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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.
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.
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.
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.