Smoking is bad for you. Everyone’s heard that a ton, right? Well, it’s pretty bad for your DeWALT drill too. No tool should start leaking smoke out of it, which goes without saying.
I’ve got a few reasons why a DeWALT drill might be smoking, depending on the type of drill in question. Go over those in the list below, along with the fix I suggest after the list.
Read: How I Fixed DeWALT Drill Chuck Won’t Tighten: Tips
3 Reasons Why Your DeWALT Drill Is Smoking
- Overheating, Obviously
The main cause of smoke coming out of any tool is overheating. There’s no other way to put it. Smoke is always a result of temperatures getting too high in some parts of the tool.
That’s exactly what happened with your DeWALT drill too, which is why it started to leak smoke. All other reasons for this stem from overheating as well, just in different ways.
In this particular case though, I‘m talking about general overheating and not specific components. There’s a chance that the smoke was just from plastic burning on the covering or something.
Plastic burns pretty easily, and depending on what part of the tool it’s burning inside of, it can cause smoke to leak out of the drill. Believe it or not, this is the best-case scenario.
That’s because there’s a chance that it wasn’t permanent damage. You could try setting the drill aside like I’ve done in the image above for it to cool down for a few hours before using it again.
Related: How I Solved My DeWALT Drill Light Stays On: Tips
I doubt it’s likely after something as serious as smoke, but there’s still the off chance that simply resting the drill might work. So why not take that chance, right?
- Burnt Brushes (For Brush Drills)
Smoke coming out of tools is never common. However, if I had to say which tools it happens the most with, I’d say it’s tools with brushes.
The brushes inside these tools are commonly made out of carbon, or graphite. Neither of these is highly flammable. The material for the brushes inside DeWALT’s tools is usually carbon.
How does something like that start to heat up to the point where it leaks smoke, then? Well, these brushes do wear down when you keep using the tools for years.
The motor is responsible for producing all the force inside of a drill. With all the strain put on them, the brushes start to get weaker, and eventually aren’t good for much.
Brushes on drills like a DeWALT drill from the picture above usually overheat when users try to drill something that the tool can’t handle.
All that extra strain starts to hurt the brushes, and that leads to a significantly lower lifespan. If you put too much strain like that repeatedly, it could even burn the brushes.
If you recall doing a particularly difficult job with your DeWALT drill recently, that may be what led to the brushes burning and smoke coming out of your tool.
- Burnt Out Insulation (For Brushless Drills)
Manufacturers started making brushless tools as a way to counter the problems with a brush tool. Like the wearing down and burning that I just told you about earlier.
Related: Common DeWALT Drill Problems Troubleshooting
While it did solve some particular problems like that one, it didn’t completely eliminate the chances of the tools burning and smoking. That’s why even brushless DeWALT drills can end up smoking.
When it comes to brushless drills, the problem lies with the windings in the stator. Doing a particularly taxing job with the drill, when it isn’t strong enough to handle that, can cause this.
The windings start to amp out, which leads to the insulation around the stator overheating. It reaches a burning point, where it smokes and breaks down.
Do what I’m doing in the photo above this. Take the covers off and check for any signs of burning. That’ll help confirm if what I just said earlier was the case after all.
In case it was, that means the drill isn’t usable in its current state, since certain components won’t work right anymore. Trying to use it again might make it smoke again, so don’t do that.
What’s The Fix?
Whether you’re talking about a brushed motor or a brushless one, I recommend the same solution regardless of what type of DeWALT drill you have. That fix is to get a replacement.
Believe me when I say that the repairs for a burnt-out motor aren’t going to be worth it. The damage is already done, and paying to fix it will cost as much as a whole new drill.
So, do exactly that! Get a whole new drill, like the one I have in the picture below. It’ll cost around as much as repairs for a burnt tool, and serve you much better.
I know it’s probably not the type of fix you were looking for, but it’s the best advice for this situation. Buying a new drill is the safer, more economical, and more reliable option in the long-run, so do exactly that.
