Time for a new drill?

[wurm]

About 6 years ago (I just found the thread here) I bought a Ryobi One+ cordless tool set and it has served me fairly well in that time. But lately it has been acting up. The batteries were no longer taking a charge and after some research, I decided to try the suggestion of getting one of the new chargers designed for the new Lithium-Ion batteries, but which can bring older batteries back to life. I bought one and it seems to be charging the older batteries fine.

But I'm still having a problem with the drill itself, which may not have anything to do with the batteries after all. The last several times I've used the drill, I've had to whack the drill in order to get it do anything. Fresh battery off the charger, popped in place, pull trigger....nothing. Smack the base and it may (or may not) work for a while. But hitting the thing to try to get work done gets old really fast.

So I guess I'm wondering if that's a symptom of a dying drill, bad contacts, or something else. And do you know of a way I can troubleshoot it?

Finally, do you think it would be better to:
1. buy a new Lithium-Ion battery in hopes in would bring the drill back to normal?
2. buy a new Ryobi One+ drill (and battery) so I can use the other tools that came with the set?
3. consider this set "end-of-life" after 6 years and start looking for a replacement?

I hate to admit it, but that Rockwell 3rill infomercial caught my attention, and it gets decent reviews.

[space-time]

Sounds like corrosion somewhere, maybe in battery contacts or if the motor has those spring loaded contacts they may need to be tightened up a bit.

[DRR]

If you're still using the original battery, I'd start there. 6 years would be EOL for even a lithium battery. A NiCd battery that probably came with it, will probably give you about 2 years of regular use. If you have a NiCd battery that's even still holding a charge after 6 years, you're in the minority.

[tenders]

The spring-loaded contacts are called brushes, although they don't look like brushes, and they are replaceable. The symptoms you're describing are consistent with worn or broken brushes. Call Ryobi's customer service line...there may be just a few sizes of standard brushes to pick from, I'm not sure how custom those are.

[wurm]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the batteries are the originals (NiCd), so maybe I am on borrowed time with them. That new charger did charge them when the older charger wouldn’t anymore, though.

Maybe I'll look into the brush thing and whether I can replace them myself. Thanks.

[nwyaker]

Could be the switch also.

[OWC Jamie]

sometimes brush holders jam up with brush dust too
usually about the time they are almost worn out but worth a look

[Racer X]

FWIW, you are having issues with your drill MOTOR. These are drills



Cordless are convenient, but the batteries are always the weak link. If you are a contractor and use the drill motors every day, yeah, they are worth it. But for the average home owner, corded is a better option. More torque and cheaper.

[davester]

Ryobi power tools are pretty much bottom of the line. I've had quite a few of them and frankly they don't last and they use inferior quality batteries, no matter what chemistry they are using. If you want something that will last then buy something like a Milwaukee or Bosch with lithium batteries. You'll generally get a much more durable tool and batteries that last much longer than the cells Ryobi puts in their packs.

[davester]

Those are drill BITS!

Racer X wrote:
FWIW, you are having issues with your drill MOTOR. These are drills