MILWAUKEE Fuel2 Impact Driver 2 x 5Amp – M18FID-502X Anyone got this?

[tazprime38]

I was at the D&M tool show yesterday where I met the wonderful Peter Parfitt.

I wanted to try the new MILWAUKEE Fuel2 Impact Driver 2 x 5Amp – M18FID-502X but they had sold out and didn't  even have a demo model. Has anyone bought this impact driver and if yes what are you thoughts of the qualty of it?

Panasonic  have a nice impact driver that has similar speed and torque controls to the New milwaukee. I had a quik go with it and first impressions were very good impact driver. I teally wanted to check out the new milwaukee but I guess I'll  have  to wait for the Tool Fair at Sandown Park in November.

 

[Mort]

I haven't used the Gen 2, but I have a Gen 1 Fuel impact driver and it has enough torque on setting 3 to take the lugnuts off my full size truck (torqued to 140lb/ft). If it's better than that it's darn near epic.

Quality, again no complaints. One thing I'd change, and it's the same as on my Fuel 1/2" impact, is that the speed/torque button is near impossible to press with gloves on.

 

[tazprime38]

Mort, I did have a try on the gen1  with the 3 torque settings and it felt good, was comfortable to hold and drove screws nicely.  I was told the new one was the best and most advanced impact available. It has a max torque of 203Nm compared to most impacts that are rated at around 160Nm.

As they sold out of them at the show lots of people bought them so hopefully some of them may actually do some reviews which may come up in a search.

My concern is that I have read that milwaukee motors can burn out out qhuickly when put through tough work. I have never owned a milwaukee tool so my buying one will depend on reviews and the short tryout I'll  give it at the tool fair in November.

My current impact driver is a Snappy badged Sparky impact driver which has done me really well for five years. The batterries don't  take a full charge now so its time to upgrade.

 

[sae]

If you're not invested in a battery platform already, check out the Makita TD148 as well.

It's way small, but packs quite the punch.

I had the first gen Milwaukee Fuel and wasn't overly impressed, I got hung up on a few basic tasks and had to bring out the impact wrench to bring it flush.

I switched to Metabo gear in the past year, and their's is not great either, though supposedly slated for a revamp this year. I'm using the brushless impact wrench with a 1/2" to 1/4" hex adapter while I'm waiting, 400Nm (~300 ft-lbs) doesn't hesitate on much. Luckily there's 12 torque settings to so you don't rip the heads off every fastener.

 

[Kev]

I switched to Metabo gear in the past year, and their's is not great either, though supposedly slated for a revamp this year. I'm using the brushless impact wrench with a 1/2" to 1/4" hex adapter while I'm waiting, 400Nm (~300 ft-lbs) doesn't hesitate on much. Luckily there's 12 torque settings to so you don't rip the heads off every fastener.

[member=38144]sae[/member]

It is really surprising that Metabo are so slow bringing out a decent brushless impact driver .. you're right, their current version is average at best .. but I am very impressed with the new brushless 400Nm impact wrench I just acquired.

 

[Throwback7r]

I just bought it a little over a week ago along with the new hammer drill. It has decent power but so did my Hitachi and Makita. I am not overly impressed with the new milwaukee stuff, and wished that Festool would make a reciprocating saw so I could switch over to something not made in china.

 

[tazprime38]

That will be worrying if the milwaukee  is made in china. I have tried the older makita and it didn't  feel comfortable in my hand although it worked well. 

[member=38144]sae[/member] which impact wrench are you referring to? Are the impact wrenches bigger than the impact drivers?

 

[sae]

[member=5519]tazprime38[/member]

I have the Metabo SSW 18 LTX 400 BL, which is first to market with a high-ish power, but lightweight brushless impact wrench (~4 lbs). Impact wrenches are larger and heavier than impact drivers though, as a general statement. Most of the 4-pound units from Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt, Ryobi, Ridgid, AEG, Bosch, etc. are limited to 175-200-ish ft-lbs. The larger ones do go up to 400 and 800 ft-lbs., but weigh around 7-8 lbs, which is a bit much for everyday use.

Hopefully others fill that mid-range marketspace for those invested in their respective battery platforms because I find it quite useful, but so far, no one has stepped up except Metabo.

 

[Locks14]

Made in China is completely irrelevant. To assume something made in China is automatically substandard is completely misinformed in current times, just like assuming something made in Germany, USA, Great Britain, Japan, etc is a byword for quality.

Ultimately China are the high tech manufacturing giants of the modern world. Whether they produce crap or quality is just down to the tollorances and design stipulated by the parent company who provided the design specs.

