# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Kogan Certa range?

## baileyboy

Anyone tried the Kogan Certa range?  
Where do you fit in in the 909, Ozito, Ryobi, Makia, AEG, Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt, Stanley Fatmax range? 
I'm looking at their drill/impact driver range. Spec sheet says 145Nm of torque, that's close to AEG power!

----------


## Random Username

My guess would be that they might be better than Bunnings XU-1 quality, but below, say, Bosch green. 
See some of the videos on this channel....https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChW...P0rI6lgGt3MyfA

----------


## baileyboy

Cheers. Just been to the blue shed to do some research. They are doing a grand opening this Sat and I got eyes on a Hitachi 18v for 149 including 2 batteries. Not brushless though.

----------


## chalkyt

I have said a couple of times, I don't think that brushless is all that important important for DIY work where the tool isn't going flat chat all the time. I bought a Sydney Tools/Bosch Blue combo (superseded brush version) with 5 (yes 5) x 1.5 - 2.0 Ah batteries for the two tools (drill and impact driver). I have never run out of battery power (and if you do, the "flat" one is probably already almost fully charged again).... and you aren't lugging around a great big lump of a battery on your drill.

----------


## METRIX

> Anyone tried the Kogan Certa range?  
> Where do you fit in in the 909, Ozito, Ryobi, Makia, AEG, Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt, Stanley Fatmax range? 
> I'm looking at their drill/impact driver range. Spec sheet says 145Nm of torque, that's close to AEG power!

  I would stick to a well known brand, Kogan are dodgy with their warranty as it's only offered through them (even the big brand names as they grey import these).
If you purchase a proper brand you can take it to any service center, or the supplier. 
AEG will crap on this stuff, plus you get the 3/6 year warranty. 
Kogan are dabbling in every piece of junk they can get their hands on nowadays, trying to get any piece of any market share they can, same as most other companies.

----------


## phild01

...agree, steer away from Kogan branded items.

----------


## David.Elliott

I'm with Chalkyt, I too got the Blue Bosch kit on runout. The one thing I have always been committed to is spending good money on my drill drivers...right back to a runout 9v Festo I bought 17 years ago for 295.00 that just plain wore out last year
to the Bosch green hammer drill driver my wife bought me for birthday 6 years ago. It's still my go to drill for masonry work... they do the most work of all your tools, so commit to buy the best you can afford..
On impulse I recently bought a Hitachi 14v at the blue shed on special for $79.00 with two batteries. Compared to the others it's only good for drilling holes, and then only small ones, and the battery goes flat as fast as you can charge 'em. Crappy...

----------


## baileyboy

> I'm with Chalkyt, I too got the Blue Bosch kit on runout. The one thing I have always been committed to is spending good money on my drill drivers...right back to a runout 9v Festo I bought 17 years ago for 295.00 that just plain wore out last year
> to the Bosch green hammer drill driver my wife bought me for birthday 6 years ago. It's still my go to drill for masonry work... they do the most work of all your tools, so commit to buy the best you can afford..
> On impulse I recently bought a Hitachi 14v at the blue shed on special for $79.00 with two batteries. Compared to the others it's only good for drilling holes, and then only small ones, and the battery goes flat as fast as you can charge 'em. Crappy...

  Thanks Guys. 
On the train this morning (I'm an office worker), I saw a FatMax drill and impact driver combo at the blue shed for $189. That seems like a great deal. I mean, its only $40 more than the 18V Hitachi and I get an impact driver! The only downside is that they are 10.8V. I can't seem to find a lot of info online for 10.8V vs 18V. The Amazon website says the FatMax 10.8 is for heavy duty work while some websites say 18V is heavy duty. 10.8 is more light work. Can someone confirm? What do you use for hardwood decking? And pine framing? I also see online that some people recommend staying away from battery impact drivers as they overheat. There seem some merit as I assume these will be worked quite hard. And corded ones are more reliable...

----------


## phild01

> I also see online that some people recommend staying away from battery impact drivers as they overheat.

