inside a cordless drill (with schematic & gearbox autopsy)

What's inside a 12V cordless power drill / screwdriver. Including the schematic of the motor speed regulator (controller) and an autopsy of the gearbox with its adjustable torque mechanism. It probably had a 3-cell Li-Ion or a 10-cell NiCd battery.
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My Instagram:
/ savage_danyk

[@kyawzin3957]

The most favorite thing I like about your videos is dismantling and then autopsying till to the end. Not just talking and for-show only videos like on other channels.

[@MicheleDamato-co7vh]

I love it when you start explaining things. Your accent is superb it's a distinct sound I've never heard before.....

[@g0hjq]

Thank you for another great video. I always wondered how they worked

[@carlos2004]

same. i had to fix a tab on mine so the electronics made sense, but i was still curious about the gearbox and the torque selector.

[@GreenSpeedo]

'the glass is jumping!' I miss this guy I wish he Did that vid similar to that again 😂

[@1marcelfilms]

Even more saaalt The house is on fire noooow The whoole neighborhood is burniiiiing nooow

[@GreenSpeedo]

@@1marcelfilms the whole world is shaking and the humans are vibrating.

[@Miata822]

Wild. This weekend I picked an old drill out of some things that we were sending to a charity donation. It was an ugly old drill with no battery so it won't be missed. I did that very same teardown. The drill was exactly the same inside. I have a use for the motor and kept the PWM controller circuit since it is already on a circuit board and would be easy to replace the trigger with a rotary potentiometer. This past weekend we were probably doing the same thing at the same time! Crazy.

[@sebastienleger1174]

I am from Québec Canda (french canadian) and I love your thin english accent and also, all your content!!! Thank you bro :)

[@kemalkurt5257]

Excellent video as always thanks Diode Gone Wild

[@Delali]

Your videos are really interesting to what. I enjoy the talking while opening or testing things. I'd try to adopt some of your methods for my channel too. you're an inspiration

[@Caapslocks]

I love this guy because of the accent that started it all

[@MatthewDeveloper]

1:30 "The current limit of the power supply is set to 40 Amps, this should be enough" Definitely will be enough to test and start some fires if anything shorts out 😂

[@AnOriginalYouTuber]

I used to know some engineers that designed power tools. This setup looks very familiar BTW. When driving screws, they'd measure up to 80 amps for a split second!

[@tobitechboy1461]

He was dumpster diving again! Yo that cat is so true

[@electronixTech]

With eyes as big as saucers.

[@tobitechboy1461]

No, As big as Donuts!

[@marioacjr]

the cat speaks only the truth. lol

[@marioacjr]

​@@electronixTech the cat has big eeyeeees. lol

[@haputmacatiag9813]

you make repairing electeonics seem so easy! i love it.

[@DrZipZwan]

Thx you very much, I got this speed regulator and this Mosfet. I got then from a cordless drill also that I distroid. My bad. Now I know how they work, if I intend to use them for some project some day! Your channel is very helping!!

[@carmelopez8017]

Pppp0 mog

[@DrZipZwan]

@@carmelopez8017 ???

[@hieroben]

One advantage of having a switch that bypasses the mosfet is that the drill still works if the mosfet is blown. Ask me how I know...

[@ryanb1874]

How do ya do this.

[@TechHowden]

How do you know

[@hieroben]

@@TechHowden Elvis told me in a dream ;)

[@jkobain]

Now I finally get what regulates the power in my battery operated screwdriver. Thanks!

[@uiopuiop3472]

Good video. I always wanted to know how they are put together, and it's pretty interesting.

[@Delali]

Mehn i love engineering. Just the gear arrangement alone gives me joy some how.

[@ThriftyToolShed]

I like Dumpster diving also. This looks like some of the early Ryobi drills? Brings back memories of the older Ni-cd drills. Great video!

[@englishrupe01]

Thank you very much for this video......and all your videos! They are always fun, as well as instructive/educational!

[@vidasvv]

The center position of switch is for those that cant decide which way to go ! TNX 4 another GREAT video !!! 73 N8AUM

[@droga_mleczna]

I'd love to see a video about your variable power supply, as I'm thinking of building one.

