tooljoe

Brushless motors have many advantages over brushed ones. One simple example is that they are capable of running 24/7 with out any problems. For example, your computer hard drive has BL motors. The server that this very forum is saved in runs 24/7...a brushed motor is not capable or running 24/7 with out the carbon brushes eventually failing. All of the home appliances are “brushless motors” I put that in quotations because there are different types of brushless motors not just one. None the less, the benefits of brushless technology is there. Your dishwasher motor is brushless. Your air conditioning unit motors are brushless...your ceiling fan motor is brushless....heck even your bluray player has brushless motors...it is a fact that brushless outperform brushed in the long run. There is always a trade of of course. You cannot use a big amp hungry amp brushless motor because it would drain any baterry in a matter of 10 minutes. You also don't want a weak brushless motor to last you a long time if it cannot drive in a 3 inch wood screw. This is one of the reasons why I support brushless technology in power tools...so the technology can evolve hence benefit us because it will make our job easier. I would encourage you to support the brushless technology so it can evolve. Once all tools are brushless, we can complain about ergonomics and quality over quantity...and stuff. Like we have been doing on tools with brushed motors. In all, you will get less frustrated with a brushless motor.

From the battery terminal prongs I get 13.72 kilo ohms on partial trigger press and 0.3 ohms on fully pressed.... based on that alone, seems like your trigger is faulty...but that's my guess.

I had some time today to take it apart....seven screws and done. So here if the triger info just in case or for other owners past the warranty that may find this useful... The resistance (ohms) is... negative lead on M1 positive lead on M2: trigger not pressed = 0.2 ohms trigger fully pressed = 13.76 kilo ohms positive lead on M1 negative lead on M2: I get a different reading... trigger fully pressed = 504 ohms This means you should get, on a fully charged battery, zero volts trigger not pressed and 19.something when trigger fully pressed. If you need for me to take the trigger apart, or anything else for me to check, let me know.

If you are out of luck, I was planing on taking mine apart for curious reasons sometime this month. I can post volt measurements coming from the output of the trigger to compare. Or take apart the trigger part and post pics...very easy to take apart with a few pins.....let me know. good luck.

Yes, the camera can be detached from the PCB. I have not had time to work on this project of mine that much due to work and other duties but so far by just what I have accomplished I can imagine a DIYer doing this to inspect cylinder walls on automobile engines. See how I can see if my beer can is empty ...for sure one can see if a cylinder is out of commission or not. My goal is to find an extension where you can tilt the camera mechanically 180 degrees on the Y and X axis. Just sharing.

You might find some second hand cheap ones on craigslist...You have to be careful though because some people just want to scam you... The way I see it is that you still advertise the tool brand...does not matter how you squired it (with in law of course). My dewalt 12v max light, drills, utility knife basically live on my torso at work...40hrs a week I have one of those around my torso advertising the brand...of course, I do it because I like the brand and not just to advertise it. Good luck on the tools...don't be afraid to ask questions here regarding house problems (in the appropriate section). I work as a handyman and know my way around a few things around the house. I can try to answer your queries if I catch them. I'm actually in the process of buying a house myself...been fixing them and maintaining them...might as well go ahead and do it for me.

After been using the drill for a while I can definitely see that the battery drains faster than my brushless dewalt drills. This makes sense since Milwaukee drill has a bigger brushless motor that would use up more power to operate than a smaller one...and also why only 10 seconds light on VS 20 secs. Regarding where this drill shines is maybe on just the power only but for sure will require more frequent charges than dewalts. Another thing that I noticed is that the electronics “protect†the drill. When it hits a stoppage...the electronics kick in and the drill just quits. I don't know if that is a good thing or not but that basically cuts all the power to the drill...sort of what a festool drill does. Another thing that I noticed is that the clutch on the milwaukee is not as sensitive as dewalts....the milwaukee clutch set all the way down, it still has a lot of torque. The lowest clutch setting on the m18 compares to like a number 4-5 setting on a dewalts clutch setting. I can safely say that the dewalt clutch would work fine for cabinet work while the m18 would strip wood. In all, I would still stick with a dewalt drill over a Milwaukee...just my preference based on experience. Now if milwaukee had better ergonomics alone and a smaller design, I would find no reason to not use the drill.

