On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill for
£19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque postitions
and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position means?). The make is
called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of kit?
Thanks.

P Bentley wrote:

On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill for
£19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque postitions
and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position means?). The make is
called 'Work Zone'.

In the "drill" position, the torque limiter is locked out.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

In article ,
P Bentley wrote:
On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill
for £19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque
postitions and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position
means?). The make is called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of
kit? Thanks.

This sort of thing from both Lidl and Aldi tends to be pretty good value
for money. Much better IMHO than shed own brand stuff at a similar price.

I don't have an Aldi nearby, and the only Work Zone cordless tool I have
is a multi-tool, and it seems to have a very good battery. Very pleased
with it for the occasions were I can't use the Fein.

--
*The most common name in the world is Mohammed *

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

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
P Bentley wrote:
On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill
for £19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque
postitions and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position
means?). The make is called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of
kit? Thanks.

This sort of thing from both Lidl and Aldi tends to be pretty good value
for money. Much better IMHO than shed own brand stuff at a similar price.

I don't have an Aldi nearby, and the only Work Zone cordless tool I have
is a multi-tool, and it seems to have a very good battery. Very pleased
with it for the occasions were I can't use the Fein.

It will almost certainly come with a 3 year warranty. I doubt if that
will cover the battery though. If you are going to use it regularly and
the battery fails after say 20 months, then you will have paid £1 per
month for its use which is probably good value.

"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
P Bentley wrote:
On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill
for £19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque
postitions and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position
means?). The make is called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of
kit? Thanks.

This sort of thing from both Lidl and Aldi tends to be pretty good value
for money. Much better IMHO than shed own brand stuff at a similar price.

I don't have an Aldi nearby, and the only Work Zone cordless tool I have
is a multi-tool, and it seems to have a very good battery. Very pleased
with it for the occasions were I can't use the Fein.

It will almost certainly come with a 3 year warranty. I doubt if that will
cover the battery though. If you are going to use it regularly and the
battery fails after say 20 months, then you will have paid £1 per month
for its use which is probably good value.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to all. Having never owned a battery powered drill before, are
replacement batteries a usual standard size and so easily replaceable ?
Thanks

On 14/03/2014 22:41, P Bentley wrote:
"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
P Bentley wrote:
On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill
for £19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque
postitions and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position
means?). The make is called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of
kit? Thanks.

This sort of thing from both Lidl and Aldi tends to be pretty good value
for money. Much better IMHO than shed own brand stuff at a similar price.

I don't have an Aldi nearby, and the only Work Zone cordless tool I have
is a multi-tool, and it seems to have a very good battery. Very pleased
with it for the occasions were I can't use the Fein.

It will almost certainly come with a 3 year warranty. I doubt if that will
cover the battery though. If you are going to use it regularly and the
battery fails after say 20 months, then you will have paid £1 per month
for its use which is probably good value.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to all. Having never owned a battery powered drill before, are
replacement batteries a usual standard size and so easily replaceable ?
Thanks


Externally, they are usually (always?) different. Inside the pack, they
mostly use sub-C cells which are readily available although it can be a
bit fiddly to re-cell them (and often as expensive as the original
drill). There are reputable re-celling firms. If you have never had one
before, you will almost certainly find an Aldi one useful and good
value. Just don't expect to achieve the same masonry drilling rates that
you would get from a standard mains drill.

Apart from drilling, they can save a lot of time assembling flat pack
furniture or disassembling washing machine cases (for example).

On 14/03/2014 22:41, P Bentley wrote:


Thanks to all. Having never owned a battery powered drill before, are
replacement batteries a usual standard size and so easily replaceable ?
Thanks


The battery is probably unique to the drill and there is a good chance
with Aldi/lidl that you will not be able to find an economic
replacement. Sometimes Aldi/Lidl will have spare batteries on sale at
the same time as the drill BUT ONLY while stocks last and possibly never
to be repeated!

However, I have something similar from Aldi purchased a couple of years
ago and its still going strong. It doesn't perform as well as a mains
powered drill and not particularly suited for a long sustained workload
but I use/abuse it on a regular basis because its more convenient than
getting a mains power drill out.

