Milwaukee proper repair advice needed

[Walkers]

I bought a ‘for parts’ Milwaukee Propex M18 2632-20 pex an expander for cheap. The tool arrived and looks virtually new, ever so slight wear, but with a plumbing company name painted all over it. Not surprisingly it has a problem. I pulled it apart and the mechanical portion is like new internally. The motor is cooked though, you can smell it. It does operate for a second or two and stops, it will go through a cycle that way if you pull the trigger again after it stops. So the question is why is it cooked? Expanding too large a pipe? Not really sure. So I ordered a motor, but obviously don’t want to burn out a second motor. Aside from checking the single MOSFET on the little circuit board for a short, I am at a loss as to how to troubleshoot it. I can just solder in the new motor, give it a try and see if it performs correctly. I don’t think it would burn out the motor with no load so long as it doesn’t sound like it is laboring.
I watched a video of a repair on the 12v model, and apparently the little circuit board is subject to damage from it getting wet. In that video the guy just removed the PCB and connected the trigger and battery connector directly to the motor, with only the loss of the LED. It worked well after the repair. Not sure if the PCB is just a nanny state additive or not.

So, what would the GJ collective do on this?

 

[Snapped-off]

@Max
@FordTruckWench
@RPH

 

[dnschmidt]

Me, I'd send it to Milwaukee for repair. Others like to **** around with stuff so I don't know what they would do. I rather doubt Milwaukee puts **** in their tools for the fun of it. They are a for profit company and as Boss Kettering (the inventor of the points and condenser ignition system) and first head of GM engineering once said: "Parts left out cost nothing and cause no service issues." It would seem to me that Milwaukee would have a similar point of view.

 

[Dagny]

Put it in turn it on.

 

[Max]

I'm not a dc motor expert, and I've never used a Milwaukee PEX expander, but I'll take a stab at it.

Nowhere in the specs does it say brushless so I expect that it's a DC motor. I expect that the MOSFET is there to drive the motor, and it protects the switch from trying to drive all of the motor current itself. (The guy with the 12V expander fix may have had it work afterward, but I wonder for how long. I doubt that the switch is rated to drive the motor directly.)

I assume that the brushes are part of the motor assembly? If so, then I'd make sure that the mechanical side is ok, and then I'd try out the new motor. If the brushes are not part of the new motor, I'd check that the old ones are not pitted or burned before I tried it.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I bought a ‘for parts’ Milwaukee Propex M18 2632-20 pex an expander for cheap. The tool arrived and looks virtually new, ever so slight wear, but with a plumbing company name painted all over it. Not surprisingly it has a problem. I pulled it apart and the mechanical portion is like new internally. The motor is cooked though, you can smell it. It does operate for a second or two and stops, it will go through a cycle that way if you pull the trigger again after it stops. So the question is why is it cooked? Expanding too large a pipe? Not really sure. So I ordered a motor, but obviously don’t want to burn out a second motor. Aside from checking the single MOSFET on the little circuit board for a short, I am at a loss as to how to troubleshoot it. I can just solder in the new motor, give it a try and see if it performs correctly. I don’t think it would burn out the motor with no load so long as it doesn’t sound like it is laboring.
I watched a video of a repair on the 12v model, and apparently the little circuit board is subject to damage from it getting wet. In that video the guy just removed the PCB and connected the trigger and battery connector directly to the motor, with only the loss of the LED. It worked well after the repair. Not sure if the PCB is just a nanny state additive or not.

So, what would the GJ collective do on this?

the circuit board has battery management and motor overload protection at a minimum. without that you could smoke the motor (unfortunate) or the battery (fiery disaster one way, undervoltage cell death another). depends on your definition of nanny state I suppose.

 

[WWheeler]

Put it in turn it on.

Is that what she said?
In that order?

 

[RPH]

Model # and pictures will help. Get some and we can move forward. How familiar are you with the tools and instruments used for this work?

 

[Walkers]

Model # and pictures will help. Get some and we can move forward. How familiar are you with the tools and instruments used for this work?

The model number is in the first post, first sentence. I have already had it apart and diagnosed the bad motor. As far as familiarity, I used to install, diagnose, and repair certain industrial electronics, but that was pre surface mount stuff, I don‘t even recognize a lot of components on these tiny little boards now.

 

[RPH]

The model number is in the first post, first sentence. I have already had it apart and diagnosed the bad motor. As far as familiarity, I used to install, diagnose, and repair certain industrial electronics, but that was pre surface mount stuff, I don‘t even recognize a lot of components on these tiny little boards now.

Asking for model #’s is a 40 year old habit. Lucky I didn’t ask for serial #.
If you done electronics before don’t fear surface mount. Once used to it and a couple of new skills picked up. All will be fine. I never know what skill level members have.
Good luc and let us know.

 

[neophyte]

I’ve wondered if the Milwaukee PEX expanders work with expander die sets made for copper, since copper pipe expanders (to eliminate the need for separate copper solder couplings) go back decades, to at least the 1960s or 1950s.

