Makita 18v cordless drill from the USA

[johncee1945]

Hi I intend buying a reconditioned Makita 18v li-ion cordless drill from the US which sell for US$59.
1. Will that drill work ok - buying the charger and batteries here in Sydney?
2. The other alternative is buying the charger from the US and a step-up or step-down transformer? Due to differences in home voltage supplies.
Apprecate any and all advice.

[GCP310]

i got the impact driver, hammer drill, jigsaw & circular saw from the states, and bought the charger and grinder locally.

i cant say how a recon unit will be, but no problems with the new gear. dont mess with the 110v charger and stepdown transformer, it will be more of a pain than anything.

[justinmcf]

i have bought heaps of makita cordless tools from the u.s.

but i never have and never will buy reconditioned tools.

thats just my choice, maybe others have had positive experiences, but i choose not to buy.

justin.

[malb]

I also have reservations about reco tools, after all they are reco because they have previously had problems and been returned/replaced with new under warranty.

I have a considerable set of Mak Li-ion tools all from the states. I run with three US chargers that came with tools in kits, running off a big stepdown transformer, but also bought a US 12V to 115V inverter for mobile charging from a car battery.

When I got my gear a couple of years ago, the li-ion gear was just starting to arrive in Aus, and everything was limited availability and expensive compared to the US offerings. Have noticed genuine AUS chargers going around the $100 mark of late and a knock off one going at about $50 so the charger situation may have changed.

Tools are definitely cheaper shipped from the US, and I suspect that Batteries are as well, but I haven't checked that since around Christmas.

If you were to go to a US charger and stepdown, you need a 250VA stepdown for the 22min charger. This is one option for a reputable industrial quality transformer. Costs as much as a local Mak charger, but keeps options open for other US sourced tools in the future.