cheap 12v cordless drill (for parts)

Hi ther The local Kmart is selling 12v cordless drills for less than NZ$10 , about $7 in real money. I was think of buying on just for the battery pack. Its less than the cost of

2 good (Eveready) AA rechargeable batts.

I know every drill will be different but generally.... Will the battery pack just be nasty old nicads, or something better?? What could I expect to see in the battery pack??. Just a bunch of AA batts joined together or something else ??

Reply to
S Roby
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Buy one and let everyone know.

Reply to
dmm

Yes they were selling them in Tas. about six months ago, battery packs are nicads, chargers are dumb, the drills are o.k. and will take standard 14 volt packs. A mate of mine bought two for the motors, uses them for model yacht winches. I bought one because it was only $10 and apart from having to recharge the batteries fairly often, it is quite good ,useful to have lying around. Why not buy four of them and just use them up. Pius what more can you expect from a $10 drill. They were selling them for twenty last month.

$7

of

Reply to
T.J.& L.K. Dunster

could be sub-c size instead. prolly extremely nasty old nicads

probably no-nipple cells with spot-welded interconnects,

Bye. Jasen

Reply to
Jasen Betts

Almost certainly the poorest quality nicads available, and spot welded together. They won't be AA size.

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

I bought one of these cheap drills less than a year ago. 3 weeks ago i replaced it with a $300 dewalt unit.

If you are chasing just the batteries, your best of going and spending the money to buy some decent batteries from KMart

Reply to
The Real Andy

If you want AA nicads, some of those solar garden lights have them (plus a

2xAA battery holder, LED, solar cells etc). Only 600mA/h though.

The best value NiMH cells I've come across are 2500mA/H Pro2 brand. They cost about $8 / pair at Radio Parts.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Parker

$7

of

So your dewalt one should last 30 years then huh? ;->

Our $15 Bunnings drill is still going strong at work after several years. We got a cordless drill, half a dozen power boards, and a whole bunch of hand tools for under the $50 petty cash limit. Not the best quality for sure, but they work just fine, and the prices are amazing.

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

I bought a Kmart 12v Arlec drill; it was ok for a year or two but the cheap charger stuffed the batteries because I left it on more than the 3 hours. I was able to fit a 12V transformer and rectifier in the battery compartment and now have a once cordless drill now with a cord. It beats chucking out the old unit. I now have a 14.4V Mactek from Bunnings....dearer but a much better chuck, proper charger with sensing and I expect better quality batteries from the outset.

Russell

about $7

cost of

batts

Reply to
Russ_Verdon

$7

of

Time will tell, but at least i dont have to charge it every time i use it, and when it is charged i get more than 20 minutes use from it. And it only takes one hour to charge when i do need to charge it.

How often does it get used?

Power boards are another thing i refuse to buy cheap. A decent one will last, after a couple of dozen uses most cheap ones seem to refuse to hold onto a plug. I suppose thats OK if it sits behind your computer and never gets touched though.

One thing i learned when i was a tradesmen is not to buy cheap tools. Whenever you need them they always fail on you.

Reply to
The Real Andy

The Real Andy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I think that's an entirely valid point, for a tradie. For Joe punter who stuffs around in the garage on weekends, A $300-$500 makita just isn't justifiable (even though it is a fantastic bit of kit).

I have a whole shed full of assorted $25-$50 el-cheapo power tools. I recognise that they're crap, and I understand that they'll die on me soon enough, but I only want them once or twice a year, and *need* them much less than that. I'd love to have all DeWalt and Makita kit (and I would have in a business situation), but the cheapies have their place.

GB, I take issue with the "laser guided" circular saws from NRG ("Not Real Good"?) though. They're a lod of bollocks!

--
 "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the 
  entrails of the last priest." (Diderot, paraphrasing Meslier)
Reply to
GB

In cordless drills, the best one I've had is an Aldi 18v job that was $50 -

2 speed gearbox, mistreated thoroughly (including a few drops off a ladder onto concrete) and still performs. In the $300 range I hope you got one of the lithium-powered units.
Reply to
Poxy

Well I am in that situation now. Let me give you another example:

I bought a cheap $15 dollar sander to do a few parts on my boat. I had to keep placing the sandpaper back into the sander every couple of minutes. After 4-5 times, i went of and bought a (dewalt again) sander which has since done lots more. And this sander feels balanced and does not vibrate as much.

My cheap drill that I bough, motor died when drilling through a 6mm piece of steel. My Bosch drill went through this with no problem and several times more, and is still going 5 years on.

My 5 dollar cheap car battery charger overheated and died. I bought a $90 unit (made here in Aus) that does not even get warm when charging a dead flat battery.

(i have more stories)

Point is, if you are only planning on using it once, and only for a few minutes, then yes, the cheap tools are for you. If you intend to reuse it several times, you will get better value for money buying the low end tools from the big names.

Reply to
The Real Andy

Not sure if its lithium. It came with 2 batteries, both last for a long time, in fact it has only been charged once since i bought it.

Reply to
The Real Andy

about $7

cost of

batts

Quite often, once a week on average I'd say.

For home I bought a Ryobi cordless for about $50, this was the lowest cost one available before the $15 ones flooded the market a year or two back. It came with two NiCds and a crappy charger but it has been the most reliable drill I have ever owned. It has been dropped a few times from the top of a 7ft ladder onto concrete and has been filled with gyprock dust many times over. The stamina of the battery is quite good. I've used it to undrill and redo hundreds of screws in a day with one charge. Torque wise it's great, I've broken a few bits and locked up the drill many times, but it handles it without issue.

Yes, the battery chargers are crap, if you leave them on you'll ruin the battery. Something to watch.

We've had no problems with the $2.50 bunnings power boards. They get treated attrociously in both production and lab environments without issue.

Interesting, all the professional contractors I see at work have the best tools money can buy, presumably because work was paying for them. But with the individual contractors (who work for themslves) I get for my home jobs, they all have the cheapest Ozito Bunnings tools. I asked why once, and one guy said they are much better value, he could buy ten Ozito's for the price of one top brand, and the top brands simply don't last ten times as long. That means more $$$ in his pocket.

Dave :)

Reply to
David L. Jones

Not only that, but who is going to steal crap drills when many expensive European/Japanese brands are available on the same building site?

Kevin Martin

Reply to
Kevin Martin

The Real Andy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I have, thanks. You're getting very upset about this whole thing. Looks like your 'truth' is the only possible 'truth'. Very well, I'll stop "annoying the pig" now, I see no point in attempting to discuss your issue further.

GB

--
 "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the 
  entrails of the last priest." (Diderot, paraphrasing Meslier)
Reply to
GB

I am putting forward a practical viewpoint. Like i said, if you are only going to use the tool once or twice, or you dont mind waiting for a battery to charge etc. then go for it.

Reply to
The Real Andy

Maybe but what about other factors? Theft, loss, etc. Everyone has different considerations for their particular need.

Reply to
Tom Smyth

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