Cheap Chinese Tools

[Sailfree]

Posted on here instead of the lounge as relevance to tools.

Doing some tiling.

Main manual tile cutter is Rubi as they are the best and professional tilers use them.

Looked for my cheap electric Makro £29 tile cutter and realised my SIL never returned it from some 18 months ago. Decided to buy new one ( he lives 120 mls away) and rush to do the job as sailing holiday starts next weekend.

Went to Topps tiles and was amazed to see a apparently identical tile cutter but painted grey instead of red and labelled "Rubi" for £129. In all other respects it appeared identical.

It's either £100 extra for the name or they have used the same Chinese company for the body and put a better motor and possibly better diamond blade on machine but I do wonder!! If I was a betting man I would say its £100 extra for the name.

 

[rhumlady]

I have always worked on the theory that all machines are made in a big factory somewhere in China and the differences are externally colour and badge while internally it depends on the owner of the badge and how much he is prepared to pay. In reality I think that, with the number of products they are making, there would be little difference to the manufacturer between the high and low end product but I might well be wrong.

 

[savageseadog]

Topps. You have to watch the prices there. They have cheap special offers on reasonably good tiles and that's about it. The tools the adhesives and grouts are very expensive. Wickes is far cheaper for adhesives and Screwfix far cheaper than anyone for (cheap) tools, some pound shop tools can be good enough.

 

[Avocet]

I have always worked on the theory that all machines are made in a big factory somewhere in China and the differences are externally colour and badge while internally it depends on the owner of the badge and how much he is prepared to pay. In reality I think that, with the number of products they are making, there would be little difference to the manufacturer between the high and low end product but I might well be wrong.

With car parts, you certainly find some being made in the same factory. A lot depends on the quality standards required. Very often those in which all aspects of every component (material specification, machining accuracy etc) is spot-on, will be sold as original equipment whilst the "seconds" get sold with a different badge on them rather than scrapped.

 

[Sailfree]

Funny on day I posted this my hardly used Bosch 220v drill gave up the ghost. Brushes sparking like mad , smells and only starts when I turn church so suspect some of armature burnt out. Not cheap one either!

Will not be buying Bosch anymore

 

[maxi77]

With car parts, you certainly find some being made in the same factory. A lot depends on the quality standards required. Very often those in which all aspects of every component (material specification, machining accuracy etc) is spot-on, will be sold as original equipment whilst the "seconds" get sold with a different badge on them rather than scrapped.

The real problem is which company sells which grade. Some big names have been found out selling the seconds. Just think of Rocna. The big trick is to work out whether you are being offered a second, a copy made from substandard components, the real thing made with substandard components because the Western retailer wants big margins, or even the real thing made to good standards with good QC. Oh and I forgot over run production of the real thing with the QC etc at knockdown prices.

 

[Heckler]

Funny on day I posted this my hardly used Bosch 220v drill gave up the ghost. Brushes sparking like mad , smells and only starts when I turn church so suspect some of armature burnt out. Not cheap one either!

Will not be buying Bosch anymore

The armature will be ok, just put some brushes in, use some SAND paper to polish the armature. It will be fine.
S

 

[prv]

Funny on day I posted this my hardly used Bosch 220v drill gave up the ghost. Brushes sparking like mad , smells and only starts when I turn church so suspect some of armature burnt out. Not cheap one either!

Will not be buying Bosch anymore

Was it Blue Bosch or Green Bosch?

Pete

 

[Sailfree]

Was it Blue Bosch or Green Bosch?

Pete

Green bosch

Any recommendations to replace it?

Wonder whether its worth getting it repaired. If I spin the chuck it will start up but brushes sparking hence I think its the armature windings as probably one dead circuit causing dead short on that part of armature but momentum takes it past it once running.

 

[prv]

Green bosch

Green Bosch was always the lower-quality "DIY" range, and from what I've heard it's now lower than most. Like Black-n-Wrecker, they're able to trade on old men's memory of the name while providing Performance Poo levels of quality.

Any recommendations to replace it?

I only buy Makita for drills, though other worthy brands are available. I've never had a Makita corded tool though. For drills I'm generally using either a cordless or a pillar drill, so the corded ones I occasionally drag out from under the bench are from when I was young and cheap

Be careful buying Makita from B&Q, I have reason to believe they have sold out and made a special cheapo range just for them. Maybe other brands do the same. Check the model numbers to be sure you're actually comparing like with like.

Wonder whether its worth getting it repaired.

No. You can buy an equivalent quality one for £20 or so.

Might be worth mending it yourself if you don't spend too much on parts, but definitely not worth paying somebody.

