Tools for College

[SUNRAY]

I have been using the Aldi VDE screwdriver set for the past 5 years and they work and last perfectly well.
They have the appropriate certification and meet the appropriate approvals.
I use them daily and they have outlasted more expensive screwdrivers.

However they are currently not in store otherwise would be a good set for an apprentice, by the way they will not be allowed to work live to VDE is not really required. Also as an apprentice they will have to put up with the jest of others, my apprentice has had all his tools painted pink by the others. They also leave them around, do not take care of their tools and lend them out and never see them again.
So I wold not invest in expensive tools for an apprentiship.

Sonic70, have a look at screwfix, they have some Magnusson sets of pliers etc. that are low priced but the tools are good.

One thing I must say about Lidl and I assume Aldi is many of their purchases are not repeatable. They may have a tools promotion say 3 times a year but the screwdrivers (as an example as we are talking about them) one purchases may never be seen again. As for their 3,4,5 year guarantee, I'd like to know if anyone has managed a replacement/refund past a few months.

I'm not saying it's all junk, I have a few of their airline products and know 2 people who have their compressors/sprayguns/air tools, once the pressure regulator/filter was replaced all have proved to be perfectly acceptable. I've seen many of their cordless drills in use but I do find people tend to treat them as throwaway items.

Nothing wrong with pink... I purchased a 5m steel tape from poundland, pink with diamonte and 'I luv DIY' logo. No one ever wanted to borrow it and I never lost it or needed to look for it... Yay!

 

[JohnW2]

One thing I must say about Lidl and I assume Aldi is many of their purchases are not repeatable. They may have a tools promotion say 3 times a year but the screwdrivers (as an example as we are talking about them) one purchases may never be seen again.

That is one of the problems with them. The products are not necessarily literally "not repeatable", but re-appearances quite often occur, but at infrequent and unpredictable intervals. However, you're right that one certainly cannot rely on that.

I'm not saying it's all junk, I have a few of their airline products and know 2 people who have their compressors/sprayguns/air tools, once the pressure regulator/filter was replaced all have proved to be perfectly acceptable. I've seen many of their cordless drills in use but I do find people tend to treat them as throwaway items.

I've had plenty of tools from both of them, including a small generator from Lidl that cost very little and continues to work fine after a good few years. In general, I wouldn't say that their tools are any worse than any other 'non-expensive' ones - and in a good few cases I've been very impressed.

Cordless drills are a good example. My experience with cheap ones (of any brand) is that one has to regard them as 'throwaway', since the batteries are in no way standardised, and one can never get replacements when the original inevitably dies after a year or three. The Aldi/Lidl ones seem at least as good as any other 'cheap' make, but cheaper - so seemingly almost a non-brainer if one doesn't want to buy an 'expensive' product.

Kind Regards, John

 

[opps]

Do

That's obviously a very common attitude, but I fear that long gone are the days when one could rely on price and brand to be good inicators or quality and/or 'value for money'. An expensive product from a reputable manufacturer may be more an indicator of high profits, hence happy shareholders, than anything else!

In the case of VDE tools, I would think that the only crucial issue is the electrical insulation - and I would also think that the properties of the materials concerned (and the considerable degree of 'overkill' in the amount of the materials used) are such that it would be quite a challenge to manufacture tools which were not 'safe' in that respect.

Kind Regards, John

I agree that a high price is not an indicator of quality but one thing that concerns me about low price tools is that the importer self certifies the CE/etc documentation.

That said, even high end firms do the same.

Many years ago, I purchased an expensive Festo dust extractor. The hose had their (twist) "plugIT" connectors integrated in to them. I soon found that the connectors would unscrew and leave the wires exposed. I tried to contact Festo but they basically dismissed me. I contacted the authorities responsible for CE marks, they too dismissed me. I then contacted the Suffolk Trading Standards dept, they visited Miden ( the UK distributor) and confirmed that I wasn't making things up. Their employee was able to unscrew the connector by hand.

The point I was trying to make, is that, unfortunately, the safety of devices is often only scrutinised when something goes wrong.

The cheap VDE screw drives may well be safe in normal usage but has anyone, for example, tested them under extreme conditions?

I would hope that the firm with the more expensive tools uses a certification tester that place the tool under greater duress. Additionally, I would hope that their quality control is more stringent. The cheaper brand may have sent a compliant product sample to the certification tester, but that tester may be less thorough and the quality control may be lower.

 

[opps]

As for their 3,4,5 year guarantee, I'd like to know if anyone has managed a replacement/refund past a few months.

A friend recent returned a faulty product. They told him it was currently out of stock, they kept saying that for a few weeks and then eventually refunded him. His item was only 3 months old though when it failed.

 

[mattylad]

Givent hat I have bought several sets of the Aldi VDE screwdriver at a fiver a go I would say that yes they are repeatable - it's just that they are not something you can get every day like you can at Screwfix etc.
The same goes for Lidl, much of their DIY gear is repeated several times a year, but these are loss leader type offers and not like the daily basics so not always in store.

