Kinda chapped at Milwaukee Tools

[Beltzington]

So I have a nice Milwaukee impact driver. A fuel 18v. It died. I think the trigger stopped working. A simple switch in my mind. Went to the Milwaukee repair store. Walked in. Guy looked up from the counter and said. 泥on稚 bother. The switch costs more than a new gun? Turns out that the whole innards are soldered together including the motor. Frustrating.

Appreciate your frustration but big picture seems like a win, win, Milwaukee makes a profit, stays in business and you get a brand new tool under warranty. If it lasted 5+ years it only cost you six-cents a day.

I have mostly Milwaukee battery power tools but I have owned Mikita, Bosch and Craftsman and so far the Makita lasted the longest, but in 1980 dollars it cost three times what a Milwaukee does today, it was also far less powerful and heavier.

Integrated electronics have increased capabilities and decreased cost and for the most part eliminated the TV repairman mentality. I don't necessarily think that is a good thing only a fact of life, in developed countries.

 

[Oldpath05]

I cut the cord with Milwaukee 15 years ago and cut the battery 5 years ago. Had a 4-1/2" hand grinder, beat the snot out it and it failed in two years, then bought a Dewalt 4-1/2" hand grinder, beat the snot out of that for ten years then it burn up, in my shop. 2013 I beat the the snot out a brand new $300.00 Milwaukee V28 battery 6-1/2" circular saw, two years later it died, sent it back to Milwaukee, they said they wont warranty it because I beat the snot out of it. Then I bought Dewalt 20v 6-1/2 circular saw, I'm still beating the snot out of it, also one of their 20v 5amp/hr battery's failed on me in less then a year, I sent Dewalt an email, they said sorry a new battery is on it's way. I'd buy a Ryobi before Milwaukee.

 

[CADplans]

So I have a nice Milwaukee impact driver. A fuel 18v. It died. I think the trigger stopped working.

My Fuel 18V Impact Driver quit about 2 weeks ago,, I was ready to toss it,,
I brought it to the house, and was gonna take it apart,, then noticed what looked like black grease on the battery contacts,,

I wiped the battery contacts with a white rag,, sure enough something black came off,,,
I plugged the battery into the tool,, it is working perfectly!! :cool2:

I went to put the impact in the shed,, I figured I would try the matching 18V Hammer drill,,
Sure enough,, the drill has a problem,,

Pull the trigger, the drill runs at various speeds,, then about every third time,, when you push the reverse button, the drill does not change direction,,
pull the trigger a couple times, while letting the revolutions come to zero,, the drill will all of a sudden reverse to the switch setting rotation.

I typed the serial # of the drill into the Milwaukee website,,,, under warranty,,
I printed out the free shipping label, the drill is boxed up, it will go to FexEx tomorrow,,


I will report on the results when the drill returns,,,

 

[CADplans]

So I have a nice Milwaukee impact driver. A fuel 18v.

I did not think there was ANY Fuel tools that were 5 years old yet,, could that tool be under warranty??

(I thought I bought the first year of Fuel??)

 

[kenmac]

I replaced the switch on my M28 sawzall. As I recall, $35 for the switch. I desoldered the old switch and soldered in the new switch.

when my old B&D stopped working. I went to HD and purchased a Ryobi for $65.00.
No more than I use one these days. It should last me until I'm not physically able to use it.

Repairing these china tools usually cost as much ,or 1/2 the purchase a new tool

 

[Redlands Okie]

Have been using Milwaukee tools for years. Corded and battery. A few years ago I would say the Milwaukee would beat Dewalt tools hands down. Started buying the new Milwaukee M18 volt tools a couple years ago. I keep noticing the Dewalt tools often have a little more thought in the design and build. I think the new Milwaukee tools are good tools. Dewalt is probably neck and neck with Milwaukee .

Have had several issues with the new Milwaukee battery tools and every single time I got a new tool back. No repairs, just replacement. Good deal I guess. On the other hand the years of use of the the older battery operated Milwaukee USA made tools never ever required repairs. Just battery replacements.

So the new tools I think are good and have more power and less weight. Regardless of Dewalt or Milwaukee. I do however thing the China made Milwaukee tools seem to lack the quality control or something since I have had to have several repaired / replaced. From what I see of other contractors the Dewalts have similar issues.

Wish we still had the USA quality before they sold and shipped to overseas.

 

[GLyford]

The drill I have uses NiCads. It doesn't appear anyone makes lithium replacements for it. :thumbdown:

You might not be able to find Li replacements, but you might be able to find NiMh (nickel metal hydride) "will fit" batteries. I got some recently for my older B&D stuff, bonus is they will charge on my NiCad charger. In theory NiMh is a better, more forgiving technology than NiCad, but I think it wasn't out for very long before Li came along.

 

[WranglerX]

So I have a nice Milwaukee impact driver. A fuel 18v. It died. I think the trigger stopped working. A simple switch in my mind. Went to the Milwaukee repair store. Walked in. Guy looked up from the counter and said. 泥on稚 bother. The switch costs more than a new gun? Turns out that the whole innards are soldered together including the motor. Frustrating.

Did you try to see if there were any numbers on switch, many products use components from "outside suppliers"... Place like Digikey and Allied usually have replacements for a lot less than brand name product replacement parts...

Example, the switch on hose for whole house vac failed, manufacturer did not even stock replacement switch, in fact warranty people were somewhat at a loss about a "switch", wanted to sell me a new $80 hose, with help from tech at Digikey I got replacement switch for under $5...

As a side note DeWalt seems to be making nothing but lit-ion battery packs now, BUT they have models and or adapters that fit them to older 18volt nicad (or what ever) tools....

Dale

 

[crazyal]

Milwaukee seamed to have a problem with triggers. My Fuel M18 1/2" drill died. Sometimes it would work then others I would have to squeeze the trigger several times before it died. I was pushing it pretty hard so I don't know if the battery supplied too much current for the switch or what. Since it was under warranty I brought it to the authorized repair shop and a week later I had a brand new drill. Well I don't know if it was brand new or a refurbished one. What I do know is the repair shop had to pull the metal sticker with the S/N off and stick it on the new drill. If you look closely you can see where the edge of the sticker was damaged while removing it. My guess is it's cheaper to just do this than pay to have someone fix it. Hopefully someone makes a generic trigger that can be soldered in for tools out of warranty.

Before Milwaukee I had Makita. My last cordless drill had a 3 speed gear box and "high" speed stripped out. I could live without it but when the middle speed went I looked at buying the parts to fix it. LOL, for the price I could buy a new one with batteries. I went with Milwaukee because DeWalt didn't have a cordless grease gun at the time. You would think that at least one company would cater to the contractor market. It would be easy to make a trigger that's held in place with 2 screws and plugs in like a battery so it could be swapped in a minute if it died.

 

[KubotainNH]

Did you try putting your model number in here for parts? I was amazed that they had all the parts for an old Sawzall I have. That tool is a beast but needed a new trigger and bearing.

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