Trying to FIX a DIRT Cheap DRILL Stuck in REVERSE

Here we have a brand new corded drill that broke on the first day of use. It was sent over by Chris from GadgetUK164 @GadgetUK164 - Retro Gaming Repairs & Mods. It is the cheapest UK corded drill you can buy from a high street shop. How bad can it be on the inside and what caused it to fail? Will it be fixable?
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@GadgetUK164]

Great video Vince! I've never laughed so much - I think because of how cursed this drill was! You missed the best bit, where I spent 2 hours drilling a hole in reverse - no wonder the hammer action part is worn through lol 🤣 Prior to it getting stuck in reverse it had around 1 hour use on it at most!

[@BuyitFixit]

Well at least Vince was up for the "Challenge" lol

[@Mymatevince]

😂😂😂😂 I would have paid good money to see that!!!! Can I Pin this comment Chris?

[@paultasker7788]

I had a cheap Wilko drill that seemed similar to this. It was fine for shelving in internal walls. Would never drill through external one though. I could not put up a curtain rail as it wouldn't drill through the outside wall of the house. Tried in both forwards and I then got a Ryobi 1+ 18 volt battery drill mostly to use as an electric screwdriver and found amazingly that will go through the external wall and the rail is now up! Cheap mains drill outperformed by a battery drill! I'm sure it was in forwards but now I wonder. The mains drill sounded faster and I used the same masonary bits so I can only assume the battery one has more torque. But now I'm suspicious that it may have only been working in reverse regardless of the switch position. Because the wall was not actually that tough for the battery drill. Got through it quite quickly

[@GadgetUK164]

Haha =D @@Mymatevince Sure lol! =D

[@castleladpaza76]

I guess that's why they invented reversed threaded drill bits

[@vitor900000]

9:40 You lost the ball bearing that was inside hole in the metal part of this slider. The way it works is the hole without the ball bearing let the drill head go back and make contact with the bumps while the hole with the ball bearing keeps it from going back and also acts as a axial bearing. 23:13 Well... As I said you lost the ball bearing that was inside that hole or someone else had already opened it and lost it before you did. So no, the drill didn't wear that hole down.

[@ericrichardson3332]

That's what the metal plate was for is the ball to spin or press against so it don't wear through right away

[@vitor900000]

@@ericrichardson3332 Yes... Just like I said. It works as a axial bearing. Put a little bit of grease and it can last a long time.

[@bubi173]

Usually there is a steel ball which doesn't allow "hammer action". It should be in the smaller hole with metal insert on the orange lever. Probably fell out when it was first opened.

[@Ragnar8504]

That makes a lot of sense! I actually expected a steel ball to fall out when I saw that hole.

[@renowden2010]

Yes, drop a ball bearing in the hole. That is what is missing.

[@fayyazbahrami296]

actually that happens a lot, when a newcomer opens this type of drill and they lose it in grease , after closing it and start, boom they ruin gear completely

[@SDogo]

A few tips. - Most of cheap things are fabricated with vulcanized plastic, what means you can't use glue or heat to make a good bond. - The switch looks like a simple H bridge. If you don't care about looks, get a simple DPDT rocker switch and cut a little square into the chasis of the drill to put the switch. - The hammer mode stuff... A lot of old drill designs use a ball bearing in that plastic part. Looks like your drill is missing that. Maybe someone tried to repair the drill before and lose the ball bearing (also, you can put the switch mode inverted... ask me how I know XD).

[@helgedell]

Great. Your hand gestures at 22:55 reminds me of the father-to-son speech my father had to me in my teens.

[@julieboruta]

Vince add a wire to the switch and solder the wire to a button so you can push the button in to have the drill go in forward position and solder a different wire to a button for a reverse position. Whenever you want forwards push the new forwards button and now if you want reverse position push the reverse button.

[@StevenShaw]

I had similiar problem a few months ago with a small plastic part that would always break, it too was under pressure in a switching capacity, Various attempts to glue failed as did yours so I decided to try my hand at recreating the part. I watched a small tutorial on creating a mould and then using the mold to pour in resin, I failed the first time with my ratio but on my second attempt the part I had made was far stronger than the original part, I now find myself casting most thing including new plastic cogs. Would be interesting to see if you could do something similiar.

