bosch cordless drill - broken?

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hi,
was using my cordless drill (bosch pro GSB 18V 50) to drill some holes into brick in garage today (hammer function on, masonary bit)...was going okay then the drill just seemed to stop when i put weight behind it. First thought was that the battery was dead so charged it and tried again but still happening. Seems to just stop as soon as any pressure is applied to the wall, like it's lost its torque...

Have a feeling I know the answer to this already but... have I just pushed it too much for a cordless and broken the drill? It's a relatively new drill, only had it about 18 months.

Thanks in advance for any advice
 
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Is it a brush drill? If it is it will have 2 carbon brushes which may have worn down or become trapped in the brush box through excessive dust build up. The brushes are sometimes located under 2 circular caps near the back end of the body. If they are not visible you may have to remove the back end of the drill to locate them. In these cases they are usually mounted on a small board with a metal tab holding them into the brush box. If the drill has had a lot of use over the 18 months this is probably the cause of the fault. If it is brushless it may be something on the circuit board which helps control the speed/torque. Did get warm and/or smelly when you were using it? This is a sign of overload but most have thermal cut outs to help prevent burn out these days.
 
It’s brushless - hasn’t had a lot of use really, just putting up the occasional pictures/shelves, flat pack assembly - general use really, nothing heavy. It didn’t seem to get too warm or smell of burning or anything. The bricks do seem really hard to be fair and we’re taking some pressure to drill through, it’s an old terraced house garage (I assume would have been coal storage or something at some point.) the masonary bits are new too, so I’d expect them to be sharp.
I guess I may contact Bosch and ask what may cause this.
 
If you have proof of purchase and its blue you get 2yr warrantee extended to 3yr if you registered it online. This is the number to call 0344 7360109 Bosch service centre.
 
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Thanks, I actually thought I didn’t have proof of purchase but i checked my screwfix account and it’s on there, so I assume that will be good enough. Was only last October too, not even as long ago as 18months. That’s great news, will give them a call
 
How hard are the bricks? If they are engineering bricks or similar, I doubt that the drill would ever be able to make the hole. You might need an SDS drill.

BTW, the battery might be knackered, and may not be covered by the 3 year warranty but my understanding is that they are covered for 2 years. However, a lot depends on if you registered the device with Bosch after you purchased it. Good luck, let us know how you get on.
 
I would favour the battery near end of life, maybe cell(s) having failed. Guarantees always exclude batteries.
 
Not sure what kind of bricks they are, just the old garage out the back of the terrace house (house is about 100yrs old and the bricks are original - I’ve heard those old bricks can be pretty solid).

called Bosch and apparently they only offer 1 year warranty (I forgot to register it online when I bought it annoyingly) - so, that puts it out of warranty only just.

is it likely the batteries would fail after only a years light use? I’ll try fully charging both of them and going again. Battery life indicator is saying fully charged, but guess that might be irrelevant if the battery itself has failed
 
is it likely the batteries would fail after only a years light use? I’ll try fully charging both of them and going again. Battery life indicator is saying fully charged, but guess that might be irrelevant if the battery itself has failed

If they are left uncharged, they can be wrecked in just days.
 
They’ve never been left totally uncharged - maybe left after some light use, so not at maximum charge but not totally dead either. Suppose the only way to know for sure is to buy a new battery ...anyone had much experience with the third party batteries you can get cheaper online?
 
Take it down to screw fix and ask them to let you try a battery.
Worth asking I guess, although I’d have to take a brick down with me to see if that was the problem! It’s only stopping when I try to drill into the wall. It seems fine when you just press the trigger.

I’m getting a cordless circular saw so I’m tempted to just get a battery anyway as I gather they drain them more quickly and I only have 2 2ah ones...although this battery issue now has me in doubt about whether to go with cordless or not...would you say that if a cordless tool isn’t going to be used very regularly the batteries will just degrade/break quite quickly? I’m wondering if a corded saw would be better in this case. Again, it’s not going to be getting used every week
 
I’m getting a cordless circular saw so I’m tempted to just get a battery anyway as I gather they drain them more quickly and I only have 2 2ah ones...although this battery issue now has me in doubt about whether to go with cordless or not...would you say that if a cordless tool isn’t going to be used very regularly the batteries will just degrade/break quite quickly? I’m wondering if a corded saw would be better in this case. Again, it’s not going to be getting used every week

Cordless is handy, if you need to use them often, or often enough to make it worth while paying the premium, or where there might be no mains power for quick jobs. For longer, more extensive work at a fixed location I use mains tools. Batteries do not take well to being left unused/ uncharged for months. Mains powered tools can be left unused for years.
 

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