Porter Cable 12v Battery Question

[Tom Robb]

Olde model 12v drill on its second set of batteries and now the charger seems to be kaput. (The charger for the other 12v drill is working ok so far which suggests that the charger in question is the problem.)

Does anyone here know if these chargers can be repaired?

Since PC no longer sells this model 8620 I'm going out on a limb and claim that when Cust. Svc. calls back Monday, they'll tell me they're sooo sorry they no longer stock it. But perhaps they'll surprise me. Anyway participating in the throw-it-away culture grinds me down.

Thanks for any help that may be offered.
Tom

[David G]

Tom,

Here's my first thought -- Porter Cable is likely to have a factory service center located in a large town near you. There you will probably find rebuilt versions of the charger in question. Check the yellow pages under "tool repair."

[Tom Robb]

Hi David,
A tool repair place I usually go to, Hartville Hardware (yes, not PC factory svc.), said they can't do it. PC Service is supposed to call me back on Monday. We'll see.
Tom

[JimConlin]

Fret not. You can buy a charger, another drill and a battery or two on Ebay for pretty short money.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTER-CABLE-CORDLESS-DRILL-AN-LIGHT-COMBO-12-VOLT_W0QQitemZ280489246091QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDrill s?hash=item414e763d8b#ht_500wt_1047

[Tom Robb]

That's a thought.
But then I'd have 3 of each counting the one a buddy gave me.
The idea is to have a fresh battery in each (2) drill and one on a charger that works.
Thus, I'd like to try the fixit route if possible.

[StevenBauer]

Tom, this guy fixed a few tools for me and rebuilt some Bosch batteries, too. Very reasonable. Just a one man shop but he really knows what he's doing and might be able to help you:

www.toolworksrepair.com


Steven

[Tom Robb]

Thanks Steve,
I'll give him a call if I can't find a local source.
Tom

[MoMan]

I've become more and more disappointed in Porter-Cable tools. I just sold my 12v PC driver-drill at a yard sale for $12. It was probably 6 years old. The charger indicated that both batteries were caput (which I disclosed to the buyer). Compare that to my Makita 9.6 v drill: I bought it in 1989 and it's still going strong (after replacing the battery a couple of years ago). So I bought a new Makita 12v combo drill/impact driver/light. I love it.

[Tom Robb]

I'm going to try to talk a local guy who repairs whizz-bang electronic gadgets into repairing the charger. We'll see.
I've had the cells in both sets of batteries replaced twice. The economics of the thing disgusts me. I've never had a corded drill fail and in the event that they might, there're people around who will fix them.