OMO Cordless Drills

[Tomor]

So, my dad keeps moaning that whenever he tries to do anything with his cordless drill, it only lasts a short while before he has to recharge the battery. The drill is fairly old, and is a Ryobi. He has two batteries, one on charge and one in use, but they both don't last very long. He has already replaced the battery cells in them, but they don't seem to last long before they are back at the same state again.

So my question to you is;

Can anyone (possibly in the trade) recommend a decent drill that will last a good few years?

Tom

[Wideboy]

anything really that's lithium, B&Q are doing a makita 18v 1.3ah drill for about 120-130 (can't remember) with 2 batteries. No good for trade but more than ample for at home.

i got 3 expensive makita NiMh sets that are all defunct now as the batteries are long dead, not worth the money replacing them.

[Wideboy]

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-too...skuId=13499666

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/power-too...skuId=13029339

although B&Q are **** for just about anything else.

Not even remotely in a trade so this may well get shot down as branded baloney but I really like the Bosch GSR range. I got the 10.8v smaller drill, pretty damn powerful (no hammer action or anything) but it is MUCH more portable and gets into smaller spots.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsr-...h-l-boxx/27596
(that is the full on kit, you can get it cheaper by parts, bare unit, battery and charger etc)

[DarrenSV650S]

As wideO says, deffo get lithium batteries. I've found makitas always have crappy chucks that let go when you are using them.

I got this one with 2 batteries for £150 from screwfix and it's ace.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd...drill-xr/22854

[Wideboy]

the cheap one's do have naff chucks that magically undo themselves i will agree. But for 90 quid its still a good deal.

[DJ123]

What does he mainly use the drill for? Drilling into masonry? Screwing, er, screws? Pilot holes into brick?

Maybe worth going for a corded drill if he is drilling a lot of holes in one stint.

Daddyjob speaks sense, if your dad is insisting on it been a cordless then FTR I do far more than the average diy'er but I'm not a trade user. That said ALL my powet items have been replaced by makita LXT and I've never found fault with any.

I've had loads of drill over the years, I've got a makita 18v jobbie currently which I've had about 3 years, only cost £99 with two batteries, think you can get them for £90 now, chuck isn't brilliant but it's ok.

Mine gets used every day, mainly as a screwdriver tbh, still going strong.

Whatever you do, don't leave the batteries on charge so that they are always ready, it knackers batteries up really quick, I've learnt this from experience.

I've had much more expensive drills and the drills themselves are a bit better but the batteries aren't.
So my advice get a decent quality lithium drill and just buy extra batteries, a diy'er shouldn't really use it anywhere near its life in 5-10 years.

Originally Posted by Owenski

Daddyjob speaks sense, if your dad is insisting on it been a cordless then FTR I do far more than the average diy'er but I'm not a trade user. That said ALL my powet items have been replaced by makita LXT and I've never found fault with any.

My LXT drill has been back to makita twice in 4 months of easy use. 1 Chuck and another fault later i'm annoyed.