Good cheap 'leccy drill

[RobertArthur]

@ Niemeyjt, in 2014 my eldest son had a problem with his once very, very expensive and huge Samsung flatscreen tv, it took about 30 minutes to get a picture, several days later nothing at all. Workbench: the floor because of the sheer size of it. In the switched mode power supply section (left) where very nasty peak currents try to kill every electrolytic capacitor doing its best to get a smooth DC voltage, someone somewhere had decided that commercial grade caps would lower the productions costs with probably a few dollar cents. What do you get in return? Overheating, caps with bulging heads or worse, leakage problems. And a dear client who has to buy a new set... I bought four professional caps (black) made by Nichicon. Took me about 50 minutes, many tiny screws, connectors, desoldering etc. Switch on and let there be light. Eight years later: still doing its daily work.

[Polarengineer]

Back to the cheap drills.
I have no doubt these machines serve their purpose for the household diy. My experience with a cheapish machine with a one year warranty was to return it broken under that warranty and get a new one in return...twice... the third time the shop just gave me my money back complaining that it should not be used for professional work. A normal diy-er (I'm not normal) would use it for a job and stow it on the shelf for a few months until the next job. I use these machines constantly while renovating/restoring/repairing a rather large project. I have worn out 5 battery drills, 3 heavy percussion drills 2 circular saws and countless blades, 4 angle grinders (worse than drills for lifetime). The only really good stuff I have is from Festo. I treat tools with great care and maintain them regularly, I am an engineer after all, but some of this cheap stuff coming out at about €20 a kilo (how can they make them so cheap?) is designed to live out their warranty on the shelf. Battery lifetime is another subject.

[niemeyjt]

Having gone through two cheapies I then bought a 24v blue Bosch. It still works - though after 22 years the O batteries are only available now as non-genuine.

For me it is not the purchase cost of a cheapie - it is the hassle of not having a working tool the moment you need it.

Buy cheap, buy twice - learned the hard way.

Blue Bosch would still be my go-to had they not made a complete Horlicks of their Bluetooth implementation.

[L Austin France]

I am an engineer after all

[Hotrodder]

On your recommendation I might be tempted but already have a pair of Bosch ones that are doing fine. One of them has been in use since the mid 80s.

25€ with 3 year guarantee
What's to lose?

Shelf space

[L Austin France]

I'm beginning to think that trying to pass on info at this place about bargains & the suchlike is like pissing in the wind.
For the record, if the new 'un is anything like the one I bought 7 years ago for about 60€, which has been 'hammered' & is still performing well, it's certainly 'good' & at 25€ in their sale, is definately 'cheap'.
No worries.
At least a few of the forum experts have had their fun so it wasn't all a waste of time

[Char]

I'm sure a lot of members who haven't posted are grateful for the info - OH will certainly have a look to see if they have any left the next time we go shopping.

We've bought several tools from Aldi over the years and they've all lasted well, some even longer than the more expensive makes.

[exile]

Agree @Char .

I have no need for another drill at the moment so have not felt the need to comment up til now. One of my caving mates was a professional builder and he would regularly buy his tools from Aldi - often in pairs*. "If they break, I just take them back under guarantee and get a replacement. The expensive ones cost four or more times the price and last about twice as long but are out of guarantee when they fail."

Admittedly this was in the days when Aldi was selling re-badged Bosch tools.

* So that if one failed - and they did not by any means always fail - he had an immediate replacement.


I sense more than a tad of tool snobbery

[niemeyjt]

I think Aldi now sell Sheppach tools - on a par with Green Bosch.

[Spectrum]

A drill is a very simple thing, it works or it doesn't, the drill does not do much, its what you put in the end that counts, I only buy UK or German made drill bits I prefer to buy named makes of tools, but that is my prerogative the same reason I don't shop at Aldi/Lidel. When you are buying something that has a direct result on the product you are making, ie planer/thicknesser, table saw, or perhaps a bandsaw, its best not to buy cheap, better to wait and save up, Iam just fitting out a workshop, first project is end grain cutting boards, I can get a table top planer for 200€ but they are not good so need to pay nearer 700€ to get a product that will do the job quickly, safely, and to a high standard.