Last year both/all retailers were having big problems with getting batteries which has made finding replacements quite hard, the 12v range now seem to have the batteries alone being no longer offered - however most brands seem to do something like this when they have problems, redesign and move on.

 

[SUNRAY]

That is one of the problems with them. The products are not necessarily literally "not repeatable", but re-appearances quite often occur, but at infrequent and unpredictable intervals. However, you're right that one certainly cannot rely on that.

When I look at their products I see it's frequently different the next time round, I reckon I've seen a dozen different VDE screwdriver sets in half a dozen colours. whether any have been repeated I don't know, however I think I've only ever purchased one 'VDE set' as half of the screwdriver in a set don't seem to get used and it becomes too easy to use the wrong size when there are loads there. So I tend to look only at the tools I use most or require replacing. As such buying a set (even cheap) is an expensive exercise. added to that is not liking some handle designs/sizes.

I've had plenty of tools from both of them, including a small generator from Lidl that cost very little and continues to work fine after a good few years. In general, I wouldn't say that their tools are any worse than any other 'non-expensive' ones - and in a good few cases I've been very impressed.

Agreed except I've not yet seen or handled anything I'd put in the 'very impressed' category.

Cordless drills are a good example. My experience with cheap ones (of any brand) is that one has to regard them as 'throwaway', since the batteries are in no way standardised, and one can never get replacements when the original inevitably dies after a year or three. The Aldi/Lidl ones seem at least as good as any other 'cheap' make, but cheaper - so seemingly almost a non-brainer if one doesn't want to buy an 'expensive' product.

Kind Regards, John

My experience of their cordless drills is shabby, and maybe the worst I've handled. One company I worked for got a load of them and soon got rid, admittedly that was a few years back and not the current selection. One of the classic situations I've known was selling drills (and other tools) without batteries and simultaneously selling batteries/charger... that didn't fit. I often wondered how many purchased and got home to find the error.

 

[plugwash]

I agree that a high price is not an indicator of quality but one thing that concerns me about low price tools is that the importer self certifies the CE/etc documentation.

Insulated tools seem to be one area where most of them, even the cheapies have a certification from VDE. A manufacturer/importer could outright counterfeit a VDE mark or could lie to VDE about what testing they were doing, but that would be a very risky thing to do legally far more so than slapping on a questionable CE mark.

 

[JohnW2]

Agreed except I've not yet seen or handled anything I'd put in the 'very impressed' category.

I meant "very impressive for the price" - i.e. seemingly markedly superior to other cheap alternatives.

Kind Regards, John

 

[SUNRAY]

Givent hat I have bought several sets of the Aldi VDE screwdriver at a fiver a go I would say that yes they are repeatable - it's just that they are not something you can get every day like you can at Screwfix etc.
The same goes for Lidl, much of their DIY gear is repeated several times a year, but these are loss leader type offers and not like the daily basics so not always in store.

Last year both/all retailers were having big problems with getting batteries which has made finding replacements quite hard, the 12v range now seem to have the batteries alone being no longer offered - however most brands seem to do something like this when they have problems, redesign and move on .

Would they be similar to these at £5.99 @ Lidl?

 

[opps]

Would they be similar to these at £5.99 @ Lidl?

View attachment 296312

Erm.. it says £2.99- are you on commission?

 

[SUNRAY]

Erm.. it says £2.99- are you on commission?

One of the confusing things about Lidl is theyput the price above the product.

 

[opps]

One of the confusing things about Lidl is theyput the price above the product.

That is confusing... by convention, the end cap price is below the product. That said, if you go to B&M, the end cap price is not related to either product on or below the shelf...

 

[SUNRAY]

That is confusing... by convention, the end cap price is below the product. That said, if you go to B&M, the end cap price is not related to either product on or below the shelf...

From their own publicity pics:

And yes I have been caught out by it myself.
Quite recently I nearly selected a battery powered soldering iron, battery/charger and multi purpose tool + some blades until I realised I had misread by £55.

 

[blup]

A 2.5mm and a 3mm vde screwdriver for those terminals that are a bit too small. A wera chisel driver is help for prying.

Blup

 

[opps]

From their own publicity pics:
View attachment 296342
And yes I have been caught out by it myself.
Quite recently I nearly selected a battery powered soldering iron, battery/charger and multi purpose tool + some blades until I realised I had misread by £55.

My local B&M, I have stopped going to. There will, for example, be a 3L bottle of coke on the shelf, the end cap price will display the price of a 2L bottle.

I resorted to using my phone to find the correct price. I did email head office about the misleading prices. They didn't give a toss. You mention it to the staff, they don't give a toss either. Sorry, I have not intentionally hijacked your post, but in my opinion, the retailer should be upfront and honest. If you have end cap prices above (or below) a product, use arrows to let the customer know what thy are looking at.