BRUSH VS. BRUSHLESS TOOLS...What's The Difference?! (Do You Need This SUPERIOR DRILL TECHNOLOGY?!)

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Do You Need This SUPERIOR DRILL TECHNOLOGY?! (Brush Vs. Brushless Tools--WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?!)

What do tool brand upgrades like Dewalt XR and Milwaukee FUEL really mean? And why is there such a huge difference in cost for some of the cordless power tools? This short video from The Honest Carpenter will explain the newest revolution in the cordless tool market!

The big differences in cost and performance in cordless drills and other cordless power tools often comes down to BRUSH TOOLS VS. BRUSHLESS TOOLS.

Brushless technology used to only exist in industrial machinery. But lately, it has been showing up in our handheld, cordless power tools, especially drills.

Both Brush (or "Brushed") and Brushless refer to the engineering of the tool motor.

Brush tools have long been the go-to for small tool motors. Brush tools use a rotary action to transfer their power.

Brushes are little carbon blocks housed in the motor. They're held in contact with a commutator, which spins between the brushes.

Power from the battery or electrical cord flows through a switch when the trigger is pulled. A wire carries it to the brushes, which transfer it into the commutator. The commutator sends it to a dense coil of copper wires on the rotor--the Armature.

The Armature takes on an electromagnetic charge, which pushes against a group of stationary magnets surrounding it in the brush motor. A series of positively and negatively charged magnets force the armature to spin, thereby turning the rotor, which turns the drill head (or other brush tool blade or bit).

Unfortunately, brushes wear down over time due to their contact with the commutator. This can cause sparking, and overheating, which drastically reduces the efficiency of the brush tool.

BRUSHLESS TOOLS did away with the brushes and commutator!

Instead, they have large magnets attached directly to the rotor. The armature is stationary and surrounds the magnets. A little circuit board on the armature acts like a brain, directing current and polarity through the armature. This causes the magnets and rotor to turn, thereby powering the tool.

In brushless tools, there is very little contact between parts. So, you get no friction, no overheating, and no worn-out brushes!

Brushless tools and drills can produce 20-30% more torque and speed. And, they can last for thousands of hours of usage.

Dewalt XR is Dewalt's brushless tool line.

Milwaukee FUEL is a line of HIGHLY EFFICIENT brushless tools, though their M18 line also has some brushless tools.

Makita LXT refers to great lithium-ion batteries shared by many Makita cordless tools, both brush tools and brushless.

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[TheHonestCarpenter]

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[waltercroson]

I went into this video already knowing what brushless and brush tools meant. But when you took the drill apart and used the names of the parts that’s what I didn’t know. Awesome job, learned a good deal from this.

[TheMord]

I am a professional handyman, and a Makita driver is one of my main, daily tools. A couple of months ago gave my old Makita driver to my brother, who only needs it once in a while for home use, and bought a new, brushless one. Wow! It's smaller, much more powerful, and I only need to recharge once a week instead of once a day. That makes a BIG difference in my line of work.
Love it!

[rickobbink]

You explained something I've been avoiding thinking about. Thx,

[davidbundesen]

This is a fantastic description. I’ve owned these tools for years and I’ve never actually understood the difference between the classic brushed tool and the brushless. And yeah switching up brushes it’s pretty easy to do. I used to do it all the time on my Milwaukee drills and my Milwaukee saws all’s. Thanks for the great description

[billb.]

Another good video Ethan. I manage a very large facilities department and we have an awful lot of cordless tools in our shop, mostly Dewalts. Most are still old school ones with brushes, which we replace as needed. My guys tend to like the newer brushless ones because, if nothing else, they’re lighter.
I must say though, when I see power tools that are WiFi enabled, Bluetooth, have micro chips and little circuit boards I get nervous about their long term reliability….especially since these things get dropped, banged around, and subjected to a lot of use/abuse.

[jimivey]

Important video. Anyone just getting interested in tools should watch this before purchasing anything.

[garbo]

Worked 50 years as an electrician and never once saw a brushless motor on conyeyors pumps fans etc. All were plain jane 3 phase motors controlled by a VFD. saw & worked on some stepper motors. Brushless is definitely the way to go for professional trades people. Brushes last a very long time. Inherited my dads 1/2" Skil drill that I drilled thousands of holes with. Finally had to replace the brushes when the drill was 30 years old. Worked 16 years at a news paper and all of the 60 HP brushed DC motors for 24 units never had brushes replaced. One great thing is they had a duct blowing cool air in motors to keep them from getting too hot. Told in a motor class that some DC motor brushes are infused with other materials besides graphite to prolong brush life. In electric shop we had different thicknesses of graphite sheets in order to make brushes.

