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Monday, January 12, 2009

B&Q Performance Pro Power tools : Do Not Buy!

I have just wasted about 45 minutes in a fruitless search for replacement battery pack for my battery power drill. The drill works fine, the batteries are beginning to get weak. Turns out P Pro is a B&Q supplier, but they do not supply batteries.

In "Island" the aboriginal Pacific islanders buy some outboard engines for their canoes. They were happy to go fast with no paddling, but when they ran out of petrol, the ignorant savages chucked the engine out, leaving them to rust under a coconut tree. Until an engineer got in touch and explained about refills.

As a culture, we are the ignorant savages, led by the nose by idiot manufacturers who sell us tools that we are forced to throw away when the batteries fail. All the embodied energy and materials in the item wasted.

We are living in a stacked deck.

Buy Makita power tools. They seem to be the one the tradesmen use.

Not happy.

19 comments:

  1. Power tools are for wimps!

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  2. Well OK weggis, I avoid chainsaws and those ridiculous leaf blower things, but surely a man can only truly be a man if he can put his hand on his electric drill...you've got me worried here...I don't mind shivering in a cave by a candle, but please do not take my manhood from me. We'll lose the DIY vote if we come out against electric drills. What if I only use it when the sun is shining, and I use the electrons off my PV roof?

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  3. Anonymous12:56 pm

    Dear Doc, I had the same problem with a B&Q Performance Power Drill and searching for new batteries returned your blog posting. Being the stubborn sort, I decided to see whether I could locate any batteries myself as I had recently found new batteries for an old camera on the web. I rang the B&Q technical support number which I found on the drill itself, but only after I had looked it up on the web! The person I spoke to confirmed that they no longer supply batteries for my ancient drill which is 4-5 years old. However he did tell me of a company that does battery refurbishment - taking the old cells out and replacing / upgrading them and giving a 12 month guarantee. They're call REBATT and are based in Dewsbury, W. Yorkshire. There web address is www.rebatt.co.uk/

    Steve

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  4. Thanks Anon. V helpful, and I will go there. "Ancient" = 5 years old. Not good enough is it?

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  5. Excellent read. I like your style...have a good one!/Nice blog! Keep it up!

    power tools

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  6. When i studied your blog it is very informatic about Performance Power Tools nice..........Thanks...

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  7. Don't buy Performance Pawer tools from B& Q. They don't last. I bought a 140 watt Rotary Tool (like a Dremmel). I used it about 6 times and the spring, acting like a universal joint between the motor and the drive shaft, snapped. No spares available! What a crap service. It's a nice little tool, now scrap for want of a tuppenny spare. I am trying to see if I can get one made up, but it might cost more than the origonal tool.6353
    ,

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  8. Anonymous10:17 pm

    Just open the battery and test the cells, shock the short circuit cell with 12 volts DC or replace with one ones. easy

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  9. Hello everyone, I found some of you are become bored with few power tools. But you can use our makita
    a totally high quality power tool. Thanks.

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  10. I had the same problem old batts no charging..I found a blog about 2 years ago which said::::: get a 12v battery charger and set it as if your going to charge your car battery::::: hold the clips to your drill battery for 2-3 seconds it will destroy the crustals and they will the recharge.. Gave it ago and the drill I bought in 2002 is still going strong. So is the one I bought to replace it as the battery's went on those..it might not work straight off but it worked for me.. Don't be tempted to hold them on to long::::a little bit often as they say.....

    Hope this helps

    Lew517

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  11. likewise chinese cheap throw aways it is bad for the stress levels and i have one too!! the mitre saw they make and the circular saw dont have responding spare blades either though some spares companies try to fob you off with blades that you have washer things that never fit to put in the middle never again get own so called brands they are out for me now, why dont the shops think it through its in their interest to keep customers coming back whatever they buy?

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  12. Hello Penny
    You're right. Useless cheap tools are a waste of the energy and materials that go into making them, a waste of our time in buying them and a waste of our money.

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  13. I am from England and bought a blow-moulded set of Performance Power Pro tools from B&Q around 2005 and believe it or not, have done sterling service until around 2011, when the batteries failed, without any options of replacements. I hung onto the tools hoping that technology would advance one day and I could get them working again.

    I now (2016) live in the US and still have these tools and have located a company which offers a way to rejuvenate those 'dead' batteries or teach how to build your own battery-packs for these or any other cordless tools!

    Look at this site ... http://sub-c-cell-size.rambobattery.com/

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  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  15. Anonymous4:35 pm

    I'd ignore what's in the paragraph above from Geix, just an ad, they want your money. Does your head in even before you get to the final sales pitch...............just a load of waffle!

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  16. Your post was very nicely written. I’ll be back in the future for sure! Joeri

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  17. Rebat for my B Q 14.4 v cordless drill costs me the same as a new drill...

    £35 each .... for two batteries ...
    plus courier charges

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  18. Looking for a battery for a p. pro 12vrb

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