# Help with a Porter Cable chuck.



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I have a PC corded drill with a key less chuck and it will not stay tight. The drill is about two years old and hasn't been used much. Every once in a while I need a drill with the speed and power that a corded drill offers. Is there anything I can do to make this chuck work better? 

Thanks


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

My best advice is to just replace the chuck. They're not terribly expensive. The new one should come with instructions to get the old one off. If not, there's a left-hand thread hex socket head bolt threaded into the end of the drill shaft. You can remove when you open the chuck all the way. Then the chuck spins off if you hold it and turn the drill counter-clockwise. Might try closing the chuck on a hex shaft and use an impact driver to break it loose.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

In my opinion keyless chucks don't belong on corded drills. All mine use keys. My cordless has a keyless and that's where they belong. Andy has the right procedure for taking it off but I have seen the inside screw with slotted heads too. If you don't have an impact then tighten the chuck down on the biggest, longest allen (hex) key you have that fits the chuck and hit it sharply with a light hammer.


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## Garyk (Dec 29, 2011)

+1 with replacing the chuck but corded drills are not that expensive either. I sort of like the keyed chuck on corded drills too because they have so much more torque than cordless. There are quite a few tasks where corded is better but I wouldn't give up my cordless for general use. I'm drooling for an impact driver myself.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Do they make a keyed chuck for PC drills?


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

The jaws may be loose. Open the chuck as wide as you can. Look for a slot at the bottom. Using a common screwdriver, turn it clockwise until tight. See if that helps.

And, yes. PC does make keyed chucks for their corded drills.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Most chucks for light drills either use a 3/8" x 24 thread or 1/2 x 20 thread. You might see 3/8 x 16 or 1/2 x 13 but I don't think they are as common. These sizes are standard bolt thread, 3/8 and 1/2 coarse and fine. You can tell what you have on the drill by trying to mesh the threads on the bolt with the ones on the drill. You won't be able to see daylight between them when you use the right bolt size and thread. Of coarse it's better to use a proper pitch gauge and they are cheap, but I'm assuming you don't have one.


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

I've found that many cordless and corded drills of a similar size have interchangeable chucks. I've taken chucks from cordless drills where the batteries weren't worth replacing compared to the price of a new drill and used them on other drills. The center screws are sometimes a different thread or length, so I keep the screw with the drill that it came from.


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## 163481 (Jul 8, 2015)

If you mean the bit is slipping in the jaws, I have a similar problem with a PC corded drill. My solution (if that's what you call it) is to grasp the chuck with my off hand and operate the power switch in bursts with the other. If you get too aggressive doing that you could get a friction burn or a skin abrasion.

But having read the other posts here, I might see if an extra chuck I took from an old discarded tool can be retrofitted to the PC.


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Gene Howe said:


> The jaws may be loose. Open the chuck as wide as you can. Look for a slot at the bottom. Using a common screwdriver, turn it clockwise until tight. See if that helps.
> 
> And, yes. PC does make keyed chucks for their corded drills.


It has a torx headed bolt in the chuck and it was loose. Thanks for the help guys.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

TenGees said:


> I've found that many cordless and corded drills of a similar size have interchangeable chucks. I've taken chucks from cordless drills where the batteries weren't worth replacing compared to the price of a new drill and used them on other drills. The center screws are sometimes a different thread or length, so I keep the screw with the drill that it came from.


I also save old chucks that are still working. Sometimes they get recycled.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

My cordless PC drill has a habit of when reversing the motor drops the bit from the chuck loosing the grip. Kind of maddening sometimes,especially when working from a ladder.
Herb


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Herb Stoops said:


> My cordless PC drill has a habit of when reversing the motor drops the bit from the chuck loosing the grip. Kind of maddening sometimes,especially when working from a ladder.
> Herb


Some of the corded ones do it too Herb. One of my ex employers had a DeWalt that was bad for that. I have the same model but with a keyed chuck (came that way) and it works fine.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> My cordless PC drill has a habit of when reversing the motor drops the bit from the chuck loosing the grip. Kind of maddening sometimes,especially when working from a ladder.
> Herb


use dry lube on the chuck...
tighten the retainer screw...
set the bit as deep into the chuck as can w/o bottoming out...
put a Jacobs on it...
trade it in for a real drill like a Milwaukee...


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Some of the corded ones do it too Herb. One of my ex employers had a DeWalt that was bad for that. I have the same model but with a keyed chuck (came that way) and it works fine.


I have thought of that, I loose a lot of battery life tightening the drill bit.

Herb


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