Hi everyone,
So I just got this DHR243RTJ hammer (XRH01Z in the US I believe).
Right out of the box it was quite loud in drill-only mode at full RPM, you know that classic whining gear noise you get when you force gears together too tightly without any play.
Of course I started to investigate and found if I back off the four gearbox screws just slightly (half a turn) the noise is much reduced. I also noticed it is much easier to turn the machine over by hand with the screws backed off. To make sure I am not imagining this I measured the current draw from the battery (now you know I am not a mechanical engineer ;-)) and it was reduced to about 6 amps with the screws loose, compared to 10 amps with the screws tight (these are full RPM no load drill only numbers).
I would send the drill back and get the Bosch, but I also bought two Makita garden tools at the same time (which are OK) and I need the batteries / charger.
The drill does work - I drilled two holes in concrete and it did fine, but it can hardly be good that it is binding like that in the gearbox?
What would you do?
I could exchange the machine on warranty and get a different one - that might or might not have the same design flaw.
I could return the hammer drill and buy a separate battery / charger combo, and get a Bosch hammer instead.
Or I could just leave it be and ignore the problem, but the binding may cause premature wear and certainly has a negative impact on battery life.
Last option is I could fix it - find where it binds and/or shim the gearbox. I really do not want to do that since I specifically went and bought the best tool I could find, no matter the cost, so I would _not_ have to work on it right out of the box.
Let me know if you have that hammer, if you notice the same issue, and your suggestions what I should do.
I was really expecting Makita to be at least comparable to Bosch, but this issue, and fit and finish in general, would have me put it well below Bosch (blue) in quality, which is really quite disappointing for the money.
Thank you!
Stefan