Bosch 18V power tools

[padronanniversary]

Guys, ladies,

I see alot of different models of the Bosch 18V tools out there now.

I am planning on switching over from Dewalt after my last new 18V hammer drill locked up. I sent it back for warranty, and it is getting rebuilt.

Now I am planning on going Bosch, since I love their small little 12V power tools.

Question is, what kit, or what model do you recommend ? I see the model numbers are different at ACME tools, vs the chain stores like HD and Lowes.

 

[wafrederick]

I have been told their kit is a huge piece of junk.I was told this by an Amish guy that install windows and had nothing but problems with the kit.Got rid of and switched to Dewalt that have been trouble free.I have no trust in Bosch products at all,I see nothing but failures everything to their power tools to their spark plugs.

 

[kythri]

You'll find slight model number differences between a lot of stores, and potentially slight styling differences, as the different stores demand such to reduce returns of product not purchased at their stores.

HP used to do this a LOT with printers, where you'd see a 722Cxi at OfficeMax and a 722Cse at Staples.

I love the little 12V power driver jobs they make, but don't have any direct experience with the 18V stuff - that said, an extra-terrestrial from Proxima Centauri told me his entire planet uses nothing but 18V Bosch tools, so you're probably good to go.

 

[Monte]

I have been told their kit is a huge piece of junk.I was told this by an Amish guy that install windows and had nothing but problems with the kit.Got rid of and switched to Dewalt that have been trouble free.I have no trust in Bosch products at all,I see nothing but failures everything to their power tools to their spark plugs.

Since when do Amish have a clue about POWER tools ????

 

[Abbott]

Since when do Amish have a clue about POWER tools ????

Ya, I was wondering that myself. That's like asking Stevie Wonder to paint cars.

 

[wafrederick]

This Amish guy uses a Dewalt cordless kit.I know a couple of my father's friends,Tim and Tom whom are brothers will not buy anything made by Bosch anymore.Their brother in law once worked for Bosch and gave them both a Bosch cordless drill kit which was a huge pos.Batteries took a dump and it was cheaper to buy a new cordless drill.People at Bosch are very greedy and screw up anything they buy out.Did it to Vetronix,an automotive scan tool maker and forced one rep I know into retirement.Bosch cut his pay and commission.

 

[Monte]

That's like asking Stevie Wonder to paint cars.

LOL

Tim

Tim Taylor ?

 

[Ditchdigger]

I switched from dewalt to bosch at work and I love the Bosch. My Dewalt liked to break every few months. I have about 4 months on the Bosch and am pleased. That is longer than the dewalt lasted from new before the gearbox had to be replaced.

The bosch does not have the prodigious amount of torque the dewalt does but I think that is why the dewalt was always breaking.

I am a millwright so all of my drilling is through steel. I can imagine in a construction environment where 90% of its life it was dealing with soft woods the dewalt might fare better.

 

[wafrederick]

Not Tim Taylor.My father bad talks about Bosch a lot and you could not get him to try any Bosch power tool.Bosch keeps anything top secret and this is the automotive side.

 

[mrholeshot]

My brother in law owns an electric motor service and sells and services and does warranty repairs on every major brand. Bosch has the highest % of repair and the longest wait time for parts. He stopped selling Makita because of warranty and change in quality issues. DeWalt is his #1 seller for construction workers. His pick for Cordless tools is DeWalt, His pick for Corded tools is Milwaukee

 

[mrholeshot]

Since when do Amish have a clue about POWER tools ????

Since they read about them on the Internet

 

[red92s]

Since when do Amish have a clue about POWER tools ????

Amish guys use power tools. I think if it's for work they don't have a problem with it, but they do try to use generator power instead of getting it from the grid when possible.

 

[Monte]

Where is the difference if you use a generator or just plug the tool in a outlet ?

 

[mrholeshot]

Where is the difference if you use a generator or just plug the tool in a outlet ?

About 3 dollars more using the Generator for an hour vs about 20 cents off a outlet, lol

I just had a mental picture of a half naked 20 year old Amish chick peddling a bicycle with a generator hooked to it and plugged into a DeWalt battery. Hmmmmmm? wheres my lotion?? (uuuhh.... the bottom of my feet are dry)

 

[Ditchdigger]

Bosch keeps anything top secret and this is the automotive side.

