What is it with angle grinders…?

[Turbo]

I would suggest a metabo, I'd be amazed if you wreck one of those. Well thought out and very comfortable to use. They tend to be bulky to accommodate the brilliant marathon motor but I think they do a slimline one.
Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for.

 

[Turbo]

What's actually failing?

My small grinders 15 to 40ish years old don't do much work between the 5 of them, but over the years I have still fitted a few bearings, a set of brushes, most of the power cables and a switch after dropping one. Tools need maintenance to get the most of them. The Lidl grinder had a faulty armature, now it's been replaced and they don't want the old one back I will take it apart and take a better look.

Anyone know when this grinder was made? I was given it in about 2000, looked old then, had a local shop replace the armature bearings then and I replaced the brushes, spindle bearing and cable about 5 years ago.


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Where's the guard?

 

[tigdlo]

Where's the guard?

In a drawer, why? The guard does nothing on this grinder, the gearbox is so tall it puts my hand further away from a DPC grinding disc than my 4.5" grinders with the guards and a cutting disc fitted.

In this instance given the distance from my hand to the disc reducing the likelyhood of touching the disc I have determined that if I do something stupid enough to jam my fingers against the disc then a guard could create a trap point that if for example a finger was trapped would cause a far greater injury than just touching the disc and abrading some skin. A 1mm cutting disc would be a different story as they cut so fast simply brushing against it would splice through skin in an instant and brushing against the disc if far more likely than getting a finger trapped.

This is why I also have no guards or rests on my bench grinder with wire wheels after trapping a few bolts and a finger between the rest and a very sharp, brand new wheel, the grinding bench grinder of course has close fitting rests for the same reason.

 

[Jack Ryan]

In a drawer, why? The guard does nothing on this grinder, the gearbox is so tall it puts my hand further away from a DPC grinding disc than my 4.5" grinders with the guards and a cutting disc fitted.

In this instance given the distance from my hand to the disc reducing the likelyhood of touching the disc I have determined that if I do something stupid enough to jam my fingers against the disc then a guard could create a trap point that if for example a finger was trapped would cause a far greater injury than just touching the disc and abrading some skin. A 1mm cutting disc would be a different story as they cut so fast simply brushing against it would splice through skin in an instant and brushing against the disc if far more likely than getting a finger trapped.

This is why I also have no guards or rests on my bench grinder with wire wheels after trapping a few bolts and a finger between the rest and a very sharp, brand new wheel, the grinding bench grinder of course has close fitting rests for the same reason.

You mostly control where your fingers are.

You have less control of where the sparks, swarf and broken off wheel bits go.

Jack

 

[ajlelectronics]

What’s CRA2015?

consumer rights act 2015 at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Brad93]

Like Bosch???

No, can't rely on bosch grinders now. Some are brilliant some are pants.

Metabo would get my money again.

Fein possibly but i'm not having much luck with my fein stuff i've got to be honest

 

[JOEPRO]

I do alot of griding for rust repairs on my cars. Knotted wheels removing old underseal that sort of thing too. For about 6 years now I have used a Milwaukee M18 grinder and it works great. It did need new bearings before which I repaired myself easy enough.

The Milwaukee M18 Grinders have an air filter screen on them which I think works great to keep the nasties from running through the brushless motor.

I think the brushless motor is a good clue there too - no contact wearing parts in the motor either.

That's my vote, get a genuine m18 grinder, several genuine 5amp batteries and a fast charger and I think you won't look back. I used to burn out bosch Grinders too. I bought them in argos with full warranty so that way if and when they stopped I could just bring it back and get another one until the warranty ran out but got tired of Grinders dying halfway through a weekend job.

 

[premmington]

No, can't rely on bosch grinders now. Some are brilliant some are pants.

Metabo would get my money again.

Fein possibly but i'm not having much luck with my fein stuff i've got to be honest

AG 125-19SE Angle grinder - Grinders and sanders - Hilti GB

Hilti Grinders and sanders - AG 125-19SE Angle grinder - 1900W high-performance angle grinder with speed control, for discs up to 125 mm

www.hilti.co.uk

You could just buy into one of these - 5" - 1900w - £415 + VAT (ouch)

 

[premmington]

I do alot of griding for rust repairs on my cars. Knotted wheels removing old underseal that sort of thing too. For about 6 years now I have used a Milwaukee M18 grinder and it works great. It did need new bearings before which I repaired myself easy enough.

The Milwaukee M18 Grinders have an air filter screen on them which I think works great to keep the nasties from running through the brushless motor.

I think the brushless motor is a good clue there too - no contact wearing parts in the motor either.

