OG wrote:

I've just decided the cheap and nasty cordless drill isn't ever going to
suddenly hold better charge. The trouble is that it can go months between
use, and a NiCd battery is not ideal if you never really run it down fully.

Is anyone aware of a decent brand where I can look to spend up to ｣40 on a
cordless chuckless drill that I can expect to get several years occasional
use out of without having to concentate on battery maintenance (presumably
I'd be looking at NiMh for that).

Alas you have conflicting requirements... NiMh do not suffer memory
effects and hence be better for ad hock recharging from an unknown
state. However they often have worse auto discharge performance - hence
will tend to run flat sitting on a shelf even sooner than NiCd. The best
batteries for shelf life will be the newer Lith-Ion ones, but tools that
use those are not in the £40 bracket.

Your best bet might be a decent drill with good fast charger and two or
three batts, and just accept that if you pull it out of the cupboard
after six months of non use you will need to spend 20 mins charging it
first. Again getting the above for £40 is going to be a non starter (the
battery pack alone will cost that).

If youy could run to £60 then there are some that might fit your spec.
See the first one on the page he

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/...0Drivers%2012V

FAQ on cordless tools:

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/cordless.htm

And on drills:

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drill.htm


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/