[@martinbobak3009]

Just buy one

[@uiopuiop3472]

@@martinbobak3009 .

[@xxexplosivexxxxexplosivexx8512]

You can find the schematic to it here: danyk.cz/reg60v.html It is all in czech though...

[@uiopuiop3472]

@@xxexplosivexxxxexplosivexx8512 i can't read it sadly

[@martinbobak3009]

@@uiopuiop3472 you can change it to English

[@carlgradolph9676]

Most informative (and entertaining, as always!) One could easily replicate this circuit to build a variable speed motor driver module. Fortunately I already have three or four salvaged drills in my junk box.... Now I know how to make them work!

[@3abdangry]

This is a Wickes Drill from about 15 years ago (UK Company) I opened it today to add a DC input to it so I can also use it by wire. It's a 15.6V drill. I bought 2 at the time for a special offer of just £25 Yes that's for both, One I gave as a gift to a friend. still works perfectly, battery still holds quite well it's the nikel type.

[@DIYwithBatteries]

You have really a good & perfect schematic. 😊👍

[@ayyadew]

Even a simple video is also useful and interestingggg when I watch it from this channel. Naiceee

[@Inventive101]

Very interesting, good luck 👍👍👍

[@SianaGearz]

A bit surprised that the chip isn't a 555. My store brand drill that i bought 18 years ago for only a couple € is identical. I still use it, now with a self built NiMH battery pack - used to be NiCd but junk cells, they died. It's a 12-series pack, the motor doesn't mind running at higher voltage. The heatsink sits directly behind the motor and is cooled by a little turbulence leaking from brushes/rotor. But the linearity of motor regulation actually feels very good on mine. There is a step at the end but it's not too drastic.

[@benjaminniesner6482]

actually had a drill with pretty much the same mechanism (maybe even the same drill?). Powered by 15 NiCd cell to get 18V and sparked like crazy every time you released the button. After the cells were flat I wanted to use it as a portable drill with a cigarette lighter plug but soon after it finally went up in smoke.

[@greengrayradio1394]

I have had two similar drills, which were new some 20 years ago. They used 12V NiCd battery packs, which now are long since unusable. The motor and electronics are exactly like yours. I dismantled one of them, think I still have the motor and gear for some future project..

[@tedbastwock3810]

very interesting, especially the oscilometer and the gear box, thank you for sharing, subscribed

[@TechGorilla1987]

@1;48 - "Let's give it some beans..." I never laughed so hard. To hear what I have come to know as a Western phrase said in your accent is probably the best thing I will hear all day.

[@blake301987]

Great video. This was not a Skookum drill in it's past life, good to see it potentially getting repurposed!

[@suatkaleli5075]

your english is very gooooo00000000d. and I loved your accent toooo muuuuuuuuuuuuch

[@msansjr]

Cool, I have one very similar from B&D, now I don't have to tear it apart! :D I specifically chose this one because the battery is NiCD, my previous one was functional for 10+ years, doubt a Li-Ion would last this long. I don't use it a lot, if I did I would probably choose a Li-Ion.

[@rogerbusser9100]

I've a similar I guess, I did replace the NiCd batteries with 4 18560 cells, then the brushes did burn a little ;-), I cleaned the motor brushes, now it works perfectly. I can recommend.

[@msansjr]

@@rogerbusser9100 Interesting, but what about charging?

[@UpcycleElectronics]

NiCD just has the overcharge issue with cells left on the charger for too long. Most NiCD chargers lack a timing circuit to shut off power to the cell after fully charged. That killed both batteries on my craftsman drill... but they did last from 2008-2020. The Dewalt lithium stuff is really nice though. Surprisingly, their little hex collar chuck mini driver is quite cool. It has a gyro chip and is quite sensitive to a flick of the wrist. I thought it was a dumb gimmick at first, but after using it for awhile, it's freaking awesome. I even use it for drilling holes in plastic project enclosures using large wood cutting bits that have hex shafts. The wrist position input gives a tremendous linear modulation granularity without introducing extra unnecessary angular motion from pulling a trigger. The lithium drills also feel like they have a lot more torque. I never seem to hang a bit or get stuck, but I probably break a few more bits than I did in the past.

[@hadighaemipoor6354]

Thank you for nice teaching .

