My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will to
live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm after a
new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't therefore
be regularly changing and charging batteries so need something which I can
leave a battery in the charger permanently so that I'm ready to go when the
need arises.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under £100

Cheers

Jim

Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will to
live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm after a
new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't therefore
be regularly changing and charging batteries so need something which I can
leave a battery in the charger permanently so that I'm ready to go when the
need arises.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under �100

Cheers

Jim

I dont know any that can be left on charge indefinitely. Next option
is a quick charge, eg 1 hr for a full charge, 10 mins would then be
enough for a small job. You can get that from anything from Titan to
dewalt, so youre talking about £20 to £100. For just occasional use, a
Titan would normally be plenty good enough. ISTR screwfix clearing
them out.


NT

In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use? And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Good quality batteries hold at least some of their charge for months. More
so with current types. Cheap ones self discharge more quickly.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under £100

--
*Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
had this to say:

In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use? And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Much better to use a hand drill in this case.

I'm sure a lot of DIY work could be done using hand tools rather than
quite inefficient power tools - less damage to the environment, and
even a bit more physical fitness to the DIYer.

--
Frank Erskine

Frank Erskine wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
had this to say:

In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill
This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.
Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use? And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Much better to use a hand drill in this case.

I'm sure a lot of DIY work could be done using hand tools rather than
quite inefficient power tools - less damage to the environment, and
even a bit more physical fitness to the DIYer.

Dave thinks of a DIYer using a tungsten carbide masonary drill in a
brace and bit fashion :-)

Dave

Frank Erskine wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
had this to say:

In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the
will to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before
dying so I'm after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use? And do you
really need something that has to be ready for use there and then?
Like you wake up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Much better to use a hand drill in this case.

I'm sure a lot of DIY work could be done using hand tools rather than
quite inefficient power tools - less damage to the environment, and
even a bit more physical fitness to the DIYer.

Remember the Rawltool? Bash, turn, bash, turn? Manual SDS really. very
handy for doing a single hole.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the
will to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying
so I'm after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under £100

Li-Ion batteries will do what you want. Screwfix have three Li-Ion drill
drivers under £100.

If you want a combi e.g drill/driver/hammer drill they start from £120.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:52:31 +0100, Dave
had this to say:

Frank Erskine wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
had this to say:

In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill
This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.
Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use? And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Much better to use a hand drill in this case.

I'm sure a lot of DIY work could be done using hand tools rather than
quite inefficient power tools - less damage to the environment, and
even a bit more physical fitness to the DIYer.

Dave thinks of a DIYer using a tungsten carbide masonary drill in a
brace and bit fashion :-)

In this case a Rawldrill (or was it the Rawltool?)(the kind you twist
and hit with a hammer) would be quite suitable. Don't forget that
around the 1930s these were quite typical for electricians wiring a
whole house using conduit and needing perhaps ¾" holes through bricks.

Actually I think the Rawldrill was a sort of hand drill with hammer
action. That would be entirely suitable for fixing things with
Rawlplugs.

The whole idea of DIY is that you aren't working to a timescale; nor
are you costing your time.

HTH -

--
Frank Erskine

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Remember the Rawltool? Bash, turn, bash, turn? Manual SDS really. very
handy for doing a single hole.

Oh, aye. In cheese-like brick, sure.

If I never see another Rawl-*******-tool again, I'll be happy.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Remember the Rawltool? Bash, turn, bash, turn? Manual SDS really.
very handy for doing a single hole.

Oh, aye. In cheese-like brick, sure.

If I never see another Rawl-*******-tool again, I'll be happy.

Wimp :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use?

No, not really. Keeping something permanently on costs about £1 per Watt
per year. Despite what some in the media would have you believe, chargers
use leccy by the teaspoonful (i.e. not very much). Reckon on about a
fiver a year, tops. Not "incredibly expensive" after all?

And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Good quality batteries hold at least some of their charge for months. More
so with current types. Cheap ones self discharge more quickly.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under £100

Go for an NiMH battery - not sure if shops are allowed to sell NiCds any more,
but they lose charge quickly. Also keep the battery at room temperature,
they lose the capacity quickly if they get cold (but regain it as they
warm up again).

