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The Milwaukee addiction thread! :)

Earp69

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Sep 20, 2016
Messages
859
275 RPM. High speed enough for when I want to use a long neck ratchet. I’ve also noticed from using my Milwaukee high speed ratchets that they become significantly less “high speed” when under any kind of load, much more so than my Snap-on ratchets.
Milwaukee claims "highest productivity at 450 rpms"
 
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Rusty67

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Joined
Jul 28, 2007
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1,297
Location
LA, CA
I've got the 3/8" and then 1/2". I don't own any of the ratchets but the RA impacts were AWESOME when I was doing a motor swap. They don't have the same jam that a standard impact does but they fit in WAY more tight spots than a standard impact.
 

pwschuh

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Joined
Jun 29, 2012
Messages
240
Location
Mid-Atlantic
My pre-ordered the M18 Fuel Hatchet finally came yesterday. Haven't used it yet but it looks like it's going to be a whole lot simpler than trying to use the M18 pole saw on fallen branches and limbs close to the ground.
 

boom_bap

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Joined
Feb 29, 2020
Messages
614
Location
Idaho
What are peoples thoughts on the M18 mid torque vs the DCF891 after the TTC video that came out in April? I sold my brushed DCF899B (450 ft lbs and 12 inches long) today and plan to upgrade to something smaller. Most of the modern mid torques seem to match that huge old thing. I've got both yellow and red batteries.
 

Earp69

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Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Messages
859
What are peoples thoughts on the M18 mid torque vs the DCF891 after the TTC video that came out in April? I sold my brushed DCF899B (450 ft lbs and 12 inches long) today and plan to upgrade to something smaller. Most of the modern mid torques seem to match that huge old thing. I've got both yellow and red batteries.
I can't compare but i do love my mid torque, it's handled about anything I've thrown at it on any 1 ton truck stuff I've thrown at. And is a lot smaller and can fit in a whole lot tighter spots than the hi torque
 

purplezr2

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Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
5,292
Location
Central MN
What are peoples thoughts on the M18 mid torque vs the DCF891 after the TTC video that came out in April? I sold my brushed DCF899B (450 ft lbs and 12 inches long) today and plan to upgrade to something smaller. Most of the modern mid torques seem to match that huge old thing. I've got both yellow and red batteries.
I have no comparison as I'm only on the milwaukee platform, but I love my mid torque for doing suspension work.
 

j3rf

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Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Messages
483
Location
Ohio
What are peoples thoughts on the M18 mid torque vs the DCF891 after the TTC video that came out in April? I sold my brushed DCF899B (450 ft lbs and 12 inches long) today and plan to upgrade to something smaller. Most of the modern mid torques seem to match that huge old thing. I've got both yellow and red batteries.
M18 Mid-torque is shorter and has a better ring lighting system I find more useful. Dewalt's new stuff has been good or better on power, but the same over all design disappoints me.
 

mikeinri

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Joined
Nov 29, 2019
Messages
8,214
Location
MA
I've got the 3/8" and then 1/2". I don't own any of the ratchets but the RA impacts were AWESOME when I was doing a motor swap. They don't have the same jam that a standard impact does but they fit in WAY more tight spots than a standard impact.

"Same jam"??? What does that mean?

Sounds like it would make more sense for me (and my limited use) to own RA impacts over ratchets, but I don't understand that one comment.

Mike
 

pbon

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Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
3,498
Power. Ratchets don’t have much but are more controllable and thinner.
 

Earp69

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Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Messages
859
15 percent off at Acme tools
 

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mikeinri

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Nov 29, 2019
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8,214
Location
MA
Jam, you know. Juice, muscle, beans, ect.

Yeah, I figured that out eventually, LOL...

It wasn't really cryptic, it just went over my head the first few times I read it. "I'll take Reading and Comprehension for $1000, Alex." Maybe not.

Mike
 

KnurledNut

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Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
8,108
Location
n/a
Im a Makita guy, so go easy on me.
Whats the reputation of the 2804-20 Fuel hammer-drill? Any common issues?
 

javyLSU

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Joined
Jan 2, 2019
Messages
1,542
Location
New Haven, CT
Im a Makita guy, so go easy on me.
Whats the reputation of the 2804-20 Fuel hammer-drill? Any common issues?
I’ve had mine for about 3 years now, no problems whatsoever. Handles the tough stuff I’ve thrown at it really well. Just make sure you’re not blocking the vents with your secondary hand when really pushing it, because it will overheat if you do that.
 
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1320

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Jan 3, 2018
Messages
899
Location
Arizona
Twice now I've had my M12 hatchet bring my M12 XC6.0 battery to a lower state of charge than what the charger wants to see, so it won't charge and does the green/red rapid flashing.

