The Hitachi Lithium-Powered Screwdriver

The Hitachi Lithium-Powered Screwdriver

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Tony Arnold - StampedeProject.com

Nothing will kill your hands and arms faster than spinning screws in and out of a chassis. This was a task I recently faced overhauling four vehicles. Knowing what I was in for, I picked up a Hitachi DB3DL Cordless Lithium Powered Screwdriver to save myself some pain and significantly speed up the job. Though it looked new originally, as the picture shows, it’s been put to hard use – hey unlike other mags we do actually test things here at RC Car. The Hitachi unit is what I would term a premium cordless screwdriver with everything from a LED headlight, high/low speeds, dual lithium packs, a speed charger, a hard travel case, and a ton of clutch settings to keep you from stripping screws.

What We Liked
My thought was that I would probably use the screwdriver a little because after all it's just a smaller version of my cordless drill. The reality is that the convenient size, plentiful power, and features in reality have displaced lugging my full sized drill around for everyday RC and home driver tasks. The clutch was more useful and tunable than expected for a small screwdriver. The clutch on the #1 setting is so light that even tiny screws will set off the clutch and the highest #21 might as well be a clutch lock. A #5 being seems most applicable to our hobby. The light turned out to be handier than expected for shedding a little light into dark chassis recesses.

Hitachi knows Lithium power makes more power longer per ounce than NiMh packs and has equipped the DB3DL with dual lithium battery packs. Despite my best efforts to outrun the charger, the charger charged packs faster than I was able to drain them. I even used this little screwdriver to drive the back and forth table axis of my Proxxon Mini-Mill during machining - a very brutal task for such a small screwdriver. The power output of this little screwdriver delivers impressive wrist spraining torque so you can save your big cordless for all but the biggest driving tasks.

What We Would Change
First off I wouldn’t have deleted my really great pictures taken before I tested the DB3DL for over three months. Downsides from a product prospective would be the semi-pointless bend and click conversion from a straight to angled screwdriver. Aside from only being used for storage, the straight position feature is ergonomically worthless during use with the angled position being the best position to handle the torque of the screwdriver. The DB3DL does lock up for manual use, so I suppose this was the intent of the straight position. With this much power on tap, a mini-three jaw chuck for drill duties should have been included in this price range.

Conclusion
Hitachi has long been known to produce some of the most precise hand tools available and this little screwdriver is no exception. Handy and powerful would be the words to sum up this little screwdriver. With power to spare, a clutch and other features, this is one tool I would fight over.

Highs - Excellent quality, features, power, and weight
Lows - It is far inexpensive, but priced fairly for the features
Final Call - Worth the price

---------Call Out ---------------

Hitachi DB3DL Cordless Screwdriver
§ 3.6V
§ 2 speed - 200 & 600 rpm
§ 21 clutch settings
§ LED work light
§ 9 in. - 15.5 oz.
§ Includes 2 batteries, charger, and case
$80
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Sources: Hitachi Powertools - www.HitachiPowertools.com