My electric drill keeps blowing fuses

[Anonymous]

My electric drill keeps blowing fuses. The moment I plug it in, a fuse blows. I have bought six boxes of fuses already, and all of them blew. That's 24 fuses. And a box of them costs about $9. So it's already cost me $54 and the drill still blows fuses, even before I turn it on. I'm going to try one more box of fuses, but if that dont work, what should I do? This drill was once a great drill. My father bought it in 1954 and I still have the receipt and the manual in the original box for it. None of the new drills are anything like it. They are just cheap plastic now. I want this one to work again.

[Bud]

Having sentimental value for that drill is understandable, and I agree them old ones were made better than new ones. But if you already blew 24 fuses, what make you think another box wont blow? Blowing that many fuses is stupid. If it blows one, most people try one more fuse. If that one blows, the drill has a short and needs repair. It's not going to self heal. That drill is 64 years old. I suspect the cord is bad, or the plug on the end of it. But it could also be internal. I'd replace the cord first. If you cant do this yourself, take it to a repair shop if you like it that much. The $54 you wasted on fuses would have likely paid for a shop to fix it, if it's worth fixing. Look in the phone book for electric motor repair, or find a decent handyman.

By the way, why do you still have fuses? Why dont you get circuit breakers installed in your home. Sure it costs money, but paying $9 for a box of fuses adds up fast. (especially in your case).

[Bill]

Open'er up and see if you can find a short? Maybe you'll get lucky (and it will be easy to locate). I think the fact that the fuse blows before you turn it on is a good sign. That seems to rule out that the short is in the windings of the motor.

This drill was once a great drill. My father bought it in 1954 and I

[T. Rohl-Bate]

For the price of a couple boxes of fuses you could treat yourself to a "heavy duty" Chicago drill (and it would have that new drill smell):

[Dean Hoffman]

This post seems a bit curious. 24 ÷ 6 = 4 in my world. Four fuses per box seems a bit odd. I'd probably build a nice case for all of the stuff then go spend the bucks for a good battery powered one.

[hubops]

I think the problem is the fuse socket - try licking your finger and stick it in there - to clean it out .. ps: is college back in session ? John T.

[Dean Hoffman]

A good spot for the display case might be on your black and white console tv.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Cute story but you are still a troll. Does mommy know you are using her computer?

[trader_4]

I recommend changing the panel to breakers first. Then getting the drill working will be less expensive.

[hubops]

Back about 30 years ago, when usenet was still popular, troll-posts like this would spike during the first 2 weeks of return-to-classes. I was surprised to see that a few people here didn't seem to recognize it .. John T.

[Bud]

When you get that Harbor Frieght "Chicago" (made in Chicago China), piece of crap home. Open the box, toss the drill in the garbage, and keep the box to smell. The box will outlive the tool any day of the week. But rest assured, you just blew your hard earned money on the worst power tools on Earth. So far, no other company has yet figured out how to make power tools worse than those sold by Harbor Freight.

[hah]

It works better if you can use your tongue directly.

And for no particular reason, I used to have a "properly wired" male to male extension cord.