Dremel 575 Right Angle Attachment: Overview and Hack

I bought a Dremel model 575 Right Angle Attachment for my Dremel rotary tools. The first one I got ran so hot (after a few minutes of continuous use) that I could not hold it. There was also a problem with the alignment molding (which I later fixed by a little work with a file. So I called Dremel, and after investigating, they sent a replacement. So I decided to do my own investigation to see why the first 575 got so hot. It seemed to me that the issue was lack of lubrication, since while there was a little blob of grease inside the gear box, it was not getting into contact with the actual gears, and they appeared to be entirely dry of grease. So I tried packing more grease into the gear box. This was not entirely successful, since at the high RPM that the tool runs at, centrifugal force flings any grease off the gears. I think that in this situation, it would have been better to have the gears running in oil, but that is not practical because the 575 plastic housing is not made to be oil tight, and the oil would just leak out. So packing it with grease seems to be the best, although flawed, solution.

[@bacaw2856]

Clear presentation, very informative. Thanks

[@gregd2398]

i had the heat problem also it would get very HOT!! and true there was a lack of grease. The heat problem is the drive shaft! it is too long and extends to far past the top of the vertical gear shaft and touch the top shaft. I used a cut off disc and my Dremel to grind it down the excess so that it did not touch the top shaft anymore. Once i did that and added the grease problem solved !!! machine flaw from the factory

[@MindHunger]

Very good info and thanks especially for the teardown!

[@Snarlacc]

Thanks. Mine has been making a grinding noise and I was too afraid to open it. But seeing your video and how simple it is insige (no springs or other small parts to lose instantlyK I opened it and it, like yours, had almost no grease. I drenched it in grease and it sound much better now, it seems to run a bit slower because of the resistance of the grease, but its much quieter and does not get hot any longer.

[@lgwwin]

Mine has the same problem the first time it running, grinding sound. Thanks for sharing.

[@solitarymassacre]

I have had a problem with mine. The grease actually got so hot it melted. Leaked EVERYWHERE. What I might do is pack it with a higher temp grease and see if that works.
Ideally, this SHOULD be a closed sealed system with some type of oil in it, NOT grease. Rotary gears should never have grease at the RPMs they are spinning due to it flying off and having no way of getting back where it belongs. So something like a sealed area with liquid oil in it would always guarantee that the oil be on the gears.

[@charlesblack4819]

As with a turbo on an engine, it is fed oil not grease.

[@crf80fdarkdays]

No

[@joekirk167]

try white grease

[@georgecloninger3165]

The problem lies within the bearings. Better bearings with rubber seals that you can remove to repack the bearings will definitely help. Also keep in mind while the gears need grease, the grease will build up heat. So to much grease will work against you heat wise.

[@youtuuba]

George Cloninger, I am not sure that I can accept your argument at face value. The basic Dremel tool seems to use ball bearings of the same type as this attachment, yet they don't seem to present a problem there. And this attachment (actually, both of the ones I own) gets hot right away when first used....nothing worn out yet, nothing that seems to need repacking, and very little resistance to rotation.
I concede that adding more grease as I have done seems to not actually help, and might make things worse. Having said that, I have shown this attachment, disassembled, to a few mechanical engineers I work with, and their first impression was that the fairly rough cut gears, and the type of gear tooth shape, is the primary cause of heat generation.

[@georgecloninger3165]

@@youtuuba you could be right. But if the bevel gears are tight and run smoothly I wouldn't think they would present much of a problem. That being said I am not a engineer by no means. They do make different grades of bearings I found that out a few years ago at a electric motor shop, when I upgraded the bearings on my RBI Hawk scroll saw even though the old ones seemed fine. The factory didn't use the best bearings out there. The new ones I put in reduce vibration in the saw. It was a win win for me.

[@georgecloninger3165]

@@youtuuba but I'm glad you posted this review. Because I will definitely be going with the foredom grinder instead. I was just going to cheap out with the dremel one. Sense I have both tools.

[@GregWallis]

Really helpful, many thanks. (How can four people dislike this?)

[@SpaceMonkey23101]

Thanks for this video. It's always interesting seeing analyses like this. It seems that Dremel are charging a premium for this product, but not really delivering anything particularly superior to the cheap Chinese counterfiets which are available.

[@joeblow1942]

Anyone know if this will fit on the Harbor Freight (Chicago Electric) rotary tool?

[@gt0915]

just took mine apart as the flex shaft (twisted wire shaft) has broken, no grease in it at all (15 years old...!) the flex shaft is only driving the top bevel gear so a solid shaft will do once I replace it,

[@batedidko]

useful, thanks

[@johyuujin3079]

generally packing grease is not a good idea because the heat will NOT travel away from the gears, it will stay there and get hotter

[@carlosw1687]

Maybe next time you can lube it from the outside using silicon lube used for electronics the one that does not damage plastics

[@youtuuba]

Carlos, how the heck would that work?

[@johyuujin3079]

looks like they went well enough with design but sort of cheaped out. they should have went the whole 9 yards and made it all out of metal and maybe better design gears