18V or 24V combi drill?

[BrokenBiker]

Brands aside, which would you consider better and 18V 3.0Ah combi drill or a 24V 2.0Ah combi drill used mainly for drilling into poured concrete, breeze block, and occasionally through metal and wood?

I had a cheapo 14V hammer drill but it has died, motor is clapped and the trigger burnt out so im looking for one for work.

the one main thing I notice is the likes of a Makita 18V 3Ah combi is over twice the price of an erauber 24V 2Ah combi with the same torque settings, same hammer action, both fan cooled, both come with 2 batteries and charger and so on.

if you had to buy one, which voltage would you go for, not brand

 

[chunkolini]

I have been using a 14v combi drill for 5 years, Dewalt and it deals with all of those jobs ok.
The main thing to watch for is battery capacity. At least 3.0amh is what i would look for and a spare battery.
I would also go for a big name not a cheapo. My last cheapy caught fire in the middle of putting dozens of screws into my workbenches.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I have used dewalt and Makita in work, don't rate the dewalt at all, been through 6 in the last 18 months, Makita are good but pricey and I find the batteries don't hold up that well to constant use and rough work.

I have heard nothing but good reviews about erbauer and have used the 24V SDS in work a few times and it is a good drill, but haven't used an 18V before so cant compare them.

 

[chunkolini]

mine has done five years, the batteries are just going so new drill time for me.
Probably Makita, lets see what screwfix are offering.

 

[BrokenBiker]

the prices of Makita are around 300 quid for a 18V 3.0Ah combi. haven't looked at the lower voltages though. the equivalent erbauer is 119 and offers the same as the Makita

 

[wookie]

Makita 18V 3Ah combi or
erauber 24V 2Ah combi

Well the Makita is 18x3 = 54 Watts
and erauber is 24x2 = 48 Watts so slightly less capacity.

So in theory the Makita should last longer between charges, and I've got a 12v Makita and also used a 18v Makita and they are very good kit indeed.

if you had to buy one, which voltage would you go for, not brand

I prefer 12volt to be honest, I've gutted a dead battery and run 20ft of wire from it to a pair of croc clips that I can clip onto a car battery. If I need to do a lot of drilling I then have a 100Ah battery pack if not I use the standard batteries but they don't last that long but they are older Ni-Cad based rather than newer Li-ion.

You could do the same with 24v but you'ld need 2 identical batteries

Personally I'd stick with 18v and more capacity...

What battery types are they ? Li-ion is better than Ni-cad or NiHd.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I was thinking about the overall wattage but from what I can find the 24V have good life and extra batteries and chargers are not that expensive. my 14V only had a 1.3Ah battery and no spare and that lasted well enough so I think the 24V will be ok.

still like the look of the Makita 18V though, but at that price I think I will go with the cheaper 24V at the moment as I desperately need it for work Monday and i haven't got much of a limit left on my Trade Uk card...

 

[Burdekin]

The Erbauer is 3kg, that's 50% heavier than my battery drill and that feels plenty heavy enough if driving big screws in all day. Erbauer always seem good on paper but never seem that good to use and are not the same quality as the better brands. I'd shop round for a nice Makita if I was you.

 

[hotrodder]

Unless i've missed something the erbauer is nicad... is it 1980 again Part of the reason it's cheap (except it's not considering the toy like batteries)

Personally my take is 18V is the best compromise between something 'kin heavy and a gutless toy. 14V can be the 'new' 18V but not at the budget end of the market

I'll just throw this Hitachi into the mix... £80 more than the erbauer toy, 0.8kg lighter, 92Nm torque and 4Ah Li-ion batteries. I'll eat my hat if the chuck isn't in a different league to the erbauer too. I've had it's 3Ah/64Nm predecessor for a few years and can't fault it, not the absolute best out there but for the money...

 

[chunkolini]

Another thing, it does seem that the more you pay for amps and volts for that matter the bigger they are.
Seems nonsensical but cheapo power tools never perform as well as the pricier ones.

 

[BrokenBiker]

hadn't seen that hitachi, that does look good, and should fit into my budget if I try.

 

[wheresmejumper]

i(d) have one masonry drill for 5.5mm bits,one drill for 10mm and above.
using one for both is an awkward compromise.
bosch
14v and 24v

 

[BrokenBiker]

I use a 36V 2Ah SDS+ (gift from my father when I started up) for anything above 10mm, usually only use 6mm masonry for mounting boxes and lights. sometimes use other sizes but always around 4-8mm.

I have decided to try another of the ones I have just melted. it has held up well considering what I have used it for, its fallen off ladders, into buckets of artex and into ponds and survived, it is cheap for now and im saving for one of those hitachi's or a Makita 18V 3Ah. ideally I would like both combi and SDS to run from same batteries but that would mean having all one brand and replacing my SDS, which isn't necessary at the moment.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I have the the Makita 18v and the Bosch 18v and the Bosch wins hands down! I had the Makita originally and accidentally left it on site with no access for a week so I went and bought the Bosch as it was on offer at the time, it's the one with the metal gearbox casing and a torch in the base that's angled at the head. Coupled with the Bosch Multi Purpose TCT bits it hammers it's way through most things.
So much so that I very rarely get the corded SDS drill out now unless I am drilling cores or need to use the meter long SDS bits.
The Makita has been relegated to second drill, mainly used for driving screws into holes drilled by the Bosch.

 

[Robotstar5]

Nice offer on this Makita

 

[BrokenBiker]

well, change of plans again, instead of buying another combi I bought a chuck adaptor and a 13mm chuck to fit in the SDS. will use that for a while until I can afford a decent combi, probably go for either the hitachi 4Ah or the dewalt XR type 3Ah 18V ones

 

[fizzy]

All this nonsense about voltage is marketing hype IMHO. After all a 12v car battery will turn over a big diesel engine.
It is amps and current draw that govern power.
I had an old B+D 12v drill that I modified when the battery died. I put a lead with a 12v cigarette plug on it.
It makes the drill so much lighter. Why don't they do drills with remote battery packs?
I have an AEG drill which is pretty good but I also have a Clarke 24v I think which has enormous torque.

 

[MCKDAVID]

makita for me. li ion 18V 3ah, does solid work, no dramas, used and abused since I got it 4 years ago....

one of the batteries is dead, lasts 10 minutes, the others on it's way, so try to give it a break and use the mains drills when I can, most of the time, I was using the battery drill when all I had to do was drag an extension lead out, job on in the same space all day for example, better suited to the mains one, just being lazy...

looked into new batteries, but for the price of two new, add a few quid more an you get a new drill... so will wait til it pops it's clogs and get another one.. definitely makita again though