[@Tim_3100]

Another vince video woo! Treating us today vince

[@tinman7551]

Two videos in one Day Vince, thank you so much man 🥰❤️👍🏻

[@conswizzy710]

I like that you fix a lot of different things and not just video games

[@pupil2720]

I suppose you could wire in a DPDT switch in place of that one in order to control direction too. It wouldn't look neat but it would work!

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

Classy Vince using drilling tool to fix a drill!

[@peteregan9750]

you can get a switch from electronic shop / 240V 2 position push, or scaveng one from some where.

[@Turnbull50]

I bought a similar one from Argos for £20 years ago and its never failed still works perfectly

[@AntaaOLLA]

Right choise for repair due, now it is useable drill.

[@Random_4400]

2 videos in 1 day!! Amazing!! 👍👍

[@CannibalShadow]

Got a few of your uploads to binge watch 🙌🏾

[@jesusperez3215]

Yey! another Vince video 🙌

[@haactgaming9687]

Nice! I think Vince just needs a win today!

[@gizmo1252000]

i have a bosch corded drill from 1998 made in germany .unlike the modern bosch tools of today which are made all round the globe ,in poorer countries, and generally fail due to cheap components and bad workmanship ,i also have a bosch hand grinder from 1998 and again made in germany .both my german made bosch tools are used pretty much daily .i have never had any problems with them in all that time . unlike the makita grinder i bought a while back as it was on sale .and i could,nt resist . made in PRC =people,s republic of china . which lasted less than 6 months before it burnt itself to death . but dont get me wrong not all chinese made stuff is bad ,i have a chinese solder station . a w.e.p 852d+ smd rework station .that is still going strong after 7 years . apart from a new heating element in the solderer , it,s been rock solid . still going strong

[@chezsnailez]

Looks-a lichen something you'd find at Harbor Freight (Hazard Fraught) Tools here in the US. Reverse is handy if you're using a drill as a screw gun. So don't use it as a screw gun unless you can find the switch on Ali Express...

[@denislesnansky6066]

What about tripple position switch to add on side 😀 It’s not prettiest idea but should works perfectly fine… something to wire like REVERSE-OFF-FORWARD…

[@dany-ps2my]

My dad rigged one up with a toggle swing years ago, worked for a long time

[@fatbelly2438]

the hammer action switch allows the the shaft to go fully back..

[@davidsmith-ih2kk]

I'm with you on this one Vince I rarely if ever use reverse except maybe to take out the drill bit quicker and I'm on your wavelength, I thought about it as you were fixing it, a drill that goes only forward is better than no drill at all, at last count I have a Ryobi, a Bosch, an XML and 2 ozito hammer drills, all second hand from market place and they sit in the tool bag and get used once in a blue moon. I just love drills electric or battery. A great tea break fix video Vince great to watch you trying to repair this drill but you had 50 percent success but to me its 100 percent as its a hammer drill that can be used and as it uses a chuck key reverse is a bit unnecessary. One last thought I think more expensive brands use a different technique for the hammer part but I'm often wrong

[@DarkGT]

9:40 It should have a ball bearing ball on it, you push to the side and the ball gets displaced to the side and you can't engage the hammer when you put pressure.

[@vitor900000]

Exactly

[@solveit1304]

sounds like good answer! That would explain black grease inside second hole

[@XA--pb9ni]

That part would have been a perfect case for a 3d Printed replacement!

[@BuyitFixit]

Great Video Vince! Pity about it always being in forward and hammer, but I guess it is a cheap drill after all. I'm surprised it has worn out so quick as the exterior casing looks in very good condition! I guess the moral of the story is don't buy a Challenge drill!

[@dawn5227]

What an aptly named brand... because its going to be a challenge using this drill. Lol

[@elegri]

Hi Vince, did you consider to exchange it with a reversing switch? Maybe you can arrange on the back of the handle of the drill.

[@davidjeffery2823]

Use it for wire wheeling and sanding rust on your Rolls.

[@DarkGT]

It seems the same junk comes with many names. I have identical looking drill. The rotor fail on it, it started sparking while spinning. Also the lock for the bits develop a lot of gap and can't tight it properly. Avoid it.

[@mrflibble5311]

Good video Vince , stuff like that is really frustrating .If I really wanted to fix it I'd replace that mechanism with a relay and a small switch on the outside to trigger it . Click the switch and the relay changes the polarity. Probably not worth it in honesty.

