New Cordless Drill Driver quandry

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Hi,
I am looking for a reasonable quality cordless drill driver for around £100. I have had bosch, nutool and aldi's own but I got stuck at the weekend with
all the batteries dead or not holding charge. They are all getting on a bit, so I thought I would look for a 'new'
generation cordless drill/driver. I have done a bit of searching, but tbh it is all getting a bit confusing with different
voltages, amps/hr, brushless motors etc. I always thought the bigger the voltage the better, but it seems not so now.

I don't do loads of DIY but what I do do tends to be lots over a couple of days, so I could
do with good battery life, good power, reasonably light and fairly quick charging.

What is the current best buy/recommended at the moment.
Is this too tall an order for my budget?
Do I need to spend more?
Will the current li-on batteries last longer and not suffer the same detriment as the older ones do?

Cheers
Rich
 
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I have two combo drills, one is a dewalt http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776s2t-gb-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/2710p
And the other drill is from Lidl and is a similar spec and it only cost about £30, I tend to use this drill the most as it will charge in 30 mins and has plenty of go in it for what I want.
I can highly recommend the li-on batteries as they don't tend to fade like the older ni-cad batteries, they just stop when they are empty of charge and you simply re-charge them to full capacity.

Mike
 
how much should i expect to pay? I saw a makita 10.4? pair last night for £160 - do i need to go that high as I am being bit by the buy cheap buy twice atm I think...

are dewalt as god as they used to be , i thought they had taken a downturn in quality
 
Avoid anything with Ni-Cd batteries! I was well impressed with the Miluakee that has replaceable chucks, with a 90 and offset driver. Comes with two smaller batteries so while you're using one, the other is charging.

The problem with Ni-Cd is they're supposed to be stored dis-charged which is useless. They also suffer memory effect easily. Li-ion are supposed to be stored charged so that at least means they're ready to go

Nozzle
 
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so basically i want li-ion battery with the largest MaH value?

Is it worth paying more for a brushless motor?
 
The bigger the A/hr rating, the longer the tool will last.....essential if it's on a circular saw or other high drain tool.
I have a 18v Hitachi which has 2 smallish Li-ion batteries - I don't mind this as one can be on charge anyway. This tool has had serious use in metal drilling and always comes back for more. It was a Screwfix deal, around £120 a few years ago and I'd definitely have another.
John :)
 
so basically i want li-ion battery with the largest MaH value?

Is it worth paying more for a brushless motor?

In my opinion you're better off having two smaller ones (for the same battery technology mAh and the physical size are closely related). One in use, one charging - and smaller battery packs have the drill lighter weight and more able to get into tighter corners.

Nozzle
 
yep get the most amp hours you can afford at the highest voltage.
But to give you some idea of comparable capacity think in watt-hours multiply the voltage by the amp/hours.
For example a 15volt battery at 4 amp hours would have a watt-hours rating of 60 watt-hours so would run a 60watt light bulb for 1 hour, however an 20 volt battery at 1.5 amp hours would have a capacity of 30 watt hours so would only run a 60 watt bulb for half an hour.
The other thing I would seriously consider is to make sure the drill you choose has a full 13mm chuck and not a piddly 10mm one.
 
there's also the weight and size to think of.

I find an 18v combi is the best compromise of power and weight.
 
how much should i expect to pay? I saw a makita 10.4? pair last night for £160 - do i need to go that high as I am being bit by the buy cheap buy twice atm I think...
They certainly have enough power but only have a 10mm chuck. there are plenty of pattern part batteries out there too. I have no idea on the quality or safety of them though. you would have an impact for screwing and a separate tool for occasional drilling too.
I have a porter cable set I brought over from the states and use them most of the time usually in preference to my bosch pairing unless I have a lot of screws to do.
Also do you need the two tools you could get something like this or this and a spare battery for less than £160.
I can tell you from experience that the 4amp hour bosch batteries last for ages
 
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Is it worth paying more for a brushless motor?
Unless you are trade, no. Highest Amp rating? Again, trade yes, DIY, maybe. For drilling a 1.3Ah or 1.5Ah will suffice for most DIY - heck even the trade plumbers we have at work only use 1.5 or 2Ah on their drills - they keep the high amperage batteries for jigsaws and grinders which really hammer batteries
 
The problem with Ni-Cd is they're supposed to be stored dis-charged which is useless. They also suffer memory effect easily. Li-ion are supposed to be stored charged so that at least means they're ready to go

NiCd can be stored however you like, and memory effect is a non-effect on planet earth. Self-discharge is substantial, however. They're a robust battery technology much hated due to ignorance and cheap chargers (and cheap cells, and cheap packs.. three things which affect li-ion just as badly). They're also large and heavy, so li-ion wins anyway.

Li-ions are supposed to be stored partially charged. Self-discharge is low.

btw, NiCd is apparently finally going away for good at the end of the year.
 
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