Bosch Uneo External Battery Modification

[nihil_enochian]

Hi, I know this is an old post but I want to ask you what is your experience with this Bosch Uneo drill? Have you ever tried to drill holes with its original battery and how it works? I want to buy one I am already thinking how to modify it to work on external batteries. Any chance to post some schematics or instructions what modifications you made it to work on external batteries. Thanks

 

[jarvist]

With the old Uneo we did a lot of very good work. For drilling 8mm through bolts I cannot imagine anything better. With a bit of forcing you can get an Uneo into a standard 6 L Daren drum, and then store the metalwork and batteries alongside. Under a kg and with a light hammer action, I found I could place bolts at full extension one-handed. Unfortunately, since 2011 all of our Uneos have slowly died. Certainly they are not as rugged as a full-blown commercial SDS-plus drill, such as the (identical voltage) Makitas we now mainly use. But I have to use two hands to place a bolt with the Makitas.

One of our club members ('potholer' on here) took one of the dead-electronics Uneos and replaced the electronics with a much simplified mechanism. Unfortunately, upon the last reassembly of the case, a wire ripped out of the reversal switch, so it needs some more fettling.

I never tried bolting with the built in battery, I would guess from the capacity you might get 4-5 8 mm through bolts, which would perhaps suffice.

I'm not sure if I ever wrote any explicit instructions for the Uneo. A major issue is that when you open up the Uneo, the gear box comes apart as well, and you have to seat it all back together in one. This involves pulling the chuck forwards, and constructing the pneumatic section in the correct order.

Here's a photo showing a Makita and an Uneo open at the same time - full size Makitas are much easier to work on:
https://migovec.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/img_0005-scaled-1000.jpg

Also my most watched video on Youtube (!) is one of the working mechanism with the case open, which might be useful when reconstructing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK0H3pblEt4

 

[jarvist]

+ I did a Makita BHR162 (available naked for ~?110) earlier this week:

http://migovec.posterous.com/makita-bhr162

Very front heavy with no external battery!
Super powerful though, turn it on too quick and it'll twist your wrist. The pneumatic action has a hell of a kick.

Up to date link. (Postereous shut down.)

https://migovec.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/makita-bhr162/

 

[MarkS]

This page has some info on using drills with external batteries. It's not the Uneo, but I'd expect the general principles to be the same for any Li-ion drill.

http://durmitor.yucpc.org.uk/misc/drill_batteries.php

 

[Rob]

...
I never tried bolting with the built in battery, I would guess from the capacity you might get 4-5 8 mm through bolts, which would perhaps suffice.
...

I have the Uneo that has a small (1.5Ah) removable battery, which looks like this:

I take a spare battery, and generally get between 5-7 through bolts (8mm x 75mm) per battery. I really like it, especially it squeezing into a 6L drum. Great around the house too. Main downside is the batteries are expensive (~?50 for Bosch, ~?20 for fake).

 

[jarvist]

Rob's 'new generation' Uneo looks almost perfect, if it can still fit in a 6L drum. (Do you take the battery off to squeeze it in? With the standard Uneos we had to deform the mouth slightly to get it to squeeze through.)

If it's not too much effort, would you mind weighing your Uneo on some kitchen scales? The 1st gen Uneo with internal batteries removed + an extension cord added was ~900 g, which made it delightful to bolt climb with!

 

[Rob]

My Uneo with battery is 1272g

Battery is 157g

 

[nihil_enochian]

Thank you all for detailed replies. We already have one Makita, but we want something smaller to reduce weight when we go underground and when we need to put a few bolts only. Also this Bosch Uneo is cheaper than any Makita, at least here in Serbia. I will definitely check everything that you linked here, and if we buy this or anything else and modify it, I will post here of course.
Thanks again.

 

[nihil_enochian]

Hi. Here is update for my last post above. We bought one used Bosch Uneo and after a few days of reading and studying on internet about this modification I tried it today. Below are the photos how I did this. I used instructions from three different sources, one from here of course, one Spanish from youtube and one Italian.
And although I did everything as I saw I have problem to make this Uneo working with this sealed lead-acid  12V 7Ah battery. It just want start. When I connect it on its original Li-ion batteries Uneo start working. I check the voltage on lead acid battery and it is 13.7V and on original Li-ion is 15.3V. Does anyone knows what may be the problem? I put cable with two wires of 1.5mm2 and length about 1.7m. I also used one 6A diode on positive end to avoid destroying of electronic if  accidentally connected to different battery ends.I saw this on that Italian website.
So...anyone have a solution?

 

[Minion]

There will be a voltage drop across the diode of about 0.7v too.

Not sure what voltage the Ueno runs at or what voltage the battery protection circuits may cut in.

Have you measured the voltage at the terminals of the motor?

 

[nihil_enochian]

I will check what is tge voltage on motor. Thanks. I also forget to mention for people who doesn't know that Uneo run son 14.4V but it also works with this modification on 12V. I will also try it without that diode and see if it will work. Thanks!

 

[nihil_enochian]

Update from he last post:
I removed diode from Uneo because I don't want this voltage drop as it now works on 12V battery. Problem because Uneo didn't work was bad battery. I borrowed that battery to try it from a friend who told me that it was good but he was wrong obviously.
We now got the new battery which is lead acid 12V 7Ah and we will see in a few days,I hope, how many holes can we drill. I also make a backup battery from its original Li-Ion batteries when we need to put only 2-3 8mm bolts.

 

[maxf]

Would it be possible for you to video your tests ? I'm interested to see how quickly and easily it drills one hole..

 

[nihil_enochian]

Of course. I will record videos with both batteries to see the difference. When I test it unloaded I noticed that it was a bit slower with 12V batteries which is normal.

 

[Minion]

Glad it?s working now!

Running at a lower voltage will mean an increase in current, and an increase in heat. Just be mindful you don?t overheat the motor and damage it.

Those stickers are cool though!!

 

[NewStuff]

An easy way of polarity protection is to alternate the Male and Female connections, so there is a male and female on each side. You'll see this in an awful lot of commercial power connections.
Alternatively, if you can stand the bulk, Molex Valuseal are excellent for underground, and are keyed.
https://www.mouser.co.uk/search/refine.aspx?Ntk=P_MarCom&Ntt=153080436

 

[nihil_enochian]

Hi. Me again. We just bought a new Bosch Uneo but without battery. It cost us 20eur. I now have a problem modifying it. On previous Uneo with integrated battery I only need to remove it and to solder wires which goes to external battery. But on this one there is some kind of electronics and when I connected wires to connections where battery goes, nothing happens. When I press the switch there is only light from that green light which is on top and another white light which lights spot where you drill. Here are the pictures of this uneo to figure it out. I don't know what to do, maybe to avoid electronics? Thanks

 

[Rob]

Why modify it? Just use the replaceable batteries, like it's designed. Yes the batteries might be expensive, but China knockoffs exist and it keeps it light and versatile. 

 

[ali_mac]

I think the idea is that the weight of a battery and the drill, on the end of your arm can be quite tiring if you are outstretched.
I'm not sure the cost of the batteries is the largest consideration.

Also, modern, fancy cells require propriety chargers and a proper mains power supply, whereas by modifying to a remote battery in a tacklesack, you can use home made/off the shelf batteries which will charge from solar or similar chargers, which is essential for expeditions where you might not have a 20km long extension lead 

Another point would be that all drills on an expedition, regardless of make, could use the same batteries, cutting down again on how much stuff needs carrying...

 

[Ian Ball]

Are you sure it was working before you bought it?