I'm looking for a sds drill/breaker for occasional use, well mainly for the breaker function and something at the cheaper end of the market - less than =A3100.
I have noticed that those cheap breakers (with the vertical motor) weigh up to 6kg but the impact force or 'blows per minute' is often lower than a branded 2kg drill/breaker.
So, is weight more important than the BPM for breaking? And what advantage would a 1000w motor with 3200 BPM have over a 500w with 5000 BPM?
dg
For the money:
Weight does not make that much difference to its performance when breaking. You basically need "enough" force on the bit and no more for optimum results. The aim is to keep the drill "floating" on the hammer action. With some of the heavier examples that may mean you need to carry it even when drill straight down.
If it is effectiveness as a breaker you are after then ignore the input power, but look at the impact energy per blow, and then the number of blows per min.
For the 2kg class drills, some of the Hitachi models boast very high impact per blow (over 3J IIRC). The bigger "can" type body models ought to be able to do double that in the decent brands, but as you say, the cheapies are often no better than the decent lightweight ones in this respect.
If you're using one for wall chasing etc a heavy one will be a right pain.
I have noticed that those cheap breakers (with the vertical motor) weigh up to 6kg but the impact force or 'blows per minute' is often lower than a branded 2kg drill/breaker.
So, is weight more important than the BPM for breaking? And what advantage would a 1000w motor with 3200 BPM have over a 500w with 5000 BPM?
dg _______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
I recently bought this one
John.
The message from "John" contains these words:
They still go through brick and concrete like a pound of gooseberries through a two year old.
I have noticed that those cheap breakers (with the vertical motor) weigh up to 6kg but the impact force or 'blows per minute' is often lower than a branded 2kg drill/breaker.
So, is weight more important than the BPM for breaking? And what advantage would a 1000w motor with 3200 BPM have over a 500w with 5000 BPM?
What to you want to break?
For light work such as socket back boxes and chases down walls for cables then John Rumm's suggestion (in most cases) is a bargain buy (I paid £120 for one a few years ago). If you want to smash a patio to bits or put holes in concrete for fence posts than forget it and buy something heavier.
Adam
I was very much in the 'do-I-need-this? ' situation about a year ago when I bought a cheap one from Lidl/Aldi. That is it was around =A330 and is an in-line motor and weighs I guess around 2kg. The attirude was that if it didn't work or I didn't have any use for it then there wasn't much money wasted.
It sat around for a while and then came into it's own recently and drilled something in the order of 40 holes 10mm dia 150mm deep in concrete blocks and what a dream. Every hole was perfect, there was no stress in drilling them - it just 'melted' it's way through the blocks, and the machine looks as good as new - and all for =A330! Not sure when it will get used again, but it has paid for itself already. =20
Rob
aldi has a cheap 1500W drill in soon:
Yes I noticed this. Seems good value
I have used one of this type of cheap drill/breaker, and was not impressed with the power - breaking out a 1/2 brick wall for an opening. I know it was not ideal, but it was available and I gave it a try.
If a 2kg named drill like the Dewalt or Hitachi mentioned is not much better in this type of situation, then it may well do me to buy a cheapy. But I just wanted to know if the actual 'breaking power' is significantly better on one of these 2kg [named] units than on the generic lower priced units. Thats the bottom line
dg
Since you asked! ;-)
No mention of a safety clutch, and it weighs getting on for 6kg. I would also be a little wary since it includes "rubber dust cap, ..., pot of grease". Might be worth cheking this is just intended for lubing the shank of the bits and not like on some of the cheapies (older models especially) that require a resovoir refilling with grease every so often. This they then proceed to spew out all over you and anything else you are drilling near!
Another worthwhile thing to check is that the bit can be locked in position when chiseling (and even better at a rotation of your choosing). Some allow it to rotate freely which makes jobs like chasing and socket back boxes far less easy.
The message from John Rumm contains these words:
I've always kept the grease-hole on my cheapie well stuffed with grease and never noticed it spewing out anywhere. It's hardly used any to start with.
It varies greatly with model. The original design that NuTool (and many others) used to flog was notorious - it swallowed quite a bit with each refil, and after a few the whole drill would end up as a big sticky mess! On most branded machines there is not need to lubricate the tool at all, you are just supposed to lubricate the shank of a bit every so often.
I've just bought a cheapie from Screwfix, after my original NuTool finally expired after 5 years of abuse that should have been reported to the RSPCD.
It's pretty similar, but the hammer is more effective and it has a safety clutch. It also seems to drill much more effectively and I can't work out why, given that it just involves spinning the bit round. I think it is because it has variable speed, and I could slow it down to a much more effective tempo.
I'd only use it for very light breaking, though. If you had proper concrete to break, I'd hire a proper breaker from the shop. I doubt a proper breaker would be worth owning for occassional use.
Christian.
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