Annoyingly my local Lidl/Aldi doesn't have drills in stock at present (but they do batteries?!) and limited online options
Hi all.
I’ve replaced the charger on my DeWalt cordless drill twice now and this one has packed up again (different fault than last)
I’m begrudging replacing it again for an older drill with older battery tech.
Are the Lidl/Aldi drills any good? It’s been my go to drill for light jobs and screw driving. I’ve a heavier duty one for other bigger jobs.
Any others anyone would recommend? I’ve a limited budget....
And in taking my charger apart again to look at and spotting a few damaged components I thought I’d unsolder some to discover my soldering iron is
just awful. I think that needs replacing too!
So.... any reasonably priced soldering irons to recommend please everyone?
Thanks all
I've had a number of power tools from Aldi and Lidl and they've been absolutely fine.
I had a problem with an Aldi electric screwdriver once, but one call to the support number and a replacement was dispatched without even seeing the
broken one.
Both Lidl and Aldi products come with a 3 year warranty so, for the money, you can't go wrong. Just keep hold of the receipt and instruction book
as it has the warranty contact number in.
Thanks Rich - good to know!
Annoyingly my local Lidl/Aldi doesn't have drills in stock at present (but they do batteries?!) and limited online options
another vote for Lidl products here, i have never had a problem with their tools so cant comment on backup but the warranty is 3 years so, whats not
to like ? 
oh yea, and all the batteries in the same voltage range are the same so no excuse for not having a spare one and you can buy "bare" tools
without having to buy another battery.
[Edited on 8/7/20 by theconrodkid]
Lidl are good. Aldi OK.
On the soldering iron I bought a cheap Chinese one with the spool feeder which is a godsend when working on the car as you can hold the gun and feed
the solder with one hand.
Ive a Stanley max cordless drill, brilliant bit of kit, and comes with two 18v batteries, a lot of stuff does not
I haven't got any Lidl/Aldi cordless stuff, but all the corded tools from there I do have a excellent, and never had a problem
as for soldering irons, for 12v stuff, pretty well any iron will do
steve
Ive got a Makita cordless drill, came with one battery, it's brilliant, mate has the Stanley one which came with two batteries as noted. Just as
good as far as I can tell. Extra Makita battery about £40+.
Makita on hammer action (high speed setting) goes through anything other than what you'd need an SDS drill for.
Be interested in comments re soldering irons.
quote:
Originally posted by steve m
Ive a Stanley max cordless drill, brilliant bit of kit, and comes with two 18v batteries, a lot of stuff does not
I haven't got any Lidl/Aldi cordless stuff, but all the corded tools from there I do have a excellent, and never had a problem
as for soldering irons, for 12v stuff, pretty well any iron will do
steve
quote:maybe also use leaded solder
Originally posted by steve m
...as for soldering irons, for 12v stuff, pretty well any iron will do ...
I wasn’t going to chime in here because I’m not much of a tool tart. Then I read your query about Aldi/Lidl gear and thought I’d pipe up.
I have a pretty wide selection of their interchangeable battery parkside range. I have to say they’ve been fantastic, never let me down, put up with
loads of abuse and have become my go to tool at home for a number of years now. I have a pretty broad range of their gear, impact guns, combi drills,
SDS drill, mitre saw, all sorts. Batteries all swap around and have held a good charge for years. New batteries are something like £30.
I went to help a friend with some work on his daily last weekend. Out came the Lidl impact gun which was laughed at, then it went on to make mince
meat of his crank bolt he was struggling with along with a few others.
I’d say they was certainly worth the money.
My trusty old bosch drill I have been using in the garage died a few weeks ago. Or rater the charger did, but at nearly 10 years old, I gave it to BIL
who has the same drill (so he has 2, and 4 batteries)
I looked at the aldi/lidl stuff, nothing available. In the end bought a Macallister for £43 from screwfix, 2 batteries etc.
Interestingly it is VERY similar to my trusty erbaurer I use for work, batteries almost swap but there must be a tiny lug or something stopping
them.
Anyway, seems pretty good, strong enough fir garage work and batteries last well. And I think it comes from the same source as erbaurer/lidl/aldi
stuff?
I have had an erbauer from screwfix for a couple of years and it has had loads of abuse as i have been doing lots of work around the house, i even
used it to chain drill a 150mm hole through the kitchen wall for an extractor vent.
It is lightweight , has a decent chuck, brushless motor good hammer action and good tourque adjustment for screwdriving.
We bought an expensive makita drill at work but i prefer my erbauer as it seems more powerful and slightly lighter .Another bonus with the erbauer is
the air flow vents are better designed as i find the makita becomes to hot to hold comfortably with heavy usage.
Paul
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
My trusty old bosch drill I have been using in the garage died a few weeks ago. Or rater the charger did, but at nearly 10 years old, I gave it to BIL who has the same drill (so he has 2, and 4 batteries)
I looked at the aldi/lidl stuff, nothing available. In the end bought a Macallister for £43 from screwfix, 2 batteries etc.
Interestingly it is VERY similar to my trusty erbaurer I use for work, batteries almost swap but there must be a tiny lug or something stopping them.
