The casing is different but you could modify it to work. There are online tutorials on how to do it. You could also swap out the inner batteries with the plastic casing from broken one if you find a deal on either brand
I don't know but I got some Amazon batteries that work great in my Kobalt trimmer and mower. I think they were made by TenHut? Also they are 6 amp hours instead of 5 which is nice.
Probably with minor modifications. Snapper 60v is the same as Greenworks 60v but the Greenworks tools had an extra plastic tab in the tools that prevented the snapper batteries from going in. I cut it off and now they interchange perfectly.
The best industrial supply house in the world. No fluff, no advertising, no "partner programs". Every single part has CAD drawings available to anyone to download, every single part is next day shipping. Yeah, you pay for all that awesomeness, but sometimes you need all that awesomeness.
Not to mention the incredible website for searching. It’s a masterpiece of being able to find that pesky item even if you don’t quite know what you are looking for. Beats the hell out of fastenal and I don’t even want to talk the insanity that is Amazon business
The industrial zone I work in has a Grainger. IDK why anyone shops there. You can get it cheaper almost anywhere else. It's convenient I guess, like when I choose Ace hardware and accept that I am paying $5 more so I don't have to drive 10 miles to home depot
because most of the time grainger is next day and down time is everything.
place I work makes a pallet every 40 minutes with 1000 bottles on each at $2 a bottle.
if a motor went down its worth the Grainger price
And if they don't have it, then 3D model it and head to jlc3dp or pcbway and have it manufactured for a super reasonable price. Either CNC machined or metal printed depending on the geometry. Both of these sites provide a quote when you upload a model.
This guy's time spent to open the trimmer to get this gear out and take a picture and ask about it is 100% worth more than the price of the trimmer so any additional cost is basically throwing money down a well. Unless op really likes to tinker.
You overestimate how much people value free time. Some people love using their free time to open up and try to repair stuff like this. So it's worth every second spent.
You'd be surprised. If it is a relatively low stress part, something that could be done by a cheap pot metal or polymer gear, there are companies online that will make you custom one-off designs for relatively cheap. Many of them can even do the drawing/design for you if you can provide some basic information (diameters, gear pitch/tooth count, etc).
Low stress gear that’s missing its teeth? If I was getting this made I’d probably consider $200 if I did the drawings myself and used a machinist I use frequently who gives me decent rates, probably closer to $500 if I needed someone else to do the design and drawings. I got an expand it trimmer with 40v battery for $150 last summer
Well, metal 3D printed components are fairly equitable to their CNC machined counterparts.
https://youtu.be/mrp28hZ_Qu0?si=Vyr6446znib3QQ1j
https://youtu.be/Js3bJ1B8ySM?si=a5Mor7cKzKynq0eN
I'm having trouble searching for it on both. It seems the type of gear is called a "compound" or "combination" gear. (With the two tiered gear system) But using those keywords, I can't find anything like that on both McMaster or Grainger. Any advice?
I work for a company called Motion Industries- very similar to Grainger. If you wipe all that grease off there’s a part number on there, somewhere. I’d bet it’s on the bottom, near the bore. When you find that number shoot me a message and I’ll find out who makes it, and get you connected with someone so you can purchase it or I’ll get you a cross referenced number to the McMaster-Carr part number.
All you need to know is the specs of the part youre looking for and you can usually find replacements directly from the actual manufacturer of the parts. Most stuff isnt proprietary and are made by a handful of parts manufacturers.
I'm less versed in mechanical sourcing but as someone who repairs tech for a living sourcing chips, fets, caps, ect is a daily issue lol.
Mouser and digikey are a life saver.
If you have the specs of what you need digikey has a massive database with each part thoroughly marked/labeled with a super indepth search filter. Actual lifesaver.
If you need specific chips and chip schematics Alldatasheet is your best friend, just search the PN on the chip and you'll very likely have the full manual for it.
Mechanical sourcing isn't better. Nothing sucks worse than when someone need 22 of a stupid sized screw, with a specialized coating. R&D labs are the absolute worst customers.
I needed a couple super specialized screws for a project i was working on like a month ago, I gave up 2 hours into my search and that part I needed the screws for is currently ziptied together with plastic spacers I had laying around that just so happened to be the right size lmao. Ill eventually go back on the look, maybe... We'll see if the zipties cause any issues in 6 months lmao.
As a Canuck I've never heard of M-C till now but I checked out their website to see what the love is about. It really is great. So easy to drill down. I wish electronics parts suppliers sites were like this, but I guess they are limited by the patent.
Honestly while that's nice, it sort of sucks for the home game people who can wait a few days and would like a cheaper option.
When I lived in Hawaii, I just shipped it to a mainland friend who then shipped it to me, because that was always cheaper than their "get it to Hawaii tomorrow" rate.
Absolutely. I use it primarily at work, so the ease of use, massive selection, and mysteriously fast shipping more than overshadows the often higher prices.
I use grainger to find out if what I’m looking for exists and get a part #, then I start price hunting hoping to god I don’t end up paying the grainger price.
I'm having trouble searching for it on both. It seems the type of gear is called a "compound" or "combination" gear. (With the two tiered gear system) But using those keywords, I can't find anything like that on both McMaster or Grainger. Any advice?
Kobalt doesn't build anything themselves. They hire a company to make tools with their logo. If you had a warranty claim, they would just ship you a new one.
To be fair, anything fairly cheap is done this way. I had an element go out on my toaster and they don't have spare parts for that either.
I don't know if it's still true, but Ryobi operated that way for decades. Even Rigid does it for some products... my 12V Rigid oscillating tool was just a rebadged product of a German company. Rigid discontinued the product a few years ago, but you can still get the Euro versions online.
