Bosch 18-2-Li Plus drill driver

[MarkDennehy]

So, my Bosch PSR 14.4 has given up the ghost (or at least all its NiCd batteries have, they hold just enough charge after a few hours in the charger to drill one or two holes if the drill bit is under 4mm and it's in pine). And given the way they price these things I figure it's less money to just give up and move on to a new drill entirely rather than chasing down replacement batteries, especially with sales coming up. I was hoping to move down from the larger drills to something a bit smaller as well (anything large I tend to use a bit and brace for anyway, my power drill tends to be used mainly for screwing things to the wall of the shed or drilling holes for jigs, that kind of thing). The 10.8v or 12v stuff with the smaller form factor drills looked perfect.

Then I noticed our local woodies, who normally would charge you for the air you breathe in the store if they could find a way to bill you for it, are selling one of the blue Bosch 18-2-Li Plus drills plus batteries and charger for €100 (just under £90). And it's not terribly large, and it looks well-built so my question is - what's the catch? Is that drill known for catching fire a month after you buy it? Are they about to get discontinued? Are they just pineappley in general? I'm finding it really hard to believe the place that normally charges you 200% of what somewhere like screwfix charge for the next model up in any tool are now selling a decent tool for fifty quid less than anywhere else...

(Also, would I be mad to hold off and wait for somewhere to sell a 10.8/12v drill in sales in the next week or two?)

 

[MikeJhn]

Now that you have informed everyone that its available it wont be on the shelves for long, buy it now and just make sure you register it so the guarantee is valid.

Mike

 

[paulm]

I have one and find it a very competent and well made tool, which you would expect from a blue bosch (as distinct from the green diy stuff).

It's a good package and price too and will easily do the work you mentioned.

Worth noting though that the two 2ah batteries are relatively low capacity these days compared with the 4/5/6/7ah versions available, but as you're not a tradesman using them on site all day that's unlikely to be a problem for you and the batteries charge up very quickly and will be a revelation compared to your old stuff

I also bought another version of the bosch with more torque for using with big auger bits, tenon rounders and the like, and it has a metal chuck and gearbox housing too, but if I don't need the extra torque then I tend to pick up the smaller, lighter version as it's easier to use and does pretty much everything around the home and workshop, except for the bigger heavier jobs.

So the blue bosch range does have different levels of product within it, depending on what you need, but you'll be very happy with the one you linked to for what you want to do.

 

[MikeK]

I looked for a replacement Bosch cordless drill earlier this year, since all of my cordless tools are Bosch 18V, and the GSR 18 2 Li was one of the contenders. However, I bought the GSR 18 VE-2 Li after reading negative reviews about the plastic chuck on the non-VE version. The VE version has an all-metal chuck and has not given me any problems. The 2Ah batteries were also an issue for me, and the VE kit I bought came with two 5Ah batteries, charger, and the 44-piece accessory bit kit tucked nicely in an L-Boxx with room to spare for more accessories.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just make sure what you buy is brushless - it makes a huge difference.

 

[MarkDennehy]

How so Phil?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

More power, better battery life. I have a DeWalt and prior to that I had a Hitachi and the difference is tremendous.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Hm. Bosch don't go in much for the brushless stuff it seems, closest I can find to what I'd really like is the PS32 and nobody's doing similar prices to that here. Oh well.

 

[MikeJhn]

There was a twin pack DeWalt Brushless on offer at just under £200.00 recently, but can't find it at the moment, may be worth a search though.

Mike

EDIT: found this though even cheaper: https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Dew ... t-Twin-Kit

 

[MarkDennehy]

Thanks Mike, but what I really wanted to do was go down to 10.8v. That deal just looked too good to be true...

 

[MikeJhn]

I bought them about three weeks ago and am not disappointed, being only 2Ah they are very light and are so much better than the 18v Nimh ones I have if only just for the lack of weight, the LiIo batteries do not run down they just switch off when they reach diss-charge so still have a lot of power right up to that point.

Mike

 

[MarkDennehy]

Hm.
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Bos ... ill-L-Boxx

So 12V drill and impact driver (never had one of them before) for €157 or...

https://www.joemckenna.ie/bosch-power-t ... -batteries

12V drill on its own for €125.

Or the 18V drill for €100.

Gah. This makes no sense, why is the smaller 12V stuff more expensive than the beefier 18V stuff?

 

[MikeJhn]

The 18v drill is probably brushed, and the 12v is just overpriced.

Happy New Year to all, have guest coming around so signing off for the evening.

Mike

 

[fezman]

Hi Mark,

I bought this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1 just before christmas. How ever did I manage without an impact driver?

Both are brushless, batteries last much longer than my Bosch (green) drivers. They replaced a 10+year old dewalt brushed driver that died end of November - but I certainly had my moneys worth.

The quality and performance of the new dewalts are great - if they last as long as my last one I will be more than happy.

F

 

[MarkDennehy]

Caved to the budget in the end and got the 18-2-Li Plus that was on offer for €100. It's a bit more hefty than the 10.8V stuff I was oogling, but it's a really solidly build thing. Can't find a bad thing to say about the drill itself yet...

 

[MikeJhn]

I bought them about three weeks ago and am not disappointed, being only 2Ah they are very light and are so much better than the 18v Nimh ones I have if only just for the lack of weight, the LiIo batteries do not run down they just switch off when they reach diss-charge so still have a lot of power right up to that point.

Mike

Need to revise my previous not disappointed comment, compared to my 18v Nimh DeWalts these do not have the power to drive a 75mm screw through a 50 x 50 into the end grain of another 50 x 50 bulks down every other screw, the 18v Nimh however will drive the screw straight through the 50 x 50 if you haven't set the torque correctly, now very disappointed with these brushless LiIo units.

Mike

 

[MikeJhn]

Revise my revision, seems I have one weak LiIo battery, with a freshly charged good battery the brushless LiIo powered impact driver is every bit as good as the old Nimh, dare I say better after all my previous comments, no I am not going to say that. (hammer)

Mike