Another Cordless Drill thread

[bonzobanana]

Hi,

First time poster here and just looking for feedback on cordless drills. From what I understand Makita are highly rated. Are they better or worse than Bosch and how does Dewalt compare?

When you look around the DIY sheds you can see most cordless drills are varations on just a few chinese designs. Probably 3-4 main chinese manufacturers all getting rebranded to various different names.

I noticed AEG, Ryobi and Miwaulkee are all part of the same company based in hong kong.

I think I'm looking for;

A decent motor
Metal gearing
Good quality batteries
Intelligent charger to make sure the batteries aren't overcharged. Don't really want a timed charger just in case I forget to discharge the battery first and overcharge it.

I don't really care about the weight of the drill (within reason). Minimum 18V I would guess with hammer action.

I'm not keen on li-on batteries as I've had issues with li-on based rechargable batteries in small devices that go dead if left too long without a top up charge. Prefer nicads I think as they can be stored discharged or charged without issues and as long as discharged before charging should be ok. Is that still sound advice or has things moved on?

Basically I don't want any battery technology that has storage issues. So if I don't use the drill for four months it won't die on me.

I definitely want 2 batteries included.

I'm not a brand snob. I've read reports of people having problems with all sorts of brands. My own personal experience is that Bosch have been brilliant but I've seen negative reports/reviews on just about all brands including Bosch and I've seen glowing reviews of shop brands etc. Not had great experience of Black and Decker personally though which weights me slightly against B&D and Dewalt.

Price £40-80 (maybe stretch to £100).

Currently this is my front runner but its really more than I want to pay (£100).

Can I go cheaper than this or will I suffer the consequences?

 

[studips]

be patient and someone will do a deal on the makita at some point. i bought a pair of them and paid i think £70 each with a discount voucher on top of a promo price.

i would rule out hitachi - had them and not as good as makita by a long way, an 18v dewalt i use quite often seems ok but is a heavy lump (wouldn't spend the money myself, but it's a mates and it's handy so i use it), bosch blue - never used one, but they have to be good don't they?

 

[tinytom]

hi,
this is my personal opinion on some brands

hitachi, good quality but not too powerfull
b and d, some good items but more diy i think
dewalt, posh black and decker, loads of power but heavy
panasonic, great but very pricey
ryobi, diy standard but not bad especially for the money
bosch great but can be expensive
makita, not too expensive and good stuff

ive got the makita drill you showed above and its great, even with nicd batterys they last about 8 hours, and the drill will handle anything you throw at it
if you want it for trade you could proberably do with the nimh batterys, bit more expensive but last longer.

this is just my personal opinion, i prefer makita but it is really up to the user

hope this helps

thanks tom

 

[bonzobanana]

Almost bought this one as I thought the batteries were 4Ah until I looked closer. What a con.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.j...w=lister&ts=1293701080181&isSearch=false&fl=1

I think I will play the waiting game to see if the makita goes cheaper or a voucher becomes available. I will try to get it for £90 or less. Thanks for the advice.

 

[big-all]

i will always shout the virtues off dewalt and ryobi as the old tools and new batteries fit as do new tools and old batteries

li-ion fits your needs much better than nicads
the senario you have loads to do first battery last 3 mins you then put it on charge second battery last 2 mins you now have to wait 1 hr

where as with lion you topped up both batteries the night before
even if you didn't you can give it a 15m charge that will charge the battery 60 to 70% full charge

and off course dewalt have in excess off 15 tools for the 18 volt battery and ryobi have 30 tools for the home and garden some are here

http://ryobi-oneplus.co.uk/

 

[merlin50]

if you are not using it that much get something with a cord on it

 

[muggles]

Bosch Blue for pro, Ryobi One+ for pro backup/DIY. If someone gave me a DeWalt tool for free I'd stick it on eBay and let some other mug have it, I'd certainly never buy one.

Makita have a good reputation generally but some of their Li-Ion batteries have had issues

 

[big-all]

If someone gave me a DeWalt tool for free I'd stick it on eBay and let some other mug have it, I'd certainly never buy one.

ok go on then give us a clue
what specific dewalt tools have you had trouble with and what was the problem

 

[bonzobanana]

I already have a corded drill, a near 30 year old Bosch model which still works brilliantly. Theres a bit of rust on the chuck and the plastics got a few marks and paint splashes but I've no plans to change it. Great for masonry work but overkill for smaller jobs. Absolutely no way you could use it with only one hand either. Also it completely lacks reverse. It has hammer action, 2 main speeds and a A-F control on the trigger for fine speed control but no reverse. It was the first power tool I ever purchased at 15 years old. Its a CSB 450-2E which I paid £38 for at the time. It came with a load of accessories in the pack, spirit level, drill bits etc. The spirit level has survived but thats about it.

Looks like the one in the top of that photo although mine is definitely more blue than green.

I've certainly had my monies worth and its not lasted because its been underused. It just won't die.

Also now that I've just looked at it I realise its only 450 watts hence the number but it was so good I was under the impression it was 800 watts or something like that. Newer generic 500 watts mains drills don't seem anywhere near as powerful for some reason yet you would think older motors would be less efficient. Case in point I did some diy for my mother using a generic argos 500 watt drill (£6.60 in a 3 for 2 deal for £20)and it was quite weak so got my own old Bosch to finish the job. I suppose its something to do with gearing.

Anyway enough of the history of my drill purchases you can see it has its limitations.

 

[merlin50]

that proves how good bosch are, I have 20 of there power tools and pleased with every one.

 

[muggles]

If someone gave me a DeWalt tool for free I'd stick it on eBay and let some other mug have it, I'd certainly never buy one.

ok go on then give us a clue
what specific dewalt tools have you had trouble with and what was the problem

All 18v NiMH gear running 3.0aH batteries...twas a few years ago so memories are a little hazy but here goes.

Combi drill - I think the gearbox fell apart, after about 10 months use. Took 6 weeks to repair as they lost it for a while and under some technicality I don't quite recall it wasn't covered by the warranty, gave up fighting with them and paid up in the end. Wasn't ever quite convinced it was actually my drill that came back. Bought a new bare unit while I was waiting cos I needed a drill, it was better but I think the chuck stopped gripping on that one after a while.

Charger that came with the original combi failed and cooked three of my batteries before I realised what was going on, so had to buy new batteries, and a new charger

Impact driver stopped impacting, and consequently wouldn't rotate at all when the torque increased. They did (eventually) repair that under warranty, took far too long again though, and started getting trouble with it again after a few months (now out of warranty of course).

Angle drill - trigger was intermittent out of the box, when I got it back from the repairers it was OK for a while then the gearbox reverse packed up. Back to repair again, lasted a little longer then caught fire whilst stood on the floor doing nothing, short circuit.


All the above was in the space of about 18 months, I eventually got fed up and chucked the whole lot in a skip. Vowed never to buy anything with DeWalt on the side ever again. I've run Bosch ever since and it's been almost faultless, the one time I have had to make a warranty claim the service was fast (five day turnaround from me calling their warranty hotline to them returning it to me properly fixed) and quibble-free, they even gave the drill a full strip-down service while they had it.

 

[big-all]

absolutlly understand why you don't like dewalt with an experience like that lol

can you remember what company you got it from was it sold as new or reconditioned ??

 

[muggles]

All sold as new, mainly came off the internet but can't remember the companies, not eBay stuff though

 

[r.bartlett]

I stick with Panasonic..Great drills and top quality..

 

[bonzobanana]

I stick with Panasonic..Great drills and top quality..

Out of my price range sadly. I don't think I'd get much for even £100.