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It seems I've either lost, or had nicked, my Makita 18 volt cordless drill and I need a replacement 😫
I'm only after the drill body as I still got the charger and one battery.
The old one was 10 years old and maybe things have moved on?
I really can't afford to spend too much, but I definitely want something that's going to last me.
Which models should I be looking at for general DIY use?
I would be surprised if there was only 1 single 18v Makita battery in the last decade, so that might limit your choices. Has the battery definitely got lots of life? Otherwise you might be better off just buying a new combo pack from wherever
LXT battery? They've moved on in terms of brushless motors, but for DIY - unless you're hammering it (no pun intended) - I'd go for this on a budget:
If it's a CXT, I'd go with: https://amzn.eu/d/hin1FBr
Old Makita batteries are not compatible with newer tools. New batteries have a little star 🌟 on them.
Old Makita batteries are not compatible with newer tools
the star-marked makita tools / batteries have been around for at least a decade I think. But yes the op can check if there’s a star image embossed or printed on the top of the battery (the part it the battery that would be hidden once it’s attached to the tool) there’s usually a star in the bottom corner of the label on the bottom of the battery too but can be tricky to spot
but I forget which way round the compatibility situation was - backwards or forwards. IIRC I think you could put older non-star marked batteries into newer tools but you couldn’t put new star marked batteries into some old ones.
In fact I think it was a capacity thing -only Star marked tools could use batteries above 3amp/hr - a tab prevented these batteries from being clipped into older non star tools and chargers (the star denotes a charging age overload circuitry in the batteries and chargers)
Yeah the only question really is what battery you have and what it'll fit. TBH 10 years is a long time for a battery and if it's an older style I wouldn't necessarily stick with it. But if it's an LXT ie compatible with the modern ones then the most basic cheapest LXT drill is an absolute workhorse. Bit bulky for the job it does, but just a good everyday tool.
So just to round this off I bought a Makita DHP482Z which is probably the bottom end of the brushless range.
After a quick go today it seems like a decent piece of kit and certainly more compact than my old one.
My old (LXT) battery fits fine but it's small capacity so I'll pick another up at some time but it's not a big deal for my usage.
My old drill will probably now reappear 🙄
Oh FFS..... Just been to our beach hut and there was my old drill 🤦🏻♂️
Oh well, new drill for home, old one can stay here!