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Dremel 7700 — Parallax Forums

Dremel 7700

xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
edited 2013-11-15 16:56 in General Discussion
Some things in life should not be cordless. For everything else, it needs to feel as if there is a cord, else its function becomes null.

I've always had a corded cheap knock off version of a Dremel style tool. It was worthless, no torque at all. That limited it to the kinds of jobs I don't need it for. A few months ago I was in Lowe's and saw a cordless Dremel 7700. It was around $50, I think. I opened the box on the ride home. I was excited about finally having a cordless Dremel, who wouldn’t be?

When I got home I charged the battery in the wall charger it came with. It mentioned a three hour charge time. I do not want or need quick chargers in my life. I'm a last minute guy when it comes to everything except batteries. When it comes to batteries I need maximum capacity, not three hour charge time. When I get a charger that doesn't agree with my policies… I assume the manufacturer designed it to last at least a year. It didn’t really matter because I was about to Dremel a bunch of stuff.

Back to the battery for a sec, the 7700 pack is 7.2v, and I assumed it was nickel-metal hydride. The odd shape had me guessing about the cells. Much to my dismay it turns out the thing was just as gutless as my corded one. I started questioning my own motives with Dremels, maybe I need to take up jewel crafting, and maybe I’m in the wrong hobby. I didn’t use it much after the initial disappointment, we’ll call it a learning curve and write it off. I would still periodically top off the battery. Just in case I needed to cut butter or polish some glass.

Today I needed to make the tiniest little cut in plastic. No go from the 7700. Charger had a green light but the battery was not charged. No magic cordless Dremel awesomeness anywhere in sight.

I decided to open the battery pack, and this is what I found;

28h06lc.jpg

Six 800mah nicads, 7.2v/800mah. Bleh…

106bkgz.jpg

Mechanical switch for “HI” and “LO”, more like “LOL”. The switch moves the contacts against the battery terminals. The cheese was getting deep.

2qbeutk.jpg

No problem…

294mqti.jpg

JST, now I can cord it or battery it.

2uhxpiv.jpg

7.2v? Runs a lot better on 8.2v. Mission accomplished. This thing will slice through time itself.

Comments

  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-11-14 17:46
    Our robotics club has one of those - complete garbage.

    It has been replaced with an 8000 10.8V lithium version that works very well, I have one at home too.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2013-11-14 17:48
    Myself I am disappointed in the quality of Dremel over the past few years. I have gone through three of them and all I ever use them for is to cut holes in drywall. I air clean them and lubricate as needed. However, I have one I bought at a garage sale for $1.00 that is from the 90's and that one kicks butt. It is the one I decided to place in my Dremel Drill Press and it cuts pretty much everything I need it to.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,244
    edited 2013-11-14 17:53
    I got a Montgomery Ward "Power Kraft" brand dremel tool circa 1980, nearly half the price of a Dremel. Corded, obviously, with variable speed. It was all this poor college student could afford. Came in a plastic dremel-like storage box with all the bits. Nice kit. I peeled the Power Kraft label off of the box and tool. It said DREMEL underneath. :)

    Still works fine today. I don't mind the cord.
  • wasswass Posts: 151
    edited 2013-11-14 19:53
    I've had a Dremel 800 10.8 V lithium tool for several years, it works incredibly well and hardly ever has to be charged. It has more torque than the corded Dremel 380 it replaced.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2013-11-14 20:10
    The lithium version looks way better and worth getting spare battery packs instead of hacking it. I wonder why Dremel would produce something like the 7700 in today's market. It has a very 90s feel to it. There are a lot of good reviews about it online though. A lot of people mention the battery but somehow for them it isn't a show stopper. I wonder if there were better batches of batteries, maybe Dremel didn't manufacture the batteries.
  • jaydenjayden Posts: 2
    edited 2013-11-15 00:25
    I am thinking of that too. It seems that Dremel only manufacture tools and accessory kit.
  • MJBMJB Posts: 1,235
    edited 2013-11-15 00:49
    in 1993 Dremel was bought by Robert BOSCH GmbH and is one of their tool business lines.
    just realized this recently
  • CuriousOneCuriousOne Posts: 931
    edited 2013-11-15 00:55
    I have almost similar dremel model, which uses 4 AA batteries. "upgraded" it with 14500 LiIon rechargeables (3.6v ea). Got the power almost same as corded one :)
  • dmagnusdmagnus Posts: 271
    edited 2013-11-15 07:32
    I'll second that. Wouldn't be without mine...
  • Mark_TMark_T Posts: 1,981
    edited 2013-11-15 08:40
    I think the moral is "never buy a cordless power tool that doesn't have lithium batteries"

    Scope I think for a kickstarter project, open-source dremel-alike with choice of motor (brushless DC motor, mains AC)
    and compatible CNC mounting collar.
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2013-11-15 16:16
    I think I see why. The 7700 sells at sears for 25, the quality dremels are 3 to 5 times the price.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2013-11-15 16:53
    I think I see why. The 7700 sells at sears for 25, the quality dremels are 3 to 5 times the price.

    $25 is more like it. I looked it up and I did pay $50 at the time. It was the only cordless Dremel there. It's a shame because the tool itself is great, just the battery or possibly the charger that ruins it.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2013-11-15 16:56
    NWCCTV wrote: »
    Myself I am disappointed in the quality of Dremel over the past few years. I have gone through three of them and all I ever use them for is to cut holes in drywall. I air clean them and lubricate as needed. However, I have one I bought at a garage sale for $1.00 that is from the 90's and that one kicks butt. It is the one I decided to place in my Dremel Drill Press and it cuts pretty much everything I need it to.

    That's what I ended up doing. I found a used Dremel 4000 on craigs for $20 with all the original bits still new. Problem solved.

    For drywall you ever try a sawzall?
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