Milwaukee Drill/Strikemaster 8″ Lite Flite bogging down

So the drill and auger were working just fine (second year of use, have 2 5amp batteries). Took the drill off to build some shelves. Put back on the clam plate, charged batteries and off we go. Auger cuts fine thru the first 4″-5″ of ice then wants to bog down in the hole or even stop. If I constantly clear the shavings it will finally finish the hole, but never had this problem before. Batteries are fully charged, drill settings are on drill and #1. I do not think anything happened with the auger the last time out that would have damaged the pitch/blades, etc. but am not 100% certain. Cuts really good and fast the first 4″-5″ then slows and bogs down. I now have the batteries on the charger and have the auger in the house thawing out just to make sure nothing is froze or causing issues.

Anybody have any issues like this? Thoughts as to what could be wrong? Only thing I can think of to test is to get a friends drill and check with that or that drill and my batteries, etc.

What model of Millwaukee drill do you have? With the 5amp batteries once they get older they loose there strength and probably won’t work in your application. I have a handful of 5amp batteries that are sitting dead in a box from high use and/or age.

It’s the 2804-20. I have a hard time believing that both batteries would quit being powerful enough within the same day of each other. They weren’t bought at the same time either.

Find somebody with another battery to verify if that’s your issue or not would be my suggestion. I have had various Milwaukee 18v tools stall out a 5 amp battery even though it reads full charge many times.

Jason,

That is the plan. Not sure if I know anybody but, will look around. Thanks for the advice.

Could be the blades are just not as sharp as they were last year. Where are you located, I have the same drill and batteries. I am in the south metro.

We ran into the same issue with my buddies new 6″ lite flight this last weekend. The Batteries do make a difference. My buddy has 2 5 amp batteries and I have 2 5 amp as well. He has way more use on his 2 than I do. We noticed a big difference between his 2 and mine. I think the difference in ice also makes a difference. Both in thickness and hardness. His new Lite flight cut crazy fast when the ice was only 6-7″ thick. Now that its over 12″ it seems to bog down much more. Those flights are moving far less shaved ice when its 6″ than when its 12″

Are you still using the original blades? Depending on how much use you have on the current blades they may be getting slightly dull as well. Those lazer style blades are know to get dull after after a year or so of heavy use.

I will say both my buddy and I were really impressed with how smooth and fast the lite flight cuts. This smoother cutting also accounts for more holes drilled per battery than out K-Drill.

Yes, the blades are probably not as sharp as the used to be. The thing that throws me is it seems that this happened “over night”. That’s the confusing part. Either I ran into something that dulled the blades (both look/feel sharp and no nicks in the blades) or the batteries both got weaker at exactly the same time. That is what is puzzling me. I have been totally impressed with the lite flight, drill speed and cutting ability up to this point.

@dhpricco – Thanks for the offer. I am in Mankato.

I 100% agree with Fishthumper. I run a 8inch lite flite on a Milwaukee M18. Love the setup. I usually just bring out 2 5 AH Batteries. I use these batteries alot for lawn care around the house and they don’t hold near the charge as they did when new 3 years ago. I get the bogging down as well. I took a newer 8AH out last time and the sucker ripped.

I’m considering just buying a battery for ice fishing only

That is probably my problem then. I also use mine for lawn care and the drill itself. These drill/augers are nice, but a new $200 battery every 2-3 years seems like an expensive ordeal. Will the actual Strikemaster auger batteries (24v and 40v) have the same life span?

As we all like our electric augers the manufactures are definitely winning the marketing war on this one. Old gas augers lasted 20-30 years now we have to buy new products every 2-4 years.

Long shot but make sure it is on the drill setting(drill bit) and Mode 1. Mine did same when I had on a torque setting mistakenly.

I suspect that your blades may be getting dull and overworking the batteries. Most higher quality batteries have a thermo relay that will shut them down when over torqued. I had trouble with my 18v Hitachi. I thought the drill was bad because it would drill several inches, then sputter on and off until I finished the hole. Thinking the drill was bad I bought a m18 fuel Milwaukee (which BTW is a great drill for those augers). Anyway, long story short, the Hitachi was overheating. If your batteries worked fine last year, they’re probably still OK. Check your blades for sharpness and proper alignment. Those lighter duty augers with replaceable blades can get bent really easily and fail to cut cleanly.

Gerty I had that issue with my Makita and found that it wasn’t all the way in 1st. Give it a click and maybe it’s that simple. Good luck

supercat wrote:

As we all like our electric augers the manufactures are definitely winning the marketing war on this one. Old gas augers lasted 20-30 years now we have to buy new products every 2-4 years.

Still running same batteries drill and Kdrill. On year 8. Must be lucky.

I went through over 20” of ice this past weekend in South Dakota with my 6”Lite Flite that’s 3 years old and the same blades but I use 9 amp batteries and 1 of them is a Milwaukee knock off I got off EBay for half the price as an original. It never once hesitated on any of the holes. Gert I would check out eBay and get yourself a 9 amp.

gonehunting wrote:

Long shot but make sure it is on the drill setting(drill bit) and Mode 1. Mine did same when I had on a torque setting mistakenly.

Exactly what I was thinking, every once in a while that will happen to me at work. Drill seems like it’s losing power then I’ll notice I accidentally twisted the torque setting lower. Milwaukee drill don’t give off the tell tale clutch grinding noise, they just act like they are losing torque.

As mentioned in my original post, the drill was on the drill setting and on number 1. I checked it several times as I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for all the suggestions. I had brought everything in the house to let it all thaw out (auger tip etc.) made sure batteries were warm and charged fully and also made sure the drill and chuck were seated properly on the clam plate. Took it out last night. Only drilled a couple holes but, it worked fine. So, I will be keeping my eye on it. If it continues to act up I am sure it must either be the blades or the batteries. Targeting at least one of the high output XC 8amps if I buy new.

There is a recall on some of the 8″ lite Flite blades, but I think it is on newer ones.

Reply to supercat in regard to life of Li-ion packs versus gas.
If the Li-ion battery pack is well designed using quality cells and proper charging techniques you should expect to see around 450-600 full charge and discharge cycles and very nice consistent performance during the life of the battery pack.
So let’s say you fish 50 days per year and use 1 full discharge cycle(100 holes in 16-18″ of ice)then you will get around 10 years of nice performance right up until the battery pack end of life. Most packs if designed correctly run consistently until the very end of life.
Then during off-season fully charge the battery pack and store at comfortable room temperature around 50-80f if you can.
Battery power is so much cleaner, less messy, no carbs or pull cords to break.
Anyway that is my feedback to you from a designer point. thanks

glenn-d wrote:

I went through over 20” of ice this past weekend in South Dakota with my 6”Lite Flite that’s 3 years old and the same blades but I use 9 amp batteries and 1 of them is a Milwaukee knock off I got off EBay for half the price as an original. It never once hesitated on any of the holes. Gert I would check out eBay and get yourself a 9 amp.

Don’t want to steal the thread but how are those knockoffs? See them on Amazon but never tried one. Sure are a lot cheaper then the Milwaukee but maybe there is a reason for that