Fixing a Cheapo Drill

About 10 years ago I was in need of an electric drill. Despite being in a well-paid job at the time I went to the supermarket and bought the cheapest one they had. It was a Chinese item for £9.99, as I recall. Well, sometimes you get what you pay for and this was one of these occasions.

When in use there was a small firework display going on inside and it was hard to hold due to the particles exiting the tool at high speed. It was clear what was going on. The carbon brushes were burning up. The thing failed shortly after and I then splashed out a whole £30 on a Bosch drill on special offer at my local hardware store. As you'd expect this has worked faultlessly ever since.

Crappy drill

Good drill

I don't like waste so I thought "could I resurrect the crappy drill?"

I opened it up and the problem was not hard to find. As I expected the brushes were shot. They were badly worn and one had broken up. 

By luck I had a spare set of brushes of the correct size. They must have come with some tool (an angle grinder, I think)

The new brushes fitted. The commutator (the part that contacts with the brushes) was stained with carbon so I gave it a clean.

A little clean up and it looks ok

It's not the smoothest running drill I've owned but it could put a reasonable sized hole in some steel plate. All else (variable speed, reverse, hammer action) works so it'll do as a spare.

Oh well, I should be bringing you a "Tale from the Road" but our Easter weather is more like winter. Still, a little time in the garage wasn't wasted.