Chuck wobble on electric drill

Participant

Participant

Participant

Caporegime
Joined
13 May 2003
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34,563
Location
Warwickshire
Hi

My wife bought me a Bosch 18V Li-ion cordless drill for Christmas, and the chuck wobbled causing vibration and movement through the hand when drilling into materials. We returned it for a replacement, which I have just tested. It also wobbles noticeably, though it's not quite so bad.

Now my previous drill was a hand-me-down from Dad so I never really paid much attention to the finer points of it, so I'm not sure whether it wobbled or not. It was rickety when it died so I just carried on without fussing over the quality of the drilling.

Now I know I'm not entirely happy with the current drill so some might say replace it straight away, but my question concerns what is reasonable with a mid-range electric drill like this. Do almost all drills wobble to some degree, because if so I will put up and shut up? Or should I return it and refund it this time, and possibly get a different make drill?
 
Hmm, so the chuck is not fitted straight on the drive shaft and when is spins it moves about? Doesn't sound right, even my cheap DIY stores own brand one doesn't do this that i've noticed, nor does an old (I think Bosch actually!) mains powered hand drill.

I know it's possible to fit the bit incorrectly into the chuck and that'll cause it to wobble, but that wouldn't affect the chuck itself.

Your not likely to get huge accuracy with a hand drill in any case, but if this flaw is making it more difficult then I'd change it, You could show the people in store the problem mabye? (in a non threatening way....of course)
 
One thing to check, as I myself have been guilty of this... is the drill set to hammer action? My cordless both do as you describe if its left on the hammer setting.
 
I've used countless cordless & mains drills & have never came across any that I would described as having chucks that wobbled. It's seems reasonable enough to pick up a faulty one where maybe the chuck hadn't been fitted properly but it's very unusual to get a replacement that had the same problem.
Somebody mentioned having the hammer on, are you drilling into brick, concrete etc..?, thats the only time I'd expect to feel a bit of vibration in your hands but not to the extent where I'd say I thought the chuck was wobbly.
 
Dr.EM said:
Hmm, so the chuck is not fitted straight on the drive shaft and when is spins it moves about? Doesn't sound right, even my cheap DIY stores own brand one doesn't do this that i've noticed, nor does an old (I think Bosch actually!) mains powered hand drill.

I know it's possible to fit the bit incorrectly into the chuck and that'll cause it to wobble, but that wouldn't affect the chuck itself.

Your not likely to get huge accuracy with a hand drill in any case, but if this flaw is making it more difficult then I'd change it, You could show the people in store the problem mabye? (in a non threatening way....of course)
Click to expand...

Yes when you hold the drill in front of your face you can see that it spins slightly off-axis, even with no drill bit it. I've tried putting different bits into the chuck to rule out me not putting them in correctly, but really it's pretty much impossible to put the bit in incorrectly, as you simply screw the chuck shut and it clamps the bit itself.

The store was an online store so there's nobody to show as such, I'll just send it back if I decide to.

Zirax said:
One thing to check, as I myself have been guilty of this... is the drill set to hammer action? My cordless both do as you describe if its left on the hammer setting.
Click to expand...

It's not a hammer drill, but thanks for the idea.

Tachyon said:
I've used countless cordless & mains drills & have never came across any that I would described as having chucks that wobbled. It's seems reasonable enough to pick up a faulty one where maybe the chuck hadn't been fitted properly but it's very unusual to get a replacement that had the same problem.
Somebody mentioned having the hammer on, are you drilling into brick, concrete etc..?, thats the only time I'd expect to feel a bit of vibration in your hands but not to the extent where I'd say I thought the chuck was wobbly.
Click to expand...

I just tried drilling into a block of scrap wood that I had lying around and my hand and the drill handle was wobbling around a fair bit.

I think I'll give up on this Bosch drill which is a shame as I've trusted Bosch as a brand after using an excellent dishwasher and mini electric screwdriver from them for years.
 
Might be asking the obvious here, but is the bit you're using straight? A bit thats a bit bent would cause the handle to wobble & if you've put the same bit in different drills that might be the problem & not the drills.
 
I have a cheapo Power Devil hammer drill with an eccentric chuck. It's ok, but annoying if I'm doing something 'delicate'.

However, I just bought one of these:

http://www.directbrandtools.com/Detail.asp?qsFullScr=Yes&qsProd=6280DWPE&qsCat=1&qsSubCat=23

The chuck runs absolutely spot on and the drill is extremely well put together.

