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Cheap impact wrench Makita copies


mickeyw

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On 12/12/2020 at 6:26 PM, Retroanaconda said:

@mickeyw How does the Makita 18V grinder do? The real one I mean.

I’ve got several 18V Makita tools and therefore batteries, and was considering getting the battery one to go alongside my mains Bosch one for the exact reason above. Can have the mains one for the harder work like wire brushing for hours and the battery one will be much quicker to grab for cutting a bolt down or doing something quick.

I’ve got the genuine mid-sized Makita 1/2” impact and its powerful enough to undo the wheel nuts on my 90. I tend to crack them off with the breaker bar anyway but it’s certainly capable. I deliberately bought that size as I want to be able to use it in more places, for example it’s perfect for whipping propshafts on/off. I’ve got a CP air-powered gun for the much tighter stuff like the Tdi crankshaft bolt.

James, I absolutely love it  I am a huge fan of cordless tools, especially the grinder. They are getting better and better.
In the Makita case the build quality is very good, grunt is excellent, although it won't beat a mains powered machine. I mostly use mine for brief cutting and deburring operations. If I'm cutting sheet steel at home I'll use the plasma, but then deburr with the cordless grinder. If I'm anywhere on the farm the I'll use it for some pretty arduous tasks.

Obviously any tool will be limited by the battery capacity. I have four 3 Ah batteries, and will probably buy a bigger one at some point for the grinder.

 

On 12/12/2020 at 8:26 PM, elbekko said:

Not having to grab an extension cord all the time is great, and the cable doesn't get in the way.

Exactly. This is one of my main reasons for loving cordless :D 

 

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21 hours ago, CwazyWabbit said:

One minor negative I've found with genuine brand 18v grinders is the safety brake. If you only do them up hand tight and have anything heavier than a slitting disc then the inertia can undo the nut when the brake comes on.

It's a valid point Barry, but I have yet to be troubled by this problem.  I tend to do up flap disks with a gloved hand because you can get reasonable grip on the disk. With a delicate cutting disk this isn't possible, so I always use a spanner. The spinning cheek poker deserves a whole extra level of respect and is always tightened properly and used wearing welding gauntlets.

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44 minutes ago, steve200TDi said:

@mickeyw I was also thinking if I had a higher ah battery, say a 5ah, would that give the grinder, impact driver etc some more ooomff! 

Can anyone test this? Of does it just last longer? I read somewhere that the higher ah batteries have more cells...

Steve

Steve, think of it like a fuel tank - the more Ah the longer it'll run. All the Makita LXT batteries seem to have the same size case, so it's just the cells that differ. I see on other brands the 2Ah batteries are often a lot smaller (and lighter) than a 4 or 5Ah, so I imagine they get their greater capacity by using more cells.

Li-ion batteries can give very high current delivery, but I would have thought the tool would regulate this irrespective of battery capacity. These are intelligent devices, unlike a car starting from a battery that has a higher CCA.

Makita do a 6Ah as well :D 


Bowie, Is your 3Ah battery older and perhaps a little tired?

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29 minutes ago, mickeyw said:

Steve, think of it like a fuel tank - the more Ah the longer it'll run. All the Makita LXT batteries seem to have the same size case, so it's just the cells that differ. I see on other brands the 2Ah batteries are often a lot smaller (and lighter) than a 4 or 5Ah, so I imagine they get their greater capacity by using more cells.

Li-ion batteries can give very high current delivery, but I would have thought the tool would regulate this irrespective of battery capacity. These are intelligent devices, unlike a car starting from a battery that has a higher CCA.

Makita do a 6Ah as well :D 


Bowie, Is your 3Ah battery older and perhaps a little tired?

My 18V DeWalt stuff is all on 5ah batteries, and like you say the smaller 2/3/4ah packs the old man has got and I've at work are physically smaller. Likewise going the other way - The DeWalt Flexvolt 54V Batteries are compatible with 18V stuff but it means you can get a massive 9ah. 

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47 minutes ago, mickeyw said:

Bowie, Is your 3Ah battery older and perhaps a little tired?

Possibly, it hasn't had as much use as a workshop one would, so if tired it would be age and not cycles. The difference it fairly pronounced.

I think the 'C' rating on the cells could well make a difference, also, with more capacity, the 'C' often goes up ( from my limited experience with RC stuff), so could be a factor.

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Thanks Mickey - looks like I might be buying myself a grinder for Christmas!

Most of my Makita batteries are 4Ah but I have one 5Ah which I got mainly for the impact gun. They all last very well - I basically screwed my whole workshop together with the impact driver and I’d get a good period out of them before recharging, which only takes 25 mins or so.

I’ve an older (c. 7 years) 3Ah battery and while that does run out sooner it’s still going pretty well considering. I tend to try and store them well charged which helps I think.

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I did the test with a 2Ah and 5Ah in my (old) DeWalt impact, and could not find a difference. Nuts done up as tight as posible with the 5Ah could be undone with the 2Ah. Both freshly charged of course. The 5Ah battery I used was a few years older than the 2 Ah, I haven't tried it again with the new 5Ah but don't expect to see much difference.

Filip

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