  Have only ever used a Panasonic and 18v AEG impact driver, but no overheating problems at all.

----------


## Uncle Bob

> Have only ever used a Panasonic and 18v AEG impact driver, but no overheating problems at all.

  Likewise with my DeWalt, and it's done alot of work.

----------


## baileyboy

> Likewise with my DeWalt, and it's done alot of work.

  Yeah but those are $600+ impact drivers. I wouldn't even dare asking for permission from the finance minister...

----------


## phild01

> Yeah but those are $600+ impact drivers. I wouldn't even dare asking for permission from the finance minister...

   Not the AEG: AEG 18V Cordless Compact Impact Driver - Skin Only I/N 6230110 | Bunnings Warehouse
 need this as well:
AEG 18V 5.0Ah Battery & Charger Pack I/N 6230210 | Bunnings Warehouse 
Shame they don't have the 18v drill/impact driver they use to sell.  
Or this might be the go: https://sydneytools.com.au/bosch-18v...ombo-kit-26031

----------


## r3nov8or

> ...The only downside is that they are 10.8V. I can't seem to find a lot of info online for 10.8V vs 18V...

    I have 18v as "go-to" tools, and a handy 12v AEG right-angled combo set. By right-angled I mean this profile AEG Right Angle Drill Attachment I/N 6230151 | Bunnings Warehouse 
The 12v gear gets me into and out of tight spots regularly, but I wouldn't want to use 12v all the time. Recently I've been using a lot of tek screws through steel - the 18v gear eats it up while the 12v gets the job done, more slowly. A batten screw (predrilled) with the 12v impact driver will happen, but slowly. 
If you are doing lighter gauge work such as cabinetry, 10.8v or 12v will be good.

----------


## Uncle Bob

> Yeah but those are $600+ impact drivers. I wouldn't even dare asking for permission from the finance minister...

  Mine was less than $300 AUD landed from the US of A including a 240v to 110v stepdown tranny. check out hardwaresales.com

----------


## baileyboy

Uncle Bob, what about waranty? It will be hard to claim...

----------


## Uncle Bob

> Uncle Bob, what about waranty? It will be hard to claim...

  It's not had to claim but expensive to do so if necessary as the freight cost can make it prohibitive. Lucky for me my set have lasted pass warrentry and are still going strong.

----------


## METRIX

> Thanks Guys. 
> On the train this morning (I'm an office worker), I saw a FatMax drill and impact driver combo at the blue shed for $189. That seems like a great deal. I mean, its only $40 more than the 18V Hitachi and I get an impact driver! The only downside is that they are 10.8V. I can't seem to find a lot of info online for 10.8V vs 18V. The Amazon website says the FatMax 10.8 is for heavy duty work while some websites say 18V is heavy duty. 10.8 is more light work. Can someone confirm? What do you use for hardwood decking? And pine framing? I also see online that some people recommend staying away from battery impact drivers as they overheat. There seem some merit as I assume these will be worked quite hard. And corded ones are more reliable...

  10.8 is weak, If you want to go less than 18V look at the AEG 12V kit, $199, these are great, but not if you want to do heavy stuff. 
10.8V is NOT heavy duty I don't care what Stanley say, 12V is also NOT heavy duty, I have some of the Bosch Blue 10.8V stuff, as much as this is nice stuff, and has a fair amount of power, the battery's capacities are limited and don't last long, the main advantage with 10.8v is the compactness of the tools. 
Stanley is made by Black & Decker (all owned by the Stanley Toolworks companies), if you don't want 18V, then look at the AEG 12V, the amount of power in these will surprise you, but again it's NOT heavy duty but is compact, robust and fairly powerful with a long warranty, and higher capacity batteries, I have one of these kits, and really like using it for the light duty, around the house stuff. AEG 12V Cordless Drill/Driver And Impact Driver - 2 Pack I/N 6230191 | Bunnings Warehouse 
It really comes down to what you want to do with it, if you were originally looking at the Kogan stuff, then I assume your not expecting too much from whatever you buy. 
Had a look at Sydney Tools website, and there are no good deal kits available, they have pulled almost all the Bosch Blue, Makita, DeWalt and Milwalkee decent kits off their website, maybe they are in the process of upgrading these kits.
If you explain what you want to do / expect from the tool, maybe better recommendations can be made. 
Not sure about your comment on Impact overheating, never experienced this, I have used them for the last 6 or more years, some times constantly until they deplete 18V 3.0 / 4.0A (which is a few hours constant use) and never had them overheat, possibly dodgy brands do, but not from the ones I have used, Makita, Bosch Blue, AEG, Milwalkee

