Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

Author
Discussion

heisthegaffer

3,347 posts

197 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
shih tzu faced said:
heisthegaffer said:
On the back of a previous post, I've treated myself to a Bosch 12v 6.0ah battery for my circular saw.
I remember that. When you’ve had a chance to use it please could you post an update with regard to whether the bigger battery makes a noticeable difference to the speed / power of the saw. Cheers thumbup
I will do. I'm hoping the saw wont get bogged down so much - after all my other batteries are a few years old.

shih tzu faced

2,597 posts

48 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
^ thanks, I’ve always thought of the battery aH rating as kind of the size of the fuel tank, and the voltage (12v, 18v etc) as the size of the engine. So in theory a bigger battery should just give more run time, but several reviewers seem to think that these Bosch 6aH batteries give the tools a bit more power. Was definitely the case when in one YT video he compared batteries on the little Bosch router. Will be interesting to see what you make of it.

heisthegaffer

3,347 posts

197 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
shih tzu faced said:
^ thanks, I’ve always thought of the battery aH rating as kind of the size of the fuel tank, and the voltage (12v, 18v etc) as the size of the engine. So in theory a bigger battery should just give more run time, but several reviewers seem to think that these Bosch 6aH batteries give the tools a bit more power. Was definitely the case when in one YT video he compared batteries on the little Bosch router. Will be interesting to see what you make of it.
I don't disagree but I wonder if it feels like more power as its sustained? Either way, will report back Mate.

Teddy Lop

8,294 posts

66 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
shih tzu faced said:
^ thanks, I’ve always thought of the battery aH rating as kind of the size of the fuel tank, and the voltage (12v, 18v etc) as the size of the engine. So in theory a bigger battery should just give more run time, but several reviewers seem to think that these Bosch 6aH batteries give the tools a bit more power. Was definitely the case when in one YT video he compared batteries on the little Bosch router. Will be interesting to see what you make of it.
This is the logic behind the milwaukee high output batteries compared the standard range - better cooling and construction means they deliver more current under high demand where standard batteries start to hit their limit. And it works too, they're essential for some of the really big stuff but a lot of the chunkier tools benefit. I would have bought more HO batteries and fewer norms but when I initially queried there's a lot of ignorance in the trade over exactly what they do.

bodhi

10,333 posts

228 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
shih tzu faced said:
heisthegaffer said:
On the back of a previous post, I've treated myself to a Bosch 12v 6.0ah battery for my circular saw.
I remember that. When you’ve had a chance to use it please could you post an update with regard to whether the bigger battery makes a noticeable difference to the speed / power of the saw. Cheers thumbup
I think it does with Bosch, as when I was looking at a proper drill the "Universal Hammer" needed at least a 4.0 ah to work.

Also from what I can just about work out from General Gassing, bigger batteries make motors go faster.

pquinn

7,167 posts

45 months

Tuesday 28th March 2023
quotequote all
Depending on the construction of the pack a higher capacity one can be capable of supplying more current for the same voltage rating which can mean a tool can draw what it needs to instead of being limited by the pack.

Sometimes the difference is down to the rating of the individual cells being a bit higher, sometimes it's because there's two (or more) sets of cells in parallel, sometimes it's a bit of both.

Captain Answer

1,347 posts

186 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
Teddy Lop said:
shih tzu faced said:
^ thanks, I’ve always thought of the battery aH rating as kind of the size of the fuel tank, and the voltage (12v, 18v etc) as the size of the engine. So in theory a bigger battery should just give more run time, but several reviewers seem to think that these Bosch 6aH batteries give the tools a bit more power. Was definitely the case when in one YT video he compared batteries on the little Bosch router. Will be interesting to see what you make of it.
This is the logic behind the milwaukee high output batteries compared the standard range - better cooling and construction means they deliver more current under high demand where standard batteries start to hit their limit. And it works too, they're essential for some of the really big stuff but a lot of the chunkier tools benefit. I would have bought more HO batteries and fewer norms but when I initially queried there's a lot of ignorance in the trade over exactly what they do.
There's a similar theory to this in the Makita LXT, the 5amp/h apparently can deliver the most ooomph of out of the batteries in the range, even above the 6amp/h

Not sure I've seen it first had myself, I've used my 3amp/h and also got Parkside battery converters to use with my LXT tools and they all seem to perform well but maybe I don't use them enough to tell the difference

5s Alive

1,771 posts

33 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
I have a few Worx tools and there's a noticeable power difference between 2 and 4Ah batteries. Most obvious with the Hydroshot, impact wrench, hedge trimmer and leaf blower.

loudlashadjuster

5,082 posts

183 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
Yeah, my original Makita combi came with 2 x 1.5 Ah batteries (5 cells) and they are fine for general drilling etc. up to 8mm or so, and nice and light to boot, but you definitely notice the extra oomph with the 3.0 and upwards (10 cells) when doing something more chunky. The additional current the parallelised cells can dump is significant.

The small batteria are ten years old now and despite being at turns hammered, abused, or ignored for long periods, they still perform well enough for the lighter jobs. They basically surrender if I attach them to the SDS though smile

crossie

208 posts

236 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
Teddy Lop said:
NextSlidePlease said:
Bill said:
I just use a reciprocating saw for that kind of thing.
Correct answer, a recip saw does very well with branches, should make short work of them. I use the Milwaukee M18 for this type of work. Great at cutting through roots as well.
Yeh, but you're gonna look a bit of a tit come the zombie apocalypse with a pruner aren't you?

