Battery life and recharging?

[Gamalot]

I have the Milwaukee 18 fuel with 5 AH battery and use it on a clam plate with a 7 inch SM Lazer hand auger bit. It works great and my blades are sharp. I have fished 4 days so far and started with a fresh and fully charged battery and at this point I have drilled around 34 holes in 6-8 inches of ice. My battery still has 3 full bars of charge left when I push the button on it so I am contemplating just running it down a lot further before I recharge it. I will have a spare on hand just in case. Most companies tell you to wait to charge the batteries until they need it or go below at least half drained so I wonder what is the best plan for these Lithium ones that seem to last forever. Is it better to recharge to full after each time out or better to drain it down and then recharge it?
Based on what I see so far it appears I could drill close to 100 holes in 6-8 inches with just this one 5 AH battery but I have not tested it to the dead end yet.

[sawbelliesam]

I believe that memory is no longer an issue with newer batteries. I just bought 2 new makita 6ah batteries and the literature said to charge them whenever, not a problem. I believe that's the case with all brands, but not 100% sure.

[hardwater diehard]

Gamalot...I searched the web..cant find anything on when or when not to charge ... My action plan is after a day of drilling is bring in my Vexilar flasher/Lithium battery and my Millwaukee battery...left them warm up and recharge ..unless it late and/or no time/etc ..then may not charge at all ..I have extra batteries for my drill and my Vexilar can run for hours .. not a problem leaving them in my SUV overnight/week ..except I did bring all my batteries inside during this bitter cold spell .

[Gamalot]

I just did some searching and found this interesting piece if the screenshot will show.


Given that our batteries usually have 4 bars I suspect half charge to be between 2-3 bars showing on the meter.

[hardwater diehard]

I just did some searching and found this interesting piece if the screenshot will show.


Given that our batteries usually have 4 bars I suspect half charge to be between 2-3 bars showing on the meter.

Just with my normal day of drilling ..that does fall into my routine ..unless I'm drilling for a gang of folks ..I also numbered my batteries ..so each outing I am swapping  them out and can detect any issues if they arise .

[Gamalot]

I just read another little tid bit on another site. My drill kit came with 2 5 AH batteries. I have only ever used the first one and never used #2 at all. The article says that age and lack of use is just as bad as too much use and many charge cycles so saving the second battery for later is a bad idea. Even though it is not getting used and charged it is still getting old and being wasted.

[hardwater diehard]

I just got the Milwaukee 700 lumen light ..unfortunately no deal could be had for at least a year ..as I have been looking so my batteries will be doing double duty ..the light although pricey works great very bright has a USB port ..nite time crappie... hub fishing..home use ..so its an investment ..built to last .


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-700-Lumen-LED-Lantern-Flood-Light-Tool-Only-2363-20/205410852?NCNI-5

[Gamalot]

I just got the Milwaukee 700 lumen light ..unfortunately no deal could be had for at least a year ..as I have been looking so my batteries will be doing double duty ..the light although pricey works great very bright has a USB port ..nite time crappie... hub fishing..home use ..so its an investment ..built to last .


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-700-Lumen-LED-Lantern-Flood-Light-Tool-Only-2363-20/205410852?NCNI-5

Love it but don't really need one although I do have a thing about tools that use the same power supply just for their versatility. Something tells me I will be in HD one day and see the light on sale and it will jump into my cart faster than a trout will jump on my tip up.

[hardwater diehard]

Love it but don't really need one although I do have a thing about tools that use the same power supply just for their versatility. Something tells me I will be in HD one day and see the light on sale and it will jump into my cart faster than a trout will jump on my tip up.

When that happans ..shoot me a link and/or PM ..thats a good light ..I have other anglers eyeing mine up but because of price no deal ..Hows that wind howling up by you ? Thinking my next outing will be Sunday...really to cold to enjoy .

[bigfoot86]

I have two 4 Amp batteries and never even got close to killing one battery. Could probably easily punch over a hundred holes in about 8 inches without using the second battery.  5 Amp and higher your just a adding a little more weight to setup.  Overkill in my opinion.

[Kevin23]

I have two 4 Amp batteries and never even got close to killing one battery. Could probably easily punch over a hundred holes in about 8 inches without using the second battery.  5 Amp and higher your just a adding a little more weight to setup.  Overkill in my opinion.