If you fancy trying something different, I can recommend that drill in particular. It comes with 2 batteries, charger a double ended screw bit and a blow-moulded carry case.

This one also went onto my shortlist, but has since gone up in price (you should be able find it for nearer £50 elsewhere). It's in their 'blue' professional range, so it had better be good!:

http://www.tools4trade.com/shop_productdetail.aspx?pid=141029

The Makita is slightly better specced, but the batteries are slightly lower capacity. They do only take half an hour to charge though, which is a bonus.
 
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If you look down the axis of the drill with no drill bit in the chuck and set it spinning and it visibly wobbles it's knackered. The shaft is bent, the chuck is out of concentric or the bearing has gone.
 
Defineatly return it.

I've never had that wiith any drill tbh

I have an 18v JCB one and it does a pretty good job, not quite as good as the Hilti stuff I used to use in work but brilliant for the £80 it cost me.

For a budget one the 18v Parkside drills (Lidl has them occasionally) is fantastic, 2 batteries and a fairly quick charger and a pretty good drill for £40 when they have them in, friend of mine had one and I was fairly impressed so bought one as a back up.
 
Send it back, it shouldn't be doing that.

I've got a Bosch one that has started doing it after not much use whatsoever, but my 2 Ryobi drills are as straight as a die, absolutely perfect, and even drilling with a 1mm bit is absolutely perfectly accurate!
 
Participant said:
Hi

My wife bought me a Bosch 18V Li-ion cordless drill for Christmas, and the chuck wobbled causing vibration and movement through the hand when drilling into materials. We returned it for a replacement, which I have just tested. It also wobbles noticeably, though it's not quite so bad.

Now my previous drill was a hand-me-down from Dad so I never really paid much attention to the finer points of it, so I'm not sure whether it wobbled or not. It was rickety when it died so I just carried on without fussing over the quality of the drilling.

Now I know I'm not entirely happy with the current drill so some might say replace it straight away, but my question concerns what is reasonable with a mid-range electric drill like this. Do almost all drills wobble to some degree, because if so I will put up and shut up? Or should I return it and refund it this time, and possibly get a different make drill?
Click to expand...
Hi I am new to this site. This is my first post.

In December last year I purchased an 18v Li-Ion Workzone Titanium hammer drill and Impact Driver Kit £99.99 from Aldi in Fife Scotland.
The drill spindle never rotated true, I had it sent back for repair or replacement.
It came back with still the same wobble.
This year Aldi had them back in, so I got a replacement thinking it would work properly.
But no the replacement still has the same problem as the other one.
So I took it back to Aldi and had a chat with the manager, he and I went through the other kits, all had exactly the same fault.
Has anyone bought one of these kits, and does it work properly?
They have a three year warranty, but I would like a kit that works properly.
Muchty Ron
My wife bought me a Bosch 18V Li-ion cordless drill for Christmas, and the chuck wobbled causing vibration and movement through the hand when drilling into materials. We returned it for a replacement, which I have just tested. It also wobbles noticeably, though it's not quite so bad.
Click to expand...
 
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That is impressive forum searching for a first post, a six year thread resurrection, but a reply perfectly on topic.
Nicely done noobie!!

If the spindle doesn't rotate truly then any hole with it is going to be gubbins.
Also the rotation forces will be transferred leading to premature failure of the drill one would assume.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
That is impressive forum searching for a first post, a six year thread resurrection, but a reply perfectly on topic.
Nicely done noobie!!

If the spindle doesn't rotate truly then any hole with it is going to be gubbins.
Also the rotation forces will be transferred leading to premature failure of the drill one would assume.
Click to expand...


Hi thanks for the reply.

Excessive drill Vibration as well, which is not good.
In the replacement for the replacement of the set bought last December neither the drill nor the impact driver rotation is true/concentric.
What's more the impact driver has no impact.
I would have thought that products like this would have been thoroughly tested before sale, or am I wrong?
I guess I will have to take the set back again.

Imported by:
Walter Werkzeuge Salzburg GmbH
Gewerbeparkstrasse 9
5081 Anif
Austria
was.walter-werkzeuge.com

But nowhere in the manual does it say where they were manufactured.
 
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Hikari Kisugi said:
That is impressive forum searching for a first post, a six year thread resurrection, but a reply perfectly on topic.
Nicely done noobie!
Click to expand...

Not really - it's a paid for forum poster denigrating Aldi.

Here's a test - Muchty Ron - is it worth buying electrical products from Aldi?
 
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