Illini Pete
Well-known member
Hey Guys,
My post may be old news to some of you but maybe of interest and use to a few. I'll start by saying as an old timer, I am a firm believer in rebuilding or fixing something rather than throwing it out and replacing it and I was raised such. I also am disappointed in the quality of much of new the made in China hand tools. I also do not replace anything - be it clothes/cars/trucks/motorcycles/appliances/ houses/women/you-name-it (well, maybe women don't count!) - just to have a new model. That said, I had a 3/8" Bosch VSR corded drill that felt like it belonged in my hand the first time I picked it up, sort of like putting on a pair of soft leather, made in Italy, gloves. I bought it about 20-25 years ago and got tons of use out of it until a couple of years ago when the trigger switch started behaving erratically. I got on the web and found the Bosch tool site, sent it into the factory (with a free, pre-paid UPS label as I remember) and about a week later received the drill back with a new switch that worked like new, all for about half the cost of a new electric drill.
In 1990 (I still had purchase receipt) I bought a little 4 1/2" Milwaukee grinder that I think had the 5.5 amp motor. That is the best electric tool I've ever owned and used it constantly for cutting steel and masonry, wire wheeling rust off Land Cruiser frames, grinding down my crappy welds on sheet metal, and other things I don't even remember. Well a year or so ago the paddle switch started behaving erratically so I took it apart, did some amateurish repairs, and it worked OK afterwards. Not wanting to electrocute myself and because I wanted another angle grinder so I could cut with one and grind with the other without having to change blades if I had only one, I bought another Milwaukee grinder, the 21st century version of my first one, with I think it was a 9 amp motor. It is also a great tool but a little bigger and a slightly more cumbersome than my original. In the past year the cord on the original (remember 25 years old) had become very brittle, cracked about every 1/2", generally shot. I maybe could have just replaced the cord but with the questionable repair to the paddle switch that I had made a few yeas ago and remembering my experience with Bosch, I looked up Milwaukee's web site and found their "Lightening Max Repair" wherein they would repair/rebuild/recondition my old grinder or send me a replacement for $66 and they would pay for shipping my old grinder to them by Fed Ex ground. Looked like a good deal to me so I did it. A weeks or so later I get a call for a credit card to pay them and two or three days later, I get a brand new, 4 1/2" angle grinder with an 11 amp motor, for the $66 plus a few bucks shipping and tax. The same tool locally would have cost me nearly $100. I have to say I miss that little old 5.5 amp grinder but for about what it cost me 25 years ago, I got a new, twice as powerful tool that will probably last me at least another 25 years.
I'll spare you the details but I had a similar experience with factory repair of a 15 - 20 year old Seiko watch for less than half the price of an equivalent new Seiko.
So If you've got an old power hand tool that has served you well but is tired and needs some work, check out the manufacturer's web site and investigate sending it in for factory reconditioning. I've been quite pleased with my experience.
Pete (No relation to Bosch, Milwaukee, or Seiko, just a happy customer)
My post may be old news to some of you but maybe of interest and use to a few. I'll start by saying as an old timer, I am a firm believer in rebuilding or fixing something rather than throwing it out and replacing it and I was raised such. I also am disappointed in the quality of much of new the made in China hand tools. I also do not replace anything - be it clothes/cars/trucks/motorcycles/appliances/ houses/women/you-name-it (well, maybe women don't count!) - just to have a new model. That said, I had a 3/8" Bosch VSR corded drill that felt like it belonged in my hand the first time I picked it up, sort of like putting on a pair of soft leather, made in Italy, gloves. I bought it about 20-25 years ago and got tons of use out of it until a couple of years ago when the trigger switch started behaving erratically. I got on the web and found the Bosch tool site, sent it into the factory (with a free, pre-paid UPS label as I remember) and about a week later received the drill back with a new switch that worked like new, all for about half the cost of a new electric drill.
In 1990 (I still had purchase receipt) I bought a little 4 1/2" Milwaukee grinder that I think had the 5.5 amp motor. That is the best electric tool I've ever owned and used it constantly for cutting steel and masonry, wire wheeling rust off Land Cruiser frames, grinding down my crappy welds on sheet metal, and other things I don't even remember. Well a year or so ago the paddle switch started behaving erratically so I took it apart, did some amateurish repairs, and it worked OK afterwards. Not wanting to electrocute myself and because I wanted another angle grinder so I could cut with one and grind with the other without having to change blades if I had only one, I bought another Milwaukee grinder, the 21st century version of my first one, with I think it was a 9 amp motor. It is also a great tool but a little bigger and a slightly more cumbersome than my original. In the past year the cord on the original (remember 25 years old) had become very brittle, cracked about every 1/2", generally shot. I maybe could have just replaced the cord but with the questionable repair to the paddle switch that I had made a few yeas ago and remembering my experience with Bosch, I looked up Milwaukee's web site and found their "Lightening Max Repair" wherein they would repair/rebuild/recondition my old grinder or send me a replacement for $66 and they would pay for shipping my old grinder to them by Fed Ex ground. Looked like a good deal to me so I did it. A weeks or so later I get a call for a credit card to pay them and two or three days later, I get a brand new, 4 1/2" angle grinder with an 11 amp motor, for the $66 plus a few bucks shipping and tax. The same tool locally would have cost me nearly $100. I have to say I miss that little old 5.5 amp grinder but for about what it cost me 25 years ago, I got a new, twice as powerful tool that will probably last me at least another 25 years.
I'll spare you the details but I had a similar experience with factory repair of a 15 - 20 year old Seiko watch for less than half the price of an equivalent new Seiko.
So If you've got an old power hand tool that has served you well but is tired and needs some work, check out the manufacturer's web site and investigate sending it in for factory reconditioning. I've been quite pleased with my experience.
Pete (No relation to Bosch, Milwaukee, or Seiko, just a happy customer)