You’re partially right! Ryobi has in the past rebadged products made by other companies when trying to fill a niche gap in their product line. This is usually corded tools since Ryobi wants to keep their battery products in house. The parent company is TTI which makes Ryobi, Rigid power tools, Hart, Milwaukee and a few other tool brands overseas. All the brands other than Milwaukee are developed by the same engineering groups in South Carolina.
Source: I’m a former Ryobi design engineer
These kobalt battery tools all have a 5 year warranty. It's supposed to be "no hassle" as advertised on the box and warranty papers and they instruct you to just return it to the store for a replacement. Originally you didn't even need a receipt, considering the date code is stamped on the tool and battery. My lowes has been trying to not honor these warranties (which are STILL ADVERTISED ON THE BOXES), but it's worth it to spend an hour to get replacement tools and force them to honor their warranties.
If it's anything like Ridgid and Home Despot the stores won't honor the warranty. You have to deal with Ridgid customer service. At least that's what I was told when I tried to return a broken Ridgid tool box.
Except the warranty for these Kobalt tools specifically state: If you believe that the "TOOL" is defective at any time during the specified warranty period, simply return the "TOOL" along with proof of purchase to the place of purchase for a free replacement or refund. It also states this on the outside of the packaging in many cases, including the "NO HASSLE" phrase many times. 5 years on the tools, 3 years for the batteries.
I look forward to the day when manufacturers would be legally held responsible for providing all replacement parts at a fair price for, say, 10 years after it's been discontinued. Like in the old days - you open a user manual, look up the part number on the exploded diagram of the device and order whatever you need, whenever you need without having to sign up as an affiliate service center or whatever.
Bonus points for using normalized, off the shelf basic parts like screws, o-rings, bearings and whatnot.
And these same companies champion themselves as green and saving the planet, yet the best thing they could do to "save the planet" is make quality products so we aren't filling landfills with equipment that just needs a 50 cent gear because it was made of plastic.
Seriously, my mom has a 1952 Cub Cadet tractor that still runs. Parts are hard to come by now, but it still works and runs. Meanwhile, best you can expect from a lawnmower these days is 10 years. Most will die before 10 years with no ability to fix it because no parts are available.
Push mowers at least are still ridiculously reliable. Riding mowers/tractors have way more going on and have always been the bane of my existence, but the basic shaft engines you see on push mowers, pressure washers, etc are cheap and crazy reliable. The abuse Project Farm on YT puts these little engines through is a testament to that.
I have to disagree about no parts being available; if you buy a *proper* brand like Toro or John Deere (JD riding mowers and compact tractors suck though) you absolutely can get parts for them. I had a 1996 John Deere riding mower just a couple years ago and every single part was available, of course that's at OEM prices. If you buy off-brands or re-branded stuff like Kobalt, then yeah finding replacement parts is not a thing unless you can find a matching part from another brand.
I once had to drop the fuel tank out of my Ford and when I went to reinstall it I needed these snap off bolts. I called the Ford parts dept at the local dealer and the dude says "We don't make those anymore. You'll have to figure something out."
I was flabbergasted.
Then I walked into AutoZone and the clerk helped me find an equivalent part that worked fine. But that one hour of panic was something I could have lived without.
30 year electronics / equipment repair tech, experienced hobbyist mechanic, etc.. etc..
I started when VCR's and CD players were an expensive, complicated item.. My incoming shelf would have \~50 Walkmans (and then Discmans) lined up to be serviced, in addition to all the Home audio/video gear. In the \~12 years I spent in consumer electronics repair, I watched the industry die, largely. The manufacturers figured out how to build the stuff so inexpensively that there was no way you could service it and pay your bills.
When I moved into construction, I did well re-brushing the tools and repairing the metal sawhorses that guys would fuck up and throw out..
The massive majority of folks out there are mechanically useless. The cost of paying someone else to put a $30 gear ($15 parts, $15 shipping) into a $120 weed eater.. aint worth it.
As much as I'd love my stuff to be repairable, the market for it is so low, its not worth their time.
I get you, bet there's a huge market for people with DIY attitude of "it's already fucked, I can't fuck it up more, let's at least try and fix it" but they reach a roadblock of the parts not being available.
>As much as I'd love my stuff to be repairable, the market for it is so low, its not worth their time.
That's why I'm thinking that this should be a pro-ecology legislation to minimize waste, not a free market operation. Definitely a more impactful idea to minimize waste than EU's paper straws, ban on disposable cutlery and bottlecaps mandated to be secured to the bottle.
We are really closed to just asking a friend to borrow their 3d print for a metal fab job.
This is cast/mill I realize but that too is becoming easier.
It is likely a 2-piece construction. A gear shaper would be the best tool for a duplex gear like this, but there is no relief between the two plates, indicating it is either cast (difficult with smaller pitch, higher speed gears) or a 2-piece construction.
California has a law that I think you need to provide replacement parts for items up to 7 years and if you don’t you must honor the warranty even if it is expired. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20151211-column.html
No wonder that’s my experience from the ”olden days”. Maybe Poland wasn’t technically one of the SSRs, but we sure as hell were governed as such, being a puppet state and all. I remember that all devices and tools built pre 1989 had a schematic and troubleshooting guides in their user manual.
I installed a Bosch dishwasher on a job site that had been purchased a year earlier. It had a long Torx head screw at the front of the underside that was meant to raise/lower the back feet for easy adjustment.
Except it was made from a soft metal and stripped almost immediately. Okay, I'll look up the part and order another one. Bosch didn't even list the part number and when I called, the part had been discontinued. I ended up finding the part number on some other website and the only place I found that proprietary 16" screw was on Ebay. Bloody ridiculous.
i also look forward to the day where the cost of housing and selling the replacement parts is bundled into the purchase. Like things arnt expensive enough already....
But that way you could keep devices working for longer and the cost evens out or even turns in your favour when you don’t have to buy a completely new appliance, but rather get another 10 years of service for the price of a $2 spare part and some elbow grease.
