Couple of things at Lidl

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Treacle sounds a lot more interesting than Molasses, says John, checking to see what he's trod in.

[frank brownParticipant @frankbrown22225]

Mole, what?

Frank

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

JS

Electric impact wrench OK but how do you reach up to reverse it?

Must be a small mill or a very tall person, advantage of air its remotely controlable!

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by mark costello 1 on 26/03/2016 13:38:42:

If anyone from across the pond (Me also) thinks the language is somewhat confusing, try figuring out just what
You folks eat. Names and words never dreamed of over here. Toad in the hole, black pudding, TREACLE????. On the other hand, Doubleboost is starting to make sense to Me and it has Me worried for Myself.

He has me worried too. I watched him following "dogma" and running his boxford flat out and the same come very light cut again to get a better finish on his ER chuck. I guess he will figure out why the finish was good by the tommy bar holes though and do it the right way.

John

–

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by KWIL on 26/03/2016 15:22:50:

JS

Electric impact wrench OK but how do you reach up to reverse it?

Must be a small mill or a very tall person, advantage of air its remotely controlable!

.

You are joking ???

If not, just move the switch, even the air ones you have to remote mount the reverse switch / lever

It actually the reverse of what you say, why I want one.

I have one of the Warco WM40 which is the next size up from a standard Bridgeport, add to this I have fitted a 4" riser block and I use a 4" thick pallet as a duck board but need to really stretch to swap tools.

Plenty of air kits about but I don't want to run a compressor just to swap one tool and at £30 chopping one of these up is a no brainer. I know it will work as I have tried using a borrowed cordless impact wrench ad it works well.

A few years ago I bought one of those articulated arm air tappers, brilliant bit of kit, should have bought one years earlier. However I noticed that unless I had a fair few holes to tap the compressor didn't get switched on. I have a fair sized compressor, about 15cfm Hydrovane and it needs this. The little quiet Bambi won't hack it, in fact on long runs of M12 I often had to run the second 15cfm Hydrovane which is only where as a backup.

About a year ago I spent an interesting afternoon with a 3 phase motor, a VFD and an old machine mart 1/2" air drill and converted the head to electric. The result is It will now go up to M16 instead of M12 and is available for just one hole immediately, if needed.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by KWIL on 26/03/2016 15:22:50:

JS

Electric impact wrench OK but how do you reach up to reverse it?

Must be a small mill or a very tall person, advantage of air its remotely controlable!

Or see MEW 239

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

That was also on my list Neil but S/H prices of cordless impact wrenches on eBay ( with no warranties ) are higher than ?30.

But add the two together and you have a result

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

A word of caution !

One of the 3 main considerations you should apply to any purchasing decision is "who is the supplier".

I point this out because Lidl are not specialists in anything other than cheap grocery distribution.

How does this affect you?

Well, quite often when we buy something we know little about the actual product we are buying. Things can go wrong with them that we as a consumer cannot forsee . . . . because we have very little prior experience of the actual product.

We rely on the professionalism, the honesty & the integrity of the supplier to only supply a tested & proven product.

I have never shopped at Lidl, simply because my first & only experience of this kind of retailer put me off for life.

I bought one of those £69.99 air compressors from Aldi with all the tools that made it seem like such a bargain, I rushed home to plug it in & . . . . when the air gauge went into the red & the motor didn't stop I didn't panic, I simply walked calmly away from the bomb in my workshop, into the house & flipped the master switch for the whole house's electric circuit.

A simple finger wipe of grease was lacking from a very important safety function. I knew this before I called the support line 'cos I stripped it down & diagnosed it myself, yet the Aldi support line was in denial mode.

They were in denial mode because Aldi had millions of boxes of these things in warehouses & en-route from China which they've paid for & their lawyers have advised them that the potential liability of any possible claims of exploding 24l tanks of compressed air is much, much less than the cost of scrapping the remaining stock !

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Mick Charity on 26/03/2016 20:32:07:

A word of caution !

