Drill questions

[Goose]

Hi

I'm looking at getting a combo set of cordless drills. 18V brushless. For use around the house/trailer. I am looking at Bosch blue as they seem a bit cheaper than the equivalent Milwaukee and DeWalt 18V brushless ranges and i honestly don't need that kind of quality as i am not a tradie but i do want them to last about 10 years.

First question. I need a driver for driving screws plus screwing/unscrewing fiddly things. This is what i am thinking:

Bosch GDR 18 V-EC BB 18V Li-Ion Cordless Brushless Impact Driver

I want this for driving screws into wall stud (6G and 8G type screws) and screws into masonry anchors. I presume it will do this no problem as its 170Nm torque. But will this driver be OK for screwing/unscrewing screws that don't require much torque? Like the little screws that hold appliances, toys and hobby boxes together?

Second Question. I need a drill for drilling pilot holes. These will be an even mix of masonry, wood and steel. Up to 10-13mm in masonry. To keep costs down i want to get just 1 decent drill that can do all 3 materials. I've found in the past that only a proper rotary hammer drill is any good at putting holes in house bricks. A regular driver drill that has a hammer function in my experience just annihilates the masonry bit when trying to drill into bricks and gets nowhere fast. As such can i get a rotary hammer drill like this:

Bosch GBH 18V-EC BB 18V Li-Ion Cordless Brushless Rotary Hammer

and still except it to work OK for drilling holes in wood and metal? Or am i completely missing the point and still need a regular drill still for wood and metal. For example if i was hanging a flat TV on the wall i would drill into the stud with the bottom drill (in drill mode) and then drive the 8G screws with the top drill. Am I on the right track?? But i was drilling holes in brick for a wall mounted clothes line then put the bottom drill in hammer mode and go for it.

Third question. Are 3Ah batteries OK for around the house or should i be looking at 4Ah?

Last Question. The above hammer drill has 1.7J energy. Is this enough energy for drilling into house bricks? The previous drill i borrowed from someone  was the corded Ozito rotary hammer drill @ 3.5J and it was effortless drilling into brick. I notice that regular drills with a hammer function don't seem to offer a figure for the energy, so i figure its not much.

Thanks

Goose

[JPH]

The impac driver will do everything you need, most of them have an adjustable torque setting so you can decrease it for finer work, increase it for batten screws and the like.  No dramas there. happy to be corrected but the rotary hammer drill is just that, for masonry etc, it appears to have a quick fit sds chuck, so will only take that style of drill but, won't take an ordinary drill bit or a spade bit, holesaw etc...

Skins are pretty cheap these days, so you are best to have a drill and a rotary hammer drill.  As far as batteries go the 3.0 ah will do it but 4.0 or 5.0 ah will give you longer run time, this is important with hammer drills, grinders and saws. The other thing to consider is the range of skins and availability, I run the Milwaukee gear for work and have a fair range of skins, grinders, saws, right angle drills, blowers, fans etc. At the end of the day it comes down to use and budget.

Cheers

Josh

[grafy82]

If you only want them for use around the house and trailer, save yourself some coin and go the Ryobi 18+ gear. I have flogged my drills, to the point of smoke starting to come out and they just keep going. Had the drills for just over 5 years now and still going strong. The first 2 batteries lasted just on 4 years.

[Artie01]

If you only want them for use around the house and trailer, save yourself some coin and go the Ryobi 18+ gear. I have flogged my drills, to the point of smoke starting to come out and they just keep going. Had the drills for just over 5 years now and still going strong. The first 2 batteries lasted just on 4 years.

Cant agree more.....I have these guys and do a LOT of woodwork carpentry etc no issues with the impact driver or the drill. Still on original batteries and I don't look after them at all. Bunnings, really low cost good gear.

I think I'm into year 6 with these guys now....something like that.....

[grafy82]

Another option, the new bunnings Ozito 18v power x range of tools. I have the impact driver, angle grinder (my new favorite tool), jigsaw, blower, led work light and whipper snipper. The 3.0ah batteries last very well even with the grinder and they have a 5.2ah coming soon. I've had no trouble with them so far but the best part is the 5 year tool and 3 year battery warranty. For the price, you can't go wrong.
http://www.ozito.com.au/c/63-power-x-change/s/121-power-tools

[Robbo]

If you only want them for use around the house and trailer, save yourself some coin and go the Ryobi 18+ gear. I have flogged my drills, to the point of smoke starting to come out and they just keep going. Had the drills for just over 5 years now and still going strong. The first 2 batteries lasted just on 4 years.