Tell the Chinese factory they have to make 100,000 impact driver units a week at $25 cost and they'll produce crap, tell them to make 20,000 at $75 a piece and they make them to as high standard as a factory in Germany.

 

[glass1]

And you know this for certain about manufacturing ? Sounds reasonable but...

 

[glass1]

I have a bunch of the Milwaukee stuff. Seems good for Chinese stuff. The sawzall is great everything's else is good not great. I would like to see festool up its game and make a complete cordless line, of course they would have to redesign the carvex. When are they going to get us the 85 track saw with some real balls to us in the USA.  I think the stuff made in Germany is better quality but it's not always better.

 

[Mort]

Mort, I did have a try on the gen1  with the 3 torque settings and it felt good, was comfortable to hold and drove screws nicely.  I was told the new one was the best and most advanced impact available. It has a max torque of 203Nm compared to most impacts that are rated at around 160Nm.

As they sold out of them at the show lots of people bought them so hopefully some of them may actually do some reviews which may come up in a search.

My concern is that I have read that milwaukee motors can burn out out qhuickly when put through tough work. I have never owned a milwaukee tool so my buying one will depend on reviews and the short tryout I'll  give it at the tool fair in November.

My current impact driver is a Snappy badged Sparky impact driver which has done me really well for five years. The batterries don't  take a full charge now so its time to upgrade.

I've never heard that about Milwaukee motors burning up. I've heard the chucks on the drill/drivers have issues, and mine does (intermittent, not bad enough to send it back yet), but nothing but good about the motor.

We have Makita at work, I'm not impressed. They seem a bit lighter, but that's all I like better.

 

[Cheese]

I've never heard that about Milwaukee motors burning up. I've heard the chucks on the drill/drivers have issues, and mine does (intermittent, not bad enough to send it back yet), but nothing but good about the motor.

We have Makita at work, I'm not impressed. They seem a bit lighter, but that's all I like better.

I've owned a ton of Milwaukee tools over my lifetime and I still own 50-60 of their tools, some of which are 40 years old. I've yet to have one smoke it's motor. I think alot of this nonsense is created by the internet and the "I said, he said, she said, they said, my uncle Louie, twice removed said," spread of misinformation.

In this new electronic world, anyone can say anything about any tool and the tool manufacturer has to suffer the consequences. That's just not fair.

The typical participant on a forum tends to take the information presented to him at face value and accepts it as the truth, whether it is or not.
I feel that as general tool enthusiasts, whether wood, metal or alternative material driven, the FOG members need to aspire to a higher standard of truthfullness than the regular crowd, it's just the right thing to do.
It's real easy to identify a problem, but it's 5x more difficult to come up with a solution to the problem. I know...that was my job for 35 years.

 

[Throwback7r]

I have a bunch of the Milwaukee stuff. Seems good for Chinese stuff. The sawzall is great everything's else is good not great. I would like to see festool up its game and make a complete cordless line, of course they would have to redesign the carvex. When are they going to get us the 85 track saw with some real balls to us in the USA.  I think the stuff made in Germany is better quality but it's not always better.

I agree with you on the Sawzall is really nice. The hammer drill on the other hand is not bad but I wish it was better than it was. The fun part is trying to find any tool manufacture that do not suck. When i bought the Milwaukee stuff I was looking to replace my current stuff as the reciprocating saw died. I would love 1 battery for all my tools just to cost and time on the charger. So that makes it either Milwaukee, DeWalt, Bosch, Makita, Hitachi. I have been burned by 2 of them on the list so no more for me so I keep on trying the new ones. Also, there are a lot of fake/ paid reviews online.

 

[Locks14]

Also, there are a lot of fake/ paid reviews online.

Absolutely!! Even the people who "aren't on anybody's payroll" or "completely independent" have some agenda that means they will always be in the pocket of the manufacturer.

You see a lot of Youtube bloggers who claim to be unbiased, but even if they don't do it for monetary gain, the fact they enjoy reviewing as a hobby and getting sent tools for a few weeks to "review" is enough to sway their objectivity.

 

[Throwback7r]

I don't get how people are excited about the " Blow molded cases" I think they are going to get sold on Ebay

 

[tazprime38]

Just an update. I finally bought the milwaukee fuel 2 18V impact driver. I have been using it recently and it has not let me down. Love it. Only minus is I have to change hand position ie move hand back a bit to change from forward top reverse. Can be annoying sometimes. Other than that I'm happy with it.

Sold the case on ebay for about £20.00 and am using my old systainer from my festool cd12 drill which was sold after I got my PDC. I would love to put both the pdc and milwaukee impact driver and chargers and batteries all into one systainer maybu a sys3 with drawer combi. its a shame its two different battery systems otherwise would be easy.