I have an old Dewalt NiCad drill driver which I am rather fond of. It was given to me for a Christmas present around 10 years ago and it is the first proper brand powertool I ever owned. Before that I had useless cheap stuff. Despite it being rather heavy and cumbersome by modern standards as a drill driver it is more powerful than my newer Makita combi and I like at least a couple of drills on the go so I don't need to keep swapping bits (pilot holes, countersinking etc). The problem is it has started to develop a bit of a metallic smell every time I use it, is this likely to be the bushes? The drill still works perfectly but I am worried it will just go into a cloud of smoke one day! I am not sure if it is worth spending a penny on fixing it considering it is out of date technology. One battery is original and still has some life in it, the other is a clone and another original is dead.
Same with one of my own Dewalt Combi's, replaced brushes and totally fine now, bought the brushes of ebay.
Thanks, I can get a pair of ebay but not sure how easy it is to replace on my drill. I will see if I can remove them first .
OZONE If you're talking about electric sparks, the answer is ozone. When a spark passes through air it converts some of the oxygen into ozone. Oxygen doesn't smell like anything but ozone has a very characteristic sharp smell even in low concentration.
If you're as attached as you say to your elderly deWalt you could probably fill the old dead ni-cad battery pack with Lithium Ion cells to benefit from the later tech.
I finally managed to get the drill apart having spent an hour trying to find a T10 screwdriver that will fit in the hole as the house is upside down I can't find anything. Sadly it appears the brushes are built into the motor and there is no way to replace them without taking the entire motor apart The drill is a DC729. Sadly I think I am not going to bother repairing while I am slightly attached to it, it is just a drill. Since I already have a corded Dewalt hammer drill for heavy stuff and my cordless Makita combo for the odd masonry hole I am inclined to buy another drill driver as they are lighter. It has more use than the average DIYer and I may have abused it slightly but I imagine with heavy trade use the brushes on this drill would have barely lasted a year I wonder if age itself has contributed to the wear.
Did you ask DeWalt if they have spare parts? They sent me brushes for one of their angle grinders before.