The Milwaukee addiction thread! :)

[SkyMaster]

I just got myself a M12 FUEL 1/2" Stubby Impact Wrench (2555-20), it came in the kit with a CP 2.0 and XC 4.0 Batteries.

It is small and powerful, I like it.


But there is a quite loud high pitched noise as soon as I pull on the trigger.

When I lightly pull on the trigger, the LED turns on, the loud high pitched noise is heard and the motor is not yet turning.

When I pull more, the motor start turning and eventually the motor makes more noise than the loud high pitched noise.

The high pitched noise is very unpleasing (I measured it at 7.6 kHz)

It is my first Milwaukee battery powered tool, but I have several Makita drills and impact drivers, all of them brushless.


- Is it normal to be able to turn it ON with 0 RPM?

- Is the loud high pitched noise normal?

 

[Fix Until Broke]

I just got myself a M12 FUEL 1/2" Stubby Impact Wrench (2555-20), it came in the kit with a CP 2.0 and XC 4.0 Batteries.

It is small and powerful, I like it.


But there is a quite loud high pitched noise as soon as I pull on the trigger.

When I lightly pull on the trigger, the LED turns on, the loud high pitched noise is heard and the motor is not yet turning.

When I pull more, the motor start turning and eventually the motor makes more noise than the loud high pitched noise.

The high pitched noise is very unpleasing (I measured it at 7.6 kHz)

It is my first Milwaukee battery powered tool, but I have several Makita drills and impact drivers, all of them brushless.


- Is it normal to be able to turn it ON with 0 RPM?

- Is the loud high pitched noise normal?

Without diving into a bunch of electrical theory - Yes and Yes

 

[M635_Guy]

Without diving into a bunch of electrical theory - Yes and Yes

I can't begin to dive into any electrical theory, but I don't think mine makes that sound (my hearing isn't great and I have tinnitus, but...)

You can activate the light with the trigger and not turn the anvil for sure.

 

[Fix Until Broke]

I haven't seen this posted here, but found it very interesting...

We've discussed battery size vs capacity - this guy puts some data behind the rumors. Really good and informative video related to impact tools

 

[Rusty67]

I just wanted to sing the praises for my m12 under hood light. I've been doing a motor swap on my Mach 1 and while I've been using my m18 lantern for extra light here and there and my stream light for a few specific things, the under hood light is the best engine bay light I've ever seen/used. I'd say 85%+ of the time I don't need any extra light when it is on the bright setting. I've also taken it underneath the car to light up the bottom of the chassis when I needed more of a flood light than a spot light, worked awesome under the car as well all tough it gets a little unwieldy on the floor.

If you do a lot of engine bay work and don't have one of these, I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm SO glad I have this thing on this project, it has made life SO much easier.

 

[M635_Guy]

I just wanted to sing the praises for my m12 under hood light. I've been doing a motor swap on my Mach 1 and while I've been using my m18 lantern for extra light here and there and my stream light for a few specific things, the under hood light is the best engine bay light I've ever seen/used. I'd say 85%+ of the time I don't need any extra light when it is on the bright setting. I've also taken it underneath the car to light up the bottom of the chassis when I needed more of a flood light than a spot light, worked awesome under the car as well all tough it gets a little unwieldy on the floor.

If you do a lot of engine bay work and don't have one of these, I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm SO glad I have this thing on this project, it has made life SO much easier.

I love mine

 

[GeoBruin]

It arrived. It is indeed a beast. Can't wait to put it to work on my bridge crane project.

 

[SkyMaster]

Without diving into a bunch of electrical theory - Yes and Yes

I can't begin to dive into any electrical theory, but I don't think mine makes that sound (my hearing isn't great and I have tinnitus, but...)

You can activate the light with the trigger and not turn the anvil for sure.

Thanks to both or you.

 

[Black300zx]

I just wanted to sing the praises for my m12 under hood light. I've been doing a motor swap on my Mach 1 and while I've been using my m18 lantern for extra light here and there and my stream light for a few specific things, the under hood light is the best engine bay light I've ever seen/used. I'd say 85%+ of the time I don't need any extra light when it is on the bright setting. I've also taken it underneath the car to light up the bottom of the chassis when I needed more of a flood light than a spot light, worked awesome under the car as well all tough it gets a little unwieldy on the floor.

If you do a lot of engine bay work and don't have one of these, I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm SO glad I have this thing on this project, it has made life SO much easier.

