My cordless pliers making weird grinding noise - anyone else had this?

Hey folks, hoping someone can help me out here. I've got a pair of Kobalt cordless pliers that I use for small projects around the house. Lately they've been making this weird grinding noise when I squeeze the trigger - sounds almost like gravel in the gears. Battery seems fine, charges okay, but the noise is getting worse. Anyone run into this before? I'm just a weekend DIYer so not sure if I should try to fix it or just replace them.

HammerHank, I've seen this a few times in my 40 years as a carpenter. That grinding noise usually means one of two things: either the planetary gears are wearing out (common with cheaper cordless tools) or there's debris in the gear housing. First thing I'd do - take the battery out and blow some compressed air into the mechanism. If that doesn't help, you might need to open it up and check the gears. Most of these cheaper cordless pliers aren't really designed to be serviced though. What brand/model exactly?

Wendy's right about the gears. I've renovated over 200 homes and I'll tell you - Kobalt's homeowner-grade stuff tends to have this issue around the 2-3 year mark. The noise you're describing is classic planetary gear failure. Honestly, for the time and cost of parts, you're better off replacing. If you want something that lasts, go with Milwaukee's M12 Fuel pliers - I've had mine for 5 years on job sites and they're still quiet as day one. Just my professional opinion.

Interesting! I mostly do woodworking but I use pliers for hardware and small metal bits. My Ryobi ones started making noise last year - turned out to be a tiny wood chip that got inside when I was working on a cabinet. Took it apart (there's usually just a few screws), cleaned it out with some mineral spirits, and it's been fine since. Maybe try that before buying new? YouTube has great teardown videos for most models.

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate the advice. Wendy - it's a Kobalt 24V max model. DrillMaster - yeah I think you're right about replacement being easier. Larry - I'll try the cleaning first since I've got some mineral spirits in the garage. If that doesn't work, might upgrade to something better. This forum is always so helpful!