What is a Brushless Drill?

If you’ve spent a lot of time researching which drills are most effective, you’ve probably come across a lot of information about brushless drills (see DeWALT Drills here). These drills are often considered the best and most effective drills on the market, but if you’re new to the construction or DIY world, you might not know much about what makes them so special.

Brushless drills are more effective and impactful than regular ones. However, they are also more costly to make and, on average, are 30% more expensive than brushed drills.

But this is only a small peek into the differences between the two drills. For a better understanding, we’ll have to dig a little deeper.

What is the Meaning of Brushless?

Most people get confused when they hear about brushless motors because they don’t understand how drills function to begin with. When drills were first created, they came with a motor system that consisted of four different parts. These parts include carbon brushes, magnets, armature, and the commutator. They all work together to create the drilling motion that helps the machine to operate.

Brushless motors get their name because they don’t use the same parts as the traditional drill design. Instead, they eliminate the commutator and, more noticeably, the carbon brushes. This helps them to work more efficiently than traditional brushed drills and with less friction. But to understand why this happens, you first need to understand how both drills work.

Brushless vs. Brushed

When it comes to drills, brushed drills work a bit differently than brushless ones. Many people realize this, but understanding it is an entirely different matter. When it comes down to it, learning about the functions of both drill types isn’t too difficult – it’s actually very straightforward.

Brushed drills – the original drills – are composed of four more parts than newer brushless drills. Their motor features carbon brushes, magnets, an armature, and a commutator. These parts all work together to create the drilling motion that makes the device function. When the trigger of a brushed drill is squeezed, it sends an electrical current from the battery to the brushes. The brushes are spring-loaded into the commutator; they deliver the charge from the battery to the commutator. Once the charge reaches the commutator, the commutator can then deliver it to the armature.

The armature is a device composed of copper windings. The charge that’s delivered to the armature magnetizes it. The armature is located next to the magnets, and these have an opposite charge than the copper. When the two charges collide, the motor turns, and the drill functions until the power current disappears.

Brushless motors work differently. Instead of traditional parts, this device only uses magnets and an armature. And rather than using carbon brushes and a commutator, when you squeeze the trigger on a brushless drill, the charge is sent from the battery to the armature through a circuit board. This makes for a smoother and faster connection than what you get with carbon brushes.

Why is a Brushless Motor Better?

Besides the fact that they can make transitions more smoothly, several other factors make brushless motors a great investment. The first is that brushless motors can sense things better than traditional drills can. When it comes to drilling into a material, traditional drills tend to treat all objects equally. There’s no way for them to differentiate between two different levels of hardness.

Brushless motors, however, are different. These motors only rely on a circuit board to relay the signal from the battery to the armature – not a system of carbon brushes and commutators. This circuit board makes all the difference. It allows the tool to sense how much power it needs to complete a task and uses the minimum power output to complete the task. This makes its work more reliable and efficient, helping the battery last longer.

Additionally, brushless motors tend to be stronger because their design allows them to build up the device in the motor area in ways that brushed drills cannot. This makes them more powerful and efficient than traditional drills, which is why most contractors choose to invest in them.