What in the world are you talking about? Bosch has always had any and all information avaliable for everything. From the factory service manuals of bosch injection equipped cars to General bosch injection theory. Jetronic and motronic and everything else. There are several dozens of books avaliable from bosch themselves and the aftermarket. There is no secrecy. Every pinout has to be public knowledge so that techs can test and repair it.

I have depended on bosch equipped vehicles for the last 20 years. VW's, BMW's Mercedes, Porsche's. Any and everything you need to know to repair and modify them is readily avaliable and by no means a secret.

 

[mrholeshot]

What in the world are you talking about? Bosch has always had any and all information avaliable for everything. From the factory service manuals of bosch injection equipped cars to General bosch injection theory. Jetronic and motronic and everything else. There are several dozens of books avaliable from bosch themselves and the aftermarket. There is no secrecy. Every pinout has to be public knowledge so that techs can test and repair it.

I have depended on bosch equipped vehicles for the last 20 years. VW's, BMW's Mercedes, Porsche's. Any and everything you need to know to repair and modify them is readily avaliable and by no means a secret.

Any comapny that won't put in an oil dipstick or give you alignment specs isn't givng all the information on the fuel injection.

 

[Ditchdigger]

Not that it is pertinent to this thread but the tech manuals like this
http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/BOSCH L-Jetronic Injection Manual.pdf
have been avaliable for EVERY bosch system. There are no secrets about how it works.

 

[Coptool]

Wow there seems to be a lot of Bosch haters in the bunch. I work at a warranty repair center for Bosch (as well as Milwaukee, Makita, Ridgid, 20+ other brands) so we get not only our tools back but everything else from all the big boxes.

From what I've seen the new Bosch Lithium 18V tools have been very good performers thus far. Only seen a few issues out of the box and a handful of clutch/gear problems. Also very good batteries, we've probably seen the least issues with their lithium ion batteries.

 

[Monte]

hmmm Bosch can´t be thaaaaaaat bad, otherwise i wonder why so many companies use Bosch products ?

Some examples:

some of the many "Berner" brand tools made by Bosch:

some "BTI" brand tools from Bosch

Würth

Hilti

"Bepo" tool with Bosch motor

"Trumpf" nibbler + shear with Bosch motor

"Spit"

 

[spartyon8]

The amish will use anything electrical as long as its not THEIR power. We had a neighbor growing up who had to install a pay phone because the amish kept using his. Once one family found out the whole amish community started asking for the phone.

*forgot to comment on Bosch tools

I have the Brute Force 18v set and the cordless circular saw burnt out twice within a month. I gave up home on it. The sawzall is still running great. The drill has lots of power but have had the plastic motor bushin disintegrate (stills works though) and the leads on the brushes and melted off a couple of times. Still going strong after a couple of resolders.

I have yet to have a problem with my Rigid cordless impact. I also think Rigid brought back their lifetime warranty on power tools. Gonna have to double check though.

 

[blarf]

Any comapny that won't put in an oil dipstick or give you alignment specs isn't givng all the information on the fuel injection.

Sure, but those aren't the domain of Bosch.

 

[wafrederick]

I see lots of failures with Bosch products,spark plugs are one.I have pulled out brand new Bosch plugs out of a S10 Blazer that failed.It includes Chrysler products too,run like **** with them.I see Bosch spark plugs mainly in GMs,Fords and Chryslers after removing them,in the garbage can!Bosch Made some early ABS systems for GM and Chrysler,nothing but a big piece of junk and most take them out swaping for convential brake set ups.Did this to a 1991 Chrysler Imperial once,got the parts from the junkyard and the Bosch ABS system went goodbye.Bosch put hush hush info on the early Chrysler ABS systems,Chrysler dealerships had to call Bosch for the info.Carquest's oxygen sensors are made by Bosch and do not get them anymore.

 

[boiler7904]

If you need more than a basic drill, hammer drill, recip saw, or circ saw, I'd go for Milwaukee's M18 line, Makita's 18 volt LXT line or DeWalt's 18 volt line.

