Cordless Drill Sparking

[crokett]

My 18V cordless drill sparks when the motor stops. I am embarassed that I don't know if this is normal or not. I haven't ever noticed it before but then I am rarely in a position where I can look into the vents on the side of the case when the motor is running. So is this normal? The drill works fine otherwise.

[JimD]

I hope it's normal. Mine does it too (I have a Ryobi).

Jim

[SHADOWFOX]

I have a Ridgid 18V hammer drill and impact driver and it does the same thing. My Makita LXT hammer drill and impact nor Bosch Lithium Ion drill or impact driver however doesn't. I think it's normal because both the Ridgid hammer drill and impact driver works fine and have not had problems with them.

I know, I have an obsession with collecting cordless hammer drills and impact drivers.

kind regards,

[Stan]

Checked mine here. All give a spark to one degree or another.

[Wood_workur]

my 12v makia does the same thing as well. I think its the brake or something.

[Tom Slick]

completely normal

[LCHIEN]

probably normal - it has a universal motor with brushes, that make electrical contact with the moving armature. That contact makes sparks. Most often you don't notice, some times you use the drill in a dimly lit area and you see them and it startles you.

[eccentrictinkerer]

Here's an educated guess. Your 18 volt uses a permanent magnet motor. When power is removed the inertia of the armature and gear train turn the motor into a generator.

One way to slow/stop the drill is to either short the motor or put a very low value resistor across the motor.

The voltage being driven into the short causes the sparks for a revolution or two.

Just my two ohms worth.

[Hellrazor]

David,

Your drill is faulty, send it to me and buy a new one!