Decent DIY level battery drill?

[eggsarascal]

I use Makita, fella I work with now and again uses Ebauer, they seem good but tend to get through batteries in short time.

[sandspider]

Thanks one and all. Lots of options.

 

I don't tend to use them that regularly, so it might be that that finished off the battery in my old one. That being so, probably safer to go for a cheapy Aldi job, and if it dies of over or under use, it's not the end of the world. They Workzone drills do only come with 1.5ah batteries, and 40nm ish of torque, so about half the Dewalt options at Toolstation - but the latter do cost twice as much... Couldn't see an impact driver at Aldi at all, but will look on a proper PC rather than my phone...

[Haironyourchest]

Bear in mind the cells in the Aldi Workzone Li-Ion battery packs are actually made by Samsung, and are as good as any of the big name batteries, amp hour for amp hour. There are three manufacturers of top-shelf cells, Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. The Hitachi range buy from Samsung also. I think the Stihl battery stuff is Sony. While the build quality and longevity of the name brands is better, they rip you off on the batteries. Although the chargers would be better (quicker) also, if that matters to you. The charger that came with my Workzone impact driver takes 3 hours to charge a 2AH battery, the one that came with the SDS drill, takes an hour. Comparatively my Hitachi charger will charge a fully depleted 5AH battery in about half an hour.

[topchippyles]

By far the best available drill/impact driver for price is the 18 volt einhell range which are available from tool station,German made and will blow my dewalt and makita one away and only half/third the price,The drill driver pumps in 100 mm screws by the hundred on a 4 amp battery like fresh air,35 years a carpenter and  the best cordless stuff i have used.

 

Spec 

Einhell Power X-Change 18V Li-Ion Cordless Brushless Impact DriverCatalogue p332

★★★★★★★★★★

• 1 x 4.0Ah Li-Ion Einhell Power X-Change battery
• Brushless motor
• Driver: ¼”hex
• Charger and carry case

Maximum torque: 180Nm. No-load speed: 0-2,900rpm

Code	Product	For delivery	Pack Size	Price	Quantity
88549	Einhell Power X-Change 18V Li-Ion Cordless Brushless Impact Driver 1 x 4.0Ah	4 Available	Each	£128.98 £107.48 e

Edited November 6, 2018 by topchippyles

[sandspider]

That looks like a beast, Les!

 

I went for this one in the end: https://www.aldi.co.uk/workzone-brushless-drill-driver/p/082864209100600

50nm of torque, so a lot less than the one above, but a lot more than my current one. And brushless. Only a 1.5AH battery, but additional batteries can be got hold of in theory, and if this one doesn't last or doesn't do the job I need I'll upgrade.

 

Cheers all.

[Haironyourchest]

58 minutes ago, sandspider said:

That looks like a beast, Les!

 

I went for this one in the end: https://www.aldi.co.uk/workzone-brushless-drill-driver/p/082864209100600

50nm of torque, so a lot less than the one above, but a lot more than my current one. And brushless. Only a 1.5AH battery, but additional batteries can be got hold of in theory, and if this one doesn't last or doesn't do the job I need I'll upgrade.

 

Cheers all.

Workzone FTW! Pick up the impact driver and or SDS drill on sale sometime and you get another couple of batteries.

 

[topchippyles]

5 hours ago, sandspider said:

That looks like a beast, Les!

 

I went for this one in the end: https://www.aldi.co.uk/workzone-brushless-drill-driver/p/082864209100600

50nm of torque, so a lot less than the one above, but a lot more than my current one. And brushless. Only a 1.5AH battery, but additional batteries can be got hold of in theory, and if this one doesn't last or doesn't do the job I need I'll upgrade.

 

Cheers all.

Really is a beast of a gun,drive in screws like nothing

[jrose]

I see you've brought one now, but in case it's relevant later or to others reading this...

 

I know they don't have the reputation of Makita/Dewalt/etc, but I've got a Ryobi drill which I have abused for years and it keeps going, with two batteries and charger I think it probably cost about £100.

 

Have also brought to go with it an impact wrench https://www.homebase.co.uk/ryobi-one-18v-3-speed-impact-wrench-r18iw3-0-tool-only-_p389743 which is absolutely brilliant around the yard, one of the best "treat" tools I've ever brought. Takes 1/2" sockets, and came with an adaptor so you can use it as an impact driver if you need to, even if slightly heavy and overpowered!

 

If you do go Makita, be careful as they do a homeowner type drill/driver which is branded Makita but the batteries don't interchange with any other tools in the range, a friend was fooled with this.Think it might be this one? https://www.powertoolmate.co.uk/Products/004000060012/EB%2FMAKDK18015X1?gclid=CjwKCAiAt4rfBRBKEiwAC678KVOHiimeCqN1Ztd4NxMTY3nCj49MWeY-hW_rl40BePKKcx3I1a4xCRoCMGkQAvD_BwE

[difflock]

Metabo are good, for now at least, but first bought out by Hitachi, then very soon after by a known asset-stripping venture capitalist lot  .  .  .

[sandspider]

Just to update this, I've not used the driver too much, but there seems to be a bit of a wobble on the chuck. Makes it hard to drill straight, and it also seems to strip screw heads. Not sure if this is me, or using old screws I've accumulated over the years, but it will drive them (into pre drilled holes) about 2/3 of their length, then just demolishes the screw head. This is with the driver in screw mode (not drill) and on minimum torque. The driver will stop if I hold the chuck, but the screw heads don't seem to provide enough resistance to stop the driver, so it just destroys them. If i feather the trigger ever so gently, I can probably get another half turn or so, but it doesn't seem to work as I think it should. Am I missing something? I don't have any hex or socket head screws to try for a comparison...