Just took delivery of a used Makita 8434D - it's very nice. Miles removed from the lighter weight ones I'd been using and hopefully with a few years left in it. Got another one (6xxx) on the way to complement it. I'll standardise on Makita and 14.4V for a couple of years to ease compatibility.
But what is it?
My now 10 year old 8443D (the 18V version) is still performing flawlessly. Just bought it a new set of batteries and its like new again.
I was impressed with the heft and finish - even without the battery. That gearbox adds a fair bit to the feel of it, in a good way, I think. Looking closely at it, it's not had a hard life, like being coated in plaster and trod on on thousands of sites (like so many are). I think there are about six witness marks on it, so it's possible it's been a diy tool or one that never left the workshop. I've been relatively lucky with the 2.6Ah NiHm batteries (although the seller made a point of checking them) - one is excellent, the other not so. Doesn't really matter, I'd planned on getting a 3.0Ah NiMh anyway.
Needless to say the ebay 3Ah ones are ok for a short time, but not really much better than the stock 2.6Ah OEM ones in terms of charge held. However their life is far shorter in terms of number of cycles. I Bought mine with three batts. One failed a couple of years back, and I replaced that with a 3Ah ebay "compatible" battery. It worked ok - but by the time the remaining two OEM batts were getting past it, so was the "new" one. In the end I treated it[1] to three new OEM ones from whatever the best deal was I could find at the time. The jump up in performance was noticeable.
[1] I share its cells with my impact driver
Noted, ta. The weaker one of the two is ok for work fresh off the charger, so I've got the use of it, at least. I'll keep my eyes open for a good source of genuine Mak batts - any recommendations?
I got mine from :
Pack of three was about £150... the 14.4V ought to be a bit less.
I found Strikalite doing a 3Ah NiMH for 38quid and they're ok for other stuff, so I wonder...
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