Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
Hi all
I have recently purchased a dewalt DCD 796.
Great Drill but has some chuck wobble.
I was wondering how to remove a chuck from this drill, in order to install a new better one.
Thing is, the screw inside the chuck does not look standard to me, I mean its not hex…see photo attached.
Does anyone know how to have the chuck removed?
Thanks for your help!
Torque lol warped a 7/8 auger in triple stack of treated 6×6, and mine spun out after 10 minutes of trying to reverse it against a pry. Been meaning to loctite the thing, but seems I don’t have the hand strength to undo it right now lol anyways, I was pissed thinking I snapped or sheared the bolt, but it was clean as hell, unbroken, and when compared to the view inside my 791, they’re identical. If you’re looking to remove it intentionally though, my best advice would probably be some heat just in case. [emoji108]gandalfnz wrote:
Hi all
I have recently purchased a dewalt DCD 796.
Great Drill but has some chuck wobble.
I was wondering how to remove a chuck from this drill, in order to install a new better one.
Thing is, the screw inside the chuck does not look standard to me, I mean its not hex…see photo attached.
Does anyone know how to have the chuck removed?
Thanks for your help!
[External image (s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com), not copied]
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Left is 796 I spun the chuck off of (twice after on accident of forgetfulness lol) and right is the never been tampered with 791. I know it looks like a bolt, but it’s just the divit at the end of the threaded armature coming from the gear house. [External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied][External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]
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Thanks for the reply?
Not sure if I understand this fully.
So heat it up, and then just pull on it, until it comes out?
There is not thread on it?
Thanks
It is threaded, that dimpled end is the bottom of a threaded bolt that begins back in the gear house. Chuck spins off once you break it free, but I saw zero evidence of that breaking or damaging any kind of retaining mechanism. So my advice is that enough reverse torque I’ve unthreaded mine without damage, but I would take regular nut busting precautions if I were deliberately trying to remove another one for the first time. Ie, heat the threads, maybe mix up some acetone/dex II 50/50 homemade penetrating oil, whatever you might do to break a nut free without damaging the materials lol your new drill in this case.
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Take a big hex key and put the small side into the chuck and lock it in. Then hit the long side with a hammer to spin it counter-clockwise while looking the drill from the chuck–side. If that is indeed the bottom of a screw, that should loosen the chuck. Generally chucks are held on by a reverse-thread screw inside the chuck.
Right fine idea, there haha here she is bud. This is what you’re looking at busting loose[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]
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Thank you all for your help.
So, there is no actual reverse thread screw inside the chuck?
Like you said, and going by the last photo, chuck can be undone by just turning it anticlockwise with enough force.
I wonder where there is no screw holding the chuck anymore.
Can you confirm please, since you have the chuck off, is the wobble issue because chuck is shit, or the axle is eccentric as well?
That’s a terrible design without a lock screw, especially on a drill this powerful…you could do it on the NiCad stuff but not this, even a compact drill.
Dewalt has good chucks, hopefully reseating it will help but unlikely. Make sure it’s nice and tight when you put it back on then if it is you might want to consider locktite if it comes off in use.
I had to learn that trick because I’m going to have to change the chuck on my big Milwaukee Fuel, that chuck sucks.
Your guess is as good as mine, I was confused but pleasantly surprised when I found out. It’s bonded or sealed somehow for sure, it took a hell of a beating before it spun out on me. Best of luck to you in any case! For my own curiosity, what chuck do you have in mind? The rohm they come with is pretty high quality, but given that the 796 has the extra gear travel for hammering, it’s going to have that slight wiggle tolerance inherintly. That’s why I picked up the 791 compact- no hammer, and much tighter spin for precision work.
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Was thinking of pick up this… costs almost as much as a brand new drill 🙂
What is the brand of the metal chuck currently on 796?
Thanks
Rohm, if I’m not mistaken. Well known, German made [emoji106]
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I think that might be the very chuck you’re trying to remove haha
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Moore,C. wrote:
4 minutes ago, Moore,C. said:
Rohm, if I’m not mistaken. Well known, German made emoji106.png
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German made, and they wobble so much.
There is definitely no writing on the chuck that would indicate what brand it is, at least on mine.
I initialy bought a 795, the chuck had wobble, I thought it was faulty.