[@maniatore2006]

Nice Fix. Thank you for that video. So it is Usefull again. Better that put it in the trash. 😇☺ And now i know why i have my BOSH Drill ;)

[@ducatisteve20081]

Bond a little plate on their worn part that will restore then settings great vids android keep up there good work .

[@Old_Man_Pete]

The ball bearing is missing from the hammer switch, you can tell by the shape of the socket and it's not carbon, it's grease. Plenty of others have said the same thing, I just don't want you to miss it.

[@bryanobrien2726]

The main reason I use reverse is with left hand bits for extracting broken bolts and such .

[@rmac4411]

Vince, put a toggle switch on for the forward and reverse, and it looks like its missing a bearing for the hammer part.

[@stevedebeukelaer1424]

Hi Vince great video maybe you could use qbond to fix the switch. With the powder to get in strength the next time. Regards Steve

[@renatoscutube]

OK, It's not worth it, but if it were, you could adapt one of those switches that we use in electronics to invert the contacts...

[@DownHillCol]

If you ever come back to this which you probably won’t even waste your time on LOL, I wouldn’t mind if you send me the plastic part in the middle, I can replicate it and print you a new part out. To be honest though it looks like it could do with being made of metal on a CNC machine!

[@jdhtyler]

Find the missing ball bearing. 25 years old lust like this one it was branded KINZO. Last month I was running on slow (there was a cog on the trigger to set the speed) running it slow with a wire brush to remove rust must have damaged the controller since it now sparks like hell and will not run at full speed.

[@dorsetallsorts]

To be fair to 'Challenge', I've had 3 Bosch garden shredders die on me, all just out of warranty. I now have a Challenge shredder that's been going longer than any Bosch I've had and it's just as good at shredding.

[@dodgydruid]

I only have Parkside drill to my name, I permanently mounted my corded drill to a drill press and that is a Lidl's one too but for drilling I have my 16v cordless which I can put my 20v Impact driver battery on for extra angry pixies if needed and for micro drilling I have the Parkside cordless dremel kit which has collets small enough to take sub 1.5mm drills and I just lock the whole thing in a vice and gently drill out stuff on watches like spring bar lug holes and stem tubes. Well done Lidl's as had my cordless stuff many years now and still going strong :D

[@mbob4337]

Yes. Let's make the piece that moves a lot and has to deal with forces, plastic. But reinforce the screw holes of the power cable clamp. That would hardly get any forces.

[@mueffe1357]

You could make a forward/reverse motor control using 6 pin switch.

[@pauldurham30]

Hi Vince, you need a 3-D printer. Make a new part and weld/braze material to the worn metal part. It’s not the cost of the drill that matters, what is entertaining is watching the struggle and learning to overcome obstacles with new techniques and efforts 😃. We grow with you through your successes and failures.

[@marcellipovsky8222]

Good idea, but I am a bit afraid that the printed parts won't last long.

[@jb2590]

@My Mate VINCE you could flip the hammer switch like you did at 10:10 but drill the hole completely through on the hammer setting. That should restore the hammer switching function

[@renataavgeri1132]

2 gifts today Vincent? Wow thank you

[@simonwatson5299]

Surely, don't you just need a normal trigger type switch, just to power on/off the motor. And a three position switch (mounted anywhere) to change the polarty of the motor to control forward/reverse ?? Oh, and thats kind of normal the way that cheap hammer drills work. By running over a toothed wheel to produce a hammering action.

[@AnonymousRepair]

nice one , you could use a ball bearing in the small hole to stop it from going into hammer

[@Mymatevince]

Nice idea AR. Thank you 👍👍👍

[@AnonymousRepair]

@@Mymatevince You could also use double pole double throw switch to restore forward and reverse, but being a cheap drill the switch may cost more 😂😂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

[@Mymatevince]

@@AnonymousRepair 😂👍👍

[@Bergi2000]

Nice! :) I thought it would have been the right direction for a british drill :) hihi

[@Mikie1959]

you could try to find the manufacturer and contact them to see if a replacement part could be purchased most of the time they would give this to you free.

[@adampoll4977]

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? I mean, they still need all the dies and tooling regardless if it's a top-end drill, or junk - so, do they just keep shaving off costs by using really cheaper plastics and materials? Be curious to know how much they save and what quantities need to be shifted to make it viable....