Depends on the auger you use, I'm assuming you have a 6" from the numbers you gave. With my 8" bit I get about 40 holes though 10" of ice with the 5ah. The 4ah and 3ah wont turn the 8" bit past about 8" of ice, it bogs in the hole and cuts out. I'm going to 12ah next year so I can just carry one battery when I use the 8" auger.

[Gamalot]

Lots of variables in this equation. Size of drill and torque, Size of auger bit and type of blades and sharpness of them plus the type and thickness of the ice you are drilling. With my setup that very last 1/2 inch break through is the toughest part on every hole but it goes the rest like a hot knife through butter with very little effort at all. The Clam plate makes drilling so much easier on me and the drill and I don't have to push any down pressure at all. I would think the guys who have smaller drills with less torque the Clam plate with the reduction gear would help a lot. You might not win a hole drilling race but it likely could save your drill and battery life.

[hardwater diehard]

The center point and outer ring on my 8" HT E-Drill works great  and even better for break through ..its on a Clam Plate and that helps as well . Extremely proficient system . My K-Drill worked well but slower ..not noticable on less then a foot of ice ..but slower.

[bigfoot86]

Depends on the auger you use, I'm assuming you have a 6" from the numbers you gave. With my 8" bit I get about 40 holes though 10" of ice with the 5ah. The 4ah and 3ah wont turn the 8" bit past about 8" of ice, it bogs in the hole and cuts out. I'm going to 12ah next year so I can just carry one battery when I use the 8" auger.

That's weird, my friend bought an 8" auger bit just recently and has yet to buy the drill so lent him mine with the 4 amp and we watched it tear thru 9" of ice with no problem whatsoever.  Prob drilled around 3 dozens holes with one battery and still had some life in it.  Possibly your batteries are old or dull blades on auger?  Not sure, worked perfectly fine with his auger.  12amp is way over kill imo.  Actually heard of some people using a 9 amp.  Just adding extra weight, taking away from the whole idea of a light setup.

[Kevin23]

That's weird, my friend bought an 8" auger bit just recently and has yet to buy the drill so lent him mine with the 4 amp and we watched it tear thru 9" of ice with no problem whatsoever.  Prob drilled around 3 dozens holes with one battery and still had some life in it.  Possibly your batteries are old or dull blades on auger?  Not sure, worked perfectly fine with his auger.  12amp is way over kill imo.  Actually heard of some people using a 9 amp.  Just adding extra weight, taking away from the whole idea of a light setup.

Why is a 12ah way overkill? We will be drilling through 20"+ of ice here in a couple weeks.. and I already drain a 5ah plus some in a normal day of fishing on 8-10" now. Easier than carrying 3 5ah and much lighter total package. If that extra 1lb or whatever it is hanging on the drill is just too much to bear, well I dont know if I have an answer to that. Drilled tens of thousands of holes with a 32lb gas auger and I would still be using it if it wasnt for the noise and gas...


To answer your other statement, my SM blades are a week old and so is the 2803 drill (roughly 300-350 holes). Just talked to a fried about 3 hours ago that bought a clam plate and drill for his 8" eskimo auger... same issue, 4ah were cutting out the drills power before he broke though. I told him to try the 5ah and he said it worked perfectly. His son has a HT E-drill 8" and it goes right through without issues with the little batteries.

[bigfoot86]

Why is a 12ah way overkill? We will be drilling through 20"+ of ice here in a couple weeks.. and I already drain a 5ah plus some in a normal day of fishing on 8-10" now. Easier than carrying 3 5ah and much lighter total package. If that extra 1lb or whatever it is hanging on the drill is just too much to bear, well I dont know if I have an answer to that. Drilled tens of thousands of holes with a 32lb gas auger and I would still be using it if it wasnt for the noise and gas...


To answer your other statement, my SM blades are a week old and so is the 2803 drill (roughly 300-350 holes). Just talked to a fried about 3 hours ago that bought a clam plate and drill for his 8" eskimo auger... same issue, 4ah were cutting out the drills power before he broke though. I told him to try the 5ah and he said it worked perfectly. His son has a HT E-drill 8" and it goes right through without issues with the little batteries.

Different drills, different bits and different results I guess.  That sucks he had to up his battery amp, don't know what to say.  You definitely get a lot more ice than we do, your much further north.  I agree with you it's not really overkill if you're goin thru 20"+ but at the price of those higher amp batteries almost don't even make sense goin that route.  Maybe for thinner ice under 15" or so.  After that if I was goin to go thru that much ice I would be breaking out my Eskimo p1 weighing in at around 25 lbs.  One pound cylinder last me a long time.