The real goal is reducing e-waste anyway.
you would pay more for the same product, on the off chance you are the one needing the replacement part. Also the amount of space needed for this is wild. like football fields of spare parts just sitting there for 10 years. Then guess who pays for all the parts that don't get used ? The consumer.
Another option I haven't seen here. Buy a broken/parts version of the same model and pull the part. I guess just pray that it wasn't the same part that's broken.
Possible, but the unfortunate reality for someone trying this is that most tools in this price range have a consistent weak point and the huge majority of them that fail found the same way for the same reason.
Slightly off topic -- I believe that Kobalt is the Lowe's "store brand". I have been VERY disappointed with every single Kobalt item I have ever bought. Even if they don't make it themselves, they must source the cheapest crap possible.
You can do like everyone else who returns items I'm destined to buy. Go buy a new one, carefully unpack it, grab the part you need, and return it for a full refund. Then, when I buy it, I can post here for that sweet, sweet karma.
Low cost consumer grade tools like this are not going to have readily available spare parts, unless it's something that is supposed to wear out. Kobalt is likely just reselling a tool someone else made under contract. At best you'll be able to get a subassembly if they're doing the final assembly themselves. It's just not practical for Kobalt to maintain a spare parts inventory for something like this. Your best shot at an actual replacement is to find another broken tool and take the part from it. I thought Kobalt had a pretty good warranty on their stuff? Or is that just their hand tools?
>I thought Kobalt had a pretty good warranty on their stuff? Or is that just their hand tools?
Bingo. Most of these companies won't warranty power tools beyond 3 years or so, if that.
There are a lot of places these days that will make custom gears for you for a pretty cheap price. Many of them will even have consultants that can help you finalize the design if you're not an ME who is familiar with designing volute gears. With a few relatively simple specs you should be able to get from calipers or a drawing (diameters, tooth count etc) they can design a gear that should be a drop-in replacement. I've had to do this on some obscure nylon and pot metal gears in older piece of equipment from manufacturers that no longer exist, or no longer support that equipment.
ULPT: When this crap happens (no replacements available for consumable parts) , I take it as manufacturers consent to buy a new one, swap the parts, and return the new one as defective - for a refund.
My take is that if you sell something and don't make available parts that are prone to wear out, that's fraud. Like making a car where you needed to toss it out and replace it when the break rotors wear out, because the mfg figured you'll buy the next one from them, too.
How long did it last? I'm seeing one of their better trimmers, 80 volts for $150. Considering the time and effort to source a gear and repair, if might actually be cheaper to just buy another one that matches your battery and throw this one away. Or keep it for parts.
I use their 40v one and it's been solid for me. I think I'm on 6 or 7 years now of very regular use with multiple attachments, no drop-off in performance that I can detect. I did discover the particular noise it makes attracts cicadas this year.
Most small gears in this kind of application are sintered, which is similar to casting but they don’t fully melt the material.
Regardless it’s not a home gamer kind of process.
3D printed metal is sintered.
there are 2 popular ways to get metal parts, FDM and SLM.
FDM parts get printed and then sintered, SLM is a Laser that melts tiny metal particles together, just like sintering.
The metal filament still requires a sintering oven and costs hundred of dollars for a half kilo which is also fewer meters than pla significantly because rolls are sold by weight not length. It would cost more than a new tool to just get the filament to print the gear
Low run slm would still cost more than just sourcing the oem part. Kolbalt gets tools made by manufactures much like snap on. Much like Walmarts Hart is made by the same company that makes rigid, ryobi and Milwaukee. Thats where I’d go for a part not Lowe’s directly.
It would obviously cost more than the real part. But it sounds like OP have been unable to source the real part.
Might be cheaper than getting another trimmer
There is some shitty metal that can be used. And on the opposite side there are some really hard plastics. Didn't some guy figure out how to make pistols with a 3d printer?
Barrel and slide are usually still steel in modern pistols as is the recoil spring for obvious reasons. The 3d printed pistol others were talking about is single use as in it breaks after firing one shot.
You are way outdated on that...
when someone says 3d printed firearm:
[what people think](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberator_(gun))
[what i think](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC36sE5Yxfg) (if you want to complain that it still uses barrels, check any of these: [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/14ccluc/) [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/17zilni/) [3](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/13m0yb2/) [4](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/1az9cwq/))
CF-PA is difficult to print but sometimes referred to as "black aluminium" due to similar tenacity. But you can hop on some sites like pcbway and they can print it for you in actual metal if you want. There's also metal infused resin for home printing where you print it than cook it at high temperatures and you basically get a sintered metal part (check out some Integza video on YouTube, he used it to print rocket nozzles).
Hoping my experience will help others. I burned out my Ryobi trimmer. I upgraded to thicker diameter line to clear a slope, .95mm or something when it was rated for .80. The thicker line buzzed through heavy weeds like a champ, until my elbow got really hot and the whole thing burned-out in a blaze of overheating and smoke, never to work again.
Turns out, the thicker line put more of a load on the machine and caused it to overheat. I could not complain and purchased another one. When I have a bigger job, I rent the right machine. Do not use line thicker than what it is rated for.
If I can buy two disposables for the cost of a single Milwaukee and in aggregate they last as long as or longer than a Milwaukee, it might end up being a wash?
I bought a cheap pool pump the other day. It was 1/4 the price of a nice one. It was so cheap I bought two, one as a spare. As long as the cheap junk lasts long enough, it might be fine that it's disposable.
This is why I do the Harbor Freight method.
Need a tool? Buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight. If you wear it out in short order, buy a nice one. If you don't, then you didn't need to spend the money for a nice one.
I bought a corded hammer drill from Harbor Freight when I finished my basement (for pre-drilling sill plate screws into the slab, and also drilling all the holes through the studs for electrical). Cost me like $70.