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
Remember the Rawltool? Bash, turn, bash, turn? Manual SDS really.
very handy for doing a single hole.

Oh, aye. In cheese-like brick, sure.

They were really the only DIY way for hard materials before SDS arrived.

If I never see another Rawl-*******-tool again, I'll be happy.

Gave a certain satisfaction actually being able to make a hole in granite,
etc, but otherwise I agree. Kids these days...;-)

--
*Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
pete wrote:
Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use?

No, not really. Keeping something permanently on costs about £1 per Watt
per year. Despite what some in the media would have you believe, chargers
use leccy by the teaspoonful (i.e. not very much). Reckon on about a
fiver a year, tops. Not "incredibly expensive" after all?

Maybe not in electricity costs then - but I'd like to be sure the device
was made for permanent connection. And I wouldn't leave something like
this on 24/7 anyway as there's really no point.

--
*It is wrong to ever split an infinitive *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 28 May 2009 08:52:40 GMT, pete wrote:

On Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:29 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim wrote:
My B&D cordless drill (or at least the batteries) have given up the will
to live and will now only tackle half a small hole before dying so I'm
after a new drill

This will be purely a DIY tool and used very infrequently. I won't
therefore be regularly changing and charging batteries so need
something which I can leave a battery in the charger permanently so
that I'm ready to go when the need arises.

Surely that's incredibly expensive in electricity use?

No, not really. Keeping something permanently on costs about £1 per Watt
per year. Despite what some in the media would have you believe, chargers
use leccy by the teaspoonful (i.e. not very much). Reckon on about a
fiver a year, tops. Not "incredibly expensive" after all?

And do you really
need something that has to be ready for use there and then? Like you wake
up and say 'I'm going to drill a hole this second'?

Good quality batteries hold at least some of their charge for months. More
so with current types. Cheap ones self discharge more quickly.

Any suggestions on what type of drill/battery would most suit my needs
preferably under £100

Go for an NiMH battery - not sure if shops are allowed to sell NiCds any more,
but they lose charge quickly. Also keep the battery at room temperature,
they lose the capacity quickly if they get cold (but regain it as they
warm up again).

Most* NiMH cells self-discharge as well. Li-ion batteries are better.
I'm tempted with the Bosch PSR14.4 Li at about £80.

* You can get low self-discharge NiMH cells but I don't think any
fitted to powertools are this type.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In article ,
Mark wrote:
Most* NiMH cells self-discharge as well. Li-ion batteries are better.
I'm tempted with the Bosch PSR14.4 Li at about £80.

* You can get low self-discharge NiMH cells but I don't think any
fitted to powertools are this type.

My most commonly used cordless is a Wicks Hi Torque which has decent 2 amp
hr Ni-Cads - and it might not be used for weeks at a time. Never gone to
use it and found the battery flat - and the spare battery (which will only
get put back in the case fully charged) seems to self discharge very
little indeed in practice.

--
*If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 28 May 2009 15:25:05 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Mark wrote:
Most* NiMH cells self-discharge as well. Li-ion batteries are better.
I'm tempted with the Bosch PSR14.4 Li at about £80.

* You can get low self-discharge NiMH cells but I don't think any
fitted to powertools are this type.

My most commonly used cordless is a Wicks Hi Torque which has decent 2 amp
hr Ni-Cads - and it might not be used for weeks at a time. Never gone to
use it and found the battery flat - and the spare battery (which will only
get put back in the case fully charged) seems to self discharge very
little indeed in practice.

My Bosch Nicads were unusable after 2 years light usage.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In article ,
Mark wrote:
My most commonly used cordless is a Wicks Hi Torque which has decent 2
amp hr Ni-Cads - and it might not be used for weeks at a time. Never
gone to use it and found the battery flat - and the spare battery
(which will only get put back in the case fully charged) seems to self
discharge very little indeed in practice.

My Bosch Nicads were unusable after 2 years light usage.

That suggests a poor charger - or *very* heavy use. Decent quality Ni-Cads
charged properly should give a minimum of 500 cycles. The above drill is
older than two years and the batteries still fine. It does have an
intelligent charger which cuts off after they're charged, though.

I don't have any Bosch cordless tools so can't really comment on their
quality - but I'd expect them to be ok.

