Do SDS drills lose their oomph as they get older?

[nothanks]

My trusty (and very well used) DeWalt SDS drill seems to have less oomph than when new. Do SDS drills degrade with age, or am I getting impatient with age?

[spuorgelgoog]

I don't think the drills wear out, but the bits do.

Owain

[alan_m]

Do you regularly grease the drill bit shaft when inserting into the chuck?

[Fredxx]

I've been reluctant to grease anything in a dusty environment. I can't think of a more effective abrasive!

[Bill Wright]

As time goes on the bricks get harder and the muscles stiffen. But seriously, it does seem that the hammer action loses some of its bash. I don't know why.

Bill

[alan_m]

Dewalt recommend greasing the drill bit shank every time a bit is inserted into the chuck. Although I don't do this 100% of the time what I've found is that the grease forms a seal at the front of the chuck preventing dust traveling down the drill bit shank. When removed the grease is cleaned from the drill bit.

[harry]

The hammer action of SDS drills is driven with a crankshaft so No. Ordinary electric drills have a "chatter plate" which does wear out.

[michael adams]

Power tools may have motors using neodymium (or similar) as permanent magnets. Apparently neodymium is subject to corrosion which presumably would reduce the efficiency of the magnet and thus the rotational torque of the motor.

Electric motors using windings and brushes and rotors become less efficient as the bearings wear and there's more scope for the rotating shaft to "rattle around" thus changing the distance between the windings and rotor as compared with new.

IME, on eBay at least, after brushes the second most commonly bought spares for power tools are bearings. Which unlike brushes, I doubt are fitted as result of any catastrophic failure.

michael adams

...

[invalid]

As the hammer action is pneumatic I would think its quite possible for the seals to wear and make it less effective.

Then there are motor brushes which do wear out.

[Tim Lamb]

On my DeWalt the torque safety trip seems to have *lightened* over use.

Only a problem on large diameter core drills.

>

[nothanks]

No, because of the risk of trapping grit. The motor does what it's supposed to do and the bit moves freely in the chuck, it just seems to be less effective.

[nothanks]

+1

[Brian Gaff]

Well, batteries do and motors can if they wear, so I guess it depends. Nothing lasts forever. Brian

[nothanks]

Interesting - where did you see that DW recommendation? I'm pretty sure I've seen a DW statement saying that they don't need lubricating. My drill is many (15+) years old, has had a hard life and has never been greased. Surprisingly, the bits still come out of the chuck with a smear of grease on them.

[Brian Gaff]

Is it not just some form of cam system though, It must surely wear. Brian

[newshound]

That's what I was going to suggest.

[alan_m]

It in the user manual for my SDS drill purchased many years ago

Just checking in the Dewalt user guide for the 2.5Kg SDS+ 230V drill that Screwfix currently sell

[quote] This tool uses SDS Plus accessories (refer to the inset in fig. 3 for a cross-section of an SDS Plus bit shank). We recommend using professional accessories only.

1. Clean and grease the bit shank. 2. Insert the bit shank into the SDS Plus tool holder (f). 3. Push the bit down and turn it slightly until it fits [/quote]

[nothanks]

Thanks, I've learned something.

[Steve Walker]

There is bound to be some wear, but it is not a directly driven system with metal to metal contact like a hammer drill. It is a pneumatically powered hammer being fired back and forth to hammer the bit in, so the drive mechanism and the impact mechanism are pretty well isolated from each other as far as impact forces are concerned.

SteveW

[Bill Wright]

It isn't a cam.

Bill