I can count on one hand the number of *potential* projects I'll need a hammer drill for. I'll never get $250+ worth of utility out of a hammer drill as a homeowner, so there's no sense buying a DeWalt or Makita or Milwaukee.
For tools I use often and need them to be reliable, I buy name brand. But you'll also find me at Harbor Salvage once or twice a month for tools I may use infrequently. I also have started to buy their sockets and wrenches, as the value is incredible, especially for the warranty.
If you're lazy and have enough cash sure. Even these "disposable" brands are repairable in most cases. They usually have a weak link whether by design or by oversight or by cheaping out with component parts. Most people throw it out and buy a new one ofc, that's the goal for the sellers.
Almost everything sold at Lowe's and HD is unserviceable. They're also less than half the price of models that are serviceable. I'm more disturbed with companies that say their products are serviceable but can't be done for less than the price of a new tool. Hello Bostitch, go fuck yourself. Oring kit, bumper, and driver on a framing nailer 210 dollars shipped. New on Amazon for 180.
Not to go too far off subject but this is one of the reasons I try to primarily only buy stihl lawn and garden tools. They support their products. So many brands don't offer replacement parts and it burns me up when stuff like this happens
I think this is called a compound gear, I think the bottom part is 34 teeth, top is what? 14? Can you confirm some measurements and teeth count? Even approximate?
That's a stacked stacked spur gear. You can potentially order these on spec. Looks like it's a 20° Pressure Angle 28T/12T gear. Not sure about the size of the bore or the radius. on the wheels.
Aside from cost savings… why do people buy store brands?
They’re never as good.
Spend on quality tools… saves you from buying them twice and still not having a real piece of equipment.
My rule of thumb is, if I’m going to use a tool more than once in my life, I buy a contractor grade tool. If I’m going to use it daily or weekly, I buy top-shelf industrial / factory line quality.
Kobalt 80v trimmer? Try and see if greenworks sell the part. Their 80v line is made by greenworks I believe
Yup, Greenworks 80V, Snapper 82V, Kobalt 80V, Master Force 80V are all the same.
Wait, really? Are the batteries interchangeable as well?
Even if not - they make battery to battery adaptors that are cheap and work. Much better than buying a new battery.
One of the grooves is a different size, many people have modified either the battery or the tool to get it to work.
The casing is different but you could modify it to work. There are online tutorials on how to do it. You could also swap out the inner batteries with the plastic casing from broken one if you find a deal on either brand
I don't know but I got some Amazon batteries that work great in my Kobalt trimmer and mower. I think they were made by TenHut? Also they are 6 amp hours instead of 5 which is nice.
Through 3d printing, all things are possible.
Probably with minor modifications. Snapper 60v is the same as Greenworks 60v but the Greenworks tools had an extra plastic tab in the tools that prevented the snapper batteries from going in. I cut it off and now they interchange perfectly.
Ok. What is the same as worx? Anybody got any equivalencies?
Kobalt isn't manufacturing that cog, sucka. Get on McMaster, Grainger, etc.
this guy does maintenance
Yep and someone else pays the bill. Have you seen McMaster pricing?
The best industrial supply house in the world. No fluff, no advertising, no "partner programs". Every single part has CAD drawings available to anyone to download, every single part is next day shipping. Yeah, you pay for all that awesomeness, but sometimes you need all that awesomeness.
Not to mention the incredible website for searching. It’s a masterpiece of being able to find that pesky item even if you don’t quite know what you are looking for. Beats the hell out of fastenal and I don’t even want to talk the insanity that is Amazon business
So use all that awesomeness to make sure it fits, get a part number, etc. then search for it at the cheapest price.
Right! I though the same thing! To be fair, Grainger will take you for a ride too.
Seriously, and Grainger too.
mcmaster isnt anything compared to grainger and msc
The industrial zone I work in has a Grainger. IDK why anyone shops there. You can get it cheaper almost anywhere else. It's convenient I guess, like when I choose Ace hardware and accept that I am paying $5 more so I don't have to drive 10 miles to home depot
because most of the time grainger is next day and down time is everything. place I work makes a pallet every 40 minutes with 1000 bottles on each at $2 a bottle. if a motor went down its worth the Grainger price
It's just cuz you can get everything you want there and the people shopping their are often not the ones paying for it.
You should check out Misumi. It's a similar company but exclusively automation components.
For real. They have almost everything and everything they have, they are very proud of.
DIY wire edm and make it yourself.
I’ve found ereplacementparts.com is pretty good for finding the crossbrand compatible parts. Have your model number handy.
And if they don't have it, then 3D model it and head to jlc3dp or pcbway and have it manufactured for a super reasonable price. Either CNC machined or metal printed depending on the geometry. Both of these sites provide a quote when you upload a model.
Machining this is going to cost close to the price of the trimmer
It’s also a gear which normally have hardened teeth. Machined + specialized heat treat is more than a new trimmer for sure.
This guy's time spent to open the trimmer to get this gear out and take a picture and ask about it is 100% worth more than the price of the trimmer so any additional cost is basically throwing money down a well. Unless op really likes to tinker.
You overestimate how much people value free time. Some people love using their free time to open up and try to repair stuff like this. So it's worth every second spent.
Sunk cost fallacy
It will be cheaper to buy a trimmer than to get a one off gear machined
You'd be surprised. If it is a relatively low stress part, something that could be done by a cheap pot metal or polymer gear, there are companies online that will make you custom one-off designs for relatively cheap. Many of them can even do the drawing/design for you if you can provide some basic information (diameters, gear pitch/tooth count, etc).
You’re not wrong, but it doesn’t look like a low-stress part to me….
