Caught my new drill smoking on a job site in Phoenix

Bought a mid-range hammer drill from Home Depot on Tuesday. First hole I drilled into a concrete wall, smoke poured out. Smelled like burnt plastic and regret. Do I return it or is that pretty much standard for that model?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabetha9217d ago

Nah, that's definitely not standard. I used to work with concrete tools and a little smoke on the first hole is one thing, but pouring smoke and burning plastic smell means something's wrong inside. That motor is probably seizing up or the windings are toast. Mid-range drills from Home Depot should handle a couple holes without turning into a smoke machine. Return it quick and get a replacement, or better yet swap it for a different brand if you can. Did you check the chuck or trigger for any obvious issues before you used it?

samthompson16d ago

Pouring smoke and burning plastic smell" - yeah, that's not normal at all. I once borrowed my neighbor's hammer drill to put up some shelving and it started smoking after maybe ten seconds. I just stood there holding it like an idiot waiting for it to explode or something. Turns out the vents were completely clogged with drywall dust from his last job. But if yours was brand new out of the box, that's a whole different problem. That burning plastic smell is the motor windings cooking themselves. I'd swap it for a different brand entirely, not just another one of the same model. Some brands just have bad batches and you don't want to roll those dice twice.