[@jdhtyler]

It will get quite HOT, I was using one like this 25y ago to tap aluminium bar with 6mm threads after about 10 holes that were 7mm deep the drill would smoke, after cooling for an hour try again. The drill was from Aldi or Lidl, those were the days with NiCad battery packs the size of an Anvil. Still got the drill and the now empty battery pack ready for an alternative use.

[@ramachandraambu]

Thank ur video helped me to get the connection done as i opened the switch to clean all wires came out and was confusing.but ur video help me to do the connection thankyou..

[@jkobain]

The polarity switch was turned by the direction switching bar which also prevents the trigger from being pushed.

[@rolfts5762]

Thanks mr.DGW ..This was a very interesting video :-) The autopsy certainly gave a variety of new ideas for what to do with our old drills. (Perhaps bench-mount them do to something usefull,..hmm Have to think).. ---Again thainks so much for 'all' your marvelous videos. //br, from norway.

[@asianizamudeen]

wow i like your english style speaking nice every body easily understand thanks

[@electronic7979]

Very helpful video. I liked it

[@SeanBZA]

Have a few cordless drills that got adapted to having a short cord and a 12V 7Ah lead acid battery for power, because the original NiCd cells stopped working and holding charge. Gives now life to them, as the motor and every other part outlasts the battery in most cases, and the batteries are too expensive to replace, or are no longer made, and repacking them is stupid expensive as well.

[@1pcfred]

Sometimes you can zap nicad batteries and rejuvenate them. I'd say success is around 10% Lookup nicad zapping and it explains what's going on. Dendrite crystals and what have you. I find it is best to take the pack apart and zap each cell. Usually there's only a couple bad cells in a pack. I made a zapper out of an old 12V battery charger. I've zapped full packs with welders too though. But when zapping works it works.

[@SeanBZA]

@@1pcfred Tried that a good number of times, but when the cells are just abused by the charging system there is little you can do. I made a zapper for small phone battery packs, which had around a 30% improvement in keeping them alive, though those would always end up being repacked, as once the cell is degraded to the point it grows dendrites blowing them away is only a short term remedy. But as it was just 4AA tagged cells that were cheap enough and easy to get they just got done till dead, and then shuffle in new cells, and take 2 or more dead packs and make up one from them using those cells still alive.

[@1pcfred]

@@SeanBZA I did say success rate is around 10% You should only zap nicad batteries too. I do not think it does anything beneficial for any other chemistry. With some battery types you could potentially blow them up? Perhaps there is a risk with nicads too? But I've never had a problem. I've seen some emit smoke in the process. That's usually a good sign. In packs it is often just a few bad cells. So if you have a bunch of bad packs you could make some good packs out of them. By just swapping out bad cells for good ones. And them nicad packs all use the same cells. Well sameish. They all use sub C. Capacities do vary.

[@electroboy3607]

Verry good explained🎉🎉

Regarding the plastic planet gears in the first stage, my guess is that this has to do something with electrical safety of mains-powered drills - the requirement for double insulation of a Class II device. They probably use the same gearset for both battery- and mains-powered drills.

[@Random_4400]

I really enjoy your videos!👌

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

very interesting. Thanks. Also I like when you say pulse width, I hear pulse Swiss

[@Tag-Traeumer]

🇨🇭👍😀

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

@@Tag-Traeumer The power of Switzerland inside

[@Tag-Traeumer]

@@RomanoPRODUCTION 😄 Rolex, Swiss Army Knifes, Schoggi... änd new: Puls Swiss for powerfull drilling machines.

[@wychowanek90]

Now make one about the corded one because it also has speed regulation but it has to be regulated differently

[@DiodeGoneWild]

The mains ones are probably with a triac regulation...

[@crymeforeverlo3402]

You are smart ...may God bless you 🙏 ❤

[@Shmbler]

I would keep the motor. There seem to be only a few different standard sizes and they are pretty interchangeable between brands.

[@1pcfred]

The whole unit is useful. A gear reduced DC motor can have a lot of applications. Like Dan said a coil winder.

[@annaplojharova1400]

The white thing is not varistor, but a plain diode. Plus many regulators use plain 555 timer in it, with the pot altering the duty ratio...