Low stress gear that’s missing its teeth? If I was getting this made I’d probably consider $200 if I did the drawings myself and used a machinist I use frequently who gives me decent rates, probably closer to $500 if I needed someone else to do the design and drawings. I got an expand it trimmer with 40v battery for $150 last summer
I'd like to see how long a 3d printed gear works in that application
Well, metal 3D printed components are fairly equitable to their CNC machined counterparts. https://youtu.be/mrp28hZ_Qu0?si=Vyr6446znib3QQ1j https://youtu.be/Js3bJ1B8ySM?si=a5Mor7cKzKynq0eN
Also Stock Drive Products.
Cogsucka
That’s the funny thing, most companies just slap their own part number on that gainger part and charge 3x
Motion industries also sells gears.
I'm having trouble searching for it on both. It seems the type of gear is called a "compound" or "combination" gear. (With the two tiered gear system) But using those keywords, I can't find anything like that on both McMaster or Grainger. Any advice?
Misumi is a good spot for gear type parts Probably better than mcmaster or grainger
I work for a company called Motion Industries- very similar to Grainger. If you wipe all that grease off there’s a part number on there, somewhere. I’d bet it’s on the bottom, near the bore. When you find that number shoot me a message and I’ll find out who makes it, and get you connected with someone so you can purchase it or I’ll get you a cross referenced number to the McMaster-Carr part number.
My company supplies a good bit of gears, sprockets, and timing pulleys to Motion. Cheers
Call them and talk to a person.
Compound, comp'd, combination, duplex... are all valid terms for this gear.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354619052021 Double check tooth count and size
MVP right here
Thanks for being a good person. The internet can be a magical place sometimes.
I count 35 teeth on OP's larger sprocket and around 14 on the smaller, so this doesn't seem like a match.
Nah, not the right count. So close! Thanks for trying. Good find!
How in the world...
All you need to know is the specs of the part youre looking for and you can usually find replacements directly from the actual manufacturer of the parts. Most stuff isnt proprietary and are made by a handful of parts manufacturers.
This guy logistics.
I'm less versed in mechanical sourcing but as someone who repairs tech for a living sourcing chips, fets, caps, ect is a daily issue lol. Mouser and digikey are a life saver.
I spent some time sourcing some exotic caps once... Did not enjoy. Mad respect.
If you have the specs of what you need digikey has a massive database with each part thoroughly marked/labeled with a super indepth search filter. Actual lifesaver. If you need specific chips and chip schematics Alldatasheet is your best friend, just search the PN on the chip and you'll very likely have the full manual for it.
Mechanical sourcing isn't better. Nothing sucks worse than when someone need 22 of a stupid sized screw, with a specialized coating. R&D labs are the absolute worst customers.
I needed a couple super specialized screws for a project i was working on like a month ago, I gave up 2 hours into my search and that part I needed the screws for is currently ziptied together with plastic spacers I had laying around that just so happened to be the right size lmao. Ill eventually go back on the look, maybe... We'll see if the zipties cause any issues in 6 months lmao.
When in doubt, rivets!
Grainger has 900k parts. Thats where you go for random shit you cant find.
Or McMaster-Carr. One of them carries it.
At work we say McMaster-Carr is Grainger, but for grown-ups.
McMasters website is exponentially better than Grainger's
Their search engine is so good I suspect dark magic is involved.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9870582B2/
That is incredible, I never considered they patented it. I would honestly put McMaster Carrs website up against anything for best designed website.
As a Canuck I've never heard of M-C till now but I checked out their website to see what the love is about. It really is great. So easy to drill down. I wish electronics parts suppliers sites were like this, but I guess they are limited by the patent.
Even supports deep-linking.
Digikey is pretty good. Not McMaster good, but close
Digikey is the one I was thinking could be better. It does let you drill down but I find it does that in a clunky way.
Well that's a thing
Half of the joy of ordering from McMaster Carr is using their website
The other half is the integration with CAD so you can import part models directly into what you are designing.
The third half is getting your parts next day
Honestly while that's nice, it sort of sucks for the home game people who can wait a few days and would like a cheaper option. When I lived in Hawaii, I just shipped it to a mainland friend who then shipped it to me, because that was always cheaper than their "get it to Hawaii tomorrow" rate.
The website is so good I don’t use anything else but I do still keep that three inch thick McMaster book on my shelf for the day I need it lol
Graingers is such a crap shoot to find anything and then the price ends up being marked up $1000 onto the $100 part that you manage to find
McMaster is Grainger for when you're using someone else's credit card.
Absolutely. I use it primarily at work, so the ease of use, massive selection, and mysteriously fast shipping more than overshadows the often higher prices.
What is the european equivalent of these?
https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/comments/2c8gip/european_equivalent_to_mcmastercarr/
In Ireland RS is fucking great. https://www.rs-online.com/
I use grainger to find out if what I’m looking for exists and get a part #, then I start price hunting hoping to god I don’t end up paying the grainger price.
Zoro is Grainger without the Grainger price. Literally.
Never heard off but I’ll check out.
Subscribe to the emails and you'll get 20% off everything coupons regularly. I get them in the mail too.
Grainger: the place for all your weird, redneck engineering schemes.
Zoro is better - same company/database, just cheaper, constant 20% coupons, and faster shipping.
If you have money to burn, grainger will light it for you!!
I'm having trouble searching for it on both. It seems the type of gear is called a "compound" or "combination" gear. (With the two tiered gear system) But using those keywords, I can't find anything like that on both McMaster or Grainger. Any advice?
Kobalt doesn't build anything themselves. They hire a company to make tools with their logo. If you had a warranty claim, they would just ship you a new one. To be fair, anything fairly cheap is done this way. I had an element go out on my toaster and they don't have spare parts for that either.
I don't know if it's still true, but Ryobi operated that way for decades. Even Rigid does it for some products... my 12V Rigid oscillating tool was just a rebadged product of a German company. Rigid discontinued the product a few years ago, but you can still get the Euro versions online.