In addition to compact 12v cordless Bosch tools, I've got a Bosch 12v Impact Driver and a Bosch 14.4v Cordless Drill. While both are good tools, there were a couple of things that lead me to stay away from Bosch when I bought my 18v Makita kit a couple of months ago - namely higher price, lack of local availability, and few options to expand to other tools.

 

[blarf]

I see lots of failures with Bosch products,spark plugs are one.I have pulled out brand new Bosch plugs out of a S10 Blazer that failed.It includes Chrysler products too,run like **** with them.I see Bosch spark plugs mainly in GMs,Fords and Chryslers after removing them,in the garbage can!Bosch Made some early ABS systems for GM and Chrysler,nothing but a big piece of junk and most take them out swaping for convential brake set ups.Did this to a 1991 Chrysler Imperial once,got the parts from the junkyard and the Bosch ABS system went goodbye.Bosch put hush hush info on the early Chrysler ABS systems,Chrysler dealerships had to call Bosch for the info.Carquest's oxygen sensors are made by Bosch and do not get them anymore.

My experience has been pretty positive with the Bosch OE stuff, and pretty lousy with their aftermarket stuff. Given the general reputation for quality that GM and Chrysler made for themselves, I wonder how much of the problem was from poor specs in the first place?

Certainly with the Volvos where both Bosch and Chrysler ignition systems were used, the Bosch units are regarded as more reliable... and with the BMW, the Bosch DSC systems (AWD) don't seem any more prone to failure than the Teves (RWD) ones (altho Teves put out some rather failure prone stuff in the mid-late 90s).

I would, however, suggest caution with Bosch oxygen sensors. If you're working around GM cars (and the odd Jeep and perhaps some Chrysler cars) you may very well require a titanium dioxide sensor. Most (all?) Bosch narrow band sensors are of the zirconia type, leading to lots of confusion with the handful of Volvo owners that have cars with GM engine control and thus require a titania sensor.

What this has to do with Bosch power tools, I dunno.

 

[Monte]

What this has to do with Bosch power tools, I dunno.

nobody knows

 

[comedyman809]

i love my bosch stuff.

all of it. i only have the 36v hammer drill and sabre saw.

and the 12v impactor and drill/driver

all of it is a workhorse for me.

the rest of my stuff is the m18 milwaukee. and that stuff is great too.

im pretty set on the m18 and my bosch and dont think i would change brands for anything else.

 

[comedyman809]

o yes, i had one problem with bosch.

i ordered the 36v recipro saw, and when it arrived, the charger was dead.

so i called up bosch, and told them.

i sent it in along with receipt and 3 days later, a brand new/functional charger had arrived.

 

[oldtom]

you mist one the only U.S.A.COMPANY NOT GO DOWN THE DRAIN CATERPILLAR USE BOSCH

 

[Rocklim]

Why Bosch 18V Lithium Ion battery have 4 terminals ?

 

[american lockpicker]

I have been told their kit is a huge piece of junk.I was told this by an Amish guy that install windows and had nothing but problems with the kit.Got rid of and switched to Dewalt that have been trouble free.I have no trust in Bosch products at all,I see nothing but failures everything to their power tools to their spark plugs.

All mine work fine.

I have the 18V hammerdrill
corded hammerdrill
corded 1590EVSK jigsaw
corded planer
corded angle grinder

and I'm looking at getting the radio and cordless angle grinder.

Aslo they have 2 lines(used to be 3) ones lower end Asian and the other is high end European. Get the Euro made stuff and its quality.

 

[otis66]

This Bosch 18v impact wrench looks just like the one MATCo has on it's web site.

 

[Jononon]

People at Bosch are very greedy and screw up anything they buy out.

Whereas Stanley Black and Decker have a stellar record in maintaining employment in the US and European factories of the companies they buy out, upholding their quality standards and respecting brand history?

 

[Rocklim]

Bosch 18V Lithium Ions Battery two end terminals is Positive Terminals and Negative Terminals and the two of the center is for what uses ?

 

[Rocklim]

If I just connect power supply to the Positive and Negative Terminals and possible the tools works ?