Hi all
My Ryobi drill finally died last night, it was a chineese made piece of crap, batteries have not held their charge for ages, now the switch on the drill is faulty, I cant decide whether to burn it, shoot it or run it over !
So, I am after a replacement, obviously not Ryobi, Screwfix are doing Bosch or Hitachi rechargeable drills for £99. Another option is corded, but I see so few for sale now. It wont get a lot of use, occasional DIY and jobs I cant do on my pillar drill, any thoughts/ recommendations ??

I would go Li-Ion,. I have 3 dewalt bodies, 2 drills and an impact gun all take the same 18v batteries. Awesome kit, I bought them all when they were on offer. £100 for the top of the range XR version (1/2" Keyless and hammer too). Not seen that price repeated since.

Otherwise the Makita range gets good reviews....

[Edited on 24/2/16 by HowardB]

I would have another bosch at the drop of a hat. The £99 screwfix one looks good value to me.
I currently have their own brand erbauer version, gets intermittent heavy use, but was on offer and I am a cheapskate. That is good, had it a year. Light, pretty powerful, but the chuck sometimes "sticks" (but easy to fix in seconds, just whizz it up and back)

Just check anything has a 1/2 chuck. Got caught out once....10mm is a PITA every now and again.

Don't know about cordless drills, but in my experience Bosch power tools are pretty good. My Bosch corded drill has done many years and held up perfectly well.

Makita for me. Just bought a drill and impact gun and 2 lion batts to replace a donkeys old makita cordless that had several years of hard use. Only replaced due to it getting run over

The newer bosch aren't a patch on the older stuff. Hence why they are quite cheap.

[Edited on 24/2/16 by sdh2903]

I have a Bosch green cordless, it came with 2 batteries, neither of them hold a charge, bloody useless

Makita are normally good, but you get what you pay for....

Alot of brands sell sub £100 versions for the DIY market, they can be ok but they are never as good as the professional ones


My dad has 2 Makita's (that I steal when I need one) the cheap 9v ni-cad one is no better than any other one at a similar price - drill still works, but its not very powerful and the batteries are all but dead in just a couple of years
You'll get better ones for the same money now, but I wouldn't expect much difference between the brands

the other one is really good even after 4 years of use, but it did cost £350 (the current version seems to be over £500 )

Whatever brand you get Li-ion is a must



[Edited on 24/2/2016 by mcerd1]

[Edited on 24/2/2016 by mcerd1]

[Edited on 24/2/2016 by mcerd1]

As already said, go for a decent one with Li-Ion batteries. I use DeWalt ones (purely because I got a deal on an impact driver and SDS set), which all share the same style charger - but I also have a couple of Makita bits that are great. I've used Hitachi cordless drills before and they're pretty good as well.

If you're going to use it regularly consider getting a pack that has either a couple of batteries in it, or preferably a couple of decent (3.0Ah) batteries over the 1.3/1.5 you'd usually get. Will be a bit more expensive, but worth it.

Or if you're only an occasional user, just consider a £100 DeWalt/Makita special offer set from B&Q or Screwfix.

I bought this one when I started my build.
linky
Although mine was similar price on offer in B&Q, it also came with 2 batteries.

its still going strong on the original pair of batteries, It even survived being burnt in a welding 'incident' i had a few years ago.

[Edited on 24-2-16 by loggyboy]

I'm very happy with my Hitachi drills. I've got two of them. Started with one with NIMHs then wanted to switch to Lipos and got a second one (same drill body but 3* lipos included). Subsequently also got a circular saw (needed a bigger lipo). Nice tools and seem to last. In fact I just take it for granted they'll do the job. First drill (now 6 years old) has a slightly noisy gearbox but can't complain. Still works great.

Some of the lads I work with have just purchased a Worx drill /driver set they are nice and compact and can be bought under £70.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776c2-gb-18v-1-3ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-xr/17648

Iv just bought one of these and impressed it came with 2 battery's
jacko

A said, make sure they are Li-Ion batteries and go for 18v.

If money is no object, go for Festool. I only recently discovered Festool but their kit is first rate - but v expensive.

For mere mortals, i can thoroughly recommend this Bosch which I have used day in day out. Mine only came with one battery and when I was working non-stop I bought a second. They charge in less time than they take to run out with normal use. Hammer drill and torque settings. Bought my son the same one and he also swears by it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-PSB-1800-LI-2-1-5/dp/B00L3XK06C

I have had 2 very poor tools from Bosch, a corded drill and a jigsaw so wouldn't risk another. I have 2 18v Makita cordless drills, one has been going brilliantly for 3 years so bought another. Use one for drilling the other for driving screws. They hold charge well and charge up quickly.

