I have a Bosch green impact driver which has been a great bit of kit. Coped with everything I've I've wanted to do. Bought drill/driver from same range and also very good apart from hammer drill seems a bit weak. Recently bought the Bosch cordless ROS and was annoyed because batteries were different. In actual fact they do fit each other, but not the different chargers?? ROS eats the batteries
Time for a new Drill & Impact driver....what's your thoughts?
- Thread starter angelboy
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paulm
IG paulm_outdoors
I've had various bits of kit from dewalt, makita, metabo and ryobi over the years, all good except for ryobi ! 
When I wanted to change with the battery tech a few years ago though I went with bosch blue as I liked the details on some of the key tools, the range available and the prices. Soon acquired a bunch of their stuff and not regretted it at all, well made, well thought out and reliable to date.
Not much to choose between the better brands these days usually, may well come down to details or special offers or existing batteries etc for many folk I suspect.
When I wanted to change with the battery tech a few years ago though I went with bosch blue as I liked the details on some of the key tools, the range available and the prices. Soon acquired a bunch of their stuff and not regretted it at all, well made, well thought out and reliable to date.
Not much to choose between the better brands these days usually, may well come down to details or special offers or existing batteries etc for many folk I suspect.
I've always had cheap stuff in the past but decided to buy something decent now I'm getting into more wood working projects, so after a bit to looking around I got the DeWalt DCD996M1 18v brushless combi drill. I was so impressed with how it performed, I also bought the DCF887M1 impact driver. Both of these tools have great build quality and bags of power (using a 4Ah battery) and the batteries seem to go on forever. As I had a few jobs to do around the house I decided to also invest in the DCS334N-XJ jigsaw and the DCH133NT SDS drill too. I got to say I couldn't be happier with all the DeWalt kit. I now have my eye on a couple of other bits from DeWalt to complete my tools list. Registering for the 3 year warranty online is easy too. I also don't tend to pay much notice to reviews when it's only a handful. People only tend to right reviews when something bad happens. The number of bad reviews on Trustpilot is tiny. I mean, how many people on here love their DeWalt kit?
Registering for the 3 year warranty online is easy too.? I gave up after eight attempts.
niemeyjt
Established Member
Until a year ago I would have recommended Blue Bosch. Now they seem to be suffering serious quality and supply issues. I am five months and counting on dust extractor parts. Others report 3 month delays on "free" extra battery offers.
Luckily the quality their older drivers / drills means I hopefully won't be looking for replacements anytime soon. But as others have said, don't judge the current situation and performance on old experiences.
Luckily the quality their older drivers / drills means I hopefully won't be looking for replacements anytime soon. But as others have said, don't judge the current situation and performance on old experiences.
paulm
IG paulm_outdoors
Curious what the serious quality issues might be ?
Supply issues in the current climate of covid workplace shutdowns and brexit challenges may well be common everywhere to be fair.
niemeyjt
Established Member
"serious quality and supply issues"
Well their 18v track saw is now on its third iteration to fix design and quality flaws. The older version I think was made by/with Mafell whereas the new ones are offshored. The spares - I am after dust extractor parts from China - (Suez blockage excepted) these should have recovered now but haven't and worse no one knows when it will be sorted.
paulm
IG paulm_outdoors
Oh, so just the one product then, the track saw ? I'll avoid that then, anything else ?
TheUnicorn
Established Member
I've had a bosch blue combi drill for maybe eight years and it is excellent, better than my newer brushless dewalt
softtop
Established Member
Had the Makita 18v drill/driver+impact for about 15 years and used daily. Never missed a beat, batteries still going strong - highly recommended.
Although no memory effects like NiCad, Lithium do not like be over discharged. Has anyone noticed that wheras a drill would just get slower as the battery went flat they now just cut out clean, something my newer Makita does but not the old one. Also with my makita charger you can leave the batteries on it because once fully charged it just stops, ideal really because you can just get the battery on charge and forget till next morning with no issues.
Terrytpot
Established Member
I am but as with most cordless tools your results will vary depending on the specific tool in question..in my case I bought a Makita cordless angle grinder a while back but it's next to useless and has been since I got it..the brushless versions work fine apparently but not so the brushed variants. Ever since then I've opted for brushless tools (the obvious positives of shorter tool body lengths and improved battery life aside) just to avoid tools that fell short of the mark like that grinder did. Whilst logic dictates trying to stick to one brand to avoid buying into whole new sets of batteries/chargers ,in my case, I just wasn't sold on the Makita brushless jig saw (it has the same awkward power on/off that my DTR50 cordless router has) so I went Dewalt instead for a DCS334 with a pair of 5A batts which get shared with the DCF887 Impact wrench I later added that I like to use instead of any of my Makita drills because without a chuck it's so much shorter and easier to use in restricted spaces.