It's also REALLY useful around the house

• Rewiring an outlet in a dark bathroom, the metal hook hooked nicely onto the shower curtain rod
• Up in my attic, doing electrical work, the hood clamp was able to stretch across 3 roof joists nicely, lighting up the entire work area

My ONLY gripe is that the battery indicator lights are on the same side as the actual lights and you have to turn it on to check battery levels. It would be nicer if the indicator lights were on the back so you could check without blinding yourself.

 

[jonesg]

I just got myself a M12 FUEL 1/2" Stubby Impact Wrench (2555-20), it came in the kit with a CP 2.0 and XC 4.0 Batteries.

It is small and powerful, I like it.


But there is a quite loud high pitched noise as soon as I pull on the trigger.

When I lightly pull on the trigger, the LED turns on, the loud high pitched noise is heard and the motor is not yet turning.

When I pull more, the motor start turning and eventually the motor makes more noise than the loud high pitched noise.

The high pitched noise is very unpleasing (I measured it at 7.6 kHz)

It is my first Milwaukee battery powered tool, but I have several Makita drills and impact drivers, all of them brushless.


- Is it normal to be able to turn it ON with 0 RPM?

- Is the loud high pitched noise normal?

thats the pulse generator used for speed control.

 

[mobiledynamics]

Don't make me scroll through 1179 pages ;-)

Got High Speed Ratchets on it's way. Aside from Milwaukee, I recall some blurbiage about cheaper boots ? I've got boots on my stubby-mid-high on my M18, but can't see me spending the spend @ MSRP for the ratchets..

 

[BroncoAZ]

Don't make me scroll through 1179 pages ;-)

Got High Speed Ratchets on it's way. Aside from Milwaukee, I recall some blurbiage about cheaper boots ? I've got boots on my stubby-mid-high on my M18, but can't see me spending the spend @ MSRP for the ratchets..

Snap on sells a ratchet boot for about $8 shipped that fits the non fuel ratchets. There isn’t an equivalent cheap model for the Fuel I’m aware of.

 

[WunTon]

Second, the M18 Brad Nailer. Does anyone else have problems with the tool shooting two nails and/or not fully sinking the nails? I was trying to nail 3/4" oak to poplar and I was turning up drive depth and it was randomly shooting two nails, leaving both sticking out. When it would shoot just 1 nail, it wasn't always fully sunk/flush. Is 3/4 oak too much for a cordless brad nailer or did I get a defective one??

It seems like the M18 is a bit brand-sensitive to nails. What brand are you using? Maybe try a different brand and see if it is still misbehaving. If it is, I'd warranty-replace it.

I'll second the nail brand suggestion! I use mine 5 days a week and have shot probably 10k nails with it and it never missed a beat until I picked up a box of dewalt nails and after the first 20-30 nails it started jamming with every nail I tried to fire. I grabbed a few different sticks of nails from the same box and same results. This was especially annoying being in a customer's home and now having extra holes to fill and sand. I was able to find a pack of porter cable nails in one of my tool bags and tossed those in and it was back to running flawlessly again. Before the dewalt debacle I had only run porter cable or bostich nails so that's what I'll be sticking with from now on.

 

[darkzero]

Don't make me scroll through 1179 pages ;-)

Got High Speed Ratchets on it's way. Aside from Milwaukee, I recall some blurbiage about cheaper boots ? I've got boots on my stubby-mid-high on my M18, but can't see me spending the spend @ MSRP for the ratchets..

There's that tool guy out of Jersey that sells them ugly boots that lack all the vent cutouts that MW uses. That wouldn't matter on a ratchet head but I've never seen em for any of the MW ratchets though. Then again I don't pay much attention to those boots.

I've got the MW boot on my high speed ratchet. I love that ratchet.

 

[mobiledynamics]

1st time I ever pulled up a service parts PDF on Milwaukee's sight. Interesting. It not only has the parts breakdown, but it also shows torque specs for all the fasteners should you remove them for service as well as some tutorial pics....

 

[Deadsquiggles]

Added another M12 tool today.

 

[Firefighter1406]

FedEx truck left me a happy man today.

 

[kppolich]

FedEx truck left me a happy man today.

Love my quik-lock trimmer and edger. 8.0 that's included lasts forever too!

 

[M635_Guy]

There's that tool guy out of Jersey that sells them ugly boots that lack all the vent cutouts that MW uses. That wouldn't matter on a ratchet head but I've never seen em for any of the MW ratchets though. Then again I don't pay much attention to those boots.

I've got the MW boot on my high speed ratchet. I love that ratchet.