X2, i recently updated my battery drill and several other battery power tools and went with the Ryobi 18 + one range. As an ex tradie i am finding these just as good as any of the major brand ones that i used to run in the past. I did look at the 4ampHR battery but found that it made the drill very heavy to handle when using so i chose two 2ampHR batteries instead. This gave me plenty of running time and the ability to change the battery over while the other one was charging. This then means you have no down time.

[Andy_Q]

X3 or is that 4 for ryobi.

The smaller batteries should be fine unless you are driving hundreds of screws regularly.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-one-18v-2-piece-cordless-drill-kit-_p6210598

I would go with a plug in hammer drill or rotary hammer for masonry.
Cheers
Andy


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[noel_w]

x? for the Ryobi one+ gear. Also have a lighting skin I keep in the truck all the time. Good gear for the price.

[grafy82]

In bunnos now and they have just released the Ozito power x  sds hammer drill as well.

[RebsWA]

I went for the Bunnings Ozito 18v lithium iron battery drill skin and a battery pack with 1.5ah & a 3.0ah batteries.
Used it a fair bit for drilling and fixing tek screws and its a brilliant bit of kit.
Main reason I went for it was price - under $160 -  and as mentioned above, the 5 year replacement warranty on the drill and 3 year replacement warranty on the batts.

[Steffo1]

Can't remember the brand but there was a drill being marketed during the cricket over the weekend. $ 199 with 10 year warranty.
Steve

[grafy82]

$299 for the Bosch kit or $100 bucks less for the Ozito with an angle grinder as a bonus and nearly double the warranty.

[Steffo1]

Can't remember the brand but there was a drill being marketed during the cricket over the weekend. $ 199 with 10 year warranty.
Steve

A "Worx" 20v Li-ion from Masters.
Thanks to my wife

[Bill]

Another vote for Ryobi.
Ive had my Ryobi 18+ gear a fair few years and no problems.
My favourite is the fan as it keeps the air in the camper trailer circulating nicely.
Bill

[Elky]

I use makita cordless stuff everyday, the impact drill will not have a tension adjustment generally, so not good for small screws as it is easy to bust them, especially as they have a higher rpm than a driver drill

Most of the cheapys will do the job, the batteries are generally not as long lived, and make sure you never partially charge them too

Lots of choice these days

[ATC]

What ever you buy, make sure you get the kit / deal with the biggest batteries.

I use ryobi as well.

Ryobi is only available from bunnings

Makita / bosh etc... Are available from multiple outlets.

It does come down to the range of accessories, and what you want to do.
I've got 2 left thumbs so didn't want to over invest, but did want flexibility to throw them in the car, ryobi have a 12v charger, run a fan (still figuring out how to sneak that one into the house),  impact drivers, impact wrenches etc...

Some, like AEG, dont have a wide range...

[AdrianLR]

My Ryobi gear has been good. The chainsaw still surprises when it slices through 6" dry gum. I have the newish $39 Ozito drill for small screws. Again, better performance than the price suggests.

[Goose]

Wow thanks everyone some real good info. I thought the cheaper ones were junk but apparently not.

Does anyone know or use aeg? Only available in bunnings seems an upmarket ryobi and made by the same people.

[bruce93]

Hey Goose.

My understanding with AEG is that it's owned and built by the same company that build Milwaukee... Happy to be corrected if this is wrong
But I do know they have a 6 year warranty on skins. Used them at one of my worksites and can't fault it. Does everything it needs to do but I still prefer to use my Milwaukee gear.

Bruce


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[Hewy54]

Have only ever bought the cheaper Ozito up until last year. Needed some heavier gear late last year to do some serious work with recycled hardwood. Burnt out a Makita 18v, Makita grinder, Makita saw, Bosch drill and a Makita power drill when halfway through. Replaced the saw, power drills and grinder with AEG, and tried the Ryobi 18V. All still going strong after completing the hardwood job and an extra 6 months of fairly heavy work on the new house.
Very happy with the 18V Ryobi performance and looking forward to add some of the extras that can be purchased.

[AdrianLR]

I have the older blue series AEG drill and torch. Can't fault the drill but both batteries died quickly. As replacement weren't off the shelf I changed to Ryobi. The new orange series appears to now be stocked regularly and perhaps the batteries are better. A tradie friend has Milwaukee which I've used when helping him on a job. Bit more compact than the Ryobi gear and has "street cred" whereas the Ryobi says "amateur"

Off topic, I was doing some work in our onsite van on the weekend and had to use some Phillips head screws rather than Robertons (square drive). Painful!

[stabicraft]

First question I will ask you is;

Do you plan to use the drill regularly? or will it sit in a tool chest most of the time?

This is important.
I have a plethora of tools and I use them reasonably regularly, but nowhere near as much as a tradesman.
I once bought a cordless drill thinking similarly to what you are now.
I found that when ever I wanted to use it the battery was dead, and after a while it would no longer take a charge that held for more than 5 or 6 holes.
Simple, the batteries need to be used and recharged to keep them functional.

If, as I do, you plan to use the tool less than once or twice a month, go for electric.
The cord is a pain, but the power is ways there and don't go flat (unless you cut the cord, but that's another story)
In addition electric drills are generally more powerful and in some cases lighter.

Just some food for thought.

[kylarama]

Goose.  Do you really need brushless stuff if it’s only for occasional use?  Yes it’s the latest technology, but you pay a premium.  The brush stuff is still good.  Don’t just stick to Bunnings, outside of Ryobi / AEG their tool range is pretty limited.  Check out Total Tools, Sydney Tools, Power Tool Specialists and the like for combo kits.

Ryobi, AEG and Milwaukee are all owned by TTI Group, with Ryobi & AEG exclusive to Bunnings and Milwaukee sold at trade tool outlets.  Downside of Ryobi and AEG is limited to where you can purchase.  The Milwaukee stuff is brilliant.

18v Impact drivers are fine with small screws, providing the operator is watching their trigger control…  Leave the rotary hammer drill for masonry only.  You can get SDS chuck adaptors, but they’re too bulky to use for general drilling.

IMO, best bang for your buck in trade quality is Makita.  Really good deals on combo kits and a massive range of skins.  Some of my stuff is 8 years old now and 3 of those years was daily trade use.  The original batteries are still going too, lost their edge a bit, but still fine for occasional use.  Dust buster, fan, torches and line trimmer all come camping with me and the quick charger runs off a 300w pure sine inverter no worries.
Having said that, I recently purchased a Milwaukee sub compact 12v kit and its awesome! I rarely pull out the 18v gear now.  Outside of 25mm spade bits and batten screws the drill and impact driver does everything and the 3/8 ratchet is super cool.

[grafy82]

First question I will ask you is;

Do you plan to use the drill regularly? or will it sit in a tool chest most of the time?

This is important.
I have a plethora of tools and I use them reasonably regularly, but nowhere near as much as a tradesman.
I once bought a cordless drill thinking similarly to what you are now.
I found that when ever I wanted to use it the battery was dead, and after a while it would no longer take a charge that held for more than 5 or 6 holes.
Simple, the batteries need to be used and recharged to keep them functional.

If, as I do, you plan to use the tool less than once or twice a month, go for electric.
The cord is a pain, but the power is ways there and don't go flat (unless you cut the cord, but that's another story)
In addition electric drills are generally more powerful and in some cases lighter.

Just some food for thought.

On the subject of battery life, with my Ryobi gear I bought one of the 6 port charging docks. It always stays on as it charges the batteries then, it turns off for 5 days, then turns on and senses if the batteries need a top up, then off again, etc. Basically set and forget while being very energy efficient. As far as lithium ion batteries go but, you should have no dramas with them holding any sort of memory due to irregular charging.

[MrCruza]

First question I will ask you is;

Do you plan to use the drill regularly? or will it sit in a tool chest most of the time?

This is important.
I have a plethora of tools and I use them reasonably regularly, but nowhere near as much as a tradesman.
I once bought a cordless drill thinking similarly to what you are now.
I found that when ever I wanted to use it the battery was dead, and after a while it would no longer take a charge that held for more than 5 or 6 holes.
Simple, the batteries need to be used and recharged to keep them functional.

If, as I do, you plan to use the tool less than once or twice a month, go for electric.
The cord is a pain, but the power is ways there and don't go flat (unless you cut the cord, but that's another story)
In addition electric drills are generally more powerful and in some cases lighter.

Just some food for thought.

With Lithium batteries you should have no worries. I have a Hitachi 18v Li-on drill that's probably about 4yrs old and it can sit in the shed for weeks at a time without being used. Pull it out and it's still good for a fair chunk of work. Batteries only take about 45 minutes to charge anyway.