Drill motor sparks when run - ignore, repair or bin?

[Schinklegroover]

My dad's got an old Black and Decker hand drill from probably the 60s or 70s (wired, as I'm pretty sure it pre-dates anything cordless) which still runs but is languishing in a box as he's concerned it's not safe. The reason for his concern is that the motor at the back sparks when it's in use (admittedly quite a lot, and it's metal-bodied). However, I recently bought a new B&D cordless and noticed that it sparks a little when I run it as well, which has made me think it might not be such a big issue. He has a cordless as well but the old drill has loads of really useful accesories (like a circular saw, router etc.) that simply don't fit any other machines. I'm wondering if anyone can advise on whther or not it's something to worry about, if it can be repaired and what kind of place I should take it to for repair? Small engineering works?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bonzobanana]

I think the electric brake of many cordless drills will cause sparking. Also on well used drills worn carbon brushes will cause sparking.

I have an old Bosch drill about 30 years old and it does spark a bit but its plastic bodied. As long as it works I use it. However if it was metal bodied I might think differently and to be honest the sparking of the bosch is very minimal.

I would check inside to see if the carbon brushes are worn and see if you can replace them if they are. This will hopefully bring it back to new working condition.

 

[pompeyal]

Sounds like the brushes have had it and need replacing. Google black and decker spares and buy some new ones.

Try here http://service.blackanddecker.co.uk/Products/CatalogBDK.aspx?CatalogID=-130

 

[Burnerman]

Just use it until it fails, mate - I doubt if you'd get B&D spares on an elderly machine.
All motors spark there - its the carbon brushes rubbing against a copper commutator. You may get somewhere by cleaning both up.
John

 

[merlin50]

The old Black and Decker stuff always sparked a lot, it will be ok but check the brushes.

 

[opps]

Sorry mate bin it

The attachments don't fit anything else because no one would want to use a drill as a saw.

Those drills last ages because the attachments were scary to use (and crap), hence the drills only got light usage.

Given the metal body it is probably not even legal to sell it second hand.

I have some metal metabo drills but the ehd with the electronics is plastic and double insulated.

 

[bonzobanana]

Well it seems you've got every possible answer in this thread; ignore, repair or bin. Your probably no wiser than when you started it

 

[opps]

An 18v cordless equates to about 350w- that is probably more than the rating of the old drill.

The sander orbits at 2400 rpm whereas a real orbtal is 10,000rpm.

For its day it was very egalitarian - people couldn't afford dedicated tools.

The problem was though that it wasn't very good at anything other than drilling.

You'd have to be mad to use the router attachments.

Oh.... it is crap and dangerous- please do yourself a favour and bin it or give it to a tool museum.

 

[merlin50]

I remember buying a Black and Decker drill with lots of accessories back in the 1960s. bought it from an add in exchange and mart. It had a Black and Decker liable on it but the colour was wrong. The accessories were the first to go in the bin as they were rubbish, as for the drill it gave out sparks from day one. I remember it came in a plain white box, it soon ended up in the bin and was replaced with another one bought from a proper shop.

 

[big-all]

if your drill has been stored in a damp cold shed then the brushes can glaze over

a quick rub on emery paper or a very fine needle file on the contact surface
and a quick wipe with brasso/silver polish to clean the commutator making sure you remove any residue off the commutator

your brushes will still spark a bit until they wear in

 

[mattylad]

Fix the brushes and keep it.

 

[bonzobanana]

An 18v cordless equates to about 350w- that is probably more than the rating of the old drill.

The sander orbits at 2400 rpm whereas a real orbtal is 10,000rpm.

For its day it was very egalitarian - people couldn't afford dedicated tools.

The problem was though that it wasn't very good at anything other than drilling.

You'd have to be mad to use the router attachments.

Oh.... it is crap and dangerous- please do yourself a favour and bin it or give it to a tool museum.

I wouldn't say a 18V cordless equates to a 350 watt motor. Remember a 1.5Ah battery equates to powering a device for 1hr that consumes 1.5 amps. The motor itself could draw only 0.5 amps and last 3 hrs or use 3 amps and last 1/2 hr. I know a 18v drill that has a 150 watt motor where as dewalt do one of about 400 watt. You buy a professional or near professional drill you have a fighting chance of getting a motor of that wattage but many lower end 18v drills have much less powerful motors even quite respectable brands.

 

[big-all]

I wouldn't say a 18V cordless equates to a 350 watt motor. Remember a 1.5Ah battery equates to powering a device for 1hr that consumes 1.5 amps. The motor itself could draw only 0.5 amps and last 3 hrs or use 3 amps and last 1/2 hr. I know a 18v drill that has a 150 watt motor where as dewalt do one of about 400 watt. You buy a professional or near professional drill you have a fighting chance of getting a motor of that wattage but many lower end 18v drills have much less powerful motors even quite respectable brands.

or 3 amps for 30 mins or 6 amps for 15 mins or in a dead short lots and lots lots then a big bang

1.5ah is a comparison in the same way that a bag off sweets containing 20 sweets will last 20 days at 1 a day where as a bag off 40 sweets will last for 40 days
whilst i agree cheaper drills/tools have a fair chance off being less efficient in converting battery capacity into useful power i think its likley to be more like 20% than 60% less efficiant
the only governing factors as to how much power you can extract is to keep it below the level that causes damage or premature failure

 

[bonzobanana]

or 3 amps for 30 mins or 6 amps for 15 mins or in a dead short lots and lots lots then a big bang

1.5ah is a comparison in the same way that a bag off sweets containing 20 sweets will last 20 days at 1 a day where as a bag off 40 sweets will last for 40 days
whilst i agree cheaper drills/tools have a fair chance off being less efficient in converting battery capacity into useful power i think its likley to be more like 20% than 60% less efficiant
the only governing factors as to how much power you can extract is to keep it below the level that causes damage or premature failure

Actually from what I understand the small wattage motors can be more efficient because if you give a low power motor a easy task and a dewalt an easy task the cheap drill will keep going for for longer assuming its battery is true to its capacity. The dewalt uses more power even for easy tasks because its a much stronger motor. Of course the dewalt is capable of much harder tasks requiring more torque but for light duties its inefficient.

So if you were assembling self assembly furniture all day you would probably be better off with a drill with a low wattage motor.

Its almost the same idea as a truck and a van doing the same distance on a road. The truck uses far more fuel even when empty but has the capacity to carry more cargo than the van when needed.

I realise this only works for drills of similar quality. A low quality bottom end chinese drill motor may not offer anywhere near the same efficiency as a makita motor.

 

[big-all]

if we are honest there are so many variables lol
in general the more you pay the more efficient it will get but off course if you increase the weigh off the motor and the drive chain it will off course increase drag and inefficiency for lighter jobs
then you have the gearing ratios that also can effect efficiency
the list is endless lol