In the intro picture you can see my broken drill chuck. Real bummer. This is a portable Bosch Drill
I was able to get my chuck off, but never could figure out how to disassemble it further to remove and replace the retaining ring. One member of the forum told me that with some drill chucks you can change the retaining ring out and reinstall the jaws properly. So, you might want to try this first. I decided to pick up a Ryobi 1/2″ Double Sleeve Keyless Chuck
So armed with all my newfound knowledge, I thought I would capture some pics of the steps I took to repair my Bosch portable drill. Note that if you have a different model drill, you might want to do further research for disassembly and repair. This is a 1/2 inch keyless chuck. No guarantees that what I show you here will work exactly the same way with your drill. So do the research and good luck!
SAFETY FIRST – One more thing to remember. Make sure you remove any fresh batteries from your drill before doing any of these steps. I show one picture with the battery still attached, but this is a completely drained battery.
First,I retracted the chuck jaws all the way back to expose the set screw. I know – it’s hard to see in the picture above. I had to use a flashlight to see what kind of screwdriver or wrench was needed. Mine took an Allen wrench. And it’s left-handed threads, so I turned the screw clockwise to loosen. Take the set screw out of the chuck.
Next, take the biggest Allen wrench you have and place the shortest end into the drill chuck. Tighten it down. So the long part of the Allen wrench should be perpendicular to the axis of the drill.
Now, hold the drill down on a solid surface with your left hand. Stick the Allen wrench over the edge as shown in the pictures. Take a hammer in the right hand and strike the long end of the Allen wrench with a firm blow. This will turn the chuck counter clockwise and should loosen it from the drill. Note that you should adjust your drill to a low gear or drilling setting for this step.
Also, make sure you remove the battery for all these steps. I show the battery in place for some of these pictures, but this particular battery was completely drained so it posed no safety hazards.
The above picture shows what it looks like with the chuck removed.
I attempted to disassemble the chuck further to get to the retaining ring. I thought I would order a new retaining ring and replace it. But I could’t figure out how to get to it (see photo above). In the interest of time, I decided to pick up a Ryobi replacement chuck that afternoon from my local Home Depot. Only $20.
I decided to save the old chuck and will continue to tinker with it. If I can eventually fix it, then I’ll have another backup chuck if this new one ever fails.
This photo shows the new and old chuck side by side. Lower left is the new, replacement chuck made by Ryobi.
Simply screw the new chuck back onto the drill. Put your set screw back in place. I had to remember to tighten the set screw by turning counter clockwise.
Now I’m back in business. I can start making some birdhouses for the spring and work on some pen projects. I hope this little tutorial was helpful. Again, make sure you do the additional research for your drill to make sure you replace your chuck correctly. Until this happened to me, I didn’t even know you could replace the chuck. I’m glad I was able to learn this process because it helped me save probably a $100 or more for replacing the whole drill.
Thanks again to all my forum friends and their helpful guidance and advice!
