Lidl goodies: battery charger, patio cleaner, rotavator

[Stephen]

Hi,

I popped into Lidl today and saw a range of bits and bobs. I wondered if anyone had tried any?

One was a battery charger. What caught my eye was that it said it charges individual batteries, which would be great since so many toys seem to use 3AA batteries and yet most chargers only charge batteries in pairs.

What I wasn't so sure about was the time it took to charge them. It said it took 3.5h to charge two AAs but 7h to charge 4AAs. I've never known the charge time to be dependent on number of batteries before. I presume when charging four cells it uses half the current that it does when charging two, but why would it do this?

I bought some of their low self discharge NiMHs last time they were on offer, so this charger could be useful for those?

They also had a stand to convert an angle grinder into a metal saw, which sounded good for £9.99

There was also an attachment to fit onto a pressure washer to convert it into a patio cleaner. IIRC it is £14.99 but on the Wickes web site they sell their equivalent for twice that price. I wonder whether this is as good and whether it will fit my washer?

I also spotted an electric rotavator. It's a shame they didn't have these a couple of weeks ago when I laid my lawn! I don't know how good it would be. I know petrol models seem to come in varying sizes and powers. What do you think?

HTH Stephen.

[Roger Mills]

It comes with an adaptor which fits Karcher - and possibly other - pressure washers. I bought one, and am quite impressed. It's a lot faster than using an ordinary nozzle to clean a patio. Probably won't shift quite such heavy soiling as will a nozzle - but its speed of operation should encourage more frequent use!

Make sure you sweep the patio before using it. I left a few marble-sized pebbles on mine, and they got picked up and thrashed around inside it, and broke off a couple of the internal reinforcing fins. Doesn't seem to have done much serious damage fortunately - but is something to watch.

[chris French]

In message , Stephen writes

Dunno if it's the same, but others have had good reports of Lidl chargers

I think someone on urg got one of those recently, seemed happy enough with it. As long as you remember it will have it limits, depending on the soil etc.. Presumably lighter than a petrol one so maybe more useful for smaller areas?