Smoking Drill - Fixable?

[StyleOverShow]

I have lusted after the battery electric drills for decades but have always made the case that I didn't need a new one until the old one gave up the ghost.

I bought a Sears Craftsman in the early 70's when my nomadic lifestyle of road life required that I make 'furniture' that could be disassembled and moved in the van with my bass amps and other stuff from town to town. I believe we all used "The Whole Earth Book" as a blue print and 'DIY' guide.

Recently the drill has been growling at low RPMs but it has a few years on it so I didn't think to much of it.

Yesterday it started smoking, with a distinctive 'electrical' smell to it. I removed the case and looked for a burnt wire but could not locate anything that looked fried. The bushings look good. Could polish up the brass cylinder a bit and I smeared some of the grease onto the gear (and that will probably fix the growl).

So my guess is that it is the trigger but I don't know. As always I turned to my low life friends here at TB for some advice. What do ya think?

-richard

 

[emor]

I bought a Sears Craftsman in the early 70's

Any Sears power tool that has lasted that long has paid for itself many times over.

I have a couple of Panasonic cordless drills that I like a lot--light and well-balanced and plenty powerful, enough for most tasks.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-EY6...ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1270333565&sr=1-5

 

[Philbiker]

I think if you bring that to Sears you can get a new drill for free or for seriously cheap. They are not kidding with their lifetime warranty on tools.

I prefer corded drills. More torque and you don't have to worry about if the battery is charged up.

 

[BartmanPDX]

Unless you use them regularly enough to discharge the battery and recharge it properly, battery powered drills suck.

I don't use a drill all that often, so it's corded all the way for me. They still make decent corded drills, though not as good as the one that you had.

 

[Uncle Snake]

Once you let the smoke out, it's usually over......

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

It's done.

Sears has lifetime warranties only on their chrome Craftsman tools, not on power drills.

 

[Atoz]

It's done.

Sears has lifetime warranties only on their chrome Craftsman tools, not on power drills.

You beat me to it.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Any Sears power tool that has lasted that long has paid for itself many times over.

I have a couple of Panasonic cordless drills that I like a lot--light and well-balanced and plenty powerful, enough for most tasks.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-EY6...ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1270333565&sr=1-5

if you average out the cost of that drill over it's life,you got more than your money's worth....good luck finding another one that will last as long.....i have dewalt 18v stuff,and they are very good

 

[MadMan118]

Unless you use them regularly enough to discharge the battery and recharge it properly, battery powered drills suck.

I don't use a drill all that often, so it's corded all the way for me. They still make decent corded drills, though not as good as the one that you had.

I use my Makita pretty much daily, and so far no problems what so ever.

 

[FL Knifemaker]

Unless you use them regularly enough to discharge the battery and recharge it properly, battery powered drills suck.

I don't use a drill all that often, so it's corded all the way for me. They still make decent corded drills, though not as good as the one that you had.

That was the case when NiCAD batteries were the standard. The new ones have much less of a "memory" problem. I'm actually amazed at how well my newer ones work. I ended up selling off all my AC powered tools and replaced them with battery power. Even the Sawzall and Circular saw works well. They actually have better low end power becuase of the DC motors.

 

[StyleOverShow]

Hate to put 'old yellar' down, but it seems that I'll go Craigs List shopping today.

Might just mount the old one up on the wall. Paint stains on its case are from an attachment I used to mix up primer in my now 30 year old son's 'nursery' bedroom.

-richard

 

[bassteban]

I have a 9.6V(or possibly 12V)Makita drill that has served me WELL for decades. I've dropped it from second story roofs & hammered nails w/it, and it just keeps going. Got it for a Christmas bonus at a cabinet shop YEARS ago. I certainly like it better than any of the newer, higher-voltage stuff I've test-driven.

 

[wabbit]

I'd say mount it and then hang it on the wall.