[@ericrichardson3332]

My first thoughts at the start of the video was its a switch that switches polarity of the voltage going the the motor but i don't know if the switch is fixable and if not I'd probably replace it

[@kriswillems5661]

You could put the diode rectifier and crossover switch externally in a box in the power cord. That way you can use any crossover switch. But then again - it's not worth the money nor the time.... And you've a METABO, a brand I think is super good.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

It was an interesting video at least and it's usable, so not that bad.

[@TechGorilla1987]

@4:18 - AvE calls that a "proper 'cahunka-cahunka' switch."

[@TIBL]

This reminds me of the saga of my hotglue gun. A part of the trigger linkage broke inside (probably because I used too much force but, who would do that???). I tried gluing it probably 5 or 6 times with different glues, tried superglue and then epoxy, it would work for a few minutes then break again. Finally, I gave up and designed and 3d printed a part, which wasn't the greatest fit, but you can't tell when it is reassembled. It has worked perfectly ever since.

[@dadsyoutube9974]

Hi Vince, Love your videos, you must be a fellow GenXer ! I had a thought while watching this video, maybe you could get a cheap 3d printer and then would be able to print plastic parts, might have been able to make a better clip for the switch. Could also make some additional content as I'm sure people who don't 3d print would enjoy watching you figure it out. !

[@midinotes]

Just stick an inline reversible switch on the cable - any 2 pole 2 way switch should do the trick.

[@tipfox9212]

Yeah - reversing direction of an ac motor by reversing the mains - that would really be a good trick ;-)

[@Ragnar8504]

I don't think the chuck makes it inherently useless for masonry. Depending on hole size and type of masonry you might want a rotary drill hammer though. For concrete a regular hammer drill is almost useless. The worst two jobs I remember doing with an old AEG SB2E-450 were a) Drilling a 16 mm hole all the way through a (thin) concrete wall needing several attempts because I first hit rebar and b) Fixing a socket for a cooker underneath an already fitted kitchen cupboard, drilling 6 mm holes into a concrete wall while laying on the floor. Oh and trying the old "Swiss cheese" method for sinking electrical back boxes in the same concrete wall, i.e. drilling lots and lots of small holes, was probably almost as painful.

[@chris_hertford]

Love the voyage of discovery working out how things work (or how badly things work!). This drill needs to go on a voyage, throw it in a creek absolute trash lol

[@ralphj4012]

Good workaround. Too late now, but If the plastic is ABS you can use Evo Stik extra strong PVC pipe weld. Small amounts and caution because it melts the ABS together, Requires 24 hours to fully harden. Better than superglue, which always becomes brittle.

[@mrjsv4935]

Interesting to see the direction switch mechanism. Mine has similar looking switch, but mine is probably 20 years old, maybe even from the 90's, can't remember exactly when I got it. It's a Acter power TE52001A, and Google doesn't seem to know anything about my drill :D Good fix, most important direction works now :)

[@mrjsv4935]

After taking a look at the instruction booklet, turns out my drill is actually ZIJ - 13T impact drill, probably mass produced drill mechanism and only the case may be different between each "brand".

[@fdfmad]

You could use baking soda and superglue to try to repair the broken switch

[@zincmann]

You NEED a 3D Printer Vince. I am waiting for the day you make some major annoucement and its "I Got a 3D Printer...." it helps me with spares I need for repairs. Would help you to I reckon'

[@JamesSmith-qs4hx]

Blue mat, Yayyyyyyyyyyy!

[@PlanetRuncorn]

the orange hammer switch should have a ball or ball and spring in , its obviously missing ..

[@josericardogs1435]

I would just do a jumper to make it rotate the right way, at least it could still be used and not trown away

[@force4200]

Cant you put in a 3 Button switch to the outer Shell 😂

[@doctorspicer1042]

Hey Vince can you use a normal toggle switch for the setting. Just an idea

[@simoncook4111]

Hey vince you could do with a 3D printer for things like switches ect

[@rogerrussell5155]

How about fitting a small one pole two way toggle switch in the handle

[@ellisgarbutt1925]

Challenge as being going for years (didnt even lnow they where still in buisnrss) you may aswell take those drill off the production line and throw them in landfill amd cut out the middle man

[@simonthomas3170]

You may add an additional switch instead of that broken switch and add to the side of it.

