JCB RHD950 Rotary Hammer Drill

[JoRoCo]

JCB have recently released the JCBDRHD950A Rotary Hammer Drill

With the JCB excavator track record, I assumed that a JCB product should be at least of sound construction and so I purchased one on Monday 14th April

2008. It was quite a powerful piece of kit and seemed to be well built. However, it transpired that one feature of the construction seriously lacked the expected engineering design considerations.

The unit is fitted with a Black synthetic cover cap on the base of the motor housing held in place by two 8mm long x 4mm diameter set screws. The screws turn into two Brass threaded anchors (about 6mm deep), which are thermo-set into the synthetic brush/bearing housing of the motor. Even kitchen appliances afford far superior fixings to this and they are not subjected to anywhere near the work load, or work conditions that this type of unit will be subjected too. This situation is not evident upon a visual external inspection and is not realised until the cap is removed.

Of course such removal is not necessary, or desirable and removal is a servicing function. Unfortunately this cover has a mind of it's own and in our case it removed itself within the first few minutes of use leaving the motor windings and commutator exposed to the fingers.

Photographs and more details can be viewed -

circumstances are currently subject of a formal complaint as indicated on the above web page. The manufacturer offered to collect and replace the drill, but with recurrence being an obvious consequence this offer was declined. The supplier has offered a full refund, which may well be the outcome, but I have retained the unit at present until the public safety aspects are reconciled.

Potential owners, or operators should be aware of this design feature in the interests of safety. Any related feedback would be appreciated.

[John Rumm]

It might be worth noting that the only connection between the power tools and the excavators is the firm has allowed their name to be used (or abused) under license to brand the tools. Don't assume any level of performance or quality of one based on the other. The power tools are all low end Chinese imports designed more for decoration than actual use it seems.

Only one?

clutch as well.

I would go for the refund.

[The Medway Handyman]

I can't work out why a company with the reputation of JCB are willing to damage it by selling cheap power tools. The sales from power tools must be minute compared to the sales of JCB's so there isn't even a lot of extra profit involved.

I bough a JCB SDS when I first started up, it lasted 4 months & I 'distress purchased' a reciprocating saw - the blade clamp never really worked at all. Both went in the bin. I've learned the lesson the hard way - wouldn't touch JCB with a barge pole now.

[Rod]

But would you be put off JCB diggers (and other 'real' JCB stuff) by that? Or would you just accept that they flogged their brand for small stuff and assume the big stuff to be as it always has been?

(Not meant to start a discussion over the relative merits of JCB vs Komatsu or whoever.)

If so, then you do indeed have a point. If not, well JCB made a bit of extra by selling their birthright - probably more than they would make out of you.

[Ziggur]

I too was seduced by the brand name. I knew that it was a Chinese product but figured that "it must be better than a B&Q cheapy".

The JCB SDS did 2 big jobs (well nearly 2) at home. Very heavy, and the lack of a clutch was a potential killer. It recently expired with a very loud bang and the brightest blue flash that I have ever seen.

This latest job was finished with a shiney new DeWalt SDS; expensive but a joy to use. This, together with the Makita drill purchased a few weeks earlier, has converted me to the "Good tools are worth the price" school of thought.

[John Rumm]

Perhaps they were hoping the low price and shear lumpyness of the things would mean the trade would not give them a second glance (in fact they are probably not sold in the places most serious tool buyers would look), and Jo Public might be impressed enough by the name to buy one but then never find the shortcomings due to light and very occasional use.

I will own up to having a JCB digital calliper gauge (i.e. like a traditional vernier design). That does seem to work ok, but it hardly get to do "hard work" as such!

[Andy Hall]

They aren't. The products are in two completely different sectors and if they f*ck up the hand power tools it won't compromise their diggers business in the least.

It is probably a label licensing and royalty deal.

But if you were doing site work on a grand scale you would probably rent a JCB or someone with one. That person is unlikely to have had a bad experience with a toy drill.

[dom]

You never hear of anyone going the other way - "I'm sick of all that expensive stuff that works well - I think I'll save some money and buy the cheap s***"

[Andrew Gabriel]

I bought an expensive Metabo SDS, probably about 8 years ago. It hasn't been as trouble-free as I'd hoped for something over £300. In the first week, the chuck spring broke and the reversing switch jammed. Metabo fixed both for free. After about a year, the rubber nose on the chuck went rotten and it pulled off when you took the bit out. Rang Metabo, and a new one arrived in the post for free. Apparently I bought my drill during a period when they stopped shipping a tube of bit grease, and the grease I'd been using instead on the bits had probably rotted the rubber. For the next several years, it worked fine. In the last year, grease has started leaking out of the gearbox through the gear selector, and the hammer action (which seems to be turned on only when you put pressure on the bit) doesn't always switch off immediately anymore when you stop applying pressure to the bit.

I've mentioned this to a few professionals who use Metabo, and they are very surprised, so I don't think this is typical of their products, particularly given my usage will have been very much less than that of a professional.

Having said all this, it's vastly better than anyone else's cheap SDS I've used. It has a clutch (obviously for that price), an over-temperture advanced warning light followed by shutdown if you continue to make it hotter, but even in this state it will let you spin it off-load to cool it. The variable trigger is a speed control and not a power control -- the drill varies power automatically to maintain speed according to trigger position and a separate adjustable max speed setting. It also has mains drop-out protection (won't spin-up when mains reapplied until you've released the trigger), and it's very comfortable to handle. Case is very robust. Gearbox (metal) can get hot after long periods of use.

[JoRoCo]

Thank you for your comments gentlemen.

JCB Customer Services advised me on Friday 18/4/08 that their engineer would be contacting me today. No such communication has been received, so the complete details have been emailed to our local Trading Standards office this evening along with footnote -

This product is certified as compliant with 72/23 EEC Low Voltage Directive, which has now been repealed and replaced by EEC Directive 2006/95. I contend that the demonstrated inferior design of the lower motor cover constitutes inadequate insulation and that the machine does not comply with ANNEX 1 - Section 2 & Section 3 of this directive. It is not of merchantable quality and not suitable for the intended purpose.

[Andy Hall]

Excellent

Also ask them (TS) whether they have forwarded your complaint to their counterparts or equivalents in every other EU member state? They are supposed to, according to the rules of any safety related Directive and the product taken off of the market.

In the meantime, write a letter to JCB customer services asking them for copies of any test certificates and reports to back them up. They are required to maintain a copy of any documentation supporting a CE declaration at an address in the EU. This is the case whether they are the manufacturer or his distributor.

[Andy Hall]

Funny that. Had they bought the better stuff in the first place, they would have saved money

[Doctor Drivel]

I know lots who went the other way. Makita burns out and a mid-priced B&Q jobbie replaces it. Those who don't heavily use them do that.