Pete

 

[30boat]

Funny on day I posted this my hardly used Bosch 220v drill gave up the ghost. Brushes sparking like mad , smells and only starts when I turn church so suspect some of armature burnt out. Not cheap one either!

Will not be buying Bosch anymore

You can probably buy a new armture from Ebay.Green Bosch is usually weak.Blue is very good.

 

[rhumlady]

The arcing is due to the brushes nolonger touching the commutator due to wear. A new set of brushes will fix it even without the clean of the com. Just done the very same thing on the washing machine which will be good for another few years. The time between changes does get shorter but if it means I can put off buying a replacement then that's good enough for me.

 

[Woodlouse]

Green bosch

Any recommendations to replace it?

Wonder whether its worth getting it repaired. If I spin the chuck it will start up but brushes sparking hence I think its the armature windings as probably one dead circuit causing dead short on that part of armature but momentum takes it past it once running.

Been pretty happy with all of the dewalt tools I've owned and used.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Be careful buying Makita from B&Q, I have reason to believe they have sold out and made a special cheapo range just for them. Maybe other brands do the same. Check the model numbers to be sure you're actually comparing like with like.

Pete

Just about all my power tools are Makita. I just bought a new Makita cordless drill from B&Q after my old 9.6volt stick battery Makita showed signs of old age after 20 years. Before I parted with the cash at B&Q I did a little research and found that the model I was buying was discontinued, but as far as I could see the main reason was that all the Makita tools now use the same battery. The one I bought had a Li-ion so I wasnt to bothered.

 

[Sailfree]

The arcing is due to the brushes nolonger touching the commutator due to wear. A new set of brushes will fix it even without the clean of the com. Just done the very same thing on the washing machine which will be good for another few years. The time between changes does get shorter but if it means I can put off buying a replacement then that's good enough for me.

Drill has hardly been used. As a person who learnt everything by taking things to pieces that aren't broke and then not being able to reassemble them I will take it to pieces and inspect the wear on the brushes. I assume they should be smooth and curved and aright fit on the armature.

 

[Croak]

Also inspect the little "copper" bits that the brushes run on, one of them may have raised causing the sparking and brush wear. No point in buying new brushes if this is the case.

 

[Sailfree]

Not my week for tools

Finishing off a kitchen in step daughter flat this week.

Most of my tools are at another house where I am still doing a refurb.

For speed bought a cheap belt sander from Screwfix to take off the raised edges off the floor green chipboard prior to laying plywood and floor tiles ( obviously once had a water leak before we bought it). £29 did the job perfectly but emptied dust collector bag and zip would not do up properly. Zip kept coming open.

Screwfix refunded money.

Plywood covering down. Tiles down. Grouting today & finishing plastering walls where wall tiles removed. Using new Festool plunge circular saw to take off bottom of kitchen fire door tomorrow. Then finished and sailing for 6 wks.


Original kitchen was about 10yrs old but adequate IMHO.

How do you stop wives (nest builders) from thinking up new projects. Divorce is too expensive!
.

 

[Sailfree]

Drill has hardly been used. As a person who learnt everything by taking things to pieces that aren't broke and then not being able to reassemble them I will take it to pieces and inspect the wear on the brushes. I assume they should be smooth and curved and aright fit on the armature.

Been away but ordered new brushes from e bay before I left. Disassembled drill - found brushes carboned up. New brushes are right dimensions to fit but wrong type as have a spring on the end! Broke off spring and fitted them and drill working OK - for now!!

 

[William_H]

Been away but ordered new brushes from e bay before I left. Disassembled drill - found brushes carboned up. New brushes are right dimensions to fit but wrong type as have a spring on the end! Broke off spring and fitted them and drill working OK - for now!!

I had a Balck and decker drill way back. It had a habit of the armature getting short circuits in the windings. This produced an effect like a shorted transformer. The drill went very slow with huge amount of sparking from the brushes and a strange hissing kind of noise from the slow motor. So my guess is that your " burnt out armature" is not far from the truth.
Just buy a new cheap drill good luck olewill

 

[DownWest]

Been pretty happy with all of the dewalt tools I've owned and used.

Yes and NO. Small grinder had been in daily use for 12 or so yrs. Usual cable fractures and a fiddle with the brushes. More recent hand drill quit after little use, but out of warrenty. Looked inside, low quality all over and the field coil had shorted.. Online spare was half the cost of the drill, so in the bin. Not impressed.

Roybi, on the other hand, I find are a bit crude, but work well for the price and last.

Skil seem to have organised their Chinese QC quite well and I hav a couple of well used tools from them.