--
*Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 28 May 2009 07:37:35 +0100, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Remember the Rawltool? Bash, turn, bash, turn? Manual SDS really. very
handy for doing a single hole.

Oh, aye. In cheese-like brick, sure.

If I never see another Rawl-*******-tool again, I'll be happy.

Used mine only last week and in concrete at that. I have very limited
physical capabilities but was no problem. I needed to start a hole
very precisely and was intending to make a start with it then use the
cordless drill but it was going so well I carried on. I do have to
agree on some levels though, as an apprentice electrician many moons
back it was the only way and of course the apprentice always drew the
short straw. Nothing worse than hammering away in a freezing cold
shell of a building and missing with the hammer, certainly made the
eyes water and my hands turn into some interesting shapes.

Anyone know of a source for the bits? More out of interest really.

On Thu, 28 May 2009 17:03:32 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Mark wrote:
My most commonly used cordless is a Wicks Hi Torque which has decent 2
amp hr Ni-Cads - and it might not be used for weeks at a time. Never
gone to use it and found the battery flat - and the spare battery
(which will only get put back in the case fully charged) seems to self
discharge very little indeed in practice.

My Bosch Nicads were unusable after 2 years light usage.

That suggests a poor charger - or *very* heavy use. Decent quality Ni-Cads
charged properly should give a minimum of 500 cycles. The above drill is
older than two years and the batteries still fine. It does have an
intelligent charger which cuts off after they're charged, though.

I'd expect Bosch to be better than the 'budget' tools due to price
(and brand reputation). The charger is intelligent. As I said before
it had light use (at weekends only).

I don't have any Bosch cordless tools so can't really comment on their
quality - but I'd expect them to be ok.

Me too. Hence my disappointment.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Li-Ion batteries will do what you want.

Excepting that Li-Ion don't like to be left fully charged....

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

Mark wrote:

I'd expect Bosch to be better than the 'budget' tools due to price
(and brand reputation). The charger is intelligent. As I said before
it had light use (at weekends only).

I don't have any Bosch cordless tools so can't really comment on their
quality - but I'd expect them to be ok.

Me too. Hence my disappointment.


I had the same experience. I suspect the "intelligent" charger isn't as
smart as I thought, and was overcharging the batteries rather than
keeping them full.

Now of course I have a perfectly good drill - and no batteries for it

I mostly use a rawldrill now...

Andy

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

chargers
Maybe not in electricity costs then - but I'd like to be sure the device
was made for permanent connection. And I wouldn't leave something like
this on 24/7 anyway as there's really no point.

No better way to kill a battery, as I've found.
Simple enough to have the charger come on via 24hr timer for 30mins
/day.

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

chargers
Maybe not in electricity costs then - but I'd like to be sure the device
was made for permanent connection. And I wouldn't leave something like
this on 24/7 anyway as there's really no point.

No better way to kill a battery, as I've found.
Simple enough to have the charger come on via 24hr timer for 30mins
/day.

After many years of using rechargeables for all sorts of things I still
reckon charging at 1/10th the capacity for about 14 hours gives the best
life. The very best intelligent chargers may be quicker - but don't give a
longer service life.

--
*There are two sides to every divorce: Yours and **** head's*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 28 May 2009 23:42:53 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

chargers
Maybe not in electricity costs then - but I'd like to be sure the device
was made for permanent connection. And I wouldn't leave something like
this on 24/7 anyway as there's really no point.

No better way to kill a battery, as I've found.
Simple enough to have the charger come on via 24hr timer for 30mins
/day.

After many years of using rechargeables for all sorts of things I still
reckon charging at 1/10th the capacity for about 14 hours gives the best
life. The very best intelligent chargers may be quicker - but don't give a
longer service life.

Yes, this is a very effective strategy. it's also a great way to prevaricate.
"Yes dear, I'll get right on it. I'll just put the 'driver on to charge. It'll
be cooked in 14 hours, so I can start tomorrow." :-)

On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:40:25 +0100, Scott M
wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Li-Ion batteries will do what you want.

Excepting that Li-Ion don't like to be left fully charged....