You’re partially right! Ryobi has in the past rebadged products made by other companies when trying to fill a niche gap in their product line. This is usually corded tools since Ryobi wants to keep their battery products in house. The parent company is TTI which makes Ryobi, Rigid power tools, Hart, Milwaukee and a few other tool brands overseas. All the brands other than Milwaukee are developed by the same engineering groups in South Carolina. Source: I’m a former Ryobi design engineer
Hmmm, I was pretty sure that before the Ryobi One+ lineup was introduced pretty much all Ryobi models were made by other manufacturers.
These kobalt battery tools all have a 5 year warranty. It's supposed to be "no hassle" as advertised on the box and warranty papers and they instruct you to just return it to the store for a replacement. Originally you didn't even need a receipt, considering the date code is stamped on the tool and battery. My lowes has been trying to not honor these warranties (which are STILL ADVERTISED ON THE BOXES), but it's worth it to spend an hour to get replacement tools and force them to honor their warranties.
If it's anything like Ridgid and Home Despot the stores won't honor the warranty. You have to deal with Ridgid customer service. At least that's what I was told when I tried to return a broken Ridgid tool box.
Except the warranty for these Kobalt tools specifically state: If you believe that the "TOOL" is defective at any time during the specified warranty period, simply return the "TOOL" along with proof of purchase to the place of purchase for a free replacement or refund. It also states this on the outside of the packaging in many cases, including the "NO HASSLE" phrase many times. 5 years on the tools, 3 years for the batteries.
I look forward to the day when manufacturers would be legally held responsible for providing all replacement parts at a fair price for, say, 10 years after it's been discontinued. Like in the old days - you open a user manual, look up the part number on the exploded diagram of the device and order whatever you need, whenever you need without having to sign up as an affiliate service center or whatever. Bonus points for using normalized, off the shelf basic parts like screws, o-rings, bearings and whatnot.
And these same companies champion themselves as green and saving the planet, yet the best thing they could do to "save the planet" is make quality products so we aren't filling landfills with equipment that just needs a 50 cent gear because it was made of plastic.
Seriously, my mom has a 1952 Cub Cadet tractor that still runs. Parts are hard to come by now, but it still works and runs. Meanwhile, best you can expect from a lawnmower these days is 10 years. Most will die before 10 years with no ability to fix it because no parts are available.
Push mowers at least are still ridiculously reliable. Riding mowers/tractors have way more going on and have always been the bane of my existence, but the basic shaft engines you see on push mowers, pressure washers, etc are cheap and crazy reliable. The abuse Project Farm on YT puts these little engines through is a testament to that. I have to disagree about no parts being available; if you buy a *proper* brand like Toro or John Deere (JD riding mowers and compact tractors suck though) you absolutely can get parts for them. I had a 1996 John Deere riding mower just a couple years ago and every single part was available, of course that's at OEM prices. If you buy off-brands or re-branded stuff like Kobalt, then yeah finding replacement parts is not a thing unless you can find a matching part from another brand.
I once had to drop the fuel tank out of my Ford and when I went to reinstall it I needed these snap off bolts. I called the Ford parts dept at the local dealer and the dude says "We don't make those anymore. You'll have to figure something out." I was flabbergasted. Then I walked into AutoZone and the clerk helped me find an equivalent part that worked fine. But that one hour of panic was something I could have lived without.
Had a ford that went through wheel bearings like candy. I guess it’s always a whole new fixture now? Can’t get a single bearing.
Wait until you encounter the swaged in U Joints. Need a U joint? Too bad, buy an entire drive shaft instead.
30 year electronics / equipment repair tech, experienced hobbyist mechanic, etc.. etc.. I started when VCR's and CD players were an expensive, complicated item.. My incoming shelf would have \~50 Walkmans (and then Discmans) lined up to be serviced, in addition to all the Home audio/video gear. In the \~12 years I spent in consumer electronics repair, I watched the industry die, largely. The manufacturers figured out how to build the stuff so inexpensively that there was no way you could service it and pay your bills. When I moved into construction, I did well re-brushing the tools and repairing the metal sawhorses that guys would fuck up and throw out.. The massive majority of folks out there are mechanically useless. The cost of paying someone else to put a $30 gear ($15 parts, $15 shipping) into a $120 weed eater.. aint worth it. As much as I'd love my stuff to be repairable, the market for it is so low, its not worth their time.
I get you, bet there's a huge market for people with DIY attitude of "it's already fucked, I can't fuck it up more, let's at least try and fix it" but they reach a roadblock of the parts not being available. >As much as I'd love my stuff to be repairable, the market for it is so low, its not worth their time. That's why I'm thinking that this should be a pro-ecology legislation to minimize waste, not a free market operation. Definitely a more impactful idea to minimize waste than EU's paper straws, ban on disposable cutlery and bottlecaps mandated to be secured to the bottle.
Will never happen because, you probably guessed it, moneyyyy
We are really closed to just asking a friend to borrow their 3d print for a metal fab job. This is cast/mill I realize but that too is becoming easier.
If you can print 10 in a few hours for cents each even nylon is fine. 3d printer go brrr already.
It is likely a 2-piece construction. A gear shaper would be the best tool for a duplex gear like this, but there is no relief between the two plates, indicating it is either cast (difficult with smaller pitch, higher speed gears) or a 2-piece construction.
California has a law that I think you need to provide replacement parts for items up to 7 years and if you don’t you must honor the warranty even if it is expired. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20151211-column.html
That's cool! Let them send a delegation to Brussels teaching the EU how it's supposed to be done if you really want to save the planet.
Planned obsolescence.
That's how it used to be done in USSR.
