Opinions wanted on Milwaulkee 18v fuel grinder

[oldwino]

Anyone use one? Decent