battery drills/impact drivers

battery drills/impact drivers

Author
Discussion

DKL

Original Poster:

4,480 posts

221 months

Friday 29th April 2016
quotequote all
I'm looking for a drill/impact driver set. Nothing too flash for general home use.
I'd rather an 18v or 20v li ion set but I can find slightly lesser brands (erbauer, wolf) for around the 130 for the pair or I can have 10.5v sets in the premium brands - makita/dewalt etc.
Obviously I'd like the better tools and the better brands but I can't really justify it.
So would I notice the difference in performance?

NordicCrankShaft

1,719 posts

114 months

Friday 29th April 2016
quotequote all
It depends how often you use them, if it's only for the odd job here and there then no, if you do a lot of DIY then I'd say it's definitely worth investing an extra bit of cash in something that will last a bit longer.

roofer

5,136 posts

210 months

Friday 29th April 2016
quotequote all
My neighbour just bought some factory re furb De Walt stuff ( drill/impact)

Gave them the once over, all good. Some Co on E bay, £160 I think with a free bag.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Friday 29th April 2016
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Screwfix had a cracking deal on an erbauer 18v drill and 2 batteries not so long ago for £69.99. I picked one up as a temporary as my makita gear was nicked and i havent bothered replacing it yet as its a great bit of kit for general work. How long the batferies will last is anyones guess but for the value unbeatable.

Also picked up 2 titan sds drills, and a rage chopsaw and thoroughly impressed with it all so far.


hairyben

8,516 posts

182 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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The problem with battery tools is the batteries will expire after a few years (or maybe a few months if they're dewalt) whether you use them or not so don't buy "for the long term" like you might with a mains powered tool

If you want pro kit I'd push you in the direction of panasonic and I'm reliably informed milwauke are still very good, IMO dewalt/makita have the kind of market saturation/trendy product image where they're just not trying so hard- you might be lucky and have the ones that don't fail and come on here to rave about them, you might be one of many to have all your batteries pack up inside 18 months, I don't think they're any better today than the "mid level" brands like erbaurer etc which for home use I'd be happy with TBH

DKL

Original Poster:

4,480 posts

221 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
Ben,
this is a concern. I don't use stuff all that often and I already have a nicad erbauer drill that is dead as the battery charger, and probably the battery is stuffed.
They are just very handy.
I'll keep looking

David

crackthatoff

3,312 posts

212 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
Ive just got a makita cordless drill and impact driver set with 2 batteries li-ion and carry case from b&q trade counter think it was £130+vat
hope that helps

B17NNS

18,506 posts

246 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
The Erbauer stuff is very good for the price. The Matika stuff mentioned earlier in B&Q is aimed very much at the DIY end of the market.

marksx

5,052 posts

189 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
I have a Ryobi drill. It has just started making strange noises, after a couple of years. It has had some hammer though.

Gtom

1,593 posts

131 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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A nice 10.8v set will do you just right. Try and get a combi drill if possible, combined with some GOOD quality masonsry bits (Bosch ones are good) and you should be able to drill most things this side of blue bricks.

Ffx tools, its london, toolstop or even Screwfix will have them in at not too much.

red_slr

17,122 posts

188 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
I have had 3 or 4 cheapo ones over the years. Finally decided to replace with a good quality Makita and its been well worth it so far. Way longer battery life, better control, faster charging. For the £50-£80 you save its just not worth it IMHO.

Basil Brush

5,060 posts

262 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
hairyben said:
The problem with battery tools is the batteries will expire after a few years (or maybe a few months if they're dewalt) whether you use them or not so don't buy "for the long term" like you might with a mains powered tool

If you want pro kit I'd push you in the direction of panasonic and I'm reliably informed milwauke are still very good, IMO dewalt/makita have the kind of market saturation/trendy product image where they're just not trying so hard- you might be lucky and have the ones that don't fail and come on here to rave about them, you might be one of many to have all your batteries pack up inside 18 months, I don't think they're any better today than the "mid level" brands like erbaurer etc which for home use I'd be happy with TBH
The flip side is that as Dewalt are so common, pattern batteries are cheap and easy to get.

Sheets Tabuer

18,897 posts

214 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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Dewalt used to be the st, what happened? When did they get crap?

DoubleSix

11,691 posts

175 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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Buy right, buy once.

dirty_dog

676 posts

175 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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Bosch 10.8v set

I've got this set as part of my Bosch Pro work kit. The 10.8v impact driver is by far my most used tool and its tiny! Been using it all day today driving 5*100 wood screws. Fantastic tool.

Also, 3yr warranty and 2yr on the batteries.

PapaJohns

1,064 posts

152 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
quotequote all
dirty_dog said:
Bosch 10.8v set

I've got this set as part of my Bosch Pro work kit. The 10.8v impact driver is by far my most used tool and its tiny! Been using it all day today driving 5*100 wood screws. Fantastic tool.

Also, 3yr warranty and 2yr on the batteries.
Love these, there's not many jobs they can't do, I use these daily and I have Broken one or two over an 8yr period . The batteries are cheap to replace when they stop holding charge ( around £25) and if you do like I have and Broken it you can buy the naked body's cheap too( separated a couple chucks ) , you can also expand on your set by adding the other tools available to match your existing batteries,reciprocating saw,45deg driver

Should be more than enough for diy

INWB

896 posts

106 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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DKL said:
So would I notice the difference in performance?
Not unless you've used a top of the range one. My Makita impact driver is almost too powerful. Will last donkey years and that is why I always buy Makita.

Diy is like cooking. Sure the Russell Hobbs blender will do the job but the Kitchen Aid will make it a breeze and never fail.

Worth checking ebay and importing from Japan - the prices are way cheaper than stores.

roofer

5,136 posts

210 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
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There's trade stuff, and cheap stuff. The trade knows what is good, the general public don't, however, the general public don't need the performance we do, so have a different budget.

souper

2,433 posts

210 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
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Sheets Tabuer said:
Dewalt used to be the st, what happened? When did they get crap?
Dewalt Ryobi Milwaukee Black & Decker Stanley Rigid are all owned by the same Far East company.

Techtronic Industries Company Limited

For great tear-down reviews this guy is great he has loads and is funny, plenty of swearing NSFW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWH5bfpivSU

dirty_dog

676 posts

175 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
quotequote all
souper said:
Dewalt Ryobi Milwaukee Black & Decker Stanley Rigid are all owned by the same Far East company.

Techtronic Industries Company Limited

For great tear-down reviews this guy is great he has loads and is funny, plenty of swearing NSFW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWH5bfpivSU
Brilliant, going to watch a Festool teardown next!