Anyone ever had a long lasting angle grinder?

[magnet]

I've got an ancient black and decker grinder it must be 30 years old. I've had loads of others over the years all of which have failed after time but the old B&D just keeps going.

Aye me too the old b& d refuses to die

 

[Matthew Tinker]

have you tried dressing the commutator up with fine emery paper? maybe just ridges or rough edges between the plates, or too much carbon build up causing the sparking. You could try dressing it up, good clean between the plates and a good rinse with contact cleaner. might be enough worth a try costs nothing....

Thank you for your suggestions, yes, I trued up the commutator, cleaned it up very gently on my lathe, cleaned between the segments, to no avail! Shorted armature windings! It weight twice as much as it's replacement!

Excessive sparking at the brushes, and especially a ring of sparks right around the commutator as it spins is a sure sign of shorted armature windings. C'est foutu, I'm afraid.

T'a raison c'est foutu! The skill grinders and circular saws of the era were mechanically very sound, I have a circular saw, 300mm blade, same problem! As I said, it doesn't owe me anything!!

 

[a111r]

I bought my first angle grinder from Machine Mart in 1995.
One of the blue, cheapest ones at the time, for £30.
IIRC it was dead within a month.

With my refund, I bought a B & D Professional for around £60.
25 years on and it has been without a single fault. Fairly light use, admittedly.

I'm thinking I should now change the bearings as rather late PPM...
Inevitable bearing wear may mean that the stator and rotor will soon meet up.

 

[Dcal]

My oldest grinder (Hitachi 9") is probably 20 years old.
I was going to post about how much work it'd done and how it has never given any trouble but looks like all the chat on grinders has cursed it, because tonight it let the magic smoke out exactly as @eddie49 says
Brushes flamed for a second and I was pretty sure what I was going to find.



Aw well, at least I had a back, up even if it's 110v.
9" Makita with soft start which is a nicer grinder to use, but it's always sad to have to say goodby to an old friend.

 

[sardine]

I've got two of these old Makita grinders that were barn finds about ten years ago they've had new bearings and brushes but are still going strong.

 

[Bluemotion]

So, is there actually an answer to current grinders that can be bought over the counter that actually will do a couple of years at least in medium to heavy duties?

 

[steveo3002]

Argos!! 1000 watt, 115mm with a knuckle guard, comfy to grip because your fingers don't have to hold a motor, just a handle, like a baby version of a 9" grinder. It had years of abuse in a fabs shop, on ships and on site, still my favourite after about 15 yrs. Sometimes you get lucky and random cheap carp is better than Makita. Sometimes.

they will offer the extended warrenty for a few quid on top , chop it in for a new one each year

 

[Memmeddu]

I bought a metabo 4.5" grinder a few months back, can't comment on long term reliability yet but so far I'm really impressed. It's the smoothest running grinder I've ever used and build quality is top notch. I'm pretty sure it says made in Germany on it.

Made in Germany stamped on the housing
Metabo Nurtigen on the labels and another time made in Germany

 

[Memmeddu]

I have bought only two grinders +1 that is a Christmas gift but it's another story
As someone said in another thread
Grinders are disposables ...
A Metabo W12-125Quick bought on October 2017 , not daily used but when I use it I really use it (125mm 1250W no electronic just soft start and restart protection)
3 days and I had to take it to warranty because was leaking grease everywhere ,came back worst than before (all scratched and damaged from the delivery) decided to invalid the warranty opened and found that the grease was too much and needed to be replaced ,did that solved all the problems
After 2 years I've added little bit of grease
I used it mainly for cutting during the first year now I use it for everything cutting, grinding, flap disc NO WIRE WHEELING.
On October 2018 I've bought another Metabo exactly a WE19-180Quick RT ,180mm 1900W ,soft start,restart protection, electronic motor control and constant speed
I don't use it very often because it's very difficult to find the correct disc size here in Italy , used only for cutting
Sometimes used for grinding also but using a 125mm grinding wheel (5")
Both those metabo have mechanical safety clutch so I do like use them mainly for cutting.
I'm lucky because I repair powertools to make extra money , I have a friend who works in a powertools repair shop (Hitachi assistance) and when he has to clean he call me to go there and take all the stuff he doesn't need
This way I got two 9" angle grinders and 2 small grinders
A nutool 2400W grinding that I had to give it to a friend because I needed more space
Was a good grinder , faulty switch easy repair no expense involved , little bit too much heavy but got a ton of power
A Bosch GWS 18-230 ,middle 90's ,1800W , again good grinder but I should replace all the bearings , I didn't do that yet because I think it's waiting for me spending money on it to die soo...
I've replaced a ball bearing to get it working , than added a soft start module , now it's resting on the shelf I don't use it often
I do like it
An Hilti 5" that's actually a Bosch
GWS10-125E just red and black , very good made in 2005 I've replaced switch and brush holders to make it working again another free repair
An Hitachi G13SC2 that's my favourite one
Made in 2003 I believe (1200W paddle switch)
Had to replace a ball bearing for 5 euros , it's an amazing grinder it got 15+ years abuse in a semi industrial environment ,got I for free .
Rear armature bearing failure , armature ground against the field , they gave him for dead I replaced the bearing and it's simply a train
Used mainly for wire wheeling until I got it captured by a metallic web , it's been stalled for about 15 seconds before I finally have success to turning it off.
IT STILL GOING
I've put it on the shelf because I want to refurbish it ,so new armature ,new field ,new bearings and carbon brushes
But when I need to grind a lot I use it and my small metabo , when one gets hot I switch to the other
I use to clean my grinders and blow them with compressed air
All my grinders less than the Hilti are to much powerful to be used single handed

