timgunn1962
Member
- Messages
- 296
- Location
- Lancashire UK
I have had a few different battery drills for work over the last 3 decades. Started with 9.6V NiCd Makita, then 12v NiCd AEG, 24V NiCd Bosch, with a couple of 2.6 AH NiMH batteries tried in the Bosch (these seemed considerably worse than the lower-capacity, 2AH, NiCd, both in terms of runtime on a charge and charge cycles before failure).
I now have 18V LiIon Makita DHP481 on 5AH batteries. This is a superb combination. I also have various other tools on the same battery system: jigsaw, recip saw, SDS drill (36V, takes 2 of the 18V batteries), 1/4" hex impact driver, 1/2" sq impact wrench, 3/4" sq impact wrench, 4 1/2" angle grinder, fast charger, dual fast charger and 5 of the 5AH batteries. The angle grinder is the only thing that feels gutless compared to a corded tool and even that gets a useful amount of work done on a charge. The brushless version of the grinder is certainly better than my brushed version, but still not up to corded tool standards.
As the 24 Bosch batteries were on their last legs and I’d not been moaning about it at work enough to persuade the boss to replace the kit at that point, about 3 years ago I bought an 18V Hitachi drill with 1.5AH batteries from Screwfix to do some stuff around the house/garden.
I had borrowed a similar one at work to drill 3 or 4 13mm holes in 12mm steel plate a couple of weeks earlier and had been impressed. For that task, it had seemed to be about as good as the 24V Bosch had been when it, and the batteries, were new.
It is superb for home use, doing everything asked of it, and is light enough to be a pleasure to use at the weekend after the heavier Makita during the week. It is even user-friendly enough that She-Who-Must-Be-Tolerated will use it for some of the tedious little jobs she’d otherwise nag me to do: a definite win-win. Torque is adequate, though obviously not up to the wrist-straining level of the Makita. The low-capacity batteries and slow (1-hour) charger have just not been a problem for diy stuff.
Battery capacity on the new stuff has increased recently, with the entry-level stuff having 2.5AH or larger batteries now. The chargers also seem to have kept up and appear to 1-hour charge these bigger batteries.
The first thing to do is to analyse what you actually need. If it's an occasional-use DIY drill, one of the offers from any of the "real" tool manufacturers will see you sorted: Bosch, Makita, Hitachi/Hikoki, Milwaukee, Dewalt. Maybe Ryobi, though I've not used their current range. Overspeccing things is fairly pointless because the batteries will usually fail long before a diy-er kills the drill itself and it's usually harder to convince yourself to replace an expensive tool when the time comes than a cheaper one.
For "pro" use, you probably need to think more in terms of buying into a "system".
One of the things I have always done is buy a torch that uses the batteries. It's always good to have a torch anyway, but back in the days of NiCd batteries and "memory effect", being able to discharge batteries with the torch before recharging made a big difference to their lifespan. It seems much less of a consideration with Li-Ion, though.
I now have 18V LiIon Makita DHP481 on 5AH batteries. This is a superb combination. I also have various other tools on the same battery system: jigsaw, recip saw, SDS drill (36V, takes 2 of the 18V batteries), 1/4" hex impact driver, 1/2" sq impact wrench, 3/4" sq impact wrench, 4 1/2" angle grinder, fast charger, dual fast charger and 5 of the 5AH batteries. The angle grinder is the only thing that feels gutless compared to a corded tool and even that gets a useful amount of work done on a charge. The brushless version of the grinder is certainly better than my brushed version, but still not up to corded tool standards.
As the 24 Bosch batteries were on their last legs and I’d not been moaning about it at work enough to persuade the boss to replace the kit at that point, about 3 years ago I bought an 18V Hitachi drill with 1.5AH batteries from Screwfix to do some stuff around the house/garden.
I had borrowed a similar one at work to drill 3 or 4 13mm holes in 12mm steel plate a couple of weeks earlier and had been impressed. For that task, it had seemed to be about as good as the 24V Bosch had been when it, and the batteries, were new.
It is superb for home use, doing everything asked of it, and is light enough to be a pleasure to use at the weekend after the heavier Makita during the week. It is even user-friendly enough that She-Who-Must-Be-Tolerated will use it for some of the tedious little jobs she’d otherwise nag me to do: a definite win-win. Torque is adequate, though obviously not up to the wrist-straining level of the Makita. The low-capacity batteries and slow (1-hour) charger have just not been a problem for diy stuff.
Battery capacity on the new stuff has increased recently, with the entry-level stuff having 2.5AH or larger batteries now. The chargers also seem to have kept up and appear to 1-hour charge these bigger batteries.
The first thing to do is to analyse what you actually need. If it's an occasional-use DIY drill, one of the offers from any of the "real" tool manufacturers will see you sorted: Bosch, Makita, Hitachi/Hikoki, Milwaukee, Dewalt. Maybe Ryobi, though I've not used their current range. Overspeccing things is fairly pointless because the batteries will usually fail long before a diy-er kills the drill itself and it's usually harder to convince yourself to replace an expensive tool when the time comes than a cheaper one.
For "pro" use, you probably need to think more in terms of buying into a "system".
One of the things I have always done is buy a torch that uses the batteries. It's always good to have a torch anyway, but back in the days of NiCd batteries and "memory effect", being able to discharge batteries with the torch before recharging made a big difference to their lifespan. It seems much less of a consideration with Li-Ion, though.