HF cordless impact driver....
 

I got one for X-mas 2002 and it was a godsend. But it broke in less than a year. HF has a one-yr. parts-only warranty. I asked the lady what that meant exactly and she said I had to disassemble the driver, find what was broken, look up the part # on the diagram and they would send me that part for free. I just asked her to send me every part so I could build a new one. No dice.

Anyway, I did all that, got the part I needed, reassembled and now the damn tool doesn't have enough power to break a single lug nut loose. All it's good for is backing them off once they're broken loose. This sucks. 9 mos. of service from a $129 tool is BS. I didn't even use it that often - just at tech sessions and some weekend projects. Has anyone else had this problem with theirs and how can I fix it? Thanks.

Richard,

How long has it been 'down' for?

The battery just may need to be exercised (charge/discharged few times) back into shape.

Oh? It's been down for a good 5-6 mos. I recharged it Sat. I'll run around the house tonight, pretending it's a Laser Tag gun and I'll zap everything in sight until the battery dies, recharge it and repeat tomorrow.

How did yours fail?
Mine has lost its hammer function - the motor spins like a drill, but there is no drive applied to the chuck. Sounds like a hammer failure, but I need to open it up to be sure.

Think I'm screwed regardless - I've had it longer than a year.

Hmmm. Thanks for the info. I was planning to order one of those. Don't think I will now. Maybe at that price, it is too good to be true.

Bill

Tony, the failed part was the pinion. It cracked in two and since it has gear teeth on the outer edge, they no longer engaged and the thing just spun. But the hammer works fine. In fact, the hammer worked fine yesterday too, there was just no ooomph behind it.

Richard,
I'll pull mine apart, and identify the busted parts. Might need your help with part #s, since the diagram is not with my wrench anymore. With luck, the new parts will get me rolling again. Can't live without this tool or equivalent.

Tony, I have manual on PDF that the HF rep. emailed me. I'll forward it to you. It's not super detailed, but I was able to figure it out. The problem is that it took so long to receive the replacement part, that I forgot how it all went back together when it came time to reassemble. Check your email.

Got it - thanks Richard!

Mine broke same way, same part. Not interested in playing w/it anymore but still have the battery & charger for anyone interested :?: