On 18 Apr 2005 09:16:45 -0700, "Alan"
wrote:

Hi,

Having repaired power tools for many years, it is probably not the
brushes - it is far far more likely that the drill is burnt out
(insulation between the windings has broken down due to excessive heat)
It takes a lot of use to wear brushes down but it does happen.

Well, there's probaby 1/4 of the original brush length left.

If you need to compress the springs to get the brushes into place then
it isn't the brushes.

Yes, they do need compressing although the pressure isn't very much.

That said, brushes are pretty cheap and worth a try. You should be able
to get them from your local friendly power tool sales/repair place. In
fact, if you took it in to them they should be able to tell you within
2 seconds of plugging it in what the problem is.

I'm going to measure the resistance of the windings. What sort of
resistance should I expect between opposite commutator segments?