Buying Power Tools in America

john2524

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone can offer advice on buying tools abroad to ship home. I'm going to Boston in the summer on a J1 and I was wondering if it would be worth my while buying some tools that I need over there and shipping them home. Has anyone done this before? The kind of tools I'm looking at are an air compressor, an angle grinder and a mig welder. If anyone has any thoughts on where best to buy these in Ireland then it'd be great to here that as well. I'm looking for the best quality tools I can get for a reasonable price, I don't want to go over board but I don't want to buy cheap tools either. Something that is good for a general diyer, with most of the work being done on cars and motorbikes.

Cheers,

John.

Dulchie

No a great idea.
Different voltage 110V instead of 230V
different frequency 60Hz to 50Hz
different wiring colour Black/White to Brown Blue
not likely to be able to service or obtain spares here.

my3cents

Buy whatever cordless tools you fancy all the newer chargers I have seen are good for 110V and 220V just change the plug over, but obviously check first on the rating plate just in case. A neighbor spends half the year in America and brings back cordless tools and used to run the chargers off a 110V site transformer until I pointed out they all run on 220V so he just changed the plugs.

Anything else 110V works just fine from a site (110V) transformer, forget the bull**** trotted out about the different frequencies it makes little or no difference. Another neighbor has a load of 110V DeWalt tools that he brought over from when he worked in the US and I have some of the same tools in 220V bought here and they all work the same except he uses a 110V site transformer.

listermint

my3cents wrote: »

Buy whatever cordless tools you fancy all the newer chargers I have seen are good for 110V and 220V just change the plug over, but obviously check first on the rating plate just in case. A neighbor spends half the year in America and brings back cordless tools and used to run the chargers off a 110V site transformer until I pointed out they all run on 220V so he just changed the plugs.

Anything else 110V works just fine from a site (110V) transformer, forget the bull**** trotted out about the different frequencies it makes little or no difference. Another neighbor has a load of 110V DeWalt tools that he brought over from when he worked in the US and I have some of the same tools in 220V bought here and they all work the same except he uses a 110V site transformer.

Servicing parts spares are the key worries tbh

my3cents

listermint wrote: »

Servicing parts spares are the key worries tbh

Why? I was however maybe mistakenly assuming the OP was going to be looking a decent brand name tools that are also know in Ireland and not stuff made especially for walmart.

The DeWalt 110V tools I have are the same here as the ones for sale in the US. I doubt I'll ever need spares but no difference in the spares either way. Not so sure about my 110V Bosh tools but both brands came with a worldwide list of repairers along with the instructions in god knows how many languages.

If anyone has room in their hand luggage for a few cordless tools there are some bargains to be had in the US for the same tools you can get here.

Calahonda52

my3cents wrote: »

Why? I was however maybe mistakenly assuming the OP was going to be looking a decent brand name tools that are also know in Ireland and not stuff made especially for walmart.

or for Donald:D
They will need them for that wall.

keep well.

Pkiernan

Cordless Dewalt

my3cents

Cordless Makita also.

dathi

Dulchie wrote: »

No a great idea.
Different voltage 110V instead of 230V
different frequency 60Hz to 50Hz
different wiring colour Black/White to Brown Blue
not likely to be able to service or obtain spares here.

In the United States and Canada, national standards specify that the nominal voltage at the source should be 120 V and allow a range of 114 V to 126 V (RMS) (−5% to +5%). Historically 110 V, 115 V and 117 V have been used at different times and places in North America.

Right2Write

Obviously weight might be an issue, whatever savings you might make on heavier equipment could be eaten up in carriage and luggage excess charges.

Plenty of power tool suppliers here (& UK), both in store and online. If you were purchasing a few items, drive a bargain.

st1979

Bought cordless milwaukee stuff on ebay from US. No big deal. Massive saving. Around 50 percent incl customs and post compared to local shop. Had stuff in less than 2 weeks. Worn out brushes now went to local shop who had no problems fixing them only they charge 30 for brushes which I got for 10 online and 40 an hour labour which will probably be 2hrs as it's a bit tricky. So uneconomical to get repaired as I can get new brushless one for about 120. (will fix myself) My charger was 110v only so bought charger from UK. To save hassle of using transformer new ones are dual voltage.

st1979

.

nophd08

st1979 wrote: »

Bought cordless milwaukee stuff on ebay from US. No big deal. Massive saving. Around 50 percent incl customs and post compared to local shop. Had stuff in less than 2 weeks. Worn out brushes now went to local shop who had no problems fixing them only they charge 30 for brushes which I got for 10 online and 40 an hour labour which will probably be 2hrs as it's a bit tricky. So uneconomical to get repaired as I can get new brushless one for about 120. (will fix myself) My charger was 110v only so bought charger from UK. To save hassle of using transformer new ones are dual voltage.