Rothenberger and Virax were two of the major manufacturers of the copper pipe expanders, and Virax made the hand PEX expander systems for at least a couple PEX brands.
If the dies fit, maybe someone used the cordless expander on copper pope, or more likely, non annealed copper pipe.
Non annealed copper could likely overload a motor.

 

[Walkers]

Asking for model #’s is a 40 year old habit. Lucky I didn’t ask for serial #.
If you done electronics before don’t fear surface mount. Once used to it and a couple of new skills picked up. All will be fine. I never know what skill level members have.
Good luc and let us know.

Yeah, biggest problem is everything is so small, and my eyesight is getting worse, so even seeing what the little things are is difficult.

I’ve wondered if the Milwaukee PEX expanders work with expander die sets made for copper, since copper pipe expanders (to eliminate the need for separate copper solder couplings) go back decades, to at least the 1960s or 1950s.

Rothenberger and Virax were two of the major manufacturers of the copper pipe expanders, and Virax made the hand PEX expander systems for at least a couple PEX brands.
If the dies fit, maybe someone used the cordless expander on copper pope, or more likely, non annealed copper pipe.
Non annealed copper could likely overload a motor.

The dies look similar and operate in a similar method, not sure if they are similar enough to interchange. The thought of abuse certainly crossed my mind, even using it to expand PE that was above the size intended could cause it to burn the motor. Some people should just never operate any sort of power tool.

 

[neophyte]

Yeah, biggest problem is everything is so small, and my eyesight is getting worse, so even seeing what the little things are is difficult.

The dies look similar and operate in a similar method, not sure if they are similar enough to interchange. The thought of abuse certainly crossed my mind, even using it to expand PE that was above the size intended could cause it to burn the motor. Some people should just never operate any sort of power tool.

Maybe, but you don’t really learn how durable a tool is by using the tool below capacity, or even up to it.
Also, I don’t think anybody makes a battery powered expander for Copper pipe, and I can see the desire to use a battery version if possible.

 

[Walkers]

Just to update on the repair, I got the new motor in, swapped motors and reassembled it today. It works like a champ! Thanks for the advice!
As it sits, I am into it for $275 with a new 5.0 battery and charger, and heads from 3/8 to 1-1/4,

 

[Daveyclimber]

My milwaukee propex starts to struggle with 1", especially when the pipe is cold. Plumbed my own home, the tool was used but not used up. Glad you were able to repair it. Worth every penny.

 

[Walkers]

My milwaukee propex starts to struggle with 1", especially when the pipe is cold. Plumbed my own home, the tool was used but not used up. Glad you were able to repair it. Worth every penny.

Are you running the 12v or 18v unit?

 

[Daveyclimber]

M12

 

[Mallen]

Me, I'd send it to Milwaukee for repair. Others like to **** around with stuff so I don't know what they would do. I rather doubt Milwaukee puts **** in their tools for the fun of it. They are a for profit company and as Boss Kettering (the inventor of the points and condenser ignition system) and first head of GM engineering once said: "Parts left out cost nothing and cause no service issues." It would seem to me that Milwaukee would have a similar point of view.

The very first thing to do is to start a repair online and see if the serial number comes up under warranty and what the out of warranty repair cost is.

 

[Mallen]

I bought a ‘for parts’ Milwaukee Propex M18 2632-20 pex an expander for cheap. The tool arrived and looks virtually new, ever so slight wear, but with a plumbing company name painted all over it. Not surprisingly it has a problem. I pulled it apart and the mechanical portion is like new internally. The motor is cooked though, you can smell it. It does operate for a second or two and stops, it will go through a cycle that way if you pull the trigger again after it stops. So the question is why is it cooked? Expanding too large a pipe? Not really sure. So I ordered a motor, but obviously don’t want to burn out a second motor. Aside from checking the single MOSFET on the little circuit board for a short, I am at a loss as to how to troubleshoot it. I can just solder in the new motor, give it a try and see if it performs correctly. I don’t think it would burn out the motor with no load so long as it doesn’t sound like it is laboring.
I watched a video of a repair on the 12v model, and apparently the little circuit board is subject to damage from it getting wet. In that video the guy just removed the PCB and connected the trigger and battery connector directly to the motor, with only the loss of the LED. It worked well after the repair. Not sure if the PCB is just a nanny state additive or not.

So, what would the GJ collective do on this?

My understanding is that the batteries in the m12 tools do t have any intelligence and it's all in the tool, unlike the 18v batteries. So over current ,over temperature ,and under charge protection are the responsibility of the tool not the pack. Its not a "nanny state" thing, it's a "prevent damaging the battery pack to the point that it spontaneously catches fire or explodes and hour or two after you use it and burns down your house". Lithium ion batteries without proper battery management electronics will do that. Its not even rare. Its also the case that a lithium battery that discharges beyond it's minimum can reverse charge. When that happens, it can explode when you charge it. The charge is probably smart enough to refuse to charge. But if two cells have sone charge left, and one cell is reversed, if you just have a dumb switch, they can force current though the depleted cell and cause it to explode.