I wouldn't put that NJ-guy boot on any of my tools. I have MW boots on my impacts but not my FUEL ratchet - mainly because the impacts tend to be on the floor of my garage a lot when I'm using them and the ratchet doesn't. If you think the ratchet is going to get smacked around, I'd invest in the MW boot.

 

[darkzero]

I wouldn't put that NJ-guy boot on any of my tools. I have MW boots on my impacts but not my FUEL ratchet - mainly because the impacts tend to be on the floor of my garage a lot when I'm using them and the ratchet doesn't. If you think the ratchet is going to get smacked around, I'd invest in the MW boot.

Yup, that guy's boots are a joke IMO.

I've got boots on my impacts & the RA angle grinder to protect them from damage but I use boots on ratchets to keep **** out of them. I've had air ratchets fail because of that causing them to slip. Wasn't really a failure, just had to take em apart & clean em.

But really I don't need any of the boots at all. I don't work on cars for a living anymore so my MW tools won't see daily abuse or see all the crud from dirty customer cars. But I had to buy the boots anyway cause I'm a sucker.

 

[M635_Guy]

I had to buy the boots anyway cause I'm a sucker.

LoL - I'm glad someone else feels that way.

I mean, if you look at Brian's Milwaukee stuff on his "How To Automotive" channel, you see some pretty beat-up tools working perfectly.

I'm just a "take care of it" guy when it comes to most stuff, and a bit of a klutz, so having a rubber bumper was really appealing. I clean my tools when I'm putting them away after a project, sharpen my axe after I'm done using it, etc. I'm just wired that way.

I'd guess if I see my ratchet getting beat up or gunky, I'll get a cover, but for now how I'm using it isn't generating much of that

 

[darkzero]

I hear ya, I'm the same way.

But if you change your mind, I've got a boot for the 3/8" Fuel listed in the classifieds right now.

 

[M635_Guy]

I hear ya, I'm the same way.

But if you change your mind, I've got a boot for the 3/8" Fuel listed in the classifieds right now.

Well that's easy...

 

[darkzero]

Well that's easy...

 

[danski0224]

Has anyone used the vacuum attachment adapter for the M18 Fuel oscillating tool?

Does it work?

 

[Tbird22]

I noticed in my hi torque there is some serious battery play. I know this isn’t a unique issue with mine. What I am curious to know is if its damaging my battery. The reason I ask is because I saw a video where someone showed a rubber band that held the battery more snug to the tool. What do y’all say?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[M635_Guy]

I noticed in my hi torque there is some serious battery play. I know this isn’t a unique issue with mine. What I am curious to know is if its damaging my battery. The reason I ask is because I saw a video where someone showed a rubber band that held the battery more snug to the tool. What do y’all say?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

I'd contact Milwaukee support and see what they say. It's possible it's on purpose - a way to reduce the vibration transmitted into the battery

 

[APG12]

Anyone have a line on wood cutting blades for the 3” cut off saw?


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[GeoBruin]

Dremel makes a 3" wood and plastic blade that works pretty well. Note you'll have to use the little adapter that came with the tool to run the dremel blades with the larger hole.

 

[mobiledynamics]

For those that have both (in my case it's my 1st Red ratchet and it's the high speed)....


If you have standard and extended reach ratchet on hand, are you like 90% reaching/using the extended..I debated about this but for me, the ratchet was more a nut remover

 

[jonshonda]

Bought the new M18 Mid Torque Impact w/pin detent 2962P-20 yesterday for a project, and am dissapointed to say that there is an issue with detent pin. It WILL NOT let the socket go!! I had to stick a pick or allen key in the detent hole of the socket to release it. I like the tool otherwise, and really only bought it because that was the only cordless impact they had in stock.

When I checked the Milwaukee site for more info, it looks like someone left a review with the same issue.

 

[danny_barkley]

Bought the new M18 Mid Torque Impact w/pin detent 2962P-20 yesterday for a project, and am dissapointed to say that there is an issue with detent pin. It WILL NOT let the socket go!! I had to stick a pick or allen key in the detent hole of the socket to release it. I like the tool otherwise, and really only bought it because that was the only cordless impact they had in stock.

When I checked the Milwaukee site for more info, it looks like someone left a review with the same issue.

Their spring clip can be an issue sometimes as well.

 

[Fix Until Broke]

Bought the new M18 Mid Torque Impact w/pin detent 2962P-20 yesterday for a project, and am dissapointed to say that there is an issue with detent pin. It WILL NOT let the socket go!! I had to stick a pick or allen key in the detent hole of the socket to release it. I like the tool otherwise, and really only bought it because that was the only cordless impact they had in stock.

