Porter Cable Hammer Drill Junk

Heyseed

Member
Not happy with this tool today. Using it on the job and it kept jumping out of gear. Making a racket and not doing any drilling. Tried it on hammer and just drill setting. Got mad and took it apart. First thing I see is a spring that looks like it came out of a ball point pen falls out on the tailgate (my jobsite workbench) then a part about the size of a nail with a grease covered base. I wipe it down and see that it is a hunk of broken PLASTIC! Looking in the case I see that it came off what I would call the shifter, the thing that moves the gear head back and forth. On the parts sheet they just call it a plate. But WTH big heavy 6.5 amp hammer drill and freeking plastic, and not heavy plastic, but some thin clear stuff. I will order the part and fix it but jeeze louise.
OK Rant over.
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Got the same problem with a hecho en China Milwaukee! Jumps out of gear, red sparks (not electrical, mechanical) blow out the vent when using the hammer mode. Now, using it for some hole saw work, when it gets hung up, the plastic gears are starting to strip!
 
I have the same drill. Picked it up cheap at CDN Tire a couple years ago...I might have paid 65 bucks??? Much better than the Mastercraft hammer drill of the same amperage...but that's not saying much. Its OK for occasional use, putting in the odd concrete anchor, mixing mortar or thinset, 2" hole saw in plywood.

But I fully expect for what I paid it would not stand up to day in day out contractor use. Good to know parts are available, but I will probably buy something else when the smoke goes out.

Grant
 
"In October 2004, the Pentair Tools Group—comprising Porter-Cable, Delta Machinery, DeVilbiss Air Power, and others—was purchased by Black & Decker, now Stanley Black & Decker. Porter-Cable is headquartered in Jackson, Tennessee. Manufacturing in the United States has mostly ceased; tools are now made primarily in Mexico and China."

Any questions?
 
It appears to me that Made in mexico gives Made in china some compition for bad quality and poor workmanship makes the stuff made in pakistan look almost "good" by comparisone
 
(quoted from post at 01:02:15 04/03/15) "In October 2004, the Pentair Tools Group—comprising Porter-Cable, Delta Machinery, DeVilbiss Air Power, and others—was purchased by Black & Decker, now Stanley Black & Decker. Porter-Cable is headquartered in Jackson, Tennessee. Manufacturing in the United States has mostly ceased; tools are now made primarily in Mexico and China."

Any questions?

So in this case I guess the complaint should be directed against the engineers and management in Jackson, TN. What person decided to substitute plastic for steel? Not the girl on the CM line in China. She just pulls a part from a bin and puts it onto the drill moving down the line in front of her. And from what I know of CMs in China, she probably doesn't make many mistakes.

I don't disagree with the premise of your post. Whenever I encounter a mechanical plastic part on a car, tool, appliance, etc. I wonder "what was the guy who designed this thinking?". Obviously it wasn't longevity of the item. Most recent one was the drive gear on an old Genie garage door opener. Rather than buy a new opener (old part was "no longer available") I fixed the old drive piece by adding a home-made steel chain sprocket to it.

On the flip side, cheap tools have made our workshops better equipped than my father's generation where tools like a hammer drill would not have been in the budget for a guy trying to raise 6 kids on $150/week.
 
That looks like a clone to the B&D drill I bought online for something like $35. Turned into the best drill I have. Used the heck out of it for the last 4 years and the only issue is the cord insulation broke apart right at the strain relief. The function select (between drill and hammer) is a bit "weak" and on occasion does slip out from one to the other.
 
As a pipefitter installing pipe hangers in a cement ceiling, I drilled thousands of holes with a HILTI hammerdrill. I don't ever remember one failing, I think they are made in Germany.
 
My cheapy Harbor Freight hammer drill worked just fine after I got the hammers to start swinging from all the grease that had settled during shipping. Decided that I didn't need it anymore so gave it to my nephew on the farm.
 
20 years ago Porter Cable was building junk , I prefer older Milwaukee brand power tools , the newer Milwaukee stuff just isn't quite the same , the older stuff is just built better .

several years ago I had a chuck that needed replacing on a 3/8" reversible drill motor that I own , the Milwaukee dealer that told me that the chuck would cost as much as a new keyless chuck drill motor and told me that the new drills were built nothing close to what the old stuff was. I told him that I already new that because I owned a new drill motor and that's reason I'm here to purchase a new chuck.

I own 13 older and the 1 newer Milwaukee brand and my suggestion is look for older brand name Milwaukee power tools to purchase.even if you have to spend some money on them for some repairs
 
Had a used hilti at work for over 30 years and didn't have any problems at all. Local plumber would borrow it when he had a lot of tough drilling to do. IMHO, the best hammer drill out there.
 
Hilti. Buying used is perfectly reasonable. If you're serious about hammer, don't buy a drill that works without.

I repaired to perfectly good a Bosch combination drill, then felt a little guilty selling it for $25 because I knew it was always going to be a piece of junk compared to a drill that used SDS bits. My Hilti cost $45 on ebay. I've saved far more in drill bit savings.
 
Close, but Lichtenstein for Hilti. Maybe made in China today. As you point out, buying a used one from Lichtenstein is perfectly reasonable.
 
Hilti, as has been said, can't even recall how many of their products I have bought and used on commercial high rise buildings and other commercial construction projects, its definitely good quality. I've got an early 80's era TE-52 that works just fine, and unless they too have dropped in quality, it was always expected with both their fasteners and power tools. They do cost more. Their bits were always durable, more so than others.
 
(quoted from post at 13:01:50 04/03/15) One. Work still has to be done... Where does one get a quality hammer drill or rotary hammer today?

That's the reason all my power tools are bought used.
Rather have a used American made tool then new China!
 
Last year I got rid of a set of Crapsman 19 volt. I purchased several Ridgid tools to replace them. They are lifetime warranty including some of the batteries. So far they have been excellent
For a Hammer drill I have a Makita which has worked well. i would recommend either brand.
 

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