One of the 3 main considerations you should apply to any purchasing decision is "who is the supplier".

I point this out because Lidl are not specialists in anything other than cheap grocery distribution.

How does this affect you?

Well, quite often when we buy something we know little about the actual product we are buying. Things can go wrong with them that we as a consumer cannot forsee . . . . because we have very little prior experience of the actual product.

We rely on the professionalism, the honesty & the integrity of the supplier to only supply a tested & proven product.

I have never shopped at Lidl, simply because my first & only experience of this kind of retailer put me off for life.

I bought one of those £69.99 air compressors from Aldi with all the tools that made it seem like such a bargain, I rushed home to plug it in & . . . . when the air gauge went into the red & the motor didn't stop I didn't panic, I simply walked calmly away from the bomb in my workshop, into the house & flipped the master switch for the whole house's electric circuit.

A simple finger wipe of grease was lacking from a very important safety function. I knew this before I called the support line 'cos I stripped it down & diagnosed it myself, yet the Aldi support line was in denial mode.

They were in denial mode because Aldi had millions of boxes of these things in warehouses & en-route from China which they've paid for & their lawyers have advised them that the potential liability of any possible claims of exploding 24l tanks of compressed air is much, much less than the cost of scrapping the remaining stock !

 

Why would their lawyers have advised them over this before you had notified them of the problem. ??

And you know for a fact they had millions in stock ??

And if the pressure switch had failed as it looks like it did in your case then the blow off valve would have taken over.

 

You had better stick to buying from Woolworths then

Edited By John Stevenson on 26/03/2016 22:47:04

[Anonymous]

…and why waste time and building up more pressure whilst "walking calmly into the house" to shut it down, what was wrong with switching/pulling the plug straight away?

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

He probably wanted to go round resetting all the clocks, central heating routers etc

I think we can ignore this word of warning from someone who admits he hasn't shopped at Lidl

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Not yet bought anything machinery wise from LIDL, but the ALDI stuff (taps and dies, angles grinder, electric drill, electric chainsaws – got two just in case I killed one, appear to be unkillable) is very good indeed – I shall pop down to LIDL tomorrow…

LIDL did have some power washers in, but I didn't know how good their stuff was –

Steve

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

My cheap supermarket compressor has given me around 10/11 years service and is used at least three days a week. My only complaint is it is a bit to loud. I seem to recall it was £49.99 with tools from Neto. I have not seen a Neto store in years are they still around ?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Netto UK stores bought by Asda. Came back with Sainsbury's as a partner, but only a small number of stores so far.

[Michael Smith 15Participant @michaelsmith15]

Use Lidl angle grinders all the time . On sale this weekend for £19.99 .

Aldi angel grinder look the same but seem to be of a slightly lesser quality

Last Hitachi grinder I brought was nowhere near as good and twice the price

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Lidl have their welders in this week btw, if anyone wants a 40 quid buzzbox

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Got a nice basic pack of HSS drills for 4 quid yesterday

I also got a nice pack of Masonry drills for 4 quid, these can be amazingly useful for drilling case hardened metal and stainless steel

Edited By Ady1 on 17/10/2016 11:22:00

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

.I saw an interesting 'intelligent' lead-acid battery charger for about £14 at Lidl.

… Thought it might be a bargain substitute for an OptiMate, but then looked at the instruction leaflet.

Has anyone tried one of these ?

MichaelG.

.

http://www.lidl-service.com/cps/rde/SID-52F99B77-6D378E19/lsp/hs.xsl/product.html?id=189590446&rdeLocaleAttr=en&title=CAR%20BATTERY%20CHARGER%20ULG%203.8%20B1

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 17/10/2016 13:08:33

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 17/10/2016 12:52:22:

Has anyone tried one of these ?

MichaelG.

I got one a couple of years ago to trickle charge my camper van. The idea was that I would permanently wire it in via the mains hook up so I could plug the van in and it would auto trickle charge.

problem 1: the charger defaulted to a mode that was inappropriate for trickle charge so I had to click through menu every time.

