Stihl Hedge Trimmer HSA 56 Motor Fail

[Paul in the woods]

My domestic Stihl hedge trimmer hasn't had much use in the 3 years I've had it and failed to run the other day with three flashing red lights on the battery as the only clue.

A bit of googling suggested stuck blades or a failed motor. Blades removed, checked and work fine. Took it into my local Stihl dealer and the service tech gave it a check over and it does seem to be the motor. A bit of wiggling on the motor shaft can get it to work for a few seconds before it fails again.
He said the magnets can work loose (I note similar comments about some of Stihls other battery stuff). This seems logical and dismantling the machine at home I've noticed quite a lot of black sooty type material all over the motor and motor housing, I assume this is material worn off the magnets?

Has anyone else had such a failure? This machine hasn't done much work and I did notice some dark residue around the air vents when it was used, just wondering if it was something I could have foreseen and got fixed under warranty.

I can get a motor for £85 but as a new machine is £150 it probably isn't worth fixing. (Part Stihl HSA 56 4521-011-5000-B which seems to have been superseded).

I'm now wondering if I should just buy a replacement as I have batteries and chargers or buy a different make. I note the Stiga battery trimmers have a 5 year warranty.

[kram]

Can you put some pictures up?

 

I would not choose Stihl for any battery tools, from what I have seen they are well behind other power tool manufacturers.

 

Having searched the part number, the motor appears to be a cheapy 775 size DC motor.This is not a proper tool motor - but the sort of thing you expect from a Lidl. These motors overheat for fun, not suitable for this sort of work.

You may be able to easily swap it. The difficulty will be removing the gear from the motor shaft and re installing on a new motor. They are likely a shrink/interferance/press fit.

The problem is it will likely happen again.

I would suggest a different brand with brushless motor. Stihls homeowner grade battery tools are junk.

Edited 20 hours ago by kram

[Paul in the woods]

Not much to be added with a photo, the motor looks like the one shown but was covered in a dark powdery substance until I cleaned it off.

 

As said, I've been more than happy with my domestic Stihl chainsaw that's done probably 100 times as much work, so I wouldn't dismiss all their tools. Just puzzled by the early death of this one.

 

I don't cut many hedges so a top of the range pro hedge cutter would be overkill. I've been looking at several other premium domestic trimmers and most seem to have problems of one sort or another.

 

May end up with another bare Stihl unit, as I have the batteries, and ensure I only use it for short periods.

[jose]

my stihl battery hedge trimmers last about 6 months! But do have staff so dont expect too much.

Their old petrol hedge trimmers never died, blades would be like hitting 2 hammers together they got so blunt and it would still work.

New stuff just isn't built to last .