That's my vote, get a genuine m18 grinder, several genuine 5amp batteries and a fast charger and I think you won't look back. I used to burn out bosch Grinders too. I bought them in argos with full warranty so that way if and when they stopped I could just bring it back and get another one until the warranty ran out but got tired of Grinders dying halfway through a weekend job.

Underseal removal - I use a big 8mm air die grinder with a big tapered carbide burr (instead of eroding underseal from the factory - burr cuts it away).

 

[bricol]

Started blowing mine out with compressed air after dusty use - there's a lot of crap comes out.

But the Mr Brightspark has hit the nail on the head I think - let the disc do the work, don't force it through. Once I learnt that, my disc usage dropped massively. I don't do enough work with a grinder to be sure it's increased their life, but if it's not getting too hot, then it can't be too bad.

 

[Bluemotion]

Made in China!

So is iPhone

 

[Bluemotion]

I don’t ever force grinders and my work is delicate. Posters seem to not read all the facts but just join in the last version of the comments which deviates from the beginning.

Its mainly armatures that go and I can only think of a few reasons, poor quality like Bosch from China and full of rust dust and metal dust probably adding to the electrics. The fact I use a twisted knot wheel probably does it as the work that it does is strenuous but no other tool can do that job so efficiently and quickly. Ideally I’d like to find a brushless 240v but I don’t think there’s such a thing and I’ve used battery ones but that’s like snail mail when you wait for the rechargeing to catch up.

 

[Bluemotion]

Anyway I may try a Hikoki or a metabo so long as they are slim and switch to hand safe as I’ve in the past year bought a Metabo brushless electric palm sander and it’s become my go to tool ( especially as it was well over £300!)

 

[Onoff]

Best grinder I have here is the old, green 230V Bosch with the yellow lead . Must be 25 years old. Still as smooth running as the day I bought it.

https://flic.kr/p/2ov4XAq

 

[MattF]

I don’t ever force grinders and my work is delicate. Posters seem to not read all the facts but just join in the last version of the comments which deviates from the beginning.

Could be a multitude of reasons. Do you periodically blow crap out, as @bricol suggested? Are you wearing gloves & blocking the air intakes? Do you allow them a cool off period every so often?

If you're consistently killing them, it may suggest some technique or use issue, or, it may just be a case of start classing them as a consumable item.

 

[bricol]

Do you allow them a cool off period every so often?

Duty cycle! I bet it's probably surprisingly short in the specifications and very easily exceeded.

 

[Agroshield]

Posters seem to not read all the facts...

And might I say most respectfully that the original poster of this thread (you) are not answering the questions that are being asked in an attempt to assist in solving your problem.

The overwhelming response agrees that you are seeing an unusually short lifespan from the machines. Hence, it is either conditions of use, conditions of maintenance or operating procedure that is causing this. You are focussing on your own situation and are blinkered to the millions of other people around the world who use grinders successfully and do not have these problems.

If you wish to affirm otherwise, please suggest a non-conspiricy theory as to how you personally get the Friday afternoon special every time, from whichever manufacturer and whichever distributor you purchase.

Are you using the tool as part of a business? If so, it is classed as a business expense. As you now have some statistical information on the lifespan of a typical tool, you can build that into your costs. If you buy an alternative grinder for twice the price and it lasts twice as long, there is no improvement. If you buy two grinders and use them alternately (duty cycle as above), will the combined life exceed two individual ones? How much time do you spend maintaining (blowing out) the machines before your labour cost exceeds the lifespan gains?

 

[bricol]

Duty cycle! I bet it's probably surprisingly short in the specifications and very easily exceeded.

I just had a goggle - surprising little (ie none) info on big name angle grinder duty cycles.

 

[Keith 66]

My main use for angle grinders in the boat trade was grinding fibreglass with coarse sanding discs, probably the best way to kill any grinder.
When you are grinding fibreglass for hours on end you soon find out which are best!
I had an early AEG that lasted 20 years, bought another AEG & it lasted 6 years. Bloke i worked with had two Bosch, we used to use them on rotation grind with one then when it got too hot to hold swap it for the other one.
De walt were powerful but got too hot to hold after 10 minutes.
I used to blow mine out with the airline daily.
Best one by far is a Metabo, Dad bought it in the mid 1980's & i inherited it 10 years ago, its still going.
Worst was a silverline that let its magic smoke out just 12 minutes after it first started!

 

[Brad93]

AG 125-19SE Angle grinder - Grinders and sanders - Hilti GB

Hilti Grinders and sanders - AG 125-19SE Angle grinder - 1900W high-performance angle grinder with speed control, for discs up to 125 mm

www.hilti.co.uk

You could just buy into one of these - 5" - 1900w - £415 + VAT (ouch)

Those are fantastic grinders that will last years and years