Problem 2: it lasted a couple of weeks then broke.

I bought it because lots of people said they were good. Maybe I was unlucky. On average, things I get from these 'bargain' offers are worth about what I paid (I got lucky with an angle grinder) – but some are worth less (like the charger).

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Jack

I was rather concerned when I read that for trickle-charging an 'installed' battery, you're expected to disconnect the battery from the vehicle … not exactly what I had in mind for a battery situated behind fairing panels !!

I think I will use the benefit of your experience. 

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 17/10/2016 13:24:29

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Posted by Ady1 on 17/10/2016 11:17:18:

Got a nice basic pack of HSS drills for 4 quid yesterday

I also got a nice pack of Masonry drills for 4 quid, these can be amazingly useful for drilling case hardened metal and stainless steel

Edited By Ady1 on 17/10/2016 11:22:00

Have you tried the HSS drllls Andy ?

Cheers H

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Have you tried the HSS drllls Andy ?

Cheers H

They're just basic HSS hole drillers and work fine (5mm only so far)

The ones I'm hoping work well are the masonry ones which look well made, a carbide tipped drill can be a ME "lifesaver" at times

MichaelG

Don't forget that most Lidl stuff has a guarantee(up to 3 years) so if it breaks you can at least get your cash back the next time you go shopping

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Those Lidl battery chargers seem fine as used as normal by connecting only when needed but still safe from cooking the battery if left connected for a bit too long. Maybe a day or so. But the regulation control doesn't seem good enough long term term connection.

Tried that on my Norton Commander and it killed the two batteries after a couple of months. Since then I just leave it on for a day or two and have had no issues with either the bike or the generator. Makes it much easier to use than my proper charger, an old fashioned transformer and diode type without regulation. That has the punch to bring up big battery in reasonable time but even trickle setting is on the high side for anything over an hour or three. My fault I suppose 'cos thats the way designed it! Case says Winfield (Woolworths special way, way back) but that, the handle and the meter are about all that left of the original, innards are seriously more husky using the biggest transformer that could be shoehorned in.

Clive

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I had a closer look at those Lidl HSS drills out of interest and the bigger ones have been sharpened quite cleverley so that the point cuts as soon as it starts to turn

The only time I have seen ground tips like this before was when I got some drills from an ex Ferranti chaps estate

I've used that Lidl charger and it's been fine so far, never for longer than a day or two and only when I need it which is not that often nowadays. Also handy for telling you if an old car battery is jigged or if it's got a bit of life left.

Edited By Ady1 on 17/10/2016 15:26:19

[Martin 100Participant @martin100]

Lidl charger? Forget / ignore the warnings, for anything post 1890's and with properly designed electrics and electronics the chargers work fine and the only issue would be gassing, which would happen anyway with an alternator charge or a charge with any other mains charger. As for defaulting to something other than trickle charge they don't, at power on and connection to a battery they check the battery voltage and do nothing else. There is no output. When the mode button is pressed they charge to meet a target (say 13.8v) and then when the target is met they drop back to a trickle at 13.2v to reduce gassing. With an already charged battery the most you'll get is a short period of full charge (at about 4A) before it reverts back to trickle.

To intiate any charge always requires the mode button to be pressed, this is not an issue unless you have a seriously intermittent mains supply.

The initial charge all depends on the actual voltage of the battery, if it is a 12v lead acid and totally discharged then it might possibly get treated like a 6v motorbike / VW battery and the only way to override this is to get the battery terminal volts up to 12 ish, either by jump leads or another voltage source. For most cases with batteries in a reasonable state of charge it's plug in, press a button to select the right mode and forget. Leave it there all winter. I do that with a number of cars that I have in storage when there is any chance of salt on the roads.

Compared to the crude chargers of old they are light years ahead, It is not possible to build a basic one one from new bits or buy anything with remotely similar functionality for anything like the price Lidl charge.

[Author]

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