If World of Concrete has been anything, it’s been exciting. There have been a lot of new products debuted that we were able to really get our hands on and check out up close and personal. One of the tools that really impressed us was the new Hilti TE 30-A36 36V cordless combihammer. Hilti placed a brushless motor into this beast, gave it a 6.0 Ah 36V battery (check out our article on voltage vs amp-hours), and then added safety measures like Active Vibration Reduction and Hilti’s Active Torque Control technology. ATC is important because it automatically cuts-out the motor in critical situations so you don’t rip your arms off when you are drilling and suddenly hit an immovable obstruction.
Hilti TE 30-A36 36V Brushless Combihammer Features
Hilti’s intention is to completely free you from the grid with this cordless tool and, based on the fact they had us drilling 3/4″ holes in concrete, I’d say they pulled it off. The company told us that they produced the Hilti TE 30-A36 36V Brushless Combihammer specifically to tackle jobs that would include drilling concrete anchor holes up to 3/4″ in diameter. Because of that, you can perform non-structural rebar dowelling, or even reliably engage the chip-only mode for corrective chiseling. Plus, if you need to drill in other materials, you can disable the hammer and use the quick-release chuck to swap out the bit. At Hilti’s World of Concrete demo site, they were drilling up to 35 holes, each 3/4-inch in diameter, before having to change out the battery. That’s impressive.
Hilti TE 30-A36 with TE-CD and TE-YD Hollow Drill Bits
And if that weren’t enough, Hilti mentioned that you can use the TE 30-A36 with their new Hilti TE-CD and TE-YD hollow drill bits. These new bits make hole cleaning completely unnecessary because dust is removed by the vacuum system while drilling is in progress. With this automatic cleaning system you benefit not only by saving cleaning time, but also from a virtually dust-free working environment. This drilling system makes rebar and anchor installation extremely reliable and is ideal for large-scale, repetitive use. It seems like the dust would clog the bit, or that the bit would be less effective due to the increased geometry, but they seemed to perform well at the show. We’ll have to take a look down the road to see how it holds up against competition. Of course, a fair comparison would also have to include blow-out time for the holes drilled by traditional bits.
This is a great-looking hammer that really seems to be built well. It feels good and solid in the hand and really comes across as a corded replacement—something that I know Hilti is working to get across with a lot of its new 36V tools. So far, so good.
