Blue sparks in hammer drill?

martin57

Hi folks,

Been a complete novice to using a hammer drill I bought this one at argos
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7106062/Trail/searchtext%3EHAMMER+DRILL.htm

Only a £10 I know but 113 customer reviews give it a good rating.

1 I have noticed that when I use it I can see blue sparks in vent at back, if anyone could let me know if this is normal enough and not dangerous I'd be grateful. (I did have a drill from agros years ago and it had same thing when switched on, thought it was a fault so threw it out without using it as out of guarantee)

2 I have great difficulty in drilling a deep enough hole in wall (plastered block build) to take a wall plug and screw, takes ages and ages to drill even on hammer mode ) I have just noticed that it says 13mm for masonary, but even some of the far more expensive hammer drills have around depth this too. What is the best and quickest way to get a deep enough drill hole so as to fit a wall plug and screw?

In the past I have just a used sharp pointed screwdriver to manually make the drill hole and then just put in a screw without a wall plug, but thought with this drill it would be easy, so I must be doing something wrong.

advice appreciated as regards the blue sparks and getting the job done.

Many thanks for any help

Martin57

ormus

some sparking is fairly normal esp with cheap tools. generally not a big problem.
13mm is the max drill diameter for the chuck, not the depth of any hole.
always use the hammer action on walls. and buy decent drill bits. the cheapo ones are pretty useless.

if you are drilling concrete walls you need a SDS drill.

ormus

ie
concrete walls,
this type of building method. typical of council houses and pre fab flats.

diable

Sparks are normal as the brushes are bedding in and for a £10 drill you would be better off using a nail and your forehead to make a hole in the wall.

diable

ormus wrote: »

ie
concrete walls,
this type of building method. typical of council houses and pre fab flats.

and I thought you lived in a bungalow

bigblackdog

i am still using a 'hand me down ' hammer drill made by wolf , think they changed to bosch , it has had the power lead replaced , anyway it sparks like a good 'un , still going strong though , it is not man enough for some drilling tasks but all in all is a good drill , i would not worry about the sparking , in fact if mine is anything to go by i would say its a good sign

martin57

Thanks for all replies and setting my mind at rest about the blue sparks. I will have a go again with it, maybe if I set a slower speed instead of maximum, it might help?

As it won't be used very often and I'm not a great diy'er I dont want to spend too much, but alll the reviews on argos say its a good enough drill, though I think Frank Spencer would have done a better job with it, than I have done..:)

Martin57

ailuro2

If you're struggling to drill the size of hole you need why not drill a smaller one first ( it's called a pilot hole) then use the bigger diameter drill.

The more expensive drills might make shorter work of it, but with good drills your job will be made easier. Are you using the correct drills?

p.s. going slower wouldn't help, imho.:)

Norman_Castle

Daft question. Are you using a masonry drill bit?. I recently lent my drill to someone who had the same problem,turned out they were using a twist bit!. When you are using it on hammer you need to push the drill into the wall while drilling.

warpedchippie

martin57 wrote: »

Hi folks,



I have just noticed that it says 13mm for masonary, but even some of the far more expensive hammer drills have around depth this too. What is the best and quickest way to get a deep enough drill hole so as to fit a wall plug and screw?


Martin57

The 13mm relates to the width of the drill bit, not the depth at which you can drill.

Sounds like you need an SDS percussion drill to do this particular job.

Even the best hammer drill will struggle to get through some concrete or hard brick.

Steve

Al1x

an SDS will make light work of it deffinetly.

If you only have use of a hammer drill try what ailuro2 says above and drill a pilot hole