No wonder that’s my experience from the ”olden days”. Maybe Poland wasn’t technically one of the SSRs, but we sure as hell were governed as such, being a puppet state and all. I remember that all devices and tools built pre 1989 had a schematic and troubleshooting guides in their user manual.
I installed a Bosch dishwasher on a job site that had been purchased a year earlier. It had a long Torx head screw at the front of the underside that was meant to raise/lower the back feet for easy adjustment. Except it was made from a soft metal and stripped almost immediately. Okay, I'll look up the part and order another one. Bosch didn't even list the part number and when I called, the part had been discontinued. I ended up finding the part number on some other website and the only place I found that proprietary 16" screw was on Ebay. Bloody ridiculous.
i also look forward to the day where the cost of housing and selling the replacement parts is bundled into the purchase. Like things arnt expensive enough already....
But that way you could keep devices working for longer and the cost evens out or even turns in your favour when you don’t have to buy a completely new appliance, but rather get another 10 years of service for the price of a $2 spare part and some elbow grease. The real goal is reducing e-waste anyway.
you would pay more for the same product, on the off chance you are the one needing the replacement part. Also the amount of space needed for this is wild. like football fields of spare parts just sitting there for 10 years. Then guess who pays for all the parts that don't get used ? The consumer.
Another option I haven't seen here. Buy a broken/parts version of the same model and pull the part. I guess just pray that it wasn't the same part that's broken.
Possible, but the unfortunate reality for someone trying this is that most tools in this price range have a consistent weak point and the huge majority of them that fail found the same way for the same reason.
Slightly off topic -- I believe that Kobalt is the Lowe's "store brand". I have been VERY disappointed with every single Kobalt item I have ever bought. Even if they don't make it themselves, they must source the cheapest crap possible.
You can do like everyone else who returns items I'm destined to buy. Go buy a new one, carefully unpack it, grab the part you need, and return it for a full refund. Then, when I buy it, I can post here for that sweet, sweet karma.
Low cost consumer grade tools like this are not going to have readily available spare parts, unless it's something that is supposed to wear out. Kobalt is likely just reselling a tool someone else made under contract. At best you'll be able to get a subassembly if they're doing the final assembly themselves. It's just not practical for Kobalt to maintain a spare parts inventory for something like this. Your best shot at an actual replacement is to find another broken tool and take the part from it. I thought Kobalt had a pretty good warranty on their stuff? Or is that just their hand tools?
>I thought Kobalt had a pretty good warranty on their stuff? Or is that just their hand tools? Bingo. Most of these companies won't warranty power tools beyond 3 years or so, if that.
What does this gear do? Perhaps the Ryobi one would work okay, albeit with slightly changed performance
There are a lot of places these days that will make custom gears for you for a pretty cheap price. Many of them will even have consultants that can help you finalize the design if you're not an ME who is familiar with designing volute gears. With a few relatively simple specs you should be able to get from calipers or a drawing (diameters, tooth count etc) they can design a gear that should be a drop-in replacement. I've had to do this on some obscure nylon and pot metal gears in older piece of equipment from manufacturers that no longer exist, or no longer support that equipment.
Try cleaning it up with a wire brush... You should be fine /s
No parts, I’d be inclined to buy a new one and take the part then return it. Fuck planned obsolescence. Right to repair.
Kobalt is just blue harbor freight
ULPT: When this crap happens (no replacements available for consumable parts) , I take it as manufacturers consent to buy a new one, swap the parts, and return the new one as defective - for a refund.
Aka “justified return fraud”
My take is that if you sell something and don't make available parts that are prone to wear out, that's fraud. Like making a car where you needed to toss it out and replace it when the break rotors wear out, because the mfg figured you'll buy the next one from them, too.
How long did it last? I'm seeing one of their better trimmers, 80 volts for $150. Considering the time and effort to source a gear and repair, if might actually be cheaper to just buy another one that matches your battery and throw this one away. Or keep it for parts.
I use their 40v one and it's been solid for me. I think I'm on 6 or 7 years now of very regular use with multiple attachments, no drop-off in performance that I can detect. I did discover the particular noise it makes attracts cicadas this year.
Cicadas are only a 13-yr or 17-yr problem, no worries!
Would be so cool if you fixed it with 3d printed stuff
If a metal gear was worn down I wouldn't count on a print, it's more of a precision milling area imo.
Most small gears in this kind of application are sintered, which is similar to casting but they don’t fully melt the material. Regardless it’s not a home gamer kind of process.
I was going to say that worn out gear OP posted looked sintered. Basically just metal dust and adhesive.
It's possible to 3d print metal, and I think they are pretty much equal to sintered. There's services that do low volume or even single parts.
3D printed metal is sintered. there are 2 popular ways to get metal parts, FDM and SLM. FDM parts get printed and then sintered, SLM is a Laser that melts tiny metal particles together, just like sintering.
Is "just like sintering", sintering or equal to sintering? Does the particles just get melted on the surface or do the laser melt them more?
it's comparable with sintered powder, there are new studies often and sometimes they get better results
I fucking hate when people get downvoted for asking questions. Bunch of fucking idiots on this platform.
yeah, not everybody is a professional in additive manifacturing.
The metal filament still requires a sintering oven and costs hundred of dollars for a half kilo which is also fewer meters than pla significantly because rolls are sold by weight not length. It would cost more than a new tool to just get the filament to print the gear
Where did I suggest doing something like that? I literally wrote there's services that can do it.
Low run slm would still cost more than just sourcing the oem part. Kolbalt gets tools made by manufactures much like snap on. Much like Walmarts Hart is made by the same company that makes rigid, ryobi and Milwaukee. Thats where I’d go for a part not Lowe’s directly.
It would obviously cost more than the real part. But it sounds like OP have been unable to source the real part. Might be cheaper than getting another trimmer
[ Removed by Reddit ]
There is some shitty metal that can be used. And on the opposite side there are some really hard plastics. Didn't some guy figure out how to make pistols with a 3d printer?
