Guest Soniclight Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hello, First let me clarify one thing: I live only on a fixed Social Security income so while most of you would see USD $60-70 to just go ahead and get a new one as almost chump change, it's kind of a big deal to me. I may have to replace it when all is said and done, but I'm trying to see if I can figure out what's wrong before tossing it. The problem I bought this drill about two years ago and use it quite a bit for wood to metal, and probably at times may put a bit too much pressure on it to punch through something but overall I'm a careful user. Recently it started to at times not fire up right away when squeezing the trigger then catch and work fine; that became more frequent and now it just won't fire up at all. I opened it up and cleaned out whatever sawdust and stuff was in there but there there wasn't much. I can't tell whether its the motor or the switch but it could (maybe) be the switch. I hotwired a basic AC cord to the main + and - wires at the top of the switch (but bypassing/ignoring the other two wires that deal with speed and reverse control) and it fired up fine--though with some heavy sparks, so I unplugged almost immediately. I could go ahead and order a switch, but with shipping and handling it could come out to $30, half the price of getting a new one and if I did the latter, I probably would get the mid-handle version. So I'm kind of answering my own question here (why spend half the money on a part when it may or may not fix the issue--when I could just get a brand new one?). Even the guy at the nearest DeWalt authorized repair place said "Anything that costs less than $100 is basically disposable..." So he was cool and honest about it by not trying to hustle me, but it's also kind of a sad statement on modern times. Everything seems disposable these days... I'm just curious if others of you here have run into this no-longer-fires-up problem and found a way to fix it. Thanks. DWD110 Switch Part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWalter Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 The symptoms you describe also sound a lot like worn brushes. In tools with the Checkpoint brush system, when the brushes wear to their limit the springs no longer apply pressure and operation may become intermittent, eventually stopping completely. You also described heavy sparking (at the commutator?) when you bypassed the switch, which is typical when brushes are at their end of life. Have a look at the carbon brushes and if they are very short and are at the bottom of the brush boxes, it is time for replacement. Brush part number is 649380-00 and they are about $1.20 each. If the brushes are ok, I'd check for power at the output side of the switch, if you have access to a volt meter. No power, bad switch. I can't say I totally agree with the "Anything that costs less than $100 is basically disposable" line in all cases. All the parts for the DWD110 are available for replacement, and many parts are quite affordable, so it's really up to the owner where the repair no longer becomes economically viable. I agree that many lesser tools are actually disposable because no repair parts are available - if they break, you throw them out. Personally, assuming that the rest of the drill is in reasonable shape, I'd be willing to spend the $30 on a switch if needed, since $30 won't buy you a decent replacement drill. Yes it may seem like a lot, being half of the cost of a new DWD110, but again it is still only half. DWD110 is a well engineered high speed drill which should give many years of service in daily use. The basic design dates back to the DW100 from the early 1990's and I own the model which the DW100 was based on - the Black & Decker Professional 1166. I've had that drill for almost 25 years and aside from routine carbon brush replacement and a new strain relief on the cord, it has proven bulletproof over hundreds of hours of use. I also own the DWD112 as a back up, which is identical to your DWD110 with the exception of the chuck. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soniclight Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 DWALTER, Thanks very much for thoughtful/detailed reply. Below is a link to a 15 sec. 4 MB. wmv video I shot of: 1.The armature/commutator without the brushes as I slowly manually spun it to show its state. 2. Close-up of removed brushes. The contact of the brushes when assembled seems snug and tight with seeming plenty of friction or contac, so it may or may not be a brush problem. That said, I don't know how long brushes look when new or in good shape (parts schematics aren't always reliable for proportions can be off). But you know more about this so perhaps this short video will help diagnose it. Thanks for your input SHORT VIDEO OF ARMATURE/BRUSHES: http://www.compassionsensuality.net/Other/DWD110_BRUSHES.wmv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooljoe Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 In tools with the Checkpoint brush system, when the brushes wear to their limit the springs no longer apply pressure and operation may become intermittent, eventually stopping completely. this is interesting... so the electronics monitor this in new tools... that also leave room for errors in guessing wrong. To me it tell me that the commutator needs to be extra clean. So my first though would be to clean the communicator. A fine grit sandpaper and some alcohol should do as a rough cleaning. To add more, I hotwired a basic AC cord to the main + and - wires at the top of the switch (but bypassing/ignoring the other two wires that deal with speed and reverse control) and it fired up fine--though with some heavy sparks, so I unplugged almost immediately. when you hot wired, did you remove the cables coming from the switch to the motor? If not, I am sorry to inform you that current went to the trigger as well (parallel circuit) therefore frying some electronic components in the trigger... also, don't forget to do this said by dwalter... I'd check for power at the output side of the switch, if you have access to a volt meter. No power, bad switch. basically grab your volt meter and put test leds on exiting switch wires to motor... squeeze the trigger and see if you get AC voltage. you need to be very careful while doing this... you don't want to get shocked. i may use alligator clips or two pieces of wire twisted on each ends. this test will tell you if the switch is good or not with out wondering about anything else. IMO. GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soniclight Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 Update Well, I did the tests and cleaning both of you suggested and it looks like it is the switch that is shot (it probably didn't help that that initial hotwire I did was without disconnecting the speed control wires...):using the voltmeter, I got essentially no AC power reading (0.097 V), trigger squeezed or not. As stated earlier, brushes still have plenty of contact and springs are strong, and I used a 1000 grade sandpaper for the commutator so the copper shines like new (unlike in the video which was shot before I did the sandpaper-cleaning). Even after that with no switch installed and a direct AC line in which I plugged in for not much more than a second, the motor ran fine but still a lot of white light/sparks from the commutator as it spun. So unfortunately, I don't see new brushes fixing this--it would have been the cheapest parts purchase and I was hoping that would do it Looks like I'm back to... replace switch or buy new drill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingobelle Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 There is no need to clean the comutator, actually the carbon on the comutator prevents oxidation and also makes good contacts. For example, on old bally slot machines that are electro mechanical (1964 to 1980) there is always carbon on the relay switches and it is not good to clean them becuse there can be oxide problems if the machines is not used for long and also the carbon make a very nice contact between the silver contacts. Should be the same here. To the right of ther comutator ( sorry for my bad english here, may use wrong words ) the coppar "cables" on the stator seems to be burnt and maybee you have a short circiut. Does the motor go like it should when you bypass the switch? or does it go irregulary? Maybee the switch went bad if you have a short circiut and maybee you have both sweitch problems and motor problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soniclight Posted February 11, 2012 Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 As I said before, motor seems healthy. My guess for the reason of the high white light/spark amount when not going through the switch probably has to do with that the current is not being dampened or regulated by some resistor or gate within the switch, so it's going at 100% full-speed the instant it's plugged in. What I'm considering doing is just go ahead and order the switch at eReplacementParts.com which has the same price as DeWalt, try it for a few seconds. If it does nothing, I can just return and get a refund since their policy seems to allow this ("for any reason"). If that is the case, time to replace the drill. If it works, hey, situation fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Soniclight Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 UPDATE: Ta-da! Ordered switch, installed it, added some high quality axle grease to front gears, works like a charm. Case: Solved. Thanks to all of your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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