I do use fairly decent drill bits with it:

For masonary, wood, ceramic, upvc and steel a set of Bosch Multi
construction bits.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/bosch-set...ion-drill-bits

Also "designed for cordless" a set of Irwin (wood/masonary/ceramic)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Irwin-10501893-Masonry-Drill-Bit-for-Cordless-Drills-7-Piece-Set-/390461246961?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash= item5ae94dcdf1

Both links just an example of the item but not necessarily the best price

--
mailto:news{at}admac(dot}myzen{dot}co{dot}uk

On Fri, 14 Mar 2014 10:58:23 -0000, "P Bentley"
wrote:

On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill for
£19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque postitions
and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position means?). The make is
called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of kit?
Thanks.

I bought the same drill two years ago - the drill is still ok but the
battery is dying fast now. I've since tooled up with used Makita 14.4V
drivers and that's a much, much better way to go, since there's a huge
backlog of spares and used tools for spares plus many cheap (and
not-so-cheap) batteries to be found for the same kind of money as the
Aldi/Lidl offering.
Although I say the Aldi drill itself is ok, it certainly wouldn't
stand up to the kind of crap a Makita is meant to take in its stride.

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 00:54:44 +0000, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:

On Fri, 14 Mar 2014 10:58:23 -0000, "P Bentley"
wrote:

On this coming 20 March, Aldi are doing a 14.4volt cordless hammer drill for
£19.99. two speed. screwdriving and hammer drilling. 16 torque postitions
and 1 drill position. (dont know what 1 drill position means?). The make is
called 'Work Zone'.

Is this likely to be a five minute wonder or a seriously useful bit of kit?
Thanks.

I bought the same drill two years ago - the drill is still ok but the
battery is dying fast now. I've since tooled up with used Makita 14.4V
drivers and that's a much, much better way to go, since there's a huge
backlog of spares and used tools for spares plus many cheap (and
not-so-cheap) batteries to be found for the same kind of money as the
Aldi/Lidl offering.
Although I say the Aldi drill itself is ok, it certainly wouldn't
stand up to the kind of crap a Makita is meant to take in its stride.

Same here - Aldi 14.4V combi worked well for a couple of years but then the
batteries started losing charge too quickly.
The Makita, after 3 years still holds its charge and works well. It put a
10mm hole through a single-skin brick wall remarkably quickly.
The Aldidl drills seem to have smaller batteries and only one, nowadays.
Mine had 2 batteries of about 0.2Ah more than the newer ones.

From what I've learned with these drills, I wouldn't buy another from
Aldidl.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Same here - Aldi 14.4V combi worked well for a couple of years but then the
batteries started losing charge too quickly.
The Makita, after 3 years still holds its charge and works well. It put a
10mm hole through a single-skin brick wall remarkably quickly.
The Aldidl drills seem to have smaller batteries and only one, nowadays.
Mine had 2 batteries of about 0.2Ah more than the newer ones.

From what I've learned with these drills, I wouldn't buy another from
Aldidl.

Before you can really make a meaningful comparison, you'd need to know how
long the Makita battery will last. As it is a much more expensive device.

It's not really a surprise to know a Makita battery lasts longer than an
Aldi one - since the battery is by far and away the most expensive part of
the tool. It would be very silly if it didn't.

--
*Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?

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

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:50:50 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Same here - Aldi 14.4V combi worked well for a couple of years but then the
batteries started losing charge too quickly.
The Makita, after 3 years still holds its charge and works well. It put a
10mm hole through a single-skin brick wall remarkably quickly.
The Aldidl drills seem to have smaller batteries and only one, nowadays.
Mine had 2 batteries of about 0.2Ah more than the newer ones.

From what I've learned with these drills, I wouldn't buy another from
Aldidl.

Before you can really make a meaningful comparison, you'd need to know how
long the Makita battery will last. As it is a much more expensive device.

It's not really a surprise to know a Makita battery lasts longer than an
Aldi one - since the battery is by far and away the most expensive part of
the tool. It would be very silly if it didn't.