[@Cpt_Jimmy_Jams]

Could you not use a mechanical switch? maybe a three way electrical switch?

[@mw3awsome9]

Hey Vince, how about a two-way toggle switch the metal one for like five dollars !!! even if it’s doesn’t look stock, it would still make it work

[@VashStarwind]

While hes tryin to fix that cheezy peice of plastic, i was just thinking, "Thats never gonna hold! Just solder a wire across so its always forward!!!" But he ended up doing pretty much the same thing. Haha

[@plgamer1940]

2 filmy in one Day lol

[@JonPadfield]

What a shame they cheaped out on that one part! It looks like it was mostly metal other than that.... I think if they charged £1 extra per drill to pay for a metal switch (and probably make more profit) people would happily pay it

[@1MajorTom]

it switches to forward and reverse cannot be repaired😊 it must be replaced with a new one . why the hammer mechanism doesn't work is because it's missing a ball in the little hole, that drill has been taken apart before and the person who took it apart forgot to put that ball back in the shifter so it hammers all the time😊you can only buy a whole contact with that switch on, unfortunately, because yes, it would be good if you could buy it in spare parts separately as well , even the expensive ones break there.

[@VOLTRONDEFENDER4440]

I used a wireless drill(electronic screwdriver)as it makes it more easier than having to find a outlet to use the drill

[@mrw6156]

That is an advantage however I also use a corded drill for jobs that need higher torque eg drilling multiple holes into brick, stone etc. Each has its place !

[@BuyitFixit]

@@mrw6156 I've got a Makita SDS, but I recently repaired a Milwaukee SDS M18 cordless (blown mosfets on the brushless motor) and I have to say it's pretty impressive! I'd say just as good as the corded Makita drill. Then a couple of friends wanted them so ended up doing a 3 SDS repair-a-thon video.

[@jacqueschaillet7913]

It become a schrodinger cat 😁

[@dazer123]

Challenge by name a challenge by nature

[@BuyitFixit]

Definitely a challenge to repair...LOL

[@jagjay8033]

im surprised you have not got a 3d printer for making all the plastic parts you cant buy

[@Jungleroomreptiles]

That was a Challenge

[@catherinemorgan2741]

Will the superhero of repair get it fixed stay tuned ROFL

[@richardhalliday6469]

Just out of interest I had a look - and yes, the Challenge drill is £20 but you can buy similar corded drills for as little as £14.49 - so as you say, landfill.

[@jusb1066]

Pretty much for people who drill 2 holes a year,I know several like it

[@itsadamoc]

I thought you would have just wired in a switch.

[@AlexandruRaduMarin]

Maybe a stupid question Vince or anybody here in the chat. Let’s say I have a wire that closes a ciruit. I want that wire to only close the circuit when a small ammount of current is applied. I have thought of micro switches or relays but they don’t do what I want them to. Is there such component where you have 3 pins for example? 1 pin for the trigger current and 2 pins which join my wire to form a circuit? Thanks

[@alexcoombs954]

Brand new, but worn out. Enjoy the videos

[@danielg.vgremio83]

Deu trabalho em.

[@dodgydruid]

Your Beta vid raised some pulses in Mike's watch facebook group, some of us reckon you should wander in there to offer some of your no nonsense wisdom as you got quite a fanbase going on there lol Means you can show off your wrist furniture with pride too :)

[@2009numan]

you have long teabreaks at 25 minutes long LOL

[@VOLTRONDEFENDER4440]

I honestly thought it was a switch contact issue but now realize it’s misaligned😅

[@technixbul]

In phase - one direction, out of phase the other. just wire it straight to rotate forward and get rid of the direction switch. DONE! Edit: Ups you did just that ... 😆 I have drill 40 years old that goes only forward and still do the job, never had direction switch. Grind the teeth of the hammer cog or put stopper and it becomes only drill ;)

[@JohnGotts]

Perfect if you want to undo your holes, and go back to the original material.

[@daz41262010]

nice try Vince I have the same drill but not the same name as yours but its done the same so maybe its a manufactures fault and most likely a cheap build for them :)

[@tangothecat237]

Who lost the ball bearing that was in the hole for hammer.?