----------


## Random Username

I've been quite happy with my cheap and cheerful bright green 18v Ryobi drill and impact driver. (replaced a Metabo cordless).

----------


## Dwinny

I got a makita 10.8v impact driver, drill driver and reciprocating saw which all have seen quite a bit of DIY work in my bathroom. Haven't had any issues in terms of power. Used the impact driver to put studs together and fix villaboard to studs with no issues. 
I love them as they are small, compact, light and pack quite a bit of punch. Get quite a bit of use out of each battery. 
May be important to note though, my impact driver did break 2 months ago, about 6 months into purchase. looked like the brush had broke or something. Got it fixed under warranty, took 5 weeks to get it back through a slow authorized repairer, but it's been good as new.

----------


## baileyboy

Metric, I'm in the process of doing up my house. It's a Queenslander so mostly hardwood and when I make alterations/replace things, I keep it the same and use hardwood. So far, I have replaced decks, ballustrades etc... It's more to do with old timber rotting and I'm restoring so to speak.  I have AEG 18v drill and impact driver combo but they are 3 years old and the impact driver is starting to show signs of age. Apparently they need to be serviced every 6 months and I haven't. And also lost the receipt. I'm happy with them and I dread the day they die. Hence I want another one, possibly a cheapy to take some of the workload. Sounds like 10.8 or 12v aren't much good for what I want to do. I do get into furniture and woodworking but that's more of a hobby while doing diy is more of a priority (at least that's what the missus say).

----------


## METRIX

> Metric, I'm in the process of doing up my house. It's a Queenslander so mostly hardwood and when I make alterations/replace things, I keep it the same and use hardwood. So far, I have replaced decks, ballustrades etc... It's more to do with old timber rotting and I'm restoring so to speak.  I have AEG 18v drill and impact driver combo but they are 3 years old and the impact driver is starting to show signs of age. Apparently they need to be serviced every 6 months and I haven't. And also lost the receipt. I'm happy with them and I dread the day they die. Hence I want another one, possibly a cheapy to take some of the workload. Sounds like 10.8 or 12v aren't much good for what I want to do. I do get into furniture and woodworking but that's more of a hobby while doing diy is more of a priority (at least that's what the missus say).

  If your dealing with Hardwood etc, go 18V, these will have enough power to handle these types of materials easily. 
Haven't heard the service every 6 months, who told you that one? there is really nothing to service inside them, a set of gears and a motor, the only service for the motor would be a set of brushes which you can change these yourself on most models, but these last so long I can't see any DIY wearing them out ever, I have drills which have been used for years every day and still on the same brushes. 
The only tool which needs servicing regularly is the gas nail guns as these build up carbon / grease which needs cleaning, and even these only need looking at every 1 / 2 years.
Can you buy another AEG skin to suit the batteries you are currently using ?

----------


## phild01

My 18v AEG drill/drivers are getting on with years but no signs of deterioration. Never heard of servicing and don't see any need for it.

----------


## baileyboy

That's what the guy at the green shed told me. Yes, I can buy another skin. That's $129 for the impact driver.

----------


## METRIX

> That's what the guy at the green shed told me. Yes, I can buy another skin. That's $129 for the impact driver.

  Don't believe what they say, they know diddly squat, do you have an existing impact, or only a drill / driver  ?

----------


## baileyboy

I have two. One is an impact drill. The other is the impact driver. Both 18V, brushed.