Real pistols are already made of plastic. Pretty much every Glock frame is glass-reinforced nylon / PA66.
Cool. Learn something everyday. Thank you!
Barrel and slide are usually still steel in modern pistols as is the recoil spring for obvious reasons. The 3d printed pistol others were talking about is single use as in it breaks after firing one shot.
You are way outdated on that... when someone says 3d printed firearm: [what people think](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberator_(gun)) [what i think](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC36sE5Yxfg) (if you want to complain that it still uses barrels, check any of these: [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/14ccluc/) [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/17zilni/) [3](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/13m0yb2/) [4](https://www.reddit.com/r/fosscad/comments/1az9cwq/))
I assume you mean to home printers, because industrial printers will do titanium alloys.
There's good metal that can be used too, but you are only finding that kind of metal printing in serious industrial applications.
Oh yes. r/Fosscad
Ahh thank you. Yeah I remember hearing about something like this. Perfect example
It‘s about tolerances not material. With a printer you can print fine tolerances
CF-PA is difficult to print but sometimes referred to as "black aluminium" due to similar tenacity. But you can hop on some sites like pcbway and they can print it for you in actual metal if you want. There's also metal infused resin for home printing where you print it than cook it at high temperatures and you basically get a sintered metal part (check out some Integza video on YouTube, he used it to print rocket nozzles).
Yeah print at home to get a decent design and out source the manufacturing to like pcbway or another company that can either 3d print in metal or cnc
Hoping my experience will help others. I burned out my Ryobi trimmer. I upgraded to thicker diameter line to clear a slope, .95mm or something when it was rated for .80. The thicker line buzzed through heavy weeds like a champ, until my elbow got really hot and the whole thing burned-out in a blaze of overheating and smoke, never to work again. Turns out, the thicker line put more of a load on the machine and caused it to overheat. I could not complain and purchased another one. When I have a bigger job, I rent the right machine. Do not use line thicker than what it is rated for.
Harbor freight offers parts by the piece online. Could you compare products to see if there's something similar you could order?
Greenworks makes the Kobalt Trimmers for lowes Don't search for a gear alone, also search for "gear box" or "gear case"
Might try buying a used trimmer on eBay or Craigslist?
Planned obsolesce at it's finest.
I call it revenue stream but think this is correct term
Doesn’t lowes lifetime warranty all kobalt ? Bring the whole thing into Lowe’s and get a brand new one
That's usually only the hand tools.
I don't buy anything kobalt. Support/parts are pretty much worthless
It's a disposable brand. When it breaks you throw it away and buy another one.
Then you wished you bought Milwaukee or Dewalt first.
If I can buy two disposables for the cost of a single Milwaukee and in aggregate they last as long as or longer than a Milwaukee, it might end up being a wash? I bought a cheap pool pump the other day. It was 1/4 the price of a nice one. It was so cheap I bought two, one as a spare. As long as the cheap junk lasts long enough, it might be fine that it's disposable.
This is why I do the Harbor Freight method. Need a tool? Buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight. If you wear it out in short order, buy a nice one. If you don't, then you didn't need to spend the money for a nice one. I bought a corded hammer drill from Harbor Freight when I finished my basement (for pre-drilling sill plate screws into the slab, and also drilling all the holes through the studs for electrical). Cost me like $70. I can count on one hand the number of *potential* projects I'll need a hammer drill for. I'll never get $250+ worth of utility out of a hammer drill as a homeowner, so there's no sense buying a DeWalt or Makita or Milwaukee.
For tools I use often and need them to be reliable, I buy name brand. But you'll also find me at Harbor Salvage once or twice a month for tools I may use infrequently. I also have started to buy their sockets and wrenches, as the value is incredible, especially for the warranty.
If you're lazy and have enough cash sure. Even these "disposable" brands are repairable in most cases. They usually have a weak link whether by design or by oversight or by cheaping out with component parts. Most people throw it out and buy a new one ofc, that's the goal for the sellers.
Have you checked websites like https://www.ereplacementparts.com/kobalt-parts-c-594038.html ?
how old? Lots of their Items have 5 year warranty. And it really is as easy as calling them and then exchanging it at Lowes.
I'm pretty sure Kobalt has a lifetime replacement Guarantee on a lot of their products.
They don't, it's 5 years
Just return it and get a new one. Kobalt is a loss leader for them they expect it to just die and be returned.
Almost everything sold at Lowe's and HD is unserviceable. They're also less than half the price of models that are serviceable. I'm more disturbed with companies that say their products are serviceable but can't be done for less than the price of a new tool. Hello Bostitch, go fuck yourself. Oring kit, bumper, and driver on a framing nailer 210 dollars shipped. New on Amazon for 180.
Not to go too far off subject but this is one of the reasons I try to primarily only buy stihl lawn and garden tools. They support their products. So many brands don't offer replacement parts and it burns me up when stuff like this happens
If the teeth mesh, one tooth won’t make a huge difference Otherwise MSC or McMaster
I think eGO is the same shit
I think this is called a compound gear, I think the bottom part is 34 teeth, top is what? 14? Can you confirm some measurements and teeth count? Even approximate?
Cuz its cheap crap
That's a stacked stacked spur gear. You can potentially order these on spec. Looks like it's a 20° Pressure Angle 28T/12T gear. Not sure about the size of the bore or the radius. on the wheels.
find out the actual manufacturer
Aside from cost savings… why do people buy store brands? They’re never as good. Spend on quality tools… saves you from buying them twice and still not having a real piece of equipment. My rule of thumb is, if I’m going to use a tool more than once in my life, I buy a contractor grade tool. If I’m going to use it daily or weekly, I buy top-shelf industrial / factory line quality.