Please can anyone help me with these questions?
If I were to go for a range of Makita battery powered handtools today, what would be the optimum choice regarding a balance between the most modern battery system and cost?
How big a difference is there in ultimate electricity consumption between mains powered tools and battery powered tools?
Be careful that the old range of makita battery tools are still be sold at reduced prices. The new battery connection is different to the old battery connection.
As I already have some Makita batteries I've managed to get a impact driver (body only) quite cheaply last year.
Older and less expensive would be enticing if replacement batteries remained available for the life of the tool.
Thanks, I'll check out the possibilities.
Hands down the LX range of Li-Ion batteries - and probably 18V - that will give the largest range of available tools. (and the option of using
36V tools as well)There may still be a few old NiMh/NiCd tools available "body only", but not worth it at all unless already heavily invested in the old battery platform - and even then I would look at moving the tools to the new platform with battery adaptors. The new batts are *so* much better, and the charging platform much better as well (temp sensing, forced air cooling etc)
The 10.8V range might be of interest for very small light tools.
Probably not much - some inefficiently in each battery round trip, but not enough to influence a decision IMHO.
Convinced, thanks.
There are roughly four battery systems:
18V LXT. These are the most common, popular, enormous range and generally solid. Some larger tools take 2x LXT batteries to make 36V. 18V G-series (grey/white batteries). These are DIY-class and only a limited range of tools (mostly drills). Avoid. 40V XGT. Newer, for more powerful tools. Pricier. Probably only worth it if you're going to use the beefy tools that need the extra power but 2xLXT would be too bulky. Not sure if you can get smaller tools in 40V. 10.8v stuff (aka 12v). Probably most use where weight is important and a small 3 cell battery is better than an LXT brick. I wouldn't bother buying into a 'system' here, since the batteries are small and cheap - just buy whatever brand of tool and battery are best for the job (eg I have a bunch of 10.8v and 14.4v Aldi and Lidl tools that came with their own battery).The DC tools are probably a mite more efficient - brushless motors etc. But even if you use them all day, a charge of a 5Ah LXT battery costs about
3p at current rates.Theo
Yup, I would agree...
It tends to be the bigger more powerful stuff at the mo. Not sure if they did this because they see it as a good platform, or just needed to provide something similar to the competition offering higher voltages.
One thing I noticed with the 10.8V platform is that contrary to normal Makita practice for supporting battery platforms for decades, the original BL battery fell out of favour fairly quickly.
Although not quite as elegant, you can get battery adaptors that let you put new LXT batts on old NiMh/NiCd tools. They work, but lack the communication between tool and batt - so you may need to be a bit more careful running them hard when they are close to depletion. (the batteries own BMS ought to still protect them though)
I still use my original 18V impact driver like this.
But there are losses incurred when charging the battery, and then it self-discharges.
Any idea why they changed? I think the voltage and capacity are different, but in real terms is there any difference? I would say that having had some dealings with battery vacuum cleaners, the portable ones do not seem to run very long on a charge. Brian
Higher capacity and power, when they had 18V LXT they did have some dual battery
36V tools, the 40V allowed use of a single battery in equivalent tools. Though now for real heavy duty tools (e.g. concrete cutting saws and breakers) they have dual battery 80V tools
The BL pricing is a bit ridiculous: that's 3 cells of 18650s, cell cost about £10. (You can find the BL for about £30 elsewhere). I have some Lidl tools using that form factor: £25 including the tool.
Similarly benchmark pricing for an 18v LXT is £10/Ah, so a 5Ah is about £50. I don't see why you'd pay essentially the same money for a lower capacity CXT battery that isn't much more convenient than the LXT.
I can only really see it making sense if you went for the smallest, lightest CXT - the difference is only two more cells.
Theo
I suspect the pricing is to "encourage" the platform to wither... Also not helped by only doing low capacity batteries in the form factor.
You would pay it if you had the tools :-)
There is certainly space in the market for smaller lighter tools, and that is difficult to achieve with the LXT platform.
I really like my 10.8V DD and ID. They don't have the "rip your arm off" power of my 18V combi and ID, but that are very usable, manoeuvrable, and quite competent enough for many jobs.
On the occasions I need to fix something to a wall for a client (say a comms cabinet, or screen/TV), and I can't park particularly close, it is very easy to sling the 10.8V bag over my shoulder with combi DD, and ID, plus fixings, drill bits (Bosch multimaterial natch), and other tools / clobber. They will let me fix plugs and decent sized screws into concrete or block walls etc.
I would not buy the set as my only DD/ID, but as an addition it is very nice to have.
There are classes of tool that only really make sense in the smaller platform.
Something like:
(I can see tasks like sliding a sheet of ply out of a stack, and slicing a bit off with it still vertical, or quick cuts on the bench when building furniture etc, where the "full sized" saw would be impractical)
or:
IME self discharge with Li-Ion is far less noticeable that with previous technologies.
Indeed - I've got the 10.8V drill-driver
Also their 10.8V multitool - just fine for my use.
Why does that matter? Are you going to be drilling day and night? The whole lifetime of a cheap electric drill is about eight hours drilling.
Anyway it isn't just a simple calculation. Battery tools usually struggle more than mains ones so they are less efficient. They also are likely to generate more heat.
Bill
I'll be working in a garage without mains electric apart from the basic tools there'll be battery powered lighting and even something to take the chill off. I could run a very long extension but that would cause some local problems.
What a feast of useful informatiom.Thank you. I might have to lie down to digest that lot.
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