For me I had a tree to compartmentalise but I can't really justify extending my milwaukee kit, so $40 of chineseum fury with an M18 battery plate bodged on it was:

Do you have a link on where to buy one?

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
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Yet again - this thread is costing me a fortune…. banghead

GeneralBanter

649 posts

14 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
I’ve just bought a tachometer (rev counter) gauge to set up timing and carbs without having to constantly check the dash counter that I know is wrong. The interesting thing is no one actually makes a good one with a dial any more - they’re either digital so they will be all over the place or they’re also on an induction loop on a plug lead which will be all over the place again depending on how many loops you do.
So, eBay wins again with a 30 year old thing with a needle that won’t waver and will outlast the Chinese tat.

colin_p

4,503 posts

211 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
GeneralBanter said:
I’ve just bought a tachometer (rev counter) gauge to set up timing and carbs without having to constantly check the dash counter that I know is wrong. The interesting thing is no one actually makes a good one with a dial any more - they’re either digital so they will be all over the place or they’re also on an induction loop on a plug lead which will be all over the place again depending on how many loops you do.
So, eBay wins again with a 30 year old thing with a needle that won’t waver and will outlast the Chinese tat.
thumbup

Good find, there is just something nice about all things analogue.

WrekinCrew

4,572 posts

149 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
V12GT said:
Any views on pruners...
If you have some surplus fingers how about the scary-looking Dewalt



AvE has a teardown review on Youtube - it's quite impressive

colin_p

4,503 posts

211 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
I recently bought a Henry hoover (I know it should be vacuum, but a monkey is not given).

I've had various 'shop' vacs over the years, they all either broke, burnt out or were crap.

This Henry, the 15ltr XL version to be precise is a revelation in terms of performance, hopefully it will prove to be equally as tough.

Teddy Lop

8,294 posts

66 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
crossie said:
Teddy Lop said:
NextSlidePlease said:
Bill said:
I just use a reciprocating saw for that kind of thing.
Correct answer, a recip saw does very well with branches, should make short work of them. I use the Milwaukee M18 for this type of work. Great at cutting through roots as well.
Yeh, but you're gonna look a bit of a tit come the zombie apocalypse with a pruner aren't you?

For me I had a tree to compartmentalise but I can't really justify extending my milwaukee kit, so $40 of chineseum fury with an M18 battery plate bodged on it was:

Do you have a link on where to buy one?
Pretty sure it was aliexpress

Fastpedeller

3,848 posts

145 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
colin_p said:
I recently bought a Henry hoover (I know it should be vacuum, but a monkey is not given).

I've had various 'shop' vacs over the years, they all either broke, burnt out or were crap.

This Henry, the 15ltr XL version to be precise is a revelation in terms of performance, hopefully it will prove to be equally as tough.
Is it a new Henry (after the Wattage reduction rulings) or a pre-used one? I've used the older ones and found them to be really good and (maybe incorrectly) thought the new ones would be inferior.

Mikey G

4,723 posts

239 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
Fastpedeller said:
colin_p said:
I recently bought a Henry hoover (I know it should be vacuum, but a monkey is not given).

I've had various 'shop' vacs over the years, they all either broke, burnt out or were crap.

This Henry, the 15ltr XL version to be precise is a revelation in terms of performance, hopefully it will prove to be equally as tough.
Is it a new Henry (after the Wattage reduction rulings) or a pre-used one? I've used the older ones and found them to be really good and (maybe incorrectly) thought the new ones would be inferior.
Friend of mine bought the Numatic version from Screwfix and he seems to think his is more powerfull than the domestic version.

colin_p

4,503 posts

211 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
Mikey G said:
Fastpedeller said:
colin_p said:
I recently bought a Henry hoover (I know it should be vacuum, but a monkey is not given).

I've had various 'shop' vacs over the years, they all either broke, burnt out or were crap.

This Henry, the 15ltr XL version to be precise is a revelation in terms of performance, hopefully it will prove to be equally as tough.
Is it a new Henry (after the Wattage reduction rulings) or a pre-used one? I've used the older ones and found them to be really good and (maybe incorrectly) thought the new ones would be inferior.
Friend of mine bought the Numatic version from Screwfix and he seems to think his is more powerfull than the domestic version.
Intrigued by the above comments, I had a look...

Henry; 620w motor with 2300mm h2o suction cost £170 from Screwfix

https://www.myhenry.com/henry-xl-plus

Numatic; 620w motor with 2300mm h2o suction cost £499 from Screwfix

https://numatic.co.uk/product/nes570-ned570/


They are basically the same performance wise but the Numatic is going to be tougher, it does however cost £500 !

In terms of the lowly 620w motor and suction performance, it is brilliant. The motor seems to run slower and is considerably quieter than other hoovers I've had. For what most of us on here would use it for, well worth the cost.


Edited by colin_p on Wednesday 29th March 19:39

gfreeman

1,729 posts

249 months

Wednesday 29th March 2023
quotequote all
crossie said:
Teddy Lop said:
NextSlidePlease said:
Bill said:
I just use a reciprocating saw for that kind of thing.
Correct answer, a recip saw does very well with branches, should make short work of them. I use the Milwaukee M18 for this type of work. Great at cutting through roots as well.
Yeh, but you're gonna look a bit of a tit come the zombie apocalypse with a pruner aren't you?

For me I had a tree to compartmentalise but I can't really justify extending my milwaukee kit, so $40 of chineseum fury with an M18 battery plate bodged on it was:

Do you have a link on where to buy one?
Don’t bother buying one. Pop down to A&E later his wife will be selling that one…