simonr Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 For almost 10 years, I have had a Clarke / Sealey (they both sold the same one at the time) 18v 1/2" drive gun - which has been fantastic. Finally, the charger, battery and motor have all died (within a week of one another) so I need to buy a replacement. At the time there were almost none on the market - now there seem to be hundreds. The Clarke cost me about £250 and has been good value. With a budget of up to £250 - what do you reckon would be a good choice? I want it to last 10 years with regular abuse! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 For almost 10 years, I have had a Clarke / Sealey (they both sold the same one at the time) 18v 1/2" drive gun - which has been fantastic. Finally, the charger, battery and motor have all died (within a week of one another) so I need to buy a replacement. At the time there were almost none on the market - now there seem to be hundreds. The Clarke cost me about £250 and has been good value. With a budget of up to £250 - what do you reckon would be a good choice? I want it to last 10 years with regular abuse! Si That's some impressive battery life for a Clarke/Sealey tool! Above your budget I'm afraid, I bought a Bosch GDS18V-HT last year. It has yet to stop impressing me each time I use it. IMO there was little point for me buying something that couldn't deal with tight/big stuff. LR wheel nuts are a walk in the park with this. Tractor wheel nuts make it work a little harder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSD Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 I've got a DeWalt 1/2" driver I've had for about 8 years, which shows no sign of giving up. Not the ultimate in torque (being 12V), but enough for most things, and small enough to get into places that larger ones I've tried cannot. I think it was about £250, with two batteries and a 1 hour charger. (I've got a mains powered one for silly torque, but rarely use it) Being 12V, when the batteries finally die, I'll just attach an Anderson connector Seems it's got cheaper too, it certainly looks like the same one... http://www.toolsave.co.uk/product.php?prod_code=DW053K2 I have heard that DeWalt quality is not what it was, but no personal experience. These are the only DeWalt tools I own, and I'm more than happy with both of them. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 If your budget could stretch a bit, I would highly recommend Makita tools... Been very impressed with mine and Mark has a wide selection of them, too... They seem to be taking over from Dewalt on the quality side of things. We definitely used to see more DeWalt tools back for refurbs than Makitas (in the drylining side of my old company). The tools were getting heavy use from met-sec erectors on a daily basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 Another vote for Makita, a friend has the smaller of the two Makita impact wrenches, undone anything it has ever been asked to, yet really compact to get in tight places This is the one: http://www.itslondon...nchToolOnly.htm Batteries are very good, with only a 22 min charge, but last for ages. He now has: 18v Makita Combi Drill 18v Makita Torch 18v Makita Impact Driver (150nm) 18v Makita Skill Saw 18v Makita 4" Angle Grinder 18v Makita Jigsaw 18v Batterys X3 Lithiom Iron 3.0ah 18v Quick Charger Station (22min) 18v Makita 1/2" square drive impact wrench To say he's impressed is an understatement Good thing is once you have the batteries and charger, the actual bare tools are pretty cheap, and there's even bundle deals available as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyt Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 my vote goes to snap on, very good, undoes my discovery wheel nuts no problems, did have a battery die after 18 months, but got a new one under warrenty. also the drill to go with it is very good. regards andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy2986 Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 I use a Dewalt 18v 1/2"impact very pleased with it in-fact i now use two !! a big one and a smaller one to get in tight places both 18V. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnut Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 No personal experience, but I have had very good reports on Milwaukee Cordless Impact Wrenches from people who do own and use them. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 I just bought a cheap one from Maplin, a Rolson 24V jobbie. Only £80 so I don't expect it to outperform the several-hundred-pound ones, but I will see how it goes. Certainly seems well built, get to try it out at the weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jammy123 Posted April 7, 2010 Share Posted April 7, 2010 I would recommend the Sealey 24v 1/2" impact wrench. Use it at work daily and its pretty powerful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 I have the Sealey 24v impact wrench too. Mains charge only (which is a bit of a pain), but it only cost £172 and came with a spare battery. Max torque is 325 lbft. Had it about 3-years now and it's still in good working order - if a little battered Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davie Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 I have a milwaukee one (spelling sucks) and its lovely, used it for some weird jobs too - driving in 6 inch long coach bolts through railway sleepers and fence post, sure did that nicely. Lil heavy but works perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share Posted April 8, 2010 Thanks all. I have lots of Dewalt kit that I think is fantastic - but the impact wrenches look expensive for relatively little torque. My Clark / Sealey one did such a good job that it shows that it does not need to be a big power tool name brand to be good. I have a Makita angle grinder that I bought when I was 18 (25 years ago) and it's still going strong - so that's a good recommendation. Not come across Milwaukee tools before - but I'll take a look. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share Posted April 8, 2010 OK, after some deliberation, I decided to go with the closest to what I had before - a Sealey CP2400 24v which was about £170 delivered with two batteries. I decided what I needed was high torque more than variable speed, Lithium batteries or LED illumination which seemed to be the main selling points of the competition. This quotes 450Nm (337 FtLb) torque (as did my old one). In practice it only ever managed about 250Nm (187 FtLb) - but it was plenty for rusty wheel nuts. The business opposite here has a new Dewalt DW059 driver. I just tried it on my wheel nuts and it failed to undo any of them. It had a quoted torque of 418Nm (313 FtLb). I think one has to take the quoted torque with a pinch of salt! I might buy something smaller in the future for tight spaces, fixing watches & clocks - small stuff. I'll post a review of the Sealey when it arrives! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruuman Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 I'd just add a note that I own a lot of dewalt kit, a lot of it 5-6years old which has been great. My newer (less than a year old) combi drill is no way as good as the 7 year old one it's replaced. I personally think they have started cutting corners. I've been very impressed with the Hitachi Li-ion gear my friend has bought and the prices are very good. Not well known, but all my builder friend are swapping to them. but Makita you can't go wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBolton Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 That's some impressive battery life for a Clarke/Sealey tool! Above your budget I'm afraid, I bought a Bosch GDS18V-HT last year. It has yet to stop impressing me each time I use it. IMO there was little point for me buying something that couldn't deal with tight/big stuff. LR wheel nuts are a walk in the park with this. Tractor wheel nuts make it work a little harder thats the same models as I also bought...great piece of kit, still waiting for the first battery to run down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forkrentfitter Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 i have a 4 year old dewalt 18v which i really pleased with,quoted at 440nm,has proved its worth doing on site repairs on heavy plant.only gripe is both batterys died within a week of each other and were £90 to replace(for 2). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael calvert Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 dewalt through and through 4 words explain my thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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