Drill Press Repair

I found this Ryobi drill press in a dumpster at an industrial complex that I work in. I have a small shop in the garage of my house, and I was actually shopping around for a cheap drill press. So, this was a happy surprise. I have some experience repairing tools and was confident that I could get this thing up and running in no time.

Soldering iron

7/16 wrench

Allen wrench set

Philip screwdriver

The mechanical movement seemed to be perfect. The spindle spun, the drill chuck would lock, table had full movement. So, the next thing to do was test the electronics. I plugged it in and see if it was working at all, who knows, I might have gotten lucky and pulled a fully working one. After plugging it in and flipping the switch, nothing happened. No noise, no lights, nothing. Drill presses are fairly simple tools, there is not a whole lot of things that can go wrong with it.

My ideas for what could be wrong:

• Blown fuse

• Broken switch

• Bad starting capacitor

This Ryobi Drill Press has an AC motor, which means that it uses a starting capacitor to deliver enough power to get the motor to start spinning. once the motor starts spinning it is able to continue under its own power.

I was doubtful that this was the issue because, I read if it was, at start up there would be a loud buzz which I didn't hear. And you could still get the motor turning, if the spindle was quickly spun at startup.

However, it would be the quickest and easiest fix of all the ideas. So, it was the one that I tested first.

The starter capacitor is held behind a metal plate on the back of the motor. I used a Philips head to remove the plate to get to it. Then shorted out the capacitor to be safe and removed it. I then tested the capacitance with a multimeter. No surprise there, it tested out fine.

I started by removing the plastic hood, revealing the belt and pulleys. In order to get to the screws that hold the switch panel in place, the pulleys need to be removed. Each pulley is held in with one locking screw. Using a small Allen, I removed the screws and slid the pulleys up and out. I then removed the screws that held the switch panel in place. After pulling it out I was able to see that everything was wired correctly, so I set the multimeter for continuity to test that the switch was working properly. It tested out fine which meant that the problem was with the motor itself.

As far as repairs go, replacing a fuse has to be one of the most common/simplest fixes. This fuse was rated at 130C or 266F. When I found this drill press, the temperature was jumping around 100F for the hole week. What I think must have happened is, the drill press was being heavily used in a hot room and blew the fuse. It's an old cheap Ryobi drill press so, instead of fixing it, it was easier to just throw it away and replace it.

I was not able to get a fuse rated at 130C quickly. So instead, I found one rated at 133C or 271.4F. Which I figured was close enough, and it only cost me about $1.50. Once it arrived, I soldered it in place of the old fuse, slid some heat shrink tubing over it, tucked it away all nice and neat, and called it good.

Frist thing is re-screwing the metal plate back onto the motor. Then sliding the motor back into to the drill press and twisting on the locking nuts. At this point I thought it was a good idea to clean off all the dirt and grime that has built up on it over the last, however many years. Just put a little alcohol on a rag and started scrubbing. Next came the two pulleys, they just slide on. the larger one in towards the front of the unit and the smaller one towards the rear. put the locking screws back into the pulleys. Then belt is then slid on after that. Pop the hood back on and it is good to go.

Now I just plugged it in and took it for a test drive. It worked perfectly. It plunged down straight and chewed through the wood like butter. This isn't the greatest drill press ever made but, for an investment of just $1.50 and 2 hours, I could not be happier.