18yr old, £20, 'El-Cheapo' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

[alan8376]

18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

I tend to have different chargeable drills for different jobs, as I am continually expecting the 18yr old one (non hammer), to go 'kaputt, but no, it plods on and on.' No memory effect what so ever!
One machine, a Bosch, even had 2 new batteries at £35 a throw and has been consigned to the bin years ago.

Has anyone else come across something similiar? Where a 'cheapie' has far out done the expensive one!

 

[Sans Bateau]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Not quite a cheapy. I just bought 2 new batteries for my Makita, only 9.6 volts and no hammer, but it is now about 20 hard years old and these are the first replacement batteries!

I was tempted to ditch it and buy a replacement but the 'stick' battery that goes in the handle is far more easy to use than the great 'lump' on the end of the handle of newer drills.

 

[alan8376]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Agree! Mine is a stick in the handle version>

 

[fisherman]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Trago Mills, 2001, a £9.50 angle grinder, just to do one job on the boat, burned out in an hour. Took it back got a replacement and bought another so I could turn them round as they failed. I've used it to grind off the inside of my bulwarks (ouch!) twice, along with lots of other extended jobs, still going, and the spare is still in the box.

 

[Blueboatman]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Those Makita 'long handle' 9.6s are simply indestructible. I bought my first in 1988 and still going strong.Of course its been cheaper to buy more drills at special offer prices just to get 2 more batteries! In an emergency you can safely run em direct from the 12v ships battery with a cord(official)

 

[leadersail]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Even when the batteries give up dont throw the drill away, just solder a 12 v lead in for use on the boat.

I bought a cheap 6 volt rechargeable drill in France 20 years ago (unknown make.)
Batteries gave up after 6 years but I removed batteries and soldered a 12v cigarette lighter type plug to 15ft of flex.

The power is as good as any DIY 240v drill I have and still goes strong, been dropped in salt water a few time too.

I did the same to a Black and decker 9 v rechargeable drill too.

 

[Gordonmc]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

A contact in the local regional electricity company got me a refurbished mains drill, a two-speed, non-hammer Wolf.
I can't remember how much I paid... probably no more than a tenner.
in 1973.
I'm still using it.

 

[alienzdive]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Two years ago bought a relatively expensive reputable brand cordless drill, the batteries are not holding a charge anymore, back to manufacturer who has stopped making batteries for that drill now and offered me a new drill for a fraction under retail cost. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[fisherman]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

Makita stuff seems pretty much the insect's joints. My chop saw went dead, so I phoned the Makita helpline. They said "It hasn't broken, must be dust under the brushes" and they were right.

 

[waterboy]

Re: 18yr old, £20, \'El-Cheapo\' Rechargeable Drill has been the best!

I bought a Black and Decker cordless immediatly after the October '87 hurricane to make a temporary frame to cover damage from said storm. I still use it frequently with the original batteries. One heck of a good buy.