[@19Edurne]

I just wish you had tested the amperage under load too. I'll have to find a way to do it with the two 12V ones I have: the batteries are dead and I just modified them yesterday to be powered directly from a 12V 10A power supply. They work now but I didn't use them under heavy load yet. I hope 10A is enough...

[@steffenk8955]

Thank vou for this Video, very nice.👍

[@BobT36]

Interesting! Never thought how drills work internally before. Now I know! Btw what was the white bit of paper stuck to it for, so you could visually see the revolutions?

[@franzliszt8576]

Probably for seeing its speed

[@BugsNRoses_]

Now thats some info, so the spst switch, thats why we can leave the battery inside, and no power is lost,❤️

[@sarvjeetsingh5938]

Very informative video👍

[@arvindtaylor6871]

Very informative. Thank you. What scope are you using? Make and Model?

[@edwardgrosu1623]

Hello very nice video! Waiting for more!

[@lucar.923]

Thank yo-uuuu for the vi-deoooo sho-wiiiing the sche-matiiiic & gear-booooox autopsyyyyy of a cordlessss driiiillll

[@mrkattm]

I really like your channel, you do a nice job... thanks for sharing

[@CommentatorYorumcu]

I love this video and his accent is very funny🤣🤣

[@Deep_Thoughts99]

You are awesome... You make videos which I want to know... Thanks 😘😘😘😘

[@ssmm4119]

Thank you Very nice explnation

[@udayuday7768]

Very nice video sir thanks

[@Basement-Science]

It looks like the control chip will still run when the switch bypasses the transistor because the IC ground connection goes through the mosfet's body diode to the battery. Actually that would mean the IC supply voltage will go up and down by about 0.6V or so in that situation because it is also bypassing that diode whenever it switches on. Pretty weird. Also I think the potentiometer is probably not very stable or accurate at all and might be responsible for the bad pwm control. It should go to 99% on before the transistor gets bypassed. On the other hand, the low duty cycle range is not as critical since the motor wont even turn with low enough duty cycle and wont be much use even if it does.

[@oraszuletik]

The gate is floating probably, there is no GS resistor. So, without the IC it may remained opened.

[@Basement-Science]

@@oraszuletik No, you could see it was still getting a PWM signal (same frequency) when it was bypassed. He showed it on the scope. And the body diode will definitely conduct in that case and connect the gnd, so no reason for the IC not to run.

[@carlosvelasquez2625]

Nice explanation 🧐💪

[@frexion7634]

I am curious about what's inside the torque dial! Is it possible to take it apart and see what's inside without ruining it?

[@anshchawla566]

Is it a coincidence that just one day before jullian illett uploaded the first ever video on the speed controller of drill

[@thienvu4503]

if you connect to another drill, will with your half drill become generator?

[@1pcfred]

That's wild. I have a cordless drill on my bench right now that I want to make a coil winder with. But the one I'm trying to use is lithium ion (says right on the tool case) and I can't get it to run on just power supply current. It has another lead for sensing the temperature of the battery I think? I don't know. I never had a battery for it. I got it in a whole bag of old cordless tools I bought at a sale. The drill here is definitely an old nicad tool. Find Julian Illett's video called Cordless Electric Drill Speed Control - Stripdown he just put up of taking a drill apart (on odysee). It is pretty dramatic. I won't spoil it. Worth watching.

[@eDoc2020]

If it's just a temperature sensing wire you can probably connect a 10k resistor to ground. Maybe you need a different value like 1k. If you're unlucky it's a digital protocol which will be hard to fake.

[@1pcfred]

@@eDoc2020 my plan is to just chop out the controller and use a variable power supply I made. Would have been more convenient to use the controller that came with the drill though. I should try a resistor though. What's the worst thing that can happen? It blows up? I wrote it down so I'll give it a shot. If it blows up I don't care. Just a junk drill anyways.

[@sergeaudenaert]

Great explanation! Thank you

[@sayyidsahal4533]

I need this kind of videos 👍👍👍👍

[@ranjithalumullithody]

Waiting for your video on induction cooker 😀

[@easytrick3107]

I'm too

[@BRUXXUS]

Haha! Julian Ilett only needed to wait a few more days to see this before tearing his own drill apart.