I just got a worx 20V to replace my old bosch and must say its really excellent.

linky

Good price too only £59.99 and comes with 2 batteries.

I use my Dewalt cordless all day long. It gets lots of abuse and apart from the chuck it works well. Try to get one on offer at B&Q.
The problem with expensive tools ls is they are a target for thieves.

Got to agree about the chuck, my worx drill has a keyless chuck which is fine but it can be difficult to do it up properly, bloody keyless chucks, ha not like the old days when you could really tighten a chuck.

http://m.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd985m2-gb-18v-4-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill-xr/36082?filtered=true

Dewalt 'proper' range are great (not the DIY tat) make sure you go for the biggest battery you can afford ideally at least 2ah. Have the above with 3 batteries, 2x 1/2" impact drivers. They get used for rally car service and get some really hammer as you can imagine the battery will last all day.

Also have the old style 18v still great tools (used on site for quiet some time, 2005), worth picking up second hand if you can guarantee the batteries are good, as that is the expensive bit.

Of course just my opinion and experience

I've had a number of 18v drills over the years including one Hitachi. Most work well for a while and then the batteries die and the cost of replacement makes a new drill a better option.
Then I bought a Li ion 14.4volt Bosch drill. It has been brilliant. Battery is still good after nearly 3 years, its power is as good as the earlier 18v drills and it weighs much less than they did.
Next drill is going to be another Bosch

[Edited on 24/2/16 by ianhurley20]

I bought a deWalt drill quite a few years ago - the drill itself is still working well, but the batteries were useless, and expensive (I was given 3 with the drill). All batteries failed between 12 and 24 months of occasional use. 'Occasional use' may be a factor, as rechargeables don't like being left unused for ages... these certainly didn't.

Looked at the cost of genuine replacements and couldn't justify buying just one of them. In the end I bought a clone battery off an ebay supplier; same voltage, same package, higher capacity, third of the price. I've used it in exactly the same way as the genuine ones and it's still working after 3 or 4 years of neglect and abuse. It even works better that the originals, which suggests that it's cells are better quality, lower-internal-resistance types. The clone was made in the UK, I believe (or built to a UK order in China).

[Edited on 24/2/16 by David Jenkins]

I have a nice 8 year old Dewalt 14.4v and another 18v combi that is a few years old. Both are nicd and both still going strong apart from a blown charger where I got carbon dust on the exposed electrodes. At work we had the same and it was always left on charge, and this killed the battery in just over a year!

At work we have a load of the makita 18v bodys, drills, grinder, circular saw ect. They get a lot of abuse between Sep and Nov. The bodys are fine its the batterys that arn't great. There are lots of reviews online saying that.
We also have 2 dewalt 4aH drills that never seem to need a charge, are fine left for periods of time.
Go for a dewalt, you wont regret it.

Make sure it's lithium tho, not nicad

I bought the highest voltage DeWalt Lithium Ion I could afford from Screwfix. About £120 if I recall correctly. Very pleased. The hammer action is good enough for most small/medium masonry jobs too.

I'd say buy two. A 240v corded SDS pneumatic hammer action for masonry (it's these jobs that seem to kill cordless drills) and a 18v Li-Ion cordless. If you only want one drill for occasional jobs go for a 240v corded or a 18v Li-Ion cordless with hammer action. I've used Bosch and Makita professional range daily both are good but have little experience with other makes.

Many thanks for all your replies, I knew I could trust the collective for some good advice ! I am probably going to get a £99 Dewalt / Screwfix jobbie. I know the professional ones will be a lot better, but just cant justify £300/400 on something that is going to get used occasionally

Appreciate they're more mobile being cordless, but until my corded Bosch dies I can't justify spending on one myself.

Fair point - I have a B&D corded drill I bought about 20 years ago that's still going strong, and another B&D one I inherited from my father that's probably about 50 years old. Both perfectly serviceable to this day, and they both get regular use.


[Edited on 25/2/16 by David Jenkins]

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Originally posted by nick205
Appreciate they're more mobile being cordless, but until my corded Bosch dies I can't justify spending on one myself.

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Originally posted by mcerd1

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
Appreciate they're more mobile being cordless, but until my corded Bosch dies I can't justify spending on one myself.

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I keep saying that about my Draper corded one that came free with a toolbox...

I've seen identical ones sold as various brands (just different colours and stickers, one was a NuTool for a whole £5)

But somehow it just keeps going....

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Slight bump but this got emailed me today.

B n Q drill

[Edited on 24-3-16 by loggyboy]