Took it back to the store, tried 5 others, and all were the same.
Then decided to go for 796, same problem, but decided to keep it.
Moore,C. wrote:
10 minutes ago, Moore,C. said:I think that might be the very chuck you’re trying to remove haha
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I was under that impression. He could consider the Makita chuck(Yukiwa Seiko)
That’s your oem rhom[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]gandalfnz wrote:
German made, and they wobble so much.
There is definitely no writing on the chuck that would indicate what brand it is, at least on mine.
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You’d be paying the cost of the entire drill, for a second chuck you don’t want lol sorry, brother[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]
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I see
There is no writing like that on my chuck….weird.
I am guessing its not rhom
A good half inch of the chuck bottom is underneath the drill housing when it’s attached[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]gandalfnz wrote:
I see
There is no writing like that on my chuck….weird.
I got a different chuck
As per photo.
Drill is purchased in New Zealand though.
The outside aesthetics of chucks really aren’t very similar to the other brands. If that knurling looks like Moore,C’s then it’s a Rohm.
I was under the impression that all-metal Dewalt chucks were Rohm and the plastic ones were Jacobs.
I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t remove that chuck to make sure, we could be wrong but so can you…that being said, Rohm makes a good chuck, it could fix the problem even if they are the same make/model.
Mines got some miles on it lol maybe I can’t see the whole thing, but that sleeve looks exactly like my baby’s did, back before some apprentices and tight spots got to her lol. I agree though, pull it to be sure. DeWalt metal- Rohm, plastic-jacobs has been my understanding for a long time as well. Can’t imagine they change components like that geographically without some crazy back story.gandalfnz wrote:
I got a different chuck
As per photo.
Drill is purchased in New Zealand though.
[External image (s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com), not copied]
Thanks for all the help.
Might give it a go, kinda hesitant since its still has 3 years of warranty left.
If the chuck is good quality (which I agree, the Rohm chucks are), the wobble is more likely coming from the spindle right? Does the wobble actually affect your work? If not, forget about it and enjoy the drill.
Broke my 791 by trying to hex key and hammer method. Recommend not doing that.
BMack37 wrote:
On 10/5/2017 at 12:39 AM, BMack37 said:I was under the impression that all-metal Dewalt chucks were Rohm and the plastic ones were Jacobs.
Far as I know the chuck on the DCD996 the 3 speed premium hammer drill driver is Jacobs.
Well after breaking 4 x T20 tools bits trying to get that bolt holding chuck to shaft loose I decided to cut the chuck off with a cutting disk and luckily for me it worked and after numerous tries I am now able to replace this chuck with a new one
I hope you were turning those torx bits clockwise for the left hand screw. It is hard to believe it would not come out. When hammering on on a hex key fails, I chuck a hex bit in an impact wrench, AFTER removing the left hand screw. That has bever failed. It should be mentioned thst the left hand screw is only there to prevent the chuck from unscrewing when the drill is used in reverse. A missing screw might never be noticed if the drill is only used in the forward direction.itekweni wrote:
Well after breaking 4 x T20 tools bits trying to get that bolt holding chuck to shaft loose I decided to cut the chuck off with a cutting disk and luckily for me it worked and after numerous tries I am now able to replace this chuck with a new one
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I just looked up the DeWalt factory parts breakdown diagram for that drill and there is a screw shown next to the chuck. I am lead to believe that if there is no screw it is because it is missing.
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The older ones did have a screw in there, my 791 and 996 I purchased in 2018 do not. Display models on store shelves do. The 996 is made in the USA, the 791 is made in Mexico. I haven’t had to take the chucks off yet, but I’m hoping the chuck retaining screw was just replaced with loctite or some other sealant, rather than dimpling/peening the drill arbor to hold the chuck on. That would effectively make the tool disposable for a bad chuck, but might explain the wobble with quality chucks.
It would seem Dewalt should have issued a service bulletin to their repair centers with the updated design, they should know better than anyone. Might be worth a phone call.