Anyway, seems pretty good, strong enough fir garage work and batteries last well. And I think it comes from the same source as erbaurer/lidl/aldi stuff?
I lost both of my electrical soldering irons and never had gas for my cordless one and so ended up purchasing a chinese variable temperature iron from
ebay to use for electronic work.I was a bit doubtfull as to how good it would be but it is very good ,heats up quickly and easily regulated with a
selection of tips it cost me £25 if you search ebay there are lots of similiar ones.Of course after buying it i found both of my much more expensive
Antex soldering irons when searching for something else in the loft, it appears my wife had had a tidy up of my desk area.
Paul
Many years ago, I found a 9.6V Makita to be very good, later I had a 24V Bosch until the battery gave out, but for a number of years now, I have had an 18V Hitachi, with a pair of batteries - Lithium Ion, so they don't go flat in storage, charge quickly and give continuous use by alternating charging and use.
I've found that the Bosch electric drills although technically work great their batteries do not seem to stand the test of time and wear out far
faster than the drills. Annoyingly they keep changing the battery design so eventually you end up with a heap of drills all with duff batteries...
As for soldering irons, unless your building PCB's then for car wiring any old 25-50w one will do, their not the most complex piece on equipment
after all.
Thanks everyone - some great advice!
I have had cheaper soldering irons in the past - just the sort of tenner for 30w ish unbranded ones. Like the one I have now.
They've never been very good though - I bit like the ones in D&T at school.....plug in about 10 to see which gets hot enough? Perhaps that
was just me...
I'll look at the Chinese solder station ones. I do quite a bit of soldering, so it's probably wise I invest in something a little better
than the rubbish I've bought in the past!
Screwfix is a good shout Clifty - thank you - didn't even think of there and there's probably the same model for 45 with two batteries, so
only an increase of a couple of quid on what you paid Clifty? -
https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msdd18-li-2-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-drill-driver/873fx
Lidl do seem to have gone down the battery-less model now, so I think their basic drill is £20 plus £25 for the standard (2Ah) battery and charger.
They offer the 4Ah battery for £25 without a charger. Clever pricing (for them) but means the "cheap" Lidl drill would cost at least 45 and
70 with the second (but more powerful) battery.
Makes the Screwfix one look even more attractive!
Thanks again everyone
You say you do quite a bit of soldering but what do you solder? Is it just looms or do you do anything else such has basic PCB stuff?
Soldering iron, Antex or Weller if you have the cash.
Otherwise a cheap Chinese soldering station BUT MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET REPLACEMENT BIRS!!!
As said - it depends what you'll be soldering. I have done electronics projects that involve surface-mount components (tiny) that are sensitive
to electrostatic discharge. Because of this I have a Hakko soldering station that cost me in excess of £100.
I also have a great big Weller soldering iron that I use in the garage which cost me well under £15!
I'm trying to work out how many soldering irons I've got - I think it's about 10... large, small, old and battered, shiny and new....
quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
Thanks everyone - some great advice!
I have had cheaper soldering irons in the past - just the sort of tenner for 30w ish unbranded ones. Like the one I have now.
They've never been very good though - I bit like the ones in D&T at school.....plug in about 10 to see which gets hot enough? Perhaps that was just me...
I'll look at the Chinese solder station ones. I do quite a bit of soldering, so it's probably wise I invest in something a little better than the rubbish I've bought in the past!
Screwfix is a good shout Clifty - thank you - didn't even think of there and there's probably the same model for 45 with two batteries, so only an increase of a couple of quid on what you paid Clifty? - https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msdd18-li-2-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-drill-driver/873fx
Lidl do seem to have gone down the battery-less model now, so I think their basic drill is £20 plus £25 for the standard (2Ah) battery and charger. They offer the 4Ah battery for £25 without a charger. Clever pricing (for them) but means the "cheap" Lidl drill would cost at least 45 and 70 with the second (but more powerful) battery.
Makes the Screwfix one look even more attractive!
Thanks again everyone
Bosch drill - green PSB/R range using he Power4all batteries have done me proud. I bought 1 when i started my kit and it only died after 8 years of
abusem, inc being dropped countless times and being burnt in a welding fire accident!. I replaced it with one of the same PSB1800 (hammer) and also
added the a PSR-1800 normal drill (came up cheap), the cordless jigsaw and the PDR drill driver.
[Edited on 9-7-20 by loggyboy]
Tool station?
Bauker 18V Li-Ion Cordless Drill Driver 2 x 1.5Ah
Happy with mine, disposable price plastic gearbox.. early days with mine but good for the money
Just in case you're interested, Aldi have tools as their Special Buys from this Sunday in-store and on-line now.
Aldi Special Buys
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
You say you do quite a bit of soldering but what do you solder? Is it just looms or do you do anything else such has basic PCB stuff?
quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
You say you do quite a bit of soldering but what do you solder? Is it just looms or do you do anything else such has basic PCB stuff?
It's mainly looms (I'm restoring an old Golf and a C5) but also some PCB's. I'm tackling repairing the PCB on the old DeWalt now, but often try and repair first before discarding!
