's fixable. I'll look into it.

 

[sam400]

I replaced a makita 458 (brushed) with a 491 (brushless) cost twice as much but is horrible bit of kit, would much rather have the 458.
The speed control is really stepped on the brushless. The brushed motor seems to have infinite adjustment.
Must be to do with how the electronics control the speed?

 

[happysteve]

The speed control is really stepped on the brushless. The brushed motor seems to have infinite adjustment.
Must be to do with how the electronics control the speed?

That's what I feared. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[xmetal]

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread but this is my experience with the Makita rotary hammers DHR202 (brushed) and DHR242 (brushless) of which I have both. As previously mentioned the brushed motor speed is infinitely controllable as opposed to the brushless model. The two models are of a similar performance. What I am adding to this thread is the DHR202 (and 458) are still available and a damn sight cheaper to purchase than their brushless equivalents. Just thought this may be useful information for someone if they are after a new drill.

 

[happysteve]

Fair enough
I ended up getting a (brushless) DHP481. It does have a very definite "minimum speed" below which it's just stopped, but on the low ratio gear it's slow enough.

After I changed it, I noticed it was a little bit lighter than the old one, and a tiny bit shorter length-wise. I miss the sparks, though (and I'm still frustrated that my SDS drill doesn't have the fine control I need for chasing less dense materials).

 

[123]

I have the DHR202(brushed), DHR242(brushless), DHP458(brushed) and DHP481(brushless)...I feel like a bit of a Makita fan boy
The DHP458 has been sick for a while and I need to fix it at some point, it's a good high torque drill and it's been thoroughly abused.

The DHR242 is a far better performer than the DHR202, and the DHP481 is far better than the DHP458. I find them all controllable enough, but never really had the need to have the SDS ones going slow for anything