If you are sure there is no screw and it is held with Loctite, try a big hex bit in an impact wrench. That has never failed me. Much better than a hex key and a hammer. It is hard to believe that they are depending on Loctite to handle drilling in reverse. That kind of construction would be enough to write off that drill. In the past I remember Milwaukee using a taper mounted chuck. A taper is bi directional.Jpgwoodworking wrote:
The older ones did have a screw in there, my 791 and 996 I purchased in 2018 do not. Display models on store shelves do. The 996 is made in the USA, the 791 is made in Mexico. I haven’t had to take the chucks off yet, but I’m hoping the chuck retaining screw was just replaced with loctite or some other sealant, rather than dimpling/peening the drill arbor to hold the chuck on. That would effectively make the tool disposable for a bad chuck, but might explain the wobble with quality chucks.
It would seem Dewalt should have issued a service bulletin to their repair centers with the updated design, they should know better than anyone. Might be worth a phone call.
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I have a DeWalt DWD520 corded Hammer Drill. When I first purchased it, I was going to change the chuck myself but when I didn’t see any reverse-thread screw inside the chuck, I was wondering how to remove it. Luckily, I took it to a DeWalt dealer and they changed the chuck for me without charge as part of the support.
Now that it is most likely out of warranty, I am looking at doing this myself. First & foremost, I want to say “Thank You” to Mr. C. Moore for posting that great photo of the chuck in the “disassembled view”. I saved that picture as a reference.
What is crazy is that when I go to the actual DeWalt website, they actually list a reverse-thread screw for this drill!
I wonder why they did that…maybe to confuse the user into thinking that the screw is not visible, I don’t know.
When I didn’t see a screw, I thought, OMG….how the heck will I get this chuck off now?
I think I did try using a big allen wrench and hitting it several times with no success.
I am going to try using a Metabo drill chuck because it has a 3-Year warranty.
The only problem I might face is that I have a big masonry bit stuck in the chuck that won’t come out because the clutches or gears inside the chuck seem to be “stripped out”. When I try to hold the chuck and “bump it with the trigger a bit” to loosen the chuck, the chuck remains stationary while the motor shaft still turns. I might try to knock the end of the drill bit with a hammer to see if I can work it loose but since the inside of the chuck seems to be stripped, knocking it with a hammer and an allen wrench will be completely useless.
It might be time to break out the Dremel tool with the tiny cut-off wheels. Maybe I can cut it off carefully until I get close to the threads and then carefully split the rest of it until it breaks free. I would appreciate any feedback on this in case anyone else has experienced this same issue.
I’m new to the discussion here but I have actually worked in about twelve different trades before I retired.
Thank you for your time and any response.
Tall Tiger in Texas
Good day I have a dewalt cordless drill DCD996 I have lost the jaws in the chuck please can you explain how I can replace the chuck thank you .
How not to remove the chuck of DeWalt DCD796
How to remove the chuck of DeWalt DCD796
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjK-MHnxohk
The only way, I found, was to carefully cut the old poorly chuck off. Using a thin slitting disc on my trusty 5″ angle grinder.
Firstly cutting off the outer sleeves, then removing the jaws then cutting downwards, so I could grip with an adjustable spanner.
I had to cut close to the thread to weaken the bind on one side but then it more or less fell off.
Doing it this way doesn’t damage the brake or any other workings. You just need to cut a slither off at a time and be patient 😜
New chuck fitted with lock tight.
It took me a hour.
DeWALT is getting greedy and in a very unfair and not customer friendly way. These are not household drills, so they should let people know at least that they designed a “disposable” drill, because when it comes to chuck removal, actually you have to change buy the whole armature (chuck+clutch+gearbox+switch) you can bet that is gonna cost you nearly to the price of a brand new drill. And if you add the cost or time that you spending for the hassle,.. Its just not worth it. And yeah, chucks could be easily go wrong in certain ways. From misuse to dust, drop from height etc. Until know the only it was like a 10-15 minutes to replace it, even a better chuck if you wanted to. Shame on you DeWALT, its a very thoughtful planned obsolescence, and i can not see any other reason in this design at all.
I recently switched from my panasonic drill that I’ve been using for more than 20 years. I debated between Dewalt and Milwaukee. I bought the DCD7976 hammer drill in September. I regret my choice. The chuck SUCKS, it doesn’t stay tight. It loosens up while I’m on a ladder and the bit or driver goes flying. I tried to change the chuck but it doesn’t come off. I brought it to the dewalt service center they couldn’t get it off either. They would change the whole gear pack but that would have the same bad chuck. Have any suggestions?