When I checked the Milwaukee site for more info, it looks like someone left a review with the same issue.

That's how they're supposed to work so the socket can't come off without "intervention".

Sometimes you want this in an environment where the tool is moved around a lot, or the tool is dedicated to the socket (production environment), or if you drop the socket off it's a big deal (if you're up on a lift or something).

For most of us on the ground or doing routine maintenance on a car, the spring ring is a better option.

 

[pwschuh]

Pole Saw initial review

Used my pole saw twice so far. Overall I am glad I got it to replace my corded pole saw.

It cuts well on my typical neighborhood trees: oak, maple, pine. The largest limb I have cut down so far was about 4". Although I did use it to help a neighbor cut down a 7" standing tree that was growing towards our house.

I haven't had any issues with it, you just have to be careful with the "total loss" oiling system that drips everywhere. I have found a way to store it, hanging across two hooks from my garage ceiling, so that it does not drip.

The biggest problem I have is that even with the 3' extension, it is still too short to reach some of the stuff I need to cut. That's not really the saw's fault. And obviously adding an additional extension would make it much more difficult to handle.

.

 

[Shaners256]

Bought the new M18 Mid Torque Impact w/pin detent 2962P-20 yesterday for a project, and am dissapointed to say that there is an issue with detent pin. It WILL NOT let the socket go!! I had to stick a pick or allen key in the detent hole of the socket to release it. I like the tool otherwise, and really only bought it because that was the only cordless impact they had in stock.

When I checked the Milwaukee site for more info, it looks like someone left a review with the same issue.

Yeah, this is exactly how the pin detent is supposed to work. If you want a to be able to remove a socket without a tool, then you need to swap out the anvil to a friction ring anvil.

 

[quadrcr87]

I am trying to determine the best battery upgrade for my current fleet of tools and could use your help. I currently have the standard charger and a mix of 3AH and 5AH XC batteries. I find the run time on the blower is way too short. I have been looking at the 8AH XC battery as an upgrade. Q1: Is the 8AH battery the best choice for the vacuum and the blower? Q2: How necessary is the rapid charger with the larger battery?

I can get the 8AH battery for $129 or the battery and rapid charger for $179 (w/$20 Northern Tool Coupon).

Tools:
18V Fuel Blower
18V Rocket Light
18V Compact Vacuum
18V Brushless Impact Driver and Hammer Drill (Non Fuel)

 

[kppolich]

I am trying to determine the best battery upgrade for my current fleet of tools and could use your help. I currently have the standard charger and a mix of 3AH and 5AH XC batteries. I find the run time on the blower is way too short. I have been looking at the 8AH XC battery as an upgrade. Q1: Is the 8AH battery the best choice for the vacuum and the blower? Q2: How necessary is the rapid charger with the larger battery?

I can get the 8AH battery for $129 or the battery and rapid charger for $179 (w/$20 Northern Tool Coupon).

Tools:
18V Fuel Blower
18V Rocket Light
18V Compact Vacuum
18V Brushless Impact Driver and Hammer Drill (Non Fuel)

8.0 for the hammer drill and maybe the compact vac, otherwise a 12.0 is nice to have around for the blower. That thing eats batteries. I really like having (2) 3.0 HO's, an 8.0 and a 12.0.

The 3.0's for my drill/diver.
The 8.0 For the hammer drill extended work and for my hackzall.
Either 3.0 or 8.0 for the new mid-torque 3/8" impact as well depending on space and use.
12.0 for trimmer/edger/blower and future chainsaw.

8.0 would be fine, but the 12.0 really gets the job done, only drawback is the weight IMO.

I have a dual rapid charger and really like it. With the 8.0/12.0 as long as you have other batteries to swap in you could get by with the standard charger as long as you plan ahead. Keep an eye out for Home Depot deals, they had an 8.0/12/0 last year for $200.00

 

[jonshonda]

Yeah, this is exactly how the pin detent is supposed to work. If you want a to be able to remove a socket without a tool, then you need to swap out the anvil to a friction ring anvil.

Dammit!! Guess I shouldn't have made an uninformed purchase! My mind just went with ball detent I guess, as I have never used a pin detent.

 

[APG12]

Dremel makes a 3" wood and plastic blade that works pretty well. Note you'll have to use the little adapter that came with the tool to run the dremel blades with the larger hole.

Saw that, thanks. I was looking for something with teeth like a circular saw blade.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[jonesg]

Dammit!! Guess I shouldn't have made an uninformed purchase! My mind just went with ball detent I guess, as I have never used a pin detent.

Precision adjust it with a grinder.