Cheap drill light mod?

[donie]

Has anyone ever wired a capacitor in with the light on a cheap drill?

Would that allow it to stay on for a few seconds after you let the trigger go?

I have a cheap drill that the light goes out as soon as you let go the trigger.

Thanks

 

[Sideways]

No. You may or may not be misunderstanding how electricity works.
You could blow something up or hurt yourself.
In any event, electronics in drills are often encapsulated in resin so you can't easily get in to tinker. If you do, you have compromised the safety insulation designed into it.
Absolutely don't connect a capacitor to any mains voltage inside your drill.

 

[ajs]

I always reluctant to say no when things are potentially doable but here the list of permutations is as long as your arm.

In the simplest possible case (an LED) it can almost be done like that but a) you will need a big cap, essentially into supercap territory - LEDs used for practical illumination use a lot more power than indicators b) it would need to be wired across both the LED and the current limiter and c) you would need to understand the control circuit to ensure you are not reverse biasing anything that might object to it. Then you have the practical problem of identifying an internal void to accommodate it, this isn't going to be negligible in size.

Don't want to sound patronising, it really isn't my intention, but in my view this falls firmly into the "if you need to ask, don't bother" category.

I'd experiment with being light fingered on the trigger instead, on most drills I find the light switches on with even the lightest touch, well before the motor starts up.

 

[Bingy man]

I think I would just replace the drill with another that meets your needs or use an additional light source . I find that most leds used on drills are not that good- could be my age though…

 

[artie]

I find that most leds used on drills are not that good-

Or even illuminate the desired area.

I'm wondering why you want to illuminate the area after the work is done.

 

[niall Y]

On one particular site where I was working, I used to walk around at night with my drill slowly revolving with the led on, so that I could see to lock up the premises before leaving.

 

[Bingy man]

Or even illuminate the desired area.

I'm wondering why you want to illuminate the area after the work is done.

I recon @artie means before the work is completed. One of the Dynamic risk assessment questions I used to get asked when working in a loft or cellar was — what’s the 1st thing before entering such an area. Anything other than illuminating your work area with the correct equipment was a fail ..

 

[TheUnicorn]

I'd just get a head torch, rechargable ones with good reviews start at about a tenner on amazon

or screwfix have one for £7 that takes 3 AAAs, personally I'd buy rechargable, no faffing around looking for batteries / cheaper over time / greener

 

[artie]

I recon @artie means before the work is completed. One of the Dynamic risk assessment questions I used to get asked when working in a loft or cellar was — what’s the 1st thing before entering such an area. Anything other than illuminating your work area with the correct equipment was a fail ..

Surely he's not illuminating the whole room with the light on the drill.

 

[Bingy man]

Surely he's not illuminating the whole room with the light on the drill.

I would hope not , but very little surprises me these days. I thinks the op,s original question has got lost or distorted in the last few posts but certainly not intentionally on my part . To clarify my preference is to ensure there is enough light in the intended work area rather than relying on a very small led intended to assist you position the drill bit but not light up the entire work area . Also why risk adding components to a tool that isn’t designed to have them ..edit instead use a lead lamp , torch , flood lamp etc etc ..imo of course..

 

[throbscottle]

Assuming this is a battery powered cheap drill, I don't see why not. So long as it's of sufficient voltage rating and you connect it the right way - you will know if it's the wrong way by the loud bang of it exploding.
You could be ok with about 1000uF to 4700uF for what you want, and there's likely to be room in the handle, since this is a cheap drill. As ajs pointed out, it will need to be across the led and it's limiting resistor, or it won't hold enough energy.
A better strategy though might be to add an extra switch to the drill's handle, so the led stays on as long as you are pressing that by holding the handle.

 

[okeydokey]

Maybe a gentle touch on the trigger will switch the led on again sufficient to light the area or tape a small torch to the drill and switch it on before starting drilling tasks