After 8yrs my $9.95 4 1/2" grinder died...

[BaTu]

I certainly don't use it every day, or even every month, but this sucker has been through Many projects with me for Many years. Like probably most of you I have a few grinders on the bench, each one with a different purpose and preloaded for that use (this had a HF 4 1/2" thin cutting disk, my Metabo a flap disk I use a lot more).

Today I've been slitting 1/4 mild steel plate, about 6' of, to create a 45* bevel in. It's getting hot and I swear, I'm feeling hot "pricks" on my bare finger at the seam in the housing. Next, the funny smell and lowering rpm.

I open it up, just because, to have a look at things. Turns-Out, the brushes are just worn down to nothing (I see a loop of "spring" against the commutator ). I gotta say, I'm impressed though! I mean, it lasted long enough without problems to consume the only consumable part in it! Ya can't complain about that!

[seagiant]

Hi,
The usual problem with the cheap CHI-COM, angle grinders were the bearing.

I worked a coastwise Dredge and they would buy DeWalt Grinders by the case.

When they went, it was always the bearing, but they were used ALL day, everyday.

It was just cheaper to throw it and grab a new grinder.

They figured they got their monies worth!

[filetobeef]

the bad news is that they are now $11.99 grinders!

[mla2ofus]

I had a little Makita 4" grinder that lasted about 20 yrs. Changed bearings and brushes in it once and after a while it just decided to leak all of the smoke out.

[Shootr]

I have one of their sawzalls - 10 years later of off and on use and it's still working just fine. It's nice for a hobbyist like me to only spend $50 to have an arsenal of grinders so I'm not constantly swapping discs and wheels.

[yesindeed]

Most of the Harbor Freight grinders used to come with a spare set of brushes.

[yesindeed]

I’d mail you an extra set of mine, but the cost of the padded envelope and postage is about the cost of a new grinder, unbelievably .


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[California]

The proper application for the HF $9.95 grinder is with a wire brush wheel for cleaning up between weld passes - where it won't be run more than a few seconds per run. Anything more than that and a better grinder is called for.

I had a couple of those that I mounted in a Northern Tool chop saw frame. That was a mistake. I don't think I ran either one very hard, they ran at near full rpm, but the first one let the smoke out then the next one's fan disintegrated. I cleaned that one out and retired it to momentary wire wheel use.

More recently I was on my way to buy the DeWalt 11 amp angle grinder. But I stopped by HF's Sidewalk Sale on the way and found HF's $75 Hercules twin to the DeWalt, also 11 amps, for half price in real shabby packaging with 3 day warranty. I like it! There was nothing wrong beyond the wrench and manual missing. It's night & day better than HF's older orange 5 amp or blue paddle-switch 7 amp grinder, that have held up well but felt lacking in power.

And a comment on Ryobi's 18 volt angle grinder. Don't. Less power than the HF cheapie and it runs at half the RPM of a real grinder, while it strains the battery so hard that only the heavier battery can run it. Buy something better.

[shortfuse]

I certainly don't use it every day, or even every month, but this sucker has been through Many projects with me for Many years..... I gotta say, I'm impressed though! I mean, it lasted long enough without problems to consume the only consumable part in it! Ya can't complain about that!

What can I say, but that they just don't make cheap grinders like they used to......

[filetobeef]

have that blue paddle 7A hf grinder. the plastic casing is slowly dissolving away,the cord is stiff and it vibrates like crazy but thing runs and runs. for $20 at the time? can't go wrong.
come to think of it,never had a hf tool leak smoke yet iirc.

[buzkanzenbach]

I had a on sale a 10.99 41/2 grinder switch went bad but still works if u plug it in Buz Kanzenbach

[California]

That smoked $9.95 grinder I described above was still in the Northern Tool mount that makes it into a chop saw when I got that rig out for a cut this weekend. I must have been frustrated, I didn't remember putting it away like that. It filled the shop with smoke immediately.

So I used a different grinder, HF's blue 7 amp with the paddle switch, and did the chop freehand. No smoke.

But that $9.95 DrillMaster angle grinder was more than 10 years old. I should have kept using that one only with a wire brush wheel, for cleaning welds, where it wouldn't need to run continuous like it did in the NT chop saw mount.