Drill life time

sarah_id1

I want to buy a drill for home use but looking for something which have a longer life. I've found this Makita and Bosch so far. Can someone advise the life time of these considering they are the best brands!. Especially the battery life.

OR should I just go with a value drill which cost £15 to £20

Thanks

Funky_Bold_Ribena

I've had a DeWalt rechargeable drill, with spare battery for 3 years now, I use it every week - have built goodness knows how many polytunnels, raised beds, compost bins, fencing arrangements etc with it and it is still going strong. The one I had before that - a value one - barely lasted 6 months.

I bought this one because once the battery reaches its charge it stops charging whereas some others, if you forget to take it out it kills the battery dead and it cost just as much for a new battery as a new drill.

I got mine on an amazon offer. One of the best things I have ever bought.

phill99

The drill will last decades. The battery will be the hing that fails as after a number of years, it will not take a charge.

Norman_Castle

I use an older version of this http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A389XNE/ref=asc_df_B00A389XNE14804500?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&!!!!!kelkoo094-homeimprovement-retail-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B00A389XNE&ascsub!!!!!dc2-ecs-prod-proc-06.prod.dc2.kelkoo.net_uk_uk_1378630703122_748
Plenty of power, proper variable speed so very good as a screwdriver on larger screws, and no battery to fail. Do you need a cordless hammer drill?.

ValHaller

Call me old fashioned, but I would buy a mains drill every time. And I would avoid the consumer oriented products and go for a tradesman grade product.

osdset

Had all the major brands over the years best so far are Milwaukee, and Hitachi.

Cordless drill batteries that have lost the ability to hold a charge can be zapped
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6046612_recondition-cordless-drill-batteries.html

-taff

I bought the bosch one, on offer in Homebase in July and i love it.
I was a bit iffy about a cordless hammer drill, but this has gone into a concrete wall that is an absolute pain to drill into usually and with only one hand holding it. The light is a neat little touch too.
It's also quite lightweight which is nice...

anotherbaldrick

I have a mains Bosch and a battery Bosch , both over 20 years old and both still going strong.

Nilrem

The Makita will also probably continue to be supported for batteries for a long time - iirc they both supply replacement battery packs, and upgraded ones* and the charger supplied will often do both the battery supplied and various other ones (I think they worked out it was better to have a pretty much universal charger than a different charger for every model/battery, as the one I've got from memory does everything from 12v to 18v in nicad, nimh and possibly li-ion).



*IIRC they do Nicad (like most other diy drills) as standard, but they also do upgrade batteries with NIMH and lithium, the charger supplied will normally do the NIMH batteries as well.

Gloomendoom

I generally buy Makita or Bosch. I have a pair of green Bosch cordless drills bought in 1999 that are still going strong.

If you are looking at Makita with a lithium battery, be aware that the batteries don't like to be left for long periods without a charge.

southcoastrgi

Gloomendoom wrote: »

If you are looking at Makita with a lithium battery, be aware that the batteries don't like to be left for long periods without a charge.

that is totally the opposite of the truth, they have no memory effect & a very low discharge rate if not used