IIRC they lose capacity at a higher rate if left fully charged. It is
also temperature dependent so keeping in the fridge may help.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In article ,
pete wrote:
After many years of using rechargeables for all sorts of things I
still reckon charging at 1/10th the capacity for about 14 hours gives
the best life. The very best intelligent chargers may be quicker - but
don't give a longer service life.

Yes, this is a very effective strategy. it's also a great way to
prevaricate. "Yes dear, I'll get right on it. I'll just put the 'driver
on to charge. It'll be cooked in 14 hours, so I can start tomorrow." :-)

Same applies with a four hour charge, really. If you want a drill that is
always ready for instant work, use a mains one.

--
*Eat well, stay fit, die anyway

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2009-05-28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

That suggests a poor charger - or *very* heavy use. Decent quality Ni-Cads
charged properly should give a minimum of 500 cycles. The above drill is
older than two years and the batteries still fine. It does have an
intelligent charger which cuts off after they're charged, though.

I don't have any Bosch cordless tools so can't really comment on their
quality - but I'd expect them to be ok.

(This thread has good timing for me.)

I'm looking to replace my Bosch cordless drill set (2 drills, 3
batteries, 1 charger) which is about 12 or 13 years old (I think).
The drills are still fairly good but the batteries are shot and will
probably cost more than a new drill.

My main concern is that all the cordless drills I've seen so far only
come with one battery, so you run the risk of having to stop and
recharge in the middle of a job unless you recharge the partly charged
battery in advance of a job. I've been told that the latter is bad
for the battery in the long term.

Is that no longer a problem (because of better batteries), or should I
seek out a drill or set with an extra battery?

In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:
My main concern is that all the cordless drills I've seen so far only
come with one battery, so you run the risk of having to stop and
recharge in the middle of a job unless you recharge the partly charged
battery in advance of a job. I've been told that the latter is bad
for the battery in the long term.

Plenty come with two batteries - but you'd have to search them out.
But it depends on use - if doing very heavy work you could run one flat
before the second has re-charged. I regard my cordless drills as being for
light work - if I need to cane a drill, like drilling out doors for
mortice locks etc - a mains one is more suitable.

--
*To steal ideas from *one* person is plagiarism; from many, research*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2009-05-31, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:
My main concern is that all the cordless drills I've seen so far only
come with one battery, so you run the risk of having to stop and
recharge in the middle of a job unless you recharge the partly charged
battery in advance of a job. I've been told that the latter is bad
for the battery in the long term.

Plenty come with two batteries - but you'd have to search them out.

I'll keep looking.

But it depends on use - if doing very heavy work you could run one flat
before the second has re-charged. I regard my cordless drills as being for
light work - if I need to cane a drill, like drilling out doors for
mortice locks etc - a mains one is more suitable.

I'm thinking of getting a mains one for masonry (my house has fairly
hard bricks) and a cordless one for general use (instead of the set of
two different cordless ones I have now). Thanks.

In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:
In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:
My main concern is that all the cordless drills I've seen so far only
come with one battery, so you run the risk of having to stop and
recharge in the middle of a job unless you recharge the partly charged
battery in advance of a job. I've been told that the latter is bad
for the battery in the long term.

Plenty come with two batteries - but you'd have to search them out.

I'll keep looking.

But it depends on use - if doing very heavy work you could run one
flat before the second has re-charged. I regard my cordless drills as
being for light work - if I need to cane a drill, like drilling out
doors for mortice locks etc - a mains one is more suitable.

I'm thinking of getting a mains one for masonry (my house has fairly
hard bricks) and a cordless one for general use (instead of the set of
two different cordless ones I have now). Thanks.

Your prayers are answered. Got a flyer from Screwfix today - Bosch SDS
mains with all three functions and a two battery 12v cordless for 99.99.
Pt No 26072-30. I'd say that looks a good buy.

--
*Ever stop to think and forget to start again?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 2009-06-01, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Adam Funk wrote:

I'm thinking of getting a mains one for masonry (my house has fairly
hard bricks) and a cordless one for general use (instead of the set of
two different cordless ones I have now). Thanks.

Your prayers are answered. Got a flyer from Screwfix today - Bosch SDS
mains with all three functions and a two battery 12v cordless for 99.99.
Pt No 26072-30. I'd say that looks a good buy.

Great, thanks for the pointer!