I have seemingly fixed the problem both times now by "jumping" this battery with another and getting the charge level high enough to where the charger is happy and charges it, which it does to completion in the seeming correct amount of time with no fuss and no further issues when the battery is used with other tools.

At least, I think that is what has been happening. Its a guess on my part. Anybody have any experience with this?
 

GeoBruin

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Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
3,735
While that is possible, and you're obviously in a better place to interpret the signs that I am, I would offer the alternate theory that the batteries are heating up as the voltage drops and the current being drawn from them has to increase to maintain output. Therefore, it may be the thermal regulation kicking in and that the charger is detecting rather than the over discharge. But that should yield a different light pattern than the over discharge/bad battery blink (I think).

If you've verified that's not the case, you're probably correct. I don't have to tell you that it's not good for the batteries to be overdischarged so I suppose you're only option is to monitor the battery level and stop using them before they're fully discharged, or to pick up some of the XC High Output batteries and see how those fare.
 

Odd-job

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Aug 13, 2017
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Location
SF Bay Area
Definitely wouldn't charge it hot if you can help it. Might be good to test the voltage with a DMM to see how low its going. Will note the rapid chargers sometimes throw the error with low voltage, but the non-rapid chargers seem to be more ok charging a low voltage battery. I keep one dual m18 and m12 non rapid charger for this exact reason.

Also could potentially be situation where the individual cells are going out of balance (one or more cells taking a ****) so the full discharge will drop the pack as a whole underneath the minimum voltage for the charger. Here after charging the 6.0s would be less than than the 4.15v per cell. This is usually indicated by fully charged only showing 3 bars on the tool when "fresh". Better yet would be opening the pack and measuring the voltage of each cell. Would warranty batteries if they start to go out of balance. Hopefully this is semi helpful.
 

NDJ

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Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
439
Location
BC, Canada
Screaming grinder....
There was a sale on so I picked up a 2880-20 Fuel grinder. Its fairly nice but it makes an ear piercing high pitch scream when running. I cant stand it without earplugs. Is this normal ?
 

bobg03

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Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
3,420
Location
conway sc
I purchased an m12 ratchet before I knew the long neck was out. I used it once and liked it but regret not paying more attention as the extended reach may have been a better choice. At $269 now @ HD it's a deal breaker for me.
 

NDJ

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Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
439
Location
BC, Canada
Twice now I've had my M12 hatchet bring my M12 XC6.0 battery to a lower state of charge than what the charger wants to see, so it won't charge and does the green/red rapid flashing.

I have seemingly fixed the problem both times now by "jumping" this battery with another and getting the charge level high enough to where the charger is happy and charges it, which it does to completion in the seeming correct amount of time with no fuss and no further issues when the battery is used with other tools.

At least, I think that is what has been happening. Its a guess on my part. Anybody have any experience with this?
This can be a problem with the M12 system. The battery managment electronics are on the tool (and the charger) , Not on the pack itself. The tool has no way to know the capacity of the battery attached, And regulate accordingly.
 

Odd-job

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Joined
Aug 13, 2017
Messages
2,259
Location
SF Bay Area
This can be a problem with the M12 system. The battery managment electronics are on the tool (and the charger) , Not on the pack itself. The tool has no way to know the capacity of the battery attached, And regulate accordingly.
The m12 tools, 95%+ of the time, are good at preventing the over discharging of batteries by monitoring the voltage. Every now and then some of the tools will over discharge a battery. Not nearly as bad as my kids running the batteries down in their power wheels though :)
 

1320

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 3, 2018
Messages
899
Location
Arizona
While that is possible, and you're obviously in a better place to interpret the signs that I am, I would offer the alternate theory that the batteries are heating up as the voltage drops and the current being drawn from them has to increase to maintain output. Therefore, it may be the thermal regulation kicking in and that the charger is detecting rather than the over discharge. But that should yield a different light pattern than the over discharge/bad battery blink (I think).

If you've verified that's not the case, you're probably correct. I don't have to tell you that it's not good for the batteries to be overdischarged so I suppose you're only option is to monitor the battery level and stop using them before they're fully discharged, or to pick up some of the XC High Output batteries and see how those fare.

I'm not trying to charge the battery immediately afterward, usually the next day, so I think its had time to cool down completely.

Definitely wouldn't charge it hot if you can help it. Might be good to test the voltage with a DMM to see how low its going. Will note the rapid chargers sometimes throw the error with low voltage, but the non-rapid chargers seem to be more ok charging a low voltage battery. I keep one dual m18 and m12 non rapid charger for this exact reason.

