How to unstick drill chucks.

Boohoo

Hi.
I have a Black/Decker and a Bosch electric hammer drills.
3 years ago I bought a Makita cordless drill for a diy job I was doing on my house.
Now in the next few days I will need to fix things to about 20 concrete posts so I was going to the electric drills as more powerful than the cordless.
My problem is that both of the drills chucks are stiff and don't undo or do up all the way.
What would you recommend for me to get them moving freely again. I have tried using the keys but still no good and the chucks don't look rusted and were stored in the loft and in their boxes/cases.
Thank you in advance.

zaax

WD 40 is good.

Gordon_Hose

Yep, liberal application of WD40 to the area.

greatgimpo

'Tease' the chucks with a hammer, not too hard.

srm1

I tend to agree with greatgimpo.

Slightly different method would be to use a hammer and screwdriver - the latter placed on the chuck & with gentle taps in the undo direction should work.
Good luck.

Boohoo

Thank you for the replies and options.
When you say "tease" do you mean hit the screwdriver when the end of the driver is in the hole where the chuck key goes or something else.
I can get the chuck to open from about 3mm to 7mm but that is it and it wont open/close any more.

srm1

Sorry, my poor explanation.
Screwdriver should be on the teeth of the chuck, where the chuck key normally engages. Tap gently.

zax47

The problem is generally, in my experience, the 3 "jaws" of the chucking binding in the chuck through hidden rust & muck. Wind them down as far as you can, then give them a gentle tap to see if they really are bound up or just "reluctant". Get plenty of WD40 into the vacant bit of the chuck above the retracted jaws and then prop the drill up vertically so the WD40 can seep down past the jaws. After an hour or so wind the jaws up & down a few times with the key, with more WD40 to lubricate. Each time you come up/down it should go a little further.

Forcing the mechanism by the "screwdriver" method above is only going to do damage and doesn't treat the real problem of the jaws binding in the chuck.

ColinFishwick

My keyless chuck Bosch rusted up this year and applied loads of wd40. In end I used some molegrips with a cloth in grips, clamped it with them and hit the molegrips gentle with a hammer and it worked for us. I now make sure chuck has ample lubricant I also scrapped away some of the rust

MoneyMate

Agree with WD40 to free but then once free lubricate with some suitable oil or grease.
WD40 can be corrosive to some metals , so they tell me ?