[@1pcfred]

The switch in this drill is a lot easier to work with. My hat is off to Julian though. If you saw the video you know why.

[@mouradouddah5934]

Very good tuto

[@zx8401ztv]

When i saw that chip i thought 555 for a split second, but no. I thought the white wheel was a diode for back emf suppression, im wrong again lol. Your cat is loverly but it looks stoned out of it's mind, cat on drugs lol.

I love your accent!👍👍

[@MuhammadDaudkhanTV100]

Awesome arts and crafts fun

[@jirrka22]

Hello DiodeGoneWild, please advice me name of possible substitute of chip DK1. Thank you very much

[@Delali]

your cat looks surprised😂😂 0:06 What's his/her name?

[@sargetester99]

We need to find out how the electric braking force works, so we can disable it!

[@mysock351C]

Like when you let off and it suddenly stops? That's usually implemented by just shorting the motor out when you let off the trigger. If I recall, this is basically the guts of a cheap Harbor Freight/China single speed drill. Have one somewhere still intact. Its pretty shitty with just some Ni-Cad batteries. But it can be abused with reckless abandon because its so cheap.

[@ryanb1874]

Is that the 90 degrees enclosure bracket that presses against the armature, is it a diode, or a heat measuring component for protection ?

[@sargetester99]

@@mysock351C we need see a circuit for the braking force and how it works

[@nadavnatan2320]

great video! but how does it change the direction of the rotation?

[@scorobete.]

This guy has such a funny accent :)

[@50-50_Grind]

Why do you say thaaaaaaaat? Oh, it's your opinioooooooon ... I seeeeeeee.

[@scorobete.]

@@50-50_Grind Yes, opinion.

[@50-50_Grind]

@@scorobete. I tend to agreeeeee it's very funnyyyyyyy.

[@Gooberslot]

I have trouble understanding the schematic without the cat walking on it.

[@carmelopez8017]

@Agustinus Reynaldi o9

[@ACOnetwork]

I am thinking to convert that regullar battery dril to stick drill (dremel stile) with 3 18650 batteries :D

[@esunayg]

big traces inside the switch I guess works as a brake, when you release the switch.

[@Kwork777]

Not on this case, this seems to be an old Black & Decker model, my father had it before he throwed away lol. It didn't had that motor "brake" which is a short circuit on the brushes. Its useful for tightening a screw with limit. But at same time bad for non heavily work, specially if you only press the drill and release, it sparks badly. The motor will last much longer if you dont let it spark like this!

[@DiodeGoneWild]

this one doesn't brake.

[@Kwork777]

@@DiodeGoneWild Yep, so the brush motor could survive a bit longer by not being short circuited on its OFF position of the switch.

[@600322]

How does torque affects with low rpm?

[@MichalKohlicek]

PUPENDO - Repráky hír,dráty hír,kazeťák hír 😀

[@omsingharjit]

12:12 may be it's because to increase the life of the chip

[@stanislavhilgartner9694]

10:53 JIN DING: Noted

[@juniorriva9015]

Para todas as pessoas que estão inscritas no canal que são em língua portuguesa poderia ter legenda em português para que possa entender quem não conhece a língua de origem assim podemos acompanhar direito o que está sendo dito

[@martinbobak3009]

VTTC series?

[@FulvioGa]

You are so good at electronics, why you do not design some equipment, instead of just looking at how are designed other equipments designed by other people?

[@rajapudasaini1599]

Can you please send me the link of Oscilloscope(or some other Oscilloscope which is affordable for a Student :) ) .I want to buy it

[@cristianbretfelean2805]

Thank you. IC might me DK125 or similar.

[@andrezinatech]

niiiiiiice! more, more, more!

[@PFinkoloTL87]

DiodeGoneWild, what size is that motor? 540? 550? Bigger?

[@jkobain]

…and of course let's try to put it back together! _That's my least favourite, yet most exiting part!_

[@elvisrazem3189]

O just the riht thing to check. I just managed to burn it :D I worked early on a screwdriver which has no regulation and I simplified thing with this one =)

[@ssmm4119]

My drill is weak i check bat. Good How checking transistor

[@ha23456thtjh]

Nice video thank you veryeeeeee maaaaathch