----------


## METRIX

Are they from the current series ? did you register them online ?
You say they are getting tired ? as in slow ?

----------


## baileyboy

No, i didn't register it online and I lost the receipt, which is a real bummer.  
The impact driver seems to be getting less stable. When I first got it, i can hit the trigger and it doesn't get much side ways movement, nowadays it seems to do that quite a bit. Not sure if I explain this correctly. Imagine, screwing a screw that's not straight, ie. the screw head is not 90 degrees to the shaft. 
Initially, I thought my batteries are getting weak. So I bought new ones and still do the same. I just assume maybe the gears are worn.

----------


## phild01

Funny you say that as just now I have been driving self drilling plaster screws into steel studs.  Some locations were awkward to drive the screws and the wobble would kick in, like you have described.  I could only blame me as the user, not the impact driver. The wobble occurred due to a definite lack of pressure and that the impact driver was not being pressured square on.

----------


## baileyboy

Phil, I thought that was the case but not. It's worse with M8 100mm batten screws.

----------


## phild01

Is this yours (BSS18C)?

----------


## justonething

Bunnings trade is selling the brushless kit for 450.

----------


## baileyboy

Yep, but not the brushless model.

----------


## baileyboy

All, 
just letting everyone know that I went against my initial thought of getting a cheapie and got a .... wait for it.... a Makita!!
Got the brushless impact driver. It was lighter than my AEG but I feel it has the same amount of torque.  
Glad I made the choice, as it was awesome. I don't know if its possible to fall in love with a power tool but I think I have!

----------


## METRIX

> All, 
> just letting everyone know that I went against my initial thought of getting a cheapie and got a .... wait for it.... a Makita!!
> Got the brushless impact driver. It was lighter than my AEG but I feel it has the same amount of torque.  
> Glad I made the choice, as it was awesome. I don't know if its possible to fall in love with a power tool but I think I have!

  Good choice, a decent drill vs rubbish no name, Yes it's easy to fall in love with your tool but when it doesn't perform as expected you soon fall out of love, but they have special cures for that  :Biggrin:   :Tongue:   :Rolleyes:

----------


## Vinny

As to what brand to buy, I would leave that upto the buyer as to what price and brand.  
However regarding the comment that Kogan's warranty is Dodgy I would STRONGLY OBJECT to that statement.  
I have purchased many items from Kogan and have always had excellent service and follow up and the couple of times I have had problems their after sales service and warranty has been FIRST CLASS !!!
eg; I purchased a 42" TV and it wouldn't start up when switched on, I contacted Kogan's and was given a report number and they told me they had a repairer in Perth, gave me the address and emailed me a repair order. As soon as I got the repair order I drove to the repairer and dropped off the TV.. NO PROBLEMS... BUT when I returned home from the repairers I found another email from Kogan's detailing the transport company who would pick up the TV and take it to the repairs; I had to contact Kogan to cancel this as I had already personally delivered the TV. Kogan arrange for the TV to be delivered to my home after repairs. That was 2 years ago and the TV is still working great.
I was very impressed with the aftersales warranty service; Kogan was set to pick up the faulty TV, deliver it to the repairer and then return it to me once repaired, Basically I would have had nothing to do. 
I had a 2nd issue with a frypan/saucepan set I purchased, problems with handles of 2 of them (and YES these were cheap units buy I only paid $35 for 8 piece set delivered to the door - so ok value for me) Again the warranty service I received was excellent... first they advised they would send me 2 replacement frypans for the 2 I complained about and there was no need for me to return the faulty ones. A few days later they sent me an apology email stating they had problems replacing the 2 frypans so they would send me a complete new set (8 items) instead... NOW what is wrong with that level of service and warranty. 
I will be happy to purchase their electrical tools BUT I am a very low user... I feel that if I was a regular tool user, a regular busy DIY person then I would consider a better 'name' brand.... I mean you wouldn't buy a Hyundai sedan to tow a 26' boat ???

----------

