# Milwaukee Hackzall - How Can I Lubricate It?



## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

So I have a Milwaukee Hackzall that I have been using to cut a lot of plaster ceilings. My problem is that all of the dust falls inside of the body and around the cylinder. This has casued the hackzall to not funtion properly.

I am thinking about blowing it out with compressed air - but what product should I use to lubricate the cylinder?


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

grease it, if that doesnt work, you might have to open it up and clean it some


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

DO NOT OPEN IT UP! I opened a tool up once, the motor expanded and I couldn't reassemble it.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

Try silicone lubricant. It's thin, so it'll get in there, and lubricates dry, so it will not stay gooey and collect dust and turn into sludge. Plus it's not going to deteriorate plastic parts like petroleum based lubricants can.


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## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

Frasbee said:


> Try silicone lubricant. It's thin, so it'll get in there, and lubricates dry, so it will not stay gooey and collect dust and turn into sludge. Plus it's not going to deteriorate plastic parts like petroleum based lubricants can.


This makes sense. I will try it out and report back.


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## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

chewy said:


> DO NOT OPEN IT UP! I opened a tool up once, the motor expanded and I couldn't reassemble it.


 
I would never open up a power tool. I would pay someone who new what the were doing first.:thumbsup:


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

WIElectric said:


> This makes sense. I will try it out and report back.


Hope it works out for you. It may not be as ideal as opening it up and giving it a proper cleaning, but I have had success with this method on my hammer drill and sawzall.


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## tates1882 (Sep 3, 2010)

chewy said:


> DO NOT OPEN IT UP! I opened a tool up once, the motor expanded and I couldn't reassemble it.





WIElectric said:


> I would never open up a power tool. I would pay someone who new what the were doing first.:thumbsup:


If you guys can't handle opening a tool up and doing a little maintenance then maybe you should pick different trade. I'm not saying doing a full repair but a little cleaning and lubricating.


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## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

tates1882 said:


> If you guys can't handle opening a tool up and doing a little maintenance then maybe you should pick different trade. I'm not saying doing a full repair but a little cleaning and lubricating.


This mentality says that a home owner who is an auto mechanic should be able to cobble together their own service....and have it opperate properly. I know that isn't true.


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

I would open it. Just do it carefully. I fixed a couple of drills this way, and a giant hand blender. When you consider how much they will charge you to have someone else fix it, you would be better off buying another saw... You can get a reconditioned tool only from Millwaukee CPO for like 50 bucks and tech will charge you at least that much to fix it...


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I point it nose down and and pull the trigger, all of the vibration seems to shake out the dust. I would not add anything that would attract or hold dirt.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

chewy said:


> DO NOT OPEN IT UP! I opened a tool up once, the motor expanded and I couldn't reassemble it.


sounds like you bought a ryobi or some crap.


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## WIElectric (Feb 21, 2012)

jrannis said:


> I point it nose down and and pull the trigger, all of the vibration seems to shake out the dust. I would not add anything that would attract or hold dirt.


I do this after use..and bang it with the ruubber side of my screw driver.


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

I clean ours out every once and awhile with contact cleaner then re lube them with dry molly lube.

Sometimes you got to get in there with a long q-tip too if the gunk is really caked in there.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

I'm going to second the suggestion of silicone-based lubricant. The petro-based stuff eats plastic in a bad way, and so many others stay tacky and just attract a ton of crap. Seems to me that if you've got a ton of plaster dust in it, you'd need to blow it out with air or open it up. If it's beyond the warranty, I'd crack it open, but if not, I'd just turn the compressor on it and see what I could get out of it.


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## chewy (May 9, 2010)

TOOL_5150 said:


> sounds like you bought a ryobi or some crap.


Nah it was a Milwaukee, I took the motor out of the case and it expanded I dont know FA about electric motors but I'm assuming they had some kind of press to insert them back into the casings as it was a good 2mm larger than the space it had to be inserted back into. Perhaps the windings were under tension, I really have no idea except for the fact that sucker wasnt going back in. Curiosity while checking brushes really did kill the cat


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

Compressed air for me. I wouldn't put lube in a tool unless the manufacture recommended it. It will hold dust and dirt and then be really gunked up.

I took apart a Dewalt XRP drill one time. It didn't go back together. Complicated thing.


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## LJSMITH1 (May 4, 2009)

chewy said:


> Nah it was a Milwaukee, I took the motor out of the case and it expanded I dont know FA about electric motors but I'm assuming they had some kind of press to insert them back into the casings as it was a good 2mm larger than the space it had to be inserted back into. Perhaps the windings were under tension, I really have no idea except for the fact that sucker wasnt going back in. Curiosity while checking brushes really did kill the cat


 
"the motor expanded"? :laughing:


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