Time for a new Drill & Impact driver....what's your thoughts?

[angelboy]

I've been using a Dewalt DC988 for 15 years for DIY work and it's been a great bit of kit. The gears are getting hard to engage now but the big problem really is the batteries don't hold a charge for long. I've got a range of dewalt battery powered tools, impact driver, circular saw, SDS drill so I've about 8 batteries that I've just condensed to 4 that will hold a charge long enough to do a few jobs.

So I'm going to get rid of the old Dewalt stuff and replace it but I only really want to get a new hammer drill and impact driver. I have a corded SDS and circular saw which I'm happy with.

I was tempted to stick with Dewalt but every place I look the big 900 series drills are out of stock and the comby kits only seem to have the 700 series drills.

Every review I watch there doesn't seem to be a brand or model that's and out'n'out winner. They all have strengths and weaknesses.

I'm sure I'm going to get a mixed responce but what's your thoughts?

 

[Mottie]

This any good? They have other DeWalt kits on same site.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...V0t_tCh1pnA9BEAQYCSABEgJHAfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[sxturbo]

your right they are all about the same these days.

it's more important to look at the range aswell, as you will be buying into a new battery system, you need to make sure that the tools you would like to purchase in the future will be available.

Milwauke appear to be the new favourites for tradesman and there stuff is very good,

DeWalt are always up there in all tests, same with Makita, Hikoki/Hitachi,

Bosch Blue, are always middle of the road in tests, the quality and longevity is there, but they are never as powerful as the competition.

i cant think of any other brands worth mentioning really.


there will be people on here banging on about the lidl and aldi brands, but tbh i've always found them tosh, they can slap on a 3 year warranty as much as they like, but if it breaks in that 3 years you cant get a replacement, the quality i find is abysmal i've bought 2x of there tools and both broke on the 3rd/4th time of using them.

 

[angelboy]

This any good? They have other DeWalt kits on same site.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...V0t_tCh1pnA9BEAQYCSABEgJHAfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm looking for 5.0Ah batteries and the drill is a 7 series (DCD776). I don't want to downgrade the power I've been used to.

But thanks

 

[sxturbo]

This any good? They have other DeWalt kits on same site.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...V0t_tCh1pnA9BEAQYCSABEgJHAfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

a 42nm drill wont even take the skin of a rice pudding.

one needs to be careful of these special offers, as although the brand is dewalt, they do so many different drills it's usually the cheapest tool they do that gets bundled.

its the same scenario with the milwauke tool package screwfix do, the combi drill is awful.


my hikoki drill has 139nm or torque, and the impact gun it was packaged with was 207nm. i did pay almost double the cost (350) of the dewalt in the link, but my point is pay careful attention to the specs of what your buying, as what you think you are getting and the reality is vastly different.

and trust me the difference is night and day.

 

[angelboy]

your right they are all about the same these days.

it's more important to look at the range aswell, as you will be buying into a new battery system, you need to make sure that the tools you would like to purchase in the future will be available.

Milwauke appear to be the new favourites for tradesman and there stuff is very good,

I always had it in my mind that when I came to change I'd go for Milwauke but after watching a few videos, they do seem to outperform the Dewalt but I keep seeing that they run hotter and burn out quicker.

The battery system is why I've ended up going back to corded on a few of my tools. I might go for a new SDS cordless at some point but it's not necessary right now.

 

[angelboy]

a 42nm drill wont even take the skin of a rice pudding.

one needs to be careful of these special offers, as although the brand is dewalt, they do so many different drills it's usually the cheapest tool they do that gets bundled.

its the same scenario with the milwauke tool package screwfix do, the combi drill is awful.


my hikoki drill has 139nm or torque, and the impact gun it was packaged with was 207nm. i did pay almost double the cost (350) of the dewalt in the link, but my point is pay careful attention to the specs of what your buying, as what you think you are getting and the reality is vastly different.

and trust me the difference is night and day.

Absolutley. The only way I can get something with power is to buy separately. They might have a decent impact driver but then it's bundled with a poor drill.

 

[Mottie]

a 42nm drill wont even take the skin of a rice pudding.

As I said, there are others. Depends on the use I suppose. What sort of Nm would you say to go for? I hadn’t even thought of this until you mentioned it!

 

[ETAF]

Dewalt does appear to be out of stock in a lot of places at the moment , I have been looking at various items, track saw etc and on on back order - expected April time scale.
I dont have the 9 series but was going to upgrade a while back

FFX
https://www.ffx.co.uk/Search/Refine/_K=dcd9
have a date of 1/4/21 on the drills
and the DCD999NT due in 26/3/21
DCD996 with a 4Ah , not sure if the batteries still fit
batt https://www.ffx.co.uk/product/Get/D...V-1X4.0Ah-Xr-Li-Ion-Brushless-Combi-Drill-Kit

I know a lot of kit is getting harder to find in stock, at the moment

 

[angelboy]

As I said, there are others. Depends on the use I suppose. What sort of Nm would you say to go for? I hadn’t even thought of this until you mentioned it!

I think the DC988 that I currently have has a max torque of 52Nm but the DCD996, which is what I was thinking about is 95Nm.

 

[angelboy]

Dewalt does appear to be out of stock in a lot of places at the moment , I have been looking at various items, track saw etc and on on back order - expected April time scale.
I dont have the 9 series but was going to upgrade a while back

FFX
https://www.ffx.co.uk/Search/Refine/_K=dcd9
have a date of 1/4/21 on the drills
and the DCD999NT due in 26/3/21
DCD996 with a 4Ah
batt https://www.ffx.co.uk/product/Get/D...V-1X4.0Ah-Xr-Li-Ion-Brushless-Combi-Drill-Kit

I know a lot of kit is getting harder to find in stock, at the moment

Thanks for that.

What do you think to this?

https://www.ffx.co.uk/product/Get/D...2-X-5.0Ah-Xr-Li-Ion-Brushless-Combi-Drill-Kit

 

[ETAF]

look good - 5ah is useful, but heavy
Not sure if your existing batteries will fit, not an expert , just looking at the shape on the 988 on ebay

 

[sxturbo]

I always had it in my mind that when I came to change I'd go for Milwauke but after watching a few videos, they do seem to outperform the Dewalt but I keep seeing that they run hotter and burn out quicker.

The battery system is why I've ended up going back to corded on a few of my tools. I might go for a new SDS cordless at some point but it's not necessary right now.

i think that is kind of down to how well they seem to do in tests, people end up pushing them far more and do things which perhaps they should be using a different tool for, which then burns them out quicker.

if going for milwauke make sure you get the fuel range

 

[ETAF]

this is supposed to be brand new
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEWALT-1...2sUUX-KVPhJLeROiVloeNIHhtqNkLNTxoCXN0QAvD_BwE

But I would get new with new batteries

 

[sxturbo]

As I said, there are others. Depends on the use I suppose. What sort of Nm would you say to go for? I hadn’t even thought of this until you mentioned it!

personally i think it really needs to be 70nm as a minimum.

the higher the peak torque does have an effect on the rest of the torque range below that also. bit like the difference between a 1.2 litre and a 2.0litre engine in the same car, both will do the basic job, but the 2.0 will make a much better/nicer job of doing it, with the trade of in fuel economy.