Also noticed that the belt clip attachment tap for the screw are different in both the m18 and dewalt max drills (even the 12v). on m18 it looks like it is pressed on or molded around the “nut†(for lack of better word) while on dewalt it is neither but rather behind the plastic shell. Even if the m18 has some sort of lip on the nut, the nut is only 5mm deep. If we subtract the lip from the nut, that leaves 75% (guesstimating best case scenario) out of 5mm of plastic holding the whole weight of the m18. On dewalts drills, you have a good 5mm of plastic for sure. Also, dewalt actually used a small nut with a plastic washer in the machine threads to prevent the screw from coming loose. Moreover, dewalt screw has 10mm of threaded area VS m18 only 5mm...one will give out first and drop your drill than the other i.e. early warning to prevent dropping your drill. The screw threads are different in both drills too. Dewalt machine screws have more thread count than m18. This might not sound like a lot but more threads has a better grip...this is why all of the automotive nuts and bolts are fine thread instead of coarse. if m18 screw is 5mm long and we subtract the thickness of the clips metal and take in consideration how the “nut†adhere to the shell and also see the thread count, we can see how not a lot of thought was taken to this because less that 5mm of plastic and coarse screw is holding the weight that encounters trim molding bumps and pressure from the torso when being carried and working... so how to trust the rest of the drill, IMO Little things count

I just recently got an opportunity to buy an m18 fuel brand new for cheap and I took the deal. At first glance I could tell right away that it is more chunky than any of my dewalt drills. Also, the forward and reverse push button has rough corners and it is not round as the dewalts. This might hurt the fingers after a day of continuous use. The ergonomics of the gun grip are not even close to dewalts. Dewalts grip is wayyyy better than the m18 fuel. What I also noticed is that the m18 uses all electronic chuck breaking while dewalt uses a combination of transmission and electronic breaking. Hence, you hear the click click when letting go of the trigger at low speeds. Another thing that I didn't like was the plastic housing of the planetary gears. For a drill that has a lot of power, the plastic housing just does not make sense. I also noticed base by eye alone that the electronics get pretty hot due to the emphasis on heat sinking all of those transistors. Another thing that I noticed is this drill uses a different way of locking in the chuck. Instead of pins like dewalt uses, they use 5 pieces that look like yelly beans that have groves on their back that catch on groves on the outter ring. This is shown in one of the pictures. I also noticed that the m18 LED light turns off faster than dewalts drills. 10 seconds VS 20 seconds duration. Anyway, just my opinion and next time I might open up the battery packs to check out what kind of batteries they are using...might also open up the charger.

I'm about to remove the camera head piece and extend the cable...will be a nice project.

by looking at just pictures it looks like you could use tin snips (cut the slot) and a hammer (straighten the cut) on some other blades brands to make it work.

I'm a DIYer and work as a building maintenance. You know repair plumbing, AC, roof leaks and damage, anything that your house may need repair in the “maintenance†area...i do it. So far my hammer drill has been used for installing gutters. They do sell concrete nails but with a hammer drill the difference is night and day. For repairing sliding door bottom rails/tracks. Again, they use concrete nails but the difference is night and day...in fact you can get away buy just using any screw. All you do is drill a whole about 1/16 smaller that the screw, and it will hold a good grip. Repairing carpet nail strips. In some areas like in bathroom or kitchen entries, I find that due to traffic or what not, they tend to lift. I find it way easy to just remove the old nail screws, use the hammer drill with a bit about 1/32 less than the concrete nail size. I could also use any screw that is at least 1/16 bigger. I have also used it to run galvanize pipe to run wire from the breaker box to install a window AC unit. Also to fix an electric drive through and a walk through gate that where coming loose from the ground and wall. Also have used it to install window outside shutters.... Etc etc...

Thank you for sharing. I like to browse over to toolguyd but he seems to be antidewalt and sounds like a hard core milwaukee fan (bias). At any rate, I will buy this tool for sure. I own a corded one but sometimes in my trade to run a cord is too much hassle. Just the other day I used the corded one to fix a leaky air handler AC coil. From my experience a lot of them leak where the copper meats with steel. There is no way to braze the copper pipe because is right next to the steel frame. I used a multi tool to cut out the steel (could not find any other way) and I did ended up repairing the AC coil. I understand that not a lot of people would be able to do this, but if I was to post a youtube video people would get it how easy it is with the right tool. I also could have used it today having to patch ceiling sheet rock (water pipe burst) next to plastic water hoses is not easy with a drywall saw...plus it creates lost of dust due to the thickness of the saw blade. I had to use blankets to cover the floors in a wide area because sheet rock dust flies everywhere even having hack saw in one hand and a bucket to catch the dust. Not to mention how uncomfortable that is. The multi tool blades are thin so they would create less dust and could even use the same piece being cut out to patch...i could have used it but finally... Thanks dewalt. Can't wait.

I'll do a full tutorial when I get free time...with pictures too. For starters, you will need five of these flashlights. http://www.amazon.com/Nebo-Larry-Light-light-Magnetic/dp/B007M0JSTA

Been playing with it a little.... here is my DCL040 20V MAX...camera kind of shows it yellowish while I see it more white with my eyes. This picture is in the dark. This is my modified DW919...in the same dark place....bathroom