Drill cutting out

[walleyeboater]

18v Ridgid drill, paired with a clam plate and a 6” Niles.

Drill spins the auger fine holding it in the air, but when I try to drill thru ice it cuts out
Unsnap the battery,  resnap it and I get a turn from it
 Takes about 5 times of doing the battery shuffle to get thru
3” of ice.
Had this setup for over 3 yrs with any problems.

Any ideas ?
Thx

[skifisher]

Bad battery?

[walleyeboater]

I have not been back out with drill since I made the post, but I had the drill settings wrong.

Should be high speed / low torque
I had mid speed (40 instead of 100), and torque was on 2 instead of 1.

This should correct my issues.

2 trips to figure this out.
Major Brain fart in my end.

[Thomasb123]

You need 100 ft/lbs of torque for each inch of width of auger. So if you have a 6 inch auger then you need a minimum torque of 600 or your drill won't last but about 2 years or so and is recommended to have a 4amp battery or better which helps alot with the issue, my 2 amps that came with mine did alot of the same thing and was just a pain. It also helps to have good sharp blades and not apply much pressure and let the auger do the job.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I have not been back out with drill since I made the post, but I had the drill settings wrong.

Should be high speed / low torque
I had mid speed (40 instead of 100), and torque was on 2 instead of 1.

This should correct my issues.

2 trips to figure this out.
Major Brain fart in my end.

You have it backwards.

1. You want the slowest drill speed you can set the drill on. With the highest torque setting. High speed & low torque is THE WORST SETTING....would wreck the drill.....especially if the drill is not a brushless drill.

2. If your battery was left outside and really cold......it can cause issues with the battery cutting out. Keep it warm.

3. Not sure if this matters in your case since you were on thin ice......but if the cutting blade is dull to the point that u have to press down on the auger.....running it will make the drill work harder and can cause the drill to shut down...if this is case sharpen the blades and you should be fine.

4. If you have the correct drill for the setup (minimum of 600in/lbs) and you have the settings correct with a good battery.....I would have the cutting head checked for sharpness and correct pitch if the problem persist.

Good luck.