Magic Smoke Escaped From My DeWalt DC988 Cordless

[rharman]

The other day, I was drilling out some rivets. Nothing too strenuous, not overloading it. All of a sudden, smoke and burning smell started out the back vents.

Anyone else seen this? I'm hoping it is just brushes - haven't opened it up yet.

I really like this drill (18v XRP) - sure hope it's fixable at a reasonable price.

 

[Bigplum]

Brushes are cheap enough to try , so it's worth a go

 

[Coolabah]

The other day, I was drilling out some rivets. Nothing too strenuous, not overloading it. All of a sudden, smoke and burning smell started out the back vents.

Anyone else seen this? I'm hoping it is just brushes - haven't opened it up yet.

I really like this drill (18v XRP) - sure hope it's fixable at a reasonable price.

Hmm.. I'm not an expert , but smoke and burning smell with motors has never once been good for me... each time it has been a terminal issue either "now" or "soon enough, after throwing good money at the problem"

IMHO , with this sort of thing , bearing n mind that nowadays goods are DESIGNED to be of finite service life ( eg , my parents have a copper coil fridge purchased in 1956 continually used every single day since purchased, which admittedly cost a bomb at the time , has never ever required even re-gassing !!! go figure !!! ) If you can't or don't know how to fix it yourself it is better to walk away from it and buy a replacement, ie even if it is "fixed" it will possibly/probably fail again *soon* in some other way.

Just my 2 cents

 

[lbgradwell]

Anyone else seen this?

Yes. The same thing happened to mine (same model) years ago. My friend was using (abusing) it to drill through multiple layers of railroad ties that were to be used as a retaining wall. By the time I noticed, the drill had started to smoke.

I thought it was shot, but to my surprise it works just fine to this day and I didn't even replace the brushes...

 

[Fordman7795]

I have the same drill and it occasionally puffs smoke as well. Keeps on goin though

 

[shanker]

Mine puffs out smoke when I use a fresh Li-Ion battery......with the NiCad's it won't smoke

 

[rharman]

I forgot to mention the arcing you can see through the vents.

As Bigplum mentioned, brushes are relatively cheap. I'm going to pop it open first to see if there's any other damage.

 

[Ft.ValloniaStreaker]

Once that stuff gets out it's impossible to get it back in....and when it all comes out, you'll know......

 

[woody 73]

Ask a Dewalt Tech:

http://www.retrevo.com/support/Dewalt-DC988-manual/id/22123dj083/t/2/

 

[decableguy2000]

We use dewalts at work and found a couple in the dumpster that where thought to be dead. I took my good one out my truck to compare with and ending up buying some brushes that was 3 years ago. Some times they just nned a good cleaning.


Jeremy

 

[afazz]

I had a similar issue with one of my DeWalt 18v drills - it would slow down, then throw out a nasty puff of smoke and some sparks, and then work fine for a little while. I opened it up and found that the brush housing was filled with metallic slime, and I think I was getting shorts across the commutator. I cleaned everything up, sanded the face of the commutator and brushes, and it works great now.

 

[shanker]

I had a similar issue with one of my DeWalt 18v drills - it would slow down, then throw out a nasty puff of smoke and some sparks, and then work fine for a little while. I opened it up and found that the brush housing was filled with metallic slime, and I think I was getting shorts across the commutator. I cleaned everything up, sanded the face of the commutator and brushes, and it works great now.

that's prolly what I need to do to mine...it's about 8 years old now...