All true. The main point is that the cheap drills just aren't worth having
in the first place. The Mak 12V drill/driver is far better now than the
14.4V cheap combi was when new.
I'd like the cheapo to work properly as it's handy to leave in the shed -
the Mak lives indoors - but the battery is not of much use after about a
month.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On 18/03/2014 13:33, PeterC wrote:
On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:50:50 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Same here - Aldi 14.4V combi worked well for a couple of years but then the
batteries started losing charge too quickly.
The Makita, after 3 years still holds its charge and works well. It put a
10mm hole through a single-skin brick wall remarkably quickly.
The Aldidl drills seem to have smaller batteries and only one, nowadays.
Mine had 2 batteries of about 0.2Ah more than the newer ones.

From what I've learned with these drills, I wouldn't buy another from
Aldidl.

Before you can really make a meaningful comparison, you'd need to know how
long the Makita battery will last. As it is a much more expensive device.

It's not really a surprise to know a Makita battery lasts longer than an
Aldi one - since the battery is by far and away the most expensive part of
the tool. It would be very silly if it didn't.

All true. The main point is that the cheap drills just aren't worth having
in the first place. The Mak 12V drill/driver is far better now than the
14.4V cheap combi was when new.

I've got 'Mccallister' B&Q 14.4V drills - a right angle, and an impact
driver, that came with 4 1.5A NiCd batteries and 2 chargers. Can't
remember exactly how much I paid, but less than £30 for the lot. They're
absolutely fine for me. Charge in about 30 mins, always enough charge
for a couple of jobs. Used a lot of late during a top to bottom 4 bed
house refurb. Almost 10 years old.

I also recently got an 18V non-hammer drill from Aldi. It's fine for
general stuff where the impact driver is too severe. The battery was
atrocious from new, but seems a lot better now, holds the charge longer.

Having said all this, compared to a friend's Bosch blue 14V hammer which
I use from time to time, these things are toys. The Bosch is a lot nicer
to use - balance, weight, torque, chuck, lithium batteries. But then it
cost 3 times as much as my 3 combined. I was tempted to buy one myself,
but couldn't quite justify it.

--
Cheers, Rob

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Same here - Aldi 14.4V combi worked well for a couple of years but then
the
batteries started losing charge too quickly.

They normally come with a 3 year warranty, so if the batteries die after two
years they may replace them.

Mike

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
It's not really a surprise to know a Makita battery lasts longer than
an Aldi one - since the battery is by far and away the most expensive
part of the tool. It would be very silly if it didn't.

All true. The main point is that the cheap drills just aren't worth
having in the first place. The Mak 12V drill/driver is far better now
than the 14.4V cheap combi was when new. I'd like the cheapo to work
properly as it's handy to leave in the shed - the Mak lives indoors -
but the battery is not of much use after about a month.

I think you're asking a lot to have any battery tool work perfectly on
demand without first charging it especially if stored in less than ideal
conditions. And even more to expect the batteries to last indefinitely.

If value for money is important, stick with a mains drill. It will out
perform any cordless while costing less - all you loose is the convenience.

--
*A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.

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

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 16:02:38 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
It's not really a surprise to know a Makita battery lasts longer than
an Aldi one - since the battery is by far and away the most expensive
part of the tool. It would be very silly if it didn't.

All true. The main point is that the cheap drills just aren't worth
having in the first place. The Mak 12V drill/driver is far better now
than the 14.4V cheap combi was when new. I'd like the cheapo to work
properly as it's handy to leave in the shed - the Mak lives indoors -
but the battery is not of much use after about a month.

I think you're asking a lot to have any battery tool work perfectly on
demand without first charging it especially if stored in less than ideal
conditions. And even more to expect the batteries to last indefinitely.

it was stored indoors for the first couple of years and has been charged
quite a lot - the first job was building a shed.
The Mak, as I say, is far better now than the Aldi one was after a week of
use and also drills a lot better in bricks.


--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:05:52 +0000, newshound
wrote:

Apart from drilling, they can save a lot of time assembling flat pack
furniture or disassembling washing machine cases (for example).

This.
Around the workshop too; with an adapter for use as cordless nut
driver, they are invaluable for taking out all that tedious
ratcheting.
In truth, the amount of drilling mine do is less than half, and the
amount of screwing, nut-driving, etc is far more.