Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ray White]

Everyone has a favourite garage tool and this is mine. It is very old and belonged to my late father in Law who was an auto electrician by trade. The drill therefore also has a sentimental attachment. It was probably well used before I got it. What I like about it is its compact size which allows access to small/ tight areas such as under the dash. I would really miss it if I had to bin it.


Unfortunately, today it has packed up. In fact it tripped the consumer unit in the house! When I investigated, I found the wires had perished and fused together.



I replaced the cable with a round twin and earth of the right size and reattached it to the connectors ensuring that there was a good earth. I even replaced the rubber grommet....but...


Unfortunately, there must be something else wrong as it still doesn't work.!


I am getting power to the switch (brown wire live). If I depress the trigger, should there also be power at the blue wire connection?

Please could someone could guide me through a repair procedure in a step by step way?.


I really want this drill to live again.!


.

[ukdave2002]

You should get 230/ 240v (depends of the age of supply transformers in your local area) across the brown and blue incoming wires.

If that is ok then the cable and plug fuse are ok. Id then be tempted to bypass the switch, by supplying the 2 older brown wires directly, if it works then the fault is with the switch, if not we need to delve into the motor, I'd look at the brushes first.

However given that you found and rectified the original fault, it would be odd that a second fault has developed? I'd be looking around the trigger switch as this is the only part of the drill that has been disturbed during the repair.

A search on Youtube will probably find someone who has restored one.

Your post had me reflecting on power tools, I rarely use anything but battery power tools these days, I have a very compact DeWalt 10.8v drill that's great for tight spaces and a 18v angle drill that's good for under dash work

[MikeEdwards]

[Ray White]

[consul 57]

my father had exactly the same drill with lots of attachments you could get, circ saw amongst them.
i think it was binned when he died.

[ukdave2002]

Hi Ray

If you have old transformers on the poles you will be on 240V.

I'm a bit confused when you say you are not getting power from the "Blue wire" It's the neutral and in most incoming domestic supplies its connected to the Earth, if you measure the voltage across the live (brown) & neutral (blue) you should get 240v, if you were getting 240V between the neutral and earth, then I would be concerned !

If you do a continuity test between the 2 older brown wires you should see fairly low resistance, the type of motor fitted to drills have the field and armature wired in series, so a simple continuity test will establish that neither the field or armature are o/c, perform the same test at the end of the plug, when the trigger is pulled you should see the same resistance, if you don't its either the lead/fuse or trigger switch at fault.

[Ray White]

[Keith D]

[Ray White]

Sound advice taken seriously. Thanks.

The good news is that the motor works fine. The less good news is that the switch appears to be at fault.

I didn't know what to expect but when I opened up the switch, I was met with a disparate collection of simple but loose parts that somehow had been assembled and made to work. I can't see anything obviously wrong, although some contacts are a little discoloured.

I will continue playing with this switch and hopefully get it working.