New Hitachi Cordless Impact Driver won't work!

milleniumaire

When I got home from work today my new Hitachi WH10DL cordless impact driver had been delivered and I immediately opened the box and case, slotted the battery in and pressed the trigger. Nothing! Zilch! Nadda. Thought the battery must be dead, so tried the other battery. The same thing - nothing, not even a slight buzz as if it wanted to turn on!

Checked all over the tool to ensure there wasn't an on/off button, then decided both batteries must be dead, so plugged the charger into the mains and inserted one of the batteries. The battery charger light went on and then a few seconds later turned off and stayed off. Now according to the instructions, when the battery is fully charged the charger light turns off! Tried the other battery but got exactly the same result.

So, I can't get either battery to work the tool and it appears that neither battery will charge.

Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone have this impact driver and can confirm it appears to be dead and I should return it. I will of course phone the company I bought it from first thing in the morning, but this isn't what I expected from a company like Hitachi!

PS. I apologise for already posting this in the General Discussion forum, but then found this tools forum which I though would be more relevant.

STL B.

I've seen batteries that come with plastic covers over the contacts, though all I've seen wouldnt allow you to install the batt. into the tool. Box it up and sent it back

milleniumaire

Contacted the supplier and after a few questions to confirm it was dead, they arranged for Hitachi to drop off a replacement and collect the broken driver. This was done the day after making the call (Friday) and I now have a working impact driver, and can confirm I'm very pleased with it. It does the job I've failed to do with a manual screwdriver, a drill + screwdriver bit and a manual impact driver - remove screws holding panels into a 4 year old fence. Awesome

When the new driver was delivered, it also wouldn't work with either battery, however the batteries charged without any problem and all was okay, so it is possible the charger of the previous driver was the problem.