Bosch 14.4V Litheon Compact Tough Drill Driver Model 36614-02

By Bruce Kieffer  
Photo by manufacturer

Posted: July 31, 2009

I recently purchased one of Bosch Tool's new 14.4-volt Litheon Drill Drivers, and I must say, it's a fine tool. Cordless drill/drivers have really come a long way during my 30-plus year career. This drill beats the living daylights out of any vintage cordless drill/driver. It sells for around $180. For that reasonable amount of dough, you get a 20 position, ratcheting single sleeve, 1/2" chuck drill/driver, with two "SlimPack" batteries, a charger, and a carrying case. The drill is lightweight, well balanced, and easily stands upright when set that way. It has a great one-handed chuck and powerful batteries that do a lot of work before needing recharging. There's also an LED light in front of the trigger that is useful to illuminate dark work areas.

"Litheon" is Bosch's trademark name for their lithium-ion battery technology. Bosch has gone to great lengths to design sophisticated circuitry, which protects and extends battery life. Their confidence shows with their 2-year battery guarantee. Under normal conditions, the batteries should last much longer than that. It's really quite amazing to hold one of these "SlimPack" batteries in your hand and wonder how the heck do they get that much power out of something so lightweight and small!

 
With all of that said, you will be disappointed if you try the common, but inappropriate, practice of grabbing the chuck and torque testing. When paired with a standard "SlimPack" battery, the drill will easily fail that test by seaming to stall. What actually happens is the overload protection kicks in and shuts the drill off. I was leery of this at first, but after a few months of shop testing, I can honestly say this drill has all the torque needed for daily woodworking tasks and I have yet to stall it in use with the work I do. If you want to use this drill for heavy-duty job site drill/driving, then equip it with Bosch's accessory "FatPack" 14.4V battery. That battery will break your wrist long before it stalls!

Bosch Tools

(877) 267-2499