My cordless drill is making weird noises and sparking - is it toast?

Hey guys, my 18V cordless drill (brand: PowerPro) has been acting weird lately. When I pull the trigger, it makes this grinding noise like something's loose inside, and sometimes I see little sparks near the battery connection. It also doesn't hold a charge like it used to - dies after like 10 minutes of light use. Tried different batteries, same issue. Is this fixable or should I just bin it and buy a new one? Thanks for any advice!

Sounds like your brushes are shot, OP. That grinding noise plus the sparking is classic brush wear. If it's an older model, might be worth replacing them - usually a $15-20 fix if you're handy. But if the motor's damaged from running with bad brushes too long, it could be toast. Check if PowerPro sells brush kits for your model. Pro tip: always keep spare brushes for your frequently used tools!

Betty's right about the brushes, but that battery issue is concerning too. Could be the drill's drawing too much current because of the worn brushes, killing batteries prematurely. I'd open it up and check the armature for scoring - if you see deep grooves, the motor's probably done. If it's just brush dust everywhere, clean it out and replace brushes. If you're not comfortable taking it apart, might be time for an upgrade. Roofing taught me: sometimes it's cheaper to replace than repair.

Ugh, been there! My old drill did the same thing last year - sparking and that awful grinding sound. Tried replacing brushes but turned out the bearing was shot too. Ended up costing me almost as much as a new drill by the time I bought parts and spent hours on it. If it's more than 3-4 years old, I'd say just get a new one. Black Friday sales are coming up, you can score a good deal on a combo kit!

Precision machinist perspective: The sparking at the battery connection suggests possible arcing from poor contact or damaged terminals. Clean the battery contacts on both the drill and batteries with electrical contact cleaner. For the noise: remove the chuck and check the spindle bearings - if they're gritty or loose, that's your grinding source. Brushes are likely culprit too. If the armature commutator is badly worn (deep grooves), it's not worth repairing. Post photos of the internals if you open it up.