Got the usual email from CPC today, and they have a DeWalt drill on offer at what looks a decent price of 84 inc. 18v 1.3Ah - with two batteries. But they're Ni-Cad. Does this mean it's pretty old stock - and do Ni-Cads keep well if not used?
Not necessarily old stock. It seems that DW still show both NiCd and Lithium powered tools in their range. Curiously, I did not see any NiMh tools on their website. Maybe they have leap-frogged over that battery technology.
It is apart from te lack of cadmium which represnest a disposal hazard, not a very good technology.
It self discharges horrendously and worse, flat Nimh dies the death.
If you want capacity and low self discharge its lithium. If you want cheap and bombproof its nickel cad.
Certainly not my experience. I have 3 x 3 a/hr Mak batteries and they are great.
+1. I use my cordless Mak very intermittently, and it's always rarin to go
+2, although not with particularly infrequent use. I *swore* I would never have another NiCad a few years ago after moving to NiMH AAs with a proper charger for cameras etc, but decided to take a chance on the £100 Mak with two 18v NiCads and they have been absolutely fine. (It's probably a decent charger on the Mak, but I would expect the same to be true of De Walt).
Yup same here, had very good service out of my first set of 2.6Ah NiMh Mak batts, did not find auto discharge to be a problem at all even with months between uses. Might be more of an issue if you only use it twice per year perhaps.
AIUI (and this is based on stuff I read when it first came out): NiMH's selling point was the increased capacity over NiCd but it's only available at low discharge rates. When NiMH AAs first came out they were rated at, say, 1Ah while NiCds were about 500mAh. Load a NiMH to 100mA drain and it'd last 10 hours, but give it a 1A discharge you'd only get
30 mins, ie the same as the NiCd.
It's certainly cheap and two batteries are always better than one but maybe worth considering one of these if its only for occasional use as the batteries will always be ready for use?
I'd not consider a Nicad power tool now, after about 8 years with a Bosch 18v
2Ah built like a brick shithouse I recently relegated it to secondary duties after buying one of these, the same spec as above but bigger capacity batteries, Makita also do 4Ah batteries.I bought another battery from Axminster in their recent sale.
Just drilled pilots for, and driven 144 4 x 45mm screws on way less than one charge, and my arm isn't falling off which it would have with the old Bosch.
If you regularly drive that many screws, you should consider an impact driver. If you've not used one before, you are in for a treat :-)
The other thing to bear in mind is that the big batteries are heavy. For someone like Dave doing decking all day, maybe not an issue: he's going to be a lot fitter than me. The fast chargers on Mak and De Walt recharge a wussy 1.3 AH in an hour or so; as long as you have two of them I reckon most DIY types will never be stuck with a flat battery. My experience anyway.
To take the load off the batteries when decking I have a mains impact driver as well. Cost less than a battery!
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