My last DeWalt Tool - ever

[JNCarr]

The recent post on a DeWalt tool prompted me to post this issue.

It's a DCD 793 drill/driver and I bought it to replace a bad trigger switch on the previous one. Age of previous about 2 years.
This one also has a switch issue - but it's the forward/reverse switch. Just after warrantee it started arbitrarily driving in screws (rotating CW) when I am trying to remove screws. It happens in about 1 in 12-15 "drives".
Setting it to drive in never causes the reverse.
This has caused various issues like messing up screw heads, splitting the wood, and even snapping a screw head off.
I talked to a DW rep at the last extravaganza and his answer was to look for a repair center on line.

I have not taken it apart, but wonder if the switch is magnetic, and gets affected by some of the extensions I occasionally use - they are magnetic to hold the driver bit in.
Anyone else seen this?

My DW jigsaw has developed a sticking switch which keeps the blade running after I release the trigger. Pretty dangerous.

So no more DW hand tools - I do have and really like their lunchbox planer.

 

[jcz]

I have gone thru 2 DW impact drivers in 5 years. Both had the same trigger issue. I took the 1st one apart and fixed it by switching the trigger out of a drill. It worked for a year or so before it crapped out this fall.
I got a new impact for Christmas so I have not attempted to fix it. I have a bunch of DW 20v tools so I don’t want to switch brands. But they certainly are not as good as they used to be.

 

[Martin Roper]

My DW jigsaw has developed a sticking switch which keeps the blade running after I release the trigger. Pretty dangerous.

My DW jigsaw would not hold 90 degrees. The locking mechanism simply would not maintain 90 and I gave up trying to fix it. I had a cheap old B&D that I never had a problem with, but I thought I was upgrading by getting the DeWalt. I have a Bosch now.

 

[junquecol]

My DW jigsaw would not hold 90 degrees.. I have a Bosch now. Good answer to problem

 

[Oka]

Hmmm I own 22-23 cordless dewalt tools about 1/2 are 8 year or so old. I have had 2 failures during that time, one was a faulty comp board on a router, they fixed for free and a max drill which was a fast slow switch that would break after repeated use. So I guess either I am lucky or something. I recently gave away my 20v tools I bought in 2013. All were my originals all still work and I still see them coming on my jobsite. Different results ...... hmmm

 

[tvrgeek]

Forgot. I do have a 735 planer with Shelix head. It works OK if you feed it tiny thin passes. How it got CSA/UL certified with a 17 A circuit breaker on a 15 amp plug and it pulls as much as 21A continuous in a cut I can't explain. ( I confirmed these measurements, not just You-Tube hype) If I had room or money, I would have a PowerMatic 15HH. Alas, 5 times the price. Even my skype master old Delta could take bigger bites. It gets the job done, but I don't like it. Shelix head, yea, I like that.

No tool company or even any given tool is perfect. Price pressure causes design choices that do not always turn out well. HF does not plan on a Warrior drill to fail, but for $12 it just may. Is a Festool for $200 that much better? Given the inherent life span of a Li-Ion cell, not sure. There is no such thing as a lifetime powered cordless tool yet. Corded tools should do better but we get new features like soft start using electronics that will fail. All electronics will fail. Consider anything electronic over 10 years old to now be free. Unfortunately all plastics degrade over time and will fail. ( My first career was in failure analysis)

 

[Graywolf]

I’m with Casey, I own six of that drill for almost a decade without issue. They are all still in service daily. I also own a number of other tools of that product line with no issues to speak of. I’m sorry you are have those issues.

 

[JNCarr]

Casey and Richard - Agree completely - in the past I had DW tools lasting 8-10 years and only bought new ones as the battery technology allowed for longer run life, they were lighter, etc.
Plus - when buying a couple new batteries cost only a few bucks less than a whole new set, hard to not buy new.
It seems to be the newer ones that have been "cost optimized" a little too much.
I'll take this one apart once I get a replacement and try to diagnose the problem.

 

[Wilsoncb]

This is (I think) the third post in the last week concerning DeWalt tool issues. I’m curious if it’s because a higher percentage of users own DeWalt over other brands?

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Interesting! The only DW tool I have and use on a regular basis is a DW705 miter saw. Several years ago I had to replace the switch. That's the only issue I've had with it. I didn't think too much about it at the time because the saw was probably 15 years old by then, and I've been very satisfied overall. But reading this thread it seems the "trigger" style switches (i.e. you have to pull and hold the switch to run the tool) might have an issue.

By the way, when I replaced the switch on my 705 I found a very good video on You Tube that showed me exactly what to do and how to do it.

 

[pcooper]

I have several DW tools and have no issues with any of them. Maybe I'm not as demanding on mine as some users are, and that would make a big difference on your problems with them. I found the same with mechanics tools too when I worked on cars, there are some tools that are better for a person than others depending on how you're using them, might be the reason Festool is expensive, maybe a better tool overall than the rest? I only have one Festool to compare with, and it's far better than the Porter Cable tool I did have.

 

[Pete-G]

I’m in a similar boat as @pcooper , occasional use, nothing hardcore, and my DW tools are still ok. I dont own festool, at least not yet. I’m curious about the “green” brand, used to be Hitachi, but it’s called something different now i think.