Blog

While most modern power tools are now brushless, there's no reason to throw away your old tools if all they need are a new set of carbon brushes. In this post, we'll discuss how to change the carbon brushes in your cordless drill or impact driver. Here's a quick video example of changing the brushes in a Makita DHP458 LXT Cordless 18v Drill Driver to help show you the process: Here's a breakdown of the steps: How To Change Cordless Drill Carbon Brushes Step 1: Unscrew The Back of the Drill After you've removed the battery, unscrew the two screws...

To change your power tool carbon brush, in most cases you can easily access them behind carbon brush caps or a screwed plate which reveals the brush holder and the brushes in those holders. Some brushes are held in place with coil springs that need to be lifted up with a screwdriver to release the tension and then you can pull the worn brush out. Here's a useful video example of changing a carbon brush in a Erbauer ER2100 Router power tool: The following is an image of a spring to help show you what it looks like: You can...

Why are the motor brushes sparking? If your motor brushes are sparking, it may be a sign excessive brush wear, a damaged or dirty commutator, or an incorrectly installed or incompatible brush. Some sparking is normal within a tool, but if it starts to get worse, it's likely a sign that the carbon brush is wearing. To monitor the sparking from your tool, you can check the air vents when in use, and this helps you to gauge how much the sparking has changed over time. When checking for sparking or arcing, a decent observable examination of the commutator and...

Cutting carbon brushes should be avoided as it's too risky. The best option is to sand or file brushes down carefully a bit at a time (using a fine a sand paper or a file) until they fit the desired brush holder of your machine. Here at Top Deals Online, we have a range of "generic" brushes that can be modified like this to suit your application, along with specific types to fit the model of your power tool. There is no need to bed in brushes, as once installed they should be up and running immediately, with no need...

How long do carbon brushes last? Carbon brushes will on average last between 1 and 5 years in most power tools but this is all dependant on how much they are used in number of hours, the more daily use the power tool has the quicker it will wear over a certain period of time.  Some brushes can last longer than others all depending on the power of the tool (aka how much wear it puts through the brushes per use). High AH battery powered cordless tools can wear the brushes away really quickly. On a side note, as the battery...