My drill won't drill; or am I being stupid?

[Xdavid]

I bought a new electric drill (B&Q cheapo, vari-speed with hammer drill mode). I put a bit in it and tried to drill a piece of softwood. The drill rotates OK, but the bit makes hardly any impression (apart from a wisp of smoke as the wood scorches). Tried various speeds, but it took an age to drill a decent hole.
So I put the same bit into a hand drill and it works fine - quicker than the electric drill. Tried other bits, with the same result. Never had this problem with my 25-year-old Black & Decker drill and the same set of bits.
Doesn't sound logical! What's happening? Please tell me I'm not going round the bend!

 

[Surreywinter]

Possibly silly question - is the drill rotating the right way?

 

[Xdavid]

BRILLIANT!! You hit the nail on the head. Not a silly question, more of a silly drill owner, for not noticing something so elementary. Thanks. I was misled because the first holes I drilled were in soft mortar, where I guess the hammer function did the work OK. It was when I started on softwood that nothing happened. (Wires are correctly connected in the plug, so I guess they're reversed inside the drill. Nil points to B&Q.)

 

[gissle]

hahaha. We've all been there.

Yes, two directions, one for drilling, one for reversing out of the hole.

 

[Xdavid]

Talk about red faces! When I bought my last drill, reverse was not on offer. So I'll creep into a dark corner and shut up! Thanks all.

 

[SMR Bathrooms]

Like Gissle said, we've all been there, to one extent or another.