Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Looking to replace 2 18v Makita NiCad drills which are about 10 years old as the batteries no longer hold much charge, brushes are on the way out with one and 1st gear is knackered on the other one, both were Screwfix £99 specials I hope to replace the 2 with one tidy slightly higher level drill with a couple of 3 or 4 Mah batteries, I've been looking at Dewalt and Makita mainly as there are further tools which I may buy as body only further down the line. thoughts?
 
Depending on the tools you may be best with Makita as they do a wider range than Dewalt. I've also noticed pretty much every tradesman i've seen recently using Makita so i think thats a factor.

Although Screwfix have a Dewalt Brushless one with 2 3ah batteries for £150 which seems a good price.
 
Marvt74 said:
Depending on the tools you may be best with Makita as they do a wider range than Dewalt. I've also noticed pretty much every tradesman i've seen recently using Makita so i think thats a factor.

Although Screwfix have a Dewalt Brushless one with 2 3ah batteries for £150 which seems a good price.
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I've seen this and it has crossed my mind otherwise I've been looking at the Makita DHP484
 
I'd say the Dewalt range is just as big as Makita and easily as good if not better. Its all personal preference though. They certainly aren't rubbish though, most of my kit is over 8 years old with daily use and still going strong..

The Makita DHP484 looks pretty good though, i'd say that would be a good upgrade from your nicad drills.
 
I've got a 459, model down from the 484 I think, and it's been great. I had a problem with the chuck that Makita sorted out, but for general use on fitting work it's been brilliant, and worlds ahead of the old Nicad ones I had used for the previous decade.

I bought a few batteries, and now have the brushless drill, impact, and jigsaw, and also bought a hedge trimmer for the garden. All spot on so far.
 
Trickle charger for a small 30hp tractor, any suggestions?

I left the lights on a while back which ran it completely flat, now the battery doesn't like sitting for any length of time.
 
+1 for CTEK
I've got one at work that will reconditioned batteries if it detects an issue, it seems to have recovered a few batteries that our other charger couldn't charge.
 
Can you get cheap cordless electric screwdrivers with the ability to drive very very slowly, ideally with the speed limited?

I have a hand grinder for coffee beans, and the handle slots onto a standard hex driver nub on the the main body of the grinder so that a standard hex driver fits perfectly.

I need something with a relatively decent amount of torque and I have a £10 Mac Alister driver from B&Q which works okay if a little *vigorously*. If it was just a bit slower it really would be ideal.
 
robj20 said:
You want one of those little cordless screwdrivers. Have a bosch one i use for the very same reason.
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Yeah, that's what I was thinking - I was just wondering if there was a cheap option with a very low, or variable (and controllable) speed option. I have a £10 thing from B&Q but its 220 RPM seems a little bit too energetic for the little hand grinder!
 
The trigger should control the speed. It does on my Bosch IXO anyway.

Lidl have one in their sales this week which looks alright :)
 
bcjames said:
I've got a 459, model down from the 484 I think, and it's been great. I had a problem with the chuck that Makita sorted out, but for general use on fitting work it's been brilliant, and worlds ahead of the old Nicad ones I had used for the previous decade.

I bought a few batteries, and now have the brushless drill, impact, and jigsaw, and also bought a hedge trimmer for the garden. All spot on so far.
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Done a bit of internet research I think I'll be going with the makita 484 and 153 impact driver combo with fast charger and 2x 5ah batteries as a base to add to later, bit more than I planned on paying at £320 but it only works out at £35 for the impact driver body over the single drill kit and it was something I planned on purchasing anyway at some point.
 
JRJ said:
Done a bit of internet research I think I'll be going with the makita 484 and 153 impact driver combo with fast charger and 2x 5ah batteries as a base to add to later, bit more than I planned on paying at £320 but it only works out at £35 for the impact driver body over the single drill kit and it was something I planned on purchasing anyway at some point.
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Only thing to note is even 3Ah batteries are quite big/heavy. I've never had any issues with my one 3Ah battery and since bought another of the same. I've never needed to charge them mid DIY session.

Now that I've bought the sander that uses a bit more battery but still think the 3ah is good size to capacity ratio[/QUOTE]
 
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