Also could potentially be situation where the individual cells are going out of balance (one or more cells taking a ****) so the full discharge will drop the pack as a whole underneath the minimum voltage for the charger. Here after charging the 6.0s would be less than than the 4.15v per cell. This is usually indicated by fully charged only showing 3 bars on the tool when "fresh". Better yet would be opening the pack and measuring the voltage of each cell. Would warranty batteries if they start to go out of balance. Hopefully this is semi helpful.

I only have two rapid chargers, I didn't keep any of the regular chargers I've had in the past. I've had an M18 XC8.0 do the 3 bars showing when completely charged thing and it was under warranty. The offending M12 XC6.0 I have now is no longer under warranty, so no help from Milwaukee there.

---

What I've often wondered about is battery "rebound" or "regeneration" or whatever its called. It seems like you can use a tool pretty hard (something like a grinder or sawzall) and observe the battery charge level at say, 2/4 bars. Quit using it and after a while, it will show 3/4 bars after its cooled down a bit. I think I've noticed this more with HO batteries.

Perhaps when the hatchet "stalls" out on a cut, I should not try and get the last few cuts done before it won't turn on again. Hmm...
 

boom_bap

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Joined
Feb 29, 2020
Messages
614
Location
Idaho
Anyone think that the m18 line will introduce a ratchet like the new Dewalt flat head 20 v? That would sweet for us not on the m12 platform currently.. Totally speculation and guessing, but is there demand for that or just me?
 

Odd-job

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Joined
Aug 13, 2017
Messages
2,259
Location
SF Bay Area
Anyone think that the m18 line will introduce a ratchet like the new Dewalt flat head 20 v? That would sweet for us not on the m12 platform currently.. Totally speculation and guessing, but is there demand for that or just me?
Who knows maybe one of these days they will come out with an M18 fuel wrist breaker. Personally I like the form factor of the m12 platform for things like nut spinners, aka ratchets.

Would encourage you to take the M12 plunge though. You are really missing out on some good stuff. Besides if they do come out with an M18 ratchet you are going to probably over pay for one of those 3.0 batteries that would have paid for an m12 battery or 2.
 

mepstein

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Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
1,282
I'm not trying to charge the battery immediately afterward, usually the next day, so I think its had time to cool down completely.



I only have two rapid chargers, I didn't keep any of the regular chargers I've had in the past. I've had an M18 XC8.0 do the 3 bars showing when completely charged thing and it was under warranty. The offending M12 XC6.0 I have now is no longer under warranty, so no help from Milwaukee there.

---

What I've often wondered about is battery "rebound" or "regeneration" or whatever its called. It seems like you can use a tool pretty hard (something like a grinder or sawzall) and observe the battery charge level at say, 2/4 bars. Quit using it and after a while, it will show 3/4 bars after its cooled down a bit. I think I've noticed this more with HO batteries.

Perhaps when the hatchet "stalls" out on a cut, I should not try and get the last few cuts done before it won't turn on again. Hmm...
I find the batteries don't really like non stop usage in a high output tool. If I run my chainsaw without a break, the batteries get hot and shut off before they are fully drained. If I alternate, I get the full charge. I just did it today with the chainsaw.
 
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javyLSU

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Joined
Jan 2, 2019
Messages
1,542
Location
New Haven, CT
Anyone think that the m18 line will introduce a ratchet like the new Dewalt flat head 20 v? That would sweet for us not on the m12 platform currently.. Totally speculation and guessing, but is there demand for that or just me?
That's a sweet looking ratchet, but I would only consider running that with a compact Powerstack battery - anything else would seem too big for the tool. I would say the same thing for an M18 ratchet, but Milwaukee doesn't currently offer an M18 battery that I would consider running on a ratchet.
 

darkzero

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Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
3,320
Location
SoCal
Nice, about time, 2 speed & variable speed trigger. No variable speed trigger was the deal breaker for me in getting the cut off tool & do the conversion.
 

Earp69

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Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Messages
859
Wonder how much difference that makes in reality.

Like these guys with 600hp trucks to get up a hill 30 seconds faster than me.
Doing a timing cover in a tight spot that is held on by 20 bolts, I'd say it makes a differance in that reality.
 

Komet

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Joined
Apr 27, 2022
Messages
287
Location
WA
My buddy bought the Home Depot automotive pack that includes the big old 1/2" impact wrench (2662-20) last year. Says he used it once before he handed it to me in the junkyard recently because I just shattered the 1/2" adapter in my impact driver on some spindle nuts. It broke one nut partially free, and then just died. Pull the trigger, nothing happens. Tried different batteries, smacking it around a little, it just keeled right over. Total junk! I'll be sticking with FUEL stuff from now on.
 
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