Have you used the Milwaukee cordless impact driver (half inch drive). I'm going to the US shortly and thinking of buying something for diy use. I can get it delivered to a family member in advance so would save on postage, customs etc. I will also be looking in home depot.

st1979

nophd08 wrote:

Have you used the Milwaukee cordless impact driver (half inch drive). I'm going to the US shortly and thinking of buying something for diy use. I can get it delivered to a family member in advance so would save on postage, customs etc. I will also be looking in home depot.

Yes I have the older brush type and its only half the torque of the latest and I find it an amazing tool. So the newer type must be awesome. I have 1/2" impact gun. The impact driver (basically a screwdriver) cordless grinder and drill. Find the drill the least used item.
All makes make OK drills. But milwaukee make really good impact guns. So that's why I went with them.

rock22

my3cents wrote: »

Buy whatever cordless tools you fancy all the newer chargers I have seen are good for 110V and 220V just change the plug over, but obviously check first on the rating plate just in case. A neighbor spends half the year in America and brings back cordless tools and used to run the chargers off a 110V site transformer until I pointed out they all run on 220V so he just changed the plugs.

Anything else 110V works just fine from a site (110V) transformer, forget the bull**** trotted out about the different frequencies it makes little or no difference. Another neighbor has a load of 110V DeWalt tools that he brought over from when he worked in the US and I have some of the same tools in 220V bought here and they all work the same except he uses a 110V site transformer.

Not quite true. http://www.50hz60hz.com/60hz-motor-running-on-50hz-power-supply.html

my3cents

rock22 wrote: »

Not quite true. http://www.50hz60hz.com/60hz-motor-running-on-50hz-power-supply.html

If anyone wants to split hairs you can also add that the US versions of mains power tools normally aren't CE marked so shouldn't be used here, but as I said side by side I can't see the difference in use between the few US sourced tools I have access to compared with UK\IRL sourced ones I've used.

I've just looked up the spare parts for my UK\IRL 110V DW331K Jigsaw and the spare part numbers are the same for the field coil and armature on both the US and UK\IRL versions strongly suggesting they are the same part. The US version of the tool states 120V 60Hz on the rating plate and the UK\IRL 110V version states 50Hz - I suggest the only difference is the rating plate.

I'm not saying its never going to make a difference but for the sort of hand power tools that someone is likely to bring home from the US it doesn't seem to matter.

Some things with small electric motors are going to cause issues I have first hand experience of trying to get a US record deck to work on 50Hz and you can obviously hear that the speed is wrong.

donegal.

i know the op specifically asked about power tools but
theres even better savings to be made on non power tools.

Bluefoam

I just bought a Makita drill, so I've done a bit of research... The product codes are completely different between Europe and USA. I have identified similar products in each market, but it's impossible to say if they are exactly the same... Servicing might be the biggest issue. The service center might refuse to touch it in case their are sightly different components involved.

my3cents

Bluefoam wrote: »

I just bought a Makita drill, so I've done a bit of research... The product codes are completely different between Europe and USA. I have identified similar products in each market, but it's impossible to say if they are exactly the same... Servicing might be the biggest issue. The service center might refuse to touch it in case their are sightly different components involved.

See if you can find the parts diagram for the US version and the IRL/UK similar version and compare that part numbers.

Bluefoam

my3cents wrote: »

See if you can find the parts diagram for the US version and the IRL/UK similar version and compare that part numbers.

I'm quite comfortable with the fact that my drill matches those used in Europe, Africa & Asia Pacific... No plans to have it serviced in the States, so no need for me to check the codes. I'm not sure the service agent will want to do all that research either, although they may. But I'm sure the OP will find that there are bargains to be had in Europe... I get things shipped all the time from Europe, Asia & the US and & while I don't have to pay any import charges the cost based on weight can be huge if you're not careful... A power wrench with two batteries can have considerable weight.

johnytwentyten

Bluefoam wrote: »

my3cents wrote: »

See if you can find the parts diagram for the US version and the IRL/UK similar version and compare that part numbers.

I'm quite comfortable with the fact that my drill matches those used in Europe, Africa & Asia Pacific... No plans to have it serviced in the States, so no need for me to check the codes. I'm not sure the service agent will want to do all that research either, although they may. But I'm sure the OP will find that there are bargains to be had in Europe... I get things shipped all the time from Europe, Asia & the US and & while I don't have to pay any import charges the cost based on weight can be huge if you're not careful... A power wrench with two batteries can have considerable weight.

Can you recommend any European sites?