[cramdivad]

I'm an electrician, and I do have a Makita impact driver and hammer drill for drilling into masonry...both brushless...and its insane how much torque you get. The impact driver I just used the other day to mount 10 disconnects side by side and it worked amazing. It's pretty impressive how such a small impact driver like the one I have can work, and with the brushless technology its much much lighter in the hands too. Great invention.

[VynnieTheGardener]

SOOOO helpful. I was never too concerned about old school brush tools, as I'm a low use semi-pro. (and I'm familliar with the function as I grew up with slot-cars, dismantling them and sparking 'em up!)
This does clarify the tool labeling and the crazy [valid] pricing game on the store shelves. Thanks to this tutorial, my future purchases will likely shift to brushless as I upgrade my (already still in great condition) power tools. Thanks Ethan!!👍

[debsteele]

Female DIYer here, and I’m just starting to use power tools. Currently shopping around and kept seeing the term brushless and had absolutely no idea what that meant. Thank you so much for your explanation. While I know I would appreciate the lighter weight tools, I’m thinking brushless might be a bit cost prohibitive for me. But next time I go shopping at least I’ll know what that means and can now make an informed decision. ❤

[builder_for_life]

This is the lesson that everybody needs to learn and pay attention to. When it comes to Brushed motor power tools you people gotta do some research on the specific tool's maintenance, not all Brush motor power tools are worth of keeping it especially the cordless brushed motor power tools. And I found that on some other Brand like Bosch, Craftsman, Ryobi, Skil, Porter Cable and Stanley all of these Tool Brand that I mentioned they have cordless brush tools that where the carbon brush is completely worn out you're gonna have to replace the Entire Brush Motor and Pinion gear assembly which is they worth $25 and higher a piece to replace it. However some other brand like DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee they got Cordless Brush Tools that are SERVICEABLE and Easy to Maintain you can find the carbon brush assembly and other parts online so cheap and affordable that the motor does not needed to be replaced but just only the brush itself they only cost $3 to $7 a pair to replace it and it's so easy to service DIY it. Some other tool brand offers lifetime service warranty like Ridgid. On cheap and budget side like Harbor freight tools Bauer and Hercules they don't have carbon brush parts selling in the big Powertool parts retailer online so when your harbor freight tools gets worn out you're gonna have to toss them in the garbage or send it back to the store to get it fixed. That's why I've been telling to all of my friends and relatives do your research first! If you can't find parts on that specific tool brand and model that you're planning to purchase and can't do the maintenance in the long term then might as well go for something else that are maintenance Free Brushless Motor Power tools.

[quantum_beeb]

Also to expand on the sparks in brushed tools- this is EXTREMELY common in NEW tools, particularly larger hand tools like routers and will go away over time. I had a router that sparked and smelled badly for the first ~10 uses and it went away. Same issue with a sawsall for about 4 uses

[jvgauthier]

I've used Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, Hilti and Milwaukee power tools. Ah yes, Ryobi and Dremel as well.
Tools hardlly ever fails. Failures were almost always on me...

....and yet I still find gear talk wickedly fun!

[makermark]

Thanks! I work part-time in a tool shop and until now I've been answering the inevitable question 'what does brushless mean' with: less moving parts. So this will help explain things a little better.

[jimfromzerosurge]

Tip - If you are ditching an old motorized tool, take it apart and save the magnets. I saved the magnets from my model airplane motors and use them for cabinets and doors and hidden covers.

[ramrod]

I've bought all my brushless Dewalt tools for the same price as brushed tools by finding them on sale.

[Zenkai]

I bought my first brushless dewalt power drill 3 years ago, I was hesitant to buy it because of the cost but was frustrated with my old cordless drill. I instantly fell in love, this thing has some torque and the battery life is amazing.

[DudeSawdust]

I’m always amazed at how well you explain things. You would have been a great teacher.

[milojah]

Respect how you broke this down for us! Love the fact that you didn't just explain but you took the tool apart so we could see! 👏🏽 I said hell yeah!! 😂 This is exactly the information I needed to understand these tools!! 🥲