Yes, I quite understand the discharging bit. I can't see what the problem is leaving the batteries on the charger - it cuts out when they're full. I've never once seen the charge light come after the initial full charge. If it's thought they're better charged to 80 % of capacity, I wonder why the thing isn't chipped to charge them to 80% of capacity?
niemeyjt
Established Member
Maybe look at the Bob Forum to see what other issues folks are having - better than me just doing a C&P of their complaints.
There is no problem leaving batteries on the charger so long as it is the right charger for the battery because the manufacturer has determined the charge limits and for lithium it will cut out and stop charging. Unlike your lead acid car battery Lithium cannot be trickle charged but can be overcharged causing permeant cell damage.
Got bosch blue, but if i had the choice over, id opt for makita.
Not that there is anything wrong with bosch,blue or otherwise, it is purely down to the number of bare tools bosch do, which is extremely poor.
They have a range, but most would be better as 240v, for example the saw,sander and grinder, but the majority is ok and probably find them of no use in the real world.
(Of the type of tools more here would use.)
Makita on the other hand do 3 or 4x the number of tools including garden and some odd things like a coffee maker. Bosch have no chainsaw option, makita has 3.
Not that there is anything wrong with bosch,blue or otherwise, it is purely down to the number of bare tools bosch do, which is extremely poor.
They have a range, but most would be better as 240v, for example the saw,sander and grinder, but the majority is ok and probably find them of no use in the real world.
(Of the type of tools more here would use.)
Makita on the other hand do 3 or 4x the number of tools including garden and some odd things like a coffee maker. Bosch have no chainsaw option, makita has 3.
paulm
IG paulm_outdoors
Bob forum ?!!
If you're using it for woodworking (rather than rough construction) I'd highly recommend 10.8/12V drills and impact drivers. I have Bosch blue drill and impact, and find the 12V (older brushed model, GDR 12V-105, rated to 105Nm) impact ideal for woodwork. In fact I had an interesting learning experience last weekend – I was driving some 6mm screws into very hard, seasoned ash with the impact, and one screw wouldn't seat fully, so I grabbed a manual ratchet with the right bit (torx head – didn't have a normal screwdriver with the right tip) to try to tighten it home, and sheared the head right off the screw. So now I know the impact has exactly the right amount of torque for woodworking If you're regularly driving 8mm or larger fasteners, I think I'd go with 18V though. Even the 12V brushed impact has more than enough torque to shear the heads off smaller screws (up to around 4mm).
I also have a Bosch green drill (PSB 10.8) that I bought about 9 years ago and have used extensively and it's still going strong on its original battery. The green (DIY/basic) 10.8/12V range use slightly different batteries than the blue (pro) range, which is annoying, although the chargers are identical and cross-compatible (the cores of the batteries seem to be identical, including the end that plugs into the drill, but the plastic clips at the bottom of the batteries are for some reason different). Out of curiosity I disassembled it and compared the motor, gearing, switches etc to the blue ones and they seemed identical in terms of quality and materials.
If you're regularly driving 8mm or larger fasteners, I think I'd go with 18V though. Even the 12V brushed impact has more than enough torque to shear the heads off smaller screws (up to around 4mm). I also have a Bosch green drill (PSB 10.8) that I bought about 9 years ago and have used extensively and it's still going strong on its original battery. The green (DIY/basic) 10.8/12V range use slightly different batteries than the blue (pro) range, which is annoying, although the chargers are identical and cross-compatible (the cores of the batteries seem to be identical, including the end that plugs into the drill, but the plastic clips at the bottom of the batteries are for some reason different). Out of curiosity I disassembled it and compared the motor, gearing, switches etc to the blue ones and they seemed identical in terms of quality and materials.
Dulanth
New member
i recently had a horrible job to do under my car .....rear subframe needed changing.. so i thought i would diy it as garage wanted an exorbitant amount to do ... i looked at cordless impact wrenches makita, dewalt , milawalkee all to much for my pocket so i went for cheap. basic. knockoff dewalt lookalike, mightly impressed with build quality and it did and still does everything i asked of it .. i bought an adapter to give it another use as an impact driver and it does that well to. im actually suprised what you can get for £60 .... brushless motor . doubt it will last like a big named brand, time will tell
Doug71
Established Member
A few years back I dropped and broke a Fein drill I had at the time and needed a replacement quickly. I called in at B&Q on the way home and saw a big green 18v Bosch drill on sale, it looked the part and I thought it can't be that bad can it 
It didn't last a week before the gearbox (something inside anyway) gave up, really highlighted the difference between the diy and pro stuff, to be fair it was getting heavy use but I presumed I would get a bit longer out of it.
It didn't last a week before the gearbox (something inside anyway) gave up, really highlighted the difference between the diy and pro stuff, to be fair it was getting heavy use but I presumed I would get a bit longer out of it.
