Pre-Fuel Impact Repair

As you know, I junked my pre-fuel impact a couple weeks ago when I dropped it off my dad’s roof onto the concrete. With a shiny new Fuel to replace it, I planned on throwing the old one away. Then my OCD took over and having nothing to lose, I knew I had to attempt to fix it.

When I popped the back cover off I quickly noticed that one of the brush card springs was unseated leaving one of the brushes not in contact with the motor. I fixed that and thought “can it really be that easy?” The answer is no, it can’t. On the bright side, I have plenty of brush life left.

Looking over everything I couldn’t find any loose of broken connections, or any other visible damage, which left me scratching my head. Needless to say I started complete disassembly.

When I took the motor out I believe I discovered the problem. One of the service field magnets was broken and left several pieces scattered inside. I removed the service field and cleaned out all the pieces.

I went searching online, and while I couldn’t find just the magnet, I did find the whole service field assembly on eReplacement parts in stock for $16.99. I ordered it promptly. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll either have an old beater impact for shitty jobs, or be out $17.

I’ll keep you posted.

Cool! 🙂  I will be anxious to see how this turns out.

I thought maybe the shaft was bent or something, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Hope it dont become a 17$ paperweight(assembly)

I would think the 17 dollar gamble is worth it…….

Dude keep us updated!

I was really impressed with the selection eReplacement parts had available. They even carry the body and stickers.

They have a ton of other tools as well and claim to be Genuine Milwaukee parts.

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/milwaukee-parts-c-131.html?gclid=CPTuqIH_sb4CFRJnOgodwVgApw

I just look at the prices for most of the replacement parts for a M18 Fuel hammer drill. Except for a new case if it breaks that way it really does not make sense to repair anything else your not that far off from buying a new bare tool when you factor in your time shipping and the cost of the part. In conductors case it makes sense as the part isn’t too expensive and he wants to take the time and fix it, so it adds up to be a good deal. Other repairs I’m not so sure.

If it gets fixed it’s not bad for $17 bucks.

A recon’d one is like $59 @ CPO. I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on anything over half that price.

For me it’s really more the enjoyment of tinkering with it. I’ll have $17 worth of fun, and it’ll make for a mildly interesting thread.

i think your on the right track and will get that gun fixed. even if it never works again, your learning something! but when it does work, your going to fell like a king.

Well, after a little trial and error, operation impact repair was a complete success.

The part arrived today and as advertised, it was an OEM part.



The parts in play are relatively simple. The top end of the gun consist of 5 components. The brush card is the only wired component and it is not nessecery to remove it.






The service field magnets are very strong. It just slides over the motor, but as I’d find out later, it tends to try to pull itself back against the fan.



Once I got everything in and pulled the trigger, it sounded like a North Korean Helicopter trying to take off. The magnet was so strong it was pulling itself out of position before I could get the other part of the handle on. After my second failure, I was ready to toss it, but I gave it another shot and finally managed to get it right the 3rd time.



Needless to say, alignment is extremely important. Ultimately, I was successful and for under $20 the tool was saved. Some environmental asshole somewhere can rest easy tonight. I love the new Fuel model, but I’m happy I was able to fix the old one. Partly because I was able to pull off the repair, and partly because I won’t have to crawl around in the dirt under the house and shit with my shiny new Fuel.

When I was done with that, I cleaned and serviced Mrs. Conductor’s Kirby Sentria, and repaired a like new G6 I got for free because they lady that had it didn’t want to pay to fix it. Fair enough, but Conductor is plenty capable of Kirby repair, especially something simple like a transmission belt coming loose. Now we have a Kirby for each floor. I couldn’t believe they gave away a BARELY used $1200 sweeper over what took 30 minutes to repair 😆

Wish I could find a deal like that even though I’m not a big Kirby vacuum fan they weigh too dang much 🙂 It’s nice you were able to fix your broken tool conductor I’m trying to figure out what to do with my Ryobi blower. I hate to toss something out for as simple as a broken plastic impeller, but they don’t provide really and internal parts they just sell external accessories. I think I mentioned that before in another post. I like the idea of having a tool that you don’t mind beating on. Don’t treat it like crap either but I like to keep my tools looking nice and nearly new. Dang Chase Rogers totally missed Conductor joining the fuel family.

Kirby’s are the best sweeper you can buy these days. They are a little heavy, but that’s because they still build them with metal parts worth fixing instead of plastic junk.

I can take a Kirby apart, service it, and have it back up and running in an hour. Most vacs today aren’t even worth fixing. You can also send it in for a compete refurb any time, as many times as you like, for like $175.

I like things that are worth my effort to fix.

Good job on the fix conductor

Conductor562 wrote:

Some environmental asshole somewhere can rest easy tonight.

Nice work conductor. Not too many things more rewarding than taking something broken and useless and having the skills to make it work again….

Thanks for all the info conductor, a great step by step review. It is good to know the parts are easy to lay your hands on. 

Wow….cool!  I am glad you got it working again…..amazing that a fall off a roof didnt bend anything to the point that it was broken permanently! $17 would be cheaper than the eBay fees just to sell the broken one & ship it.

Conductor562 wrote:

A recon’d one is like $59 @ CPO. I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on anything over half that price.

For me it’s really more the enjoyment of tinkering with it. I’ll have $17 worth of fun, and it’ll make for a mildly interesting thread.

You COULD have pulled the trigger but, it still wouldn’t have worked! Lol

KRK wrote:

You COULD have pulled the trigger but, it still wouldn’t have worked! Lol

😆 Very true