 

[daleyd]

If your using a wire wheel I’d be really tempted to get hold of a variable speed one, I have an Aldi one which I won’t make great claims about its quality but having variable speed makes a massive difference in the amount of vibration you get by running at a reduced speed. It was £20 and I have no doubts it’s not exactly a quality piece of kit but it saves me running my others with a wire wheel in and won’t cost the earth to replace if/when it goes wrong.

I also like the rear handle, obviously no use in tight spaces and you can’t use it one handed but for out in the open I find it much nicer to handle.

Keep your nice slimline models for slitting discs and tight areas.

 

[nickk]

Just remembered,I have a very old Bosch 4” with a small wire cup brush permanently attached,I keep it by the saw ,so it only scrubs the scale off new steel prior to painting,it’s so old it’s a Swiss one,proper durable.dead handy on small sections,where you need 1 hand to rotate the fiddly bars.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Just remembered,I have a very old Bosch 4” with a small wire cup brush permanently attached,I keep it by the saw ,so it only scrubs the scale off new steel prior to painting,it’s so old it’s a Swiss one,proper durable.

Use a very old Hitachi angle drill for that.
Bit slow on speed but lean on it all you like and it won't stall

 

[8ob]

Use a very old Hitachi angle drill for that.
Bit slow on speed but lean on it all you like and it won't stall

I have always liked Hitachi gear, their range of grinders is smaller but they are all quality. Bosch on the other hand are trading off the back of age old quality they no longer produce, there is a mind-numbing model numbering system in place making it very hard to select a quality version of anything they make.

Bob

 

[nickk]

Curiosity,no ones mentioned a perles product?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I have always liked Hitachi gear, their range of grinders is smaller but they are all quality. Bosch on the other hand are trading off the back of age old quality they no longer produce, there is a mind-numbing model numbering system in place making it very hard to select a quality version of anything they make.

Bob

Old old Hitachi are bomb proof.

 

[8ob]

Old old Hitachi are bomb proof.

View attachment 203782

Robin I have never seen an angle drill that compact, what's the model number?

Bob

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Robin I have never seen an angle drill that compact, what's the model number?

Bob

Dunno. Il pull mine out and check tomorrow.
Their newer offerings aren't far off.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Robin I have never seen an angle drill that compact, what's the model number?

Bob

Here
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Hitachi-D10Yb-4966376097685-Rotary-Angle-Drill-240V
New version

 

[Memmeddu]

I have always liked Hitachi gear, their range of grinders is smaller but they are all quality. Bosch on the other hand are trading off the back of age old quality they no longer produce, there is a mind-numbing model numbering system in place making it very hard to select a quality version of anything they make.

Bob

Bosch codes are not too difficult to understand
G stands for industrial
W stands for angle
S stands for grinder
First numbers show the power
Second ones show the wheel diameter
CI stands for kickback stop, constant speed and electronic control
E stands for variable speed
So if you are going to need a Bosch angle grinder just be sure that it's a GWS (proper power)-(wheel diameter you desire) CI E

 

[8ob]

Here
https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Hitachi-D10Yb-4966376097685-Rotary-Angle-Drill-240V
New version

That can rest there for a little longer

Bob