Wickes 15.6V Drill/Driver

[Rodders]

[Rodders]

[John Rumm]

Tricky one to answer since it depends a bit on what you expect from it and what your idea of DIY is. It is fair to say at that price point it is likely to be a toward the lower end of the general breed.

Battery tools are powered by battery packs. These are built typically from individual cells that produce 1.2V. Hence most tools will operate from a multiple of this voltage. 9V, 12, 14.4, 18V etc are all commonly available. In theory the more voltage available the more power you can get from the tool. The reality is far more complex than this however.

The Ah rating is a measure of the "capacity" of the battery - i.e. it gives you an indication of the amount of energy the battery can supply in total. In this case it is saying it could supply 1.2 amps for an hour (0.6A for 2 hours, or 12A for 6 mins etc).

We have been working on a power tools section to add to the groups FAQ document that may be of help to you here. Why not have a read, and report back whether you find it helps?

The FAQ is usually found here:

the power tools bit may not have made it there yet. In which case you can find the draft here:

> I see apparantly less powerful machines for treble the price at > Screwfix.

Read the "catagories of tools" section, and the "cordless tools" section to understand why there is such a large variation in price.

[Magician]

Hi Rory

=A319:99 and a 2 years warranty for general DIY use? That's 20p a week to own a drill driver. I've always found Wickes stuff reasonable.

Go snatch their arm off before they run out!

Dave

Dave

[bigcat]

Driver. It has a 10mm keyless chuck, variable speed, 1.2Ah battery and charger for =A319.99.

try here:

Can anyone tell me if this would be up to general DIY about the house and garden. probably, upto a point. I would want a mains power tool first though, if youve not got one then forget the codless things. One of those and nothing else wont get you that far.

Battery pack capacity is 15.6v x 1.2Ah =3D 18.7 watt hours. Not a lot! Realise of course that when used in a power tool you wont get anywhere near the optimistic ideal conditions 18wh rating.

Screwfix.

Volts is not power. They dont ever tell you the power output of these things, cos if you knew you wouldnt buy them. Get mains unless you need the codless feature.

NT

[bigcat]

anywhere

Lets explain just what this means, especially for our resident diyfaq expert.

18wh under ideal conditions means with slow discharge, ignoring memory effect, and batteries as good as new. So IRL lets say we get more like 10wh from our pack.

Now how long can we use such a tool for on one charge? I dont know, but lets guesstimate 15 minutes of continuous run time. Thats 1/4 of an hour, so during that time our 10wh is giving us an average of 40w. Thats right, 40 watts. And thats for a 15v tool.

Something like this could be handy in the power tool faq.

NT

[John Rumm]

In my experience of such tools, that would be pretty unlikely. 5 Mins if you are lucky (even that would equate to a draw rate of only 8A).

In practial terms that may equate to driving 50 screws on a full charge.

or 120W if delivered in 5 mins etc. With appropriate gearing that can still deliver useful work.

Yep, it did occur to me that there is not much in the way of discussion on the Ah ratings of batteries.

The performance (i.e. the power that can be delivered) is mostly a function of the quality of the motor and the internal resistance of the cells. Better quality cells being able to deliver more current on demand while dissipating less heat.

(Some of the "expense no object" fast electric radio control bods will draw power from top end sub C cells at 2kW (i.e. >45A drain on 36 cell packs))

The run time is governed by the capacity of the cells, but is also a function of the matching of the cells, since better matching will allow more of the stored energy to be extracted in a useful form.

[David Pearson]

1 power tool for 20 quid, or 2 for 25 quid. They have the above drill, angle grinder, orbital sander and jigsaw at the Taunton branch.

[urchaidh]

I have an Wickes 14.4V cordless drill, Grey/Blue thing. Came with two batteries and a quick-ish charger so it's never run out on me. I use it mainly as a wood drill and driver and I've never had a problem with it. So long as you have a decent mains drill first for serious jobs something like this is ideal for screws, quick jobs and when power is hard to come by.

[Pete C]

10mm keyless chuck, variable speed, 1.2Ah battery and charger for £19.99.

Also, can someone explain to me what the 15.6 V and 1.2Ah battery means. I see apparantly less powerful machines for treble the price at Screwfix.

Hi,

Try getting one with 2 batteries, as it's much easier to use/charge them in rotation and there is always at least a full battery in hand.

Froogle is a good way to check up on current deals:

Robert Dyas do an 18v with 2 batts for £20, Argos do a 14.4v with 2 batts and fast charger for £25,

cheers, Pete.

[Andrew McKay]

The giveaway is the 1.2Ah battery. That's not good.

You really want a minimum 1.7Ah battery combined with perhaps 18v or higher.

The configuration listed will have you recharging frequently IMHO. And you need a 2nd battery so that you can have one charging up whilst the other is in use.

Take note of the recharge time as well. If you are looking at 3-5 hours that isn't good because you could be halfway thru a job when the battery goes down on you, then you lose half a day to get back on the job.

Andrew

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