jonny705 Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 Come across this post and thought i would give you my personel view. Makita 18volt lithium tools are fine ,ibought a complete combi kit with everything for around £900 a few years ago , but batts are ****. Soon as the warranty expired, a few months later all 3 batterys failed. They have a fault in one of the cells which when fails causes the microchip in battery to lock out charging on charger . So i bought another 2 batts from ECA as had committed myself to such a wedge of money . 14 months later both failed again, and batts have 12 month warranty. Another £160 wasted. So am selling them on ebay, soon. Bought a 18 volt Bosch professional drill/driver to get by, and really cheap quality although pro range , gearbox sounds knackered already and 6 months old. But they were cheap at time and have a 3 year warranty . Nearly all these makes makita / bosch /dewalt are made in china and hence poor quality to what they used to be when made in japan/germany/usa. I still have 3, 9.6 volt makitas which still all work and batterys still can hold a small charge and these are like 15 years+ old. Some bosch are still made in west germany,( i have a really nice jigsaw) but as already suggested, festool,panasonic hilti if you can afford them will last , and batterys also. All the other makes are okay, but will sell the tools cheap then sting you on the batterys failing which are not cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 I know we've got a few builders, fitters ect on the site so wanted to run a new drill purchase past you. I'm looking to buy a new cordless combi drill. Budget not too much of an issue, I want a good one, but I don't want to spend over the odds. I got an email the other day about an offer that's on at Toolstop. A DeWalt 18v li-ion with 2x 4ah batteries for £250... http://www.toolstop.co.uk/dewalt-dcz785m2x-18v-xr-li-ion-2-speed-combi-drill-2-x-4ah-batteries-with-free-p66885 Looks like a reasonable deal, would you agree? Anything else for around the same money that I should be considering? Most of my work is fencing and decking, so driving 2-3" screws and the odd 6" timberlock. Currently I've got an 18V Makita NiMh but the batteries are shot. It's time for a new one I think because a new pair of batteries cost a fair bit for decent ones. Edit... The other option is that as the drill is fine I could buy three of these.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/3-0Ah-Battery-Makita-193102-0-193061-8/dp/B003YV51CY At £40 each it would end up at half the price and the reviews seem to suggest that they are ok. Added bonus is that the chap I work with runs the same drill and we currently share batteries and chargers. Having a new Dewalt would mean we could no longer do that. I bought two 18v Parkside drills from Lidl ... 9 years ago thinking that they would not last very long ..... Still using drill number one ... absolutely Brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Galore! Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 Where did you get the kit from fella? I still have to drill holes for coach bolts etc so having both would be ideal. well, you probably won't read this for a good few days now as yesterday was the big day!(congratulations by the way) but i picked my kit up from ridgeons in norwich, i think they might have made a mistake though and given me the new model by mistake, mine should have been 14.4v with 2x 3.1 ah batts, the kit i got was the new, dual voltage 14.4/18v drills with 18v 4.2ah batts. might be worth trying again for another kit though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipper Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 hi, if the battery isnt charging, have u tried to find the faulty/dud in the battery pack ? you can remove the dud, and still charge/use the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Mongrel- Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 Makita all the way now. I've had DeWalt and Panasonic stuff in the past but I am now slowly but surely buying Makita every time I need to replace. So far it's combi drill, impact driver, jigsaw and angle grinder, cannot fault any of them. Only thing I'd dither about is the 36v Hammer drill/chisel. I have the top Bosch one and it's blinking brilliant! As yet I don't think anyone compares to the Makita stuff or the Bosch 36 for sensible money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggs Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 Dewalt stuff is awesome IMHO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Mongrel- Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 De Walt seemed to go through a rough spell, particularly with their batteries! Bloody things wee forever giving up the ghost. I'm sure they've improved now, particularly with the advent of Li-ion, but I fell out of love with them and genuinely believe the Makita stuff is better built. Milwaukee, Festo et al is brilliant, but bloody expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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