Non-motoring > Cordless drill Miscellaneous
Thread Author: FocalPoint Replies: 11
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 15:20 
 Cordless drill - FocalPoint
Came to do a job over the weekend, towards the end of which the 18v Performance Power cordless drill I bought some years ago from B & Q started smoking and gave up. The battery has been more and more reluctant to hold its charge in recent months, so I guess the whole bit of kit has just died.

Reading the reviews of possible replacements I am struck by the number of complaints about new drills failing, batteries not charging and so on. This from the likes of Bosch, Black and Decker.

Without spending a fortune, is there anything out there that's worth buying for average DIY use (incl. hammer action)?

Last edited by: FocalPoint on Mon 8 Jul 13 at 15:22
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 15:31 
 Cordless drill - Dog
Have a butchers at the Worx drills in Argos, I've got one plus a Worx electric plane, and I swear at by them.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 15:33 
 Cordless drill - Zero
depends on how long you have had it, or should i say how many diy jobs its done. you then need to make an estimate of how many jobs you plan to do. Then you decide if you go cheap(ish) and throw away in x-years time or go expensive.

The pros go makita or the bosch professional range (nothing like the stuff you get down the local diy shed)

I have a B&D, cost about 40 quid, its about 5 years old, not broken yet.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 15:48 
 Cordless drill - RattleandSmoke
I have a Dewalt but with metal gears and the rest of it, cost about £150 at the time but is more like £200 now. However B&Q do a lot good Makita or Dewalt stuff for £100. Ryobi is another good brand, my corded drill is a Ryobi and was very good value at around £40.00.

I don't know if I use my drill more than the average but I use it about twice a month. I rarely use my corded, that is just for drilling into masonry.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 15:52 
 Cordless drill - FocalPoint
Many thanks for the comments so far.

I guess I can't complain about the one that died - it did a lot of masonry work (which is what I was doing at the weekend) among other stuff. I probably don't do enough for it to be worth buying a professional level drill.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Mon 8 Jul 13 at 15:52
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 16:01 
 Cordless drill - Zero
>> Many thanks for the comments so far.
>>
>> I guess I can't complain about the one that died - it did a lot
>> of masonry work (which is what I was doing at the weekend) among other stuff.
>> I probably don't do enough for it to be worth buying a professional level drill.

Now there is the rub, I would never use an amateurs cordless drill for heavy masonry work. A DIYers corded drill will knock spots of anything cordless.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 16:17 
 Cordless drill - FocalPoint
"...I would never use an amateurs cordless drill for heavy masonry work. A DIYers corded drill will knock spots of anything cordless."

You're right. I was drilling softish brick, so no big deal - not really heavy masonry work. But when I got the corded drill out to finish the job, it just flew.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 16:30 
 Cordless drill - Dog
>>I would never use an amateurs cordless drill for heavy masonry work. A DIYers corded drill will knock spots of anything cordless

^I'm with this Giza, I've got an olde B & D 2 speed hammer drill, bought in the 80's and still going strong.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 16:33 
 Cordless drill - Haywain
I too find that my old corded drill is miles more powerful than the cordless - which I admit is only a 15 year old 9v Skil.

A TIP........ I reported on here a couple of weeks ago when discussing the practicalities of moving a metal shed, that I had noticed corrosion on the battery and drill terminals of the Skil. These were duly sandpapered and cleaned up and the drill has got a new lease of life.

Until I discovered the corrosion, I was on the verge of throwing the drill away. It led me to wonder how many cordless tools had been needlessly thrown away because of unnoticed corrosion.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 18:06 
 Cordless drill - RattleandSmoke
I did the maths once on my Dewalt and found with its 18v battery it produced the motor itself was around 300w. The drill cost three times as much as my 850w corded Ryobi.

However the Dewalt is just brilliant in many other ways, I love for example the brakes on it, the drill stops the second you let go of the trigger. I also have a mini Bosch electric screw driver for screwing things into soft wood which I have had for about 6 years now, they cost around £40 but a brilliant brilliant screw driver. Well well worth the price considering how reliable it is.
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 19:29 
 Cordless drill - madf
My Draper 14.4V is still going strong after 10 years.

But for power I have an old 1KW JCB one....
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New Mon 8 Jul 13 19:53 
 Cordless drill - VxFan
>> started smoking and gave up.

Happened to my B&Q branded one several months ago. Stripped it down and cleaned all the grease and belly button fluff that had accumulated around the motor commutator and brushes over the years. It's good as new again, providing of course you plan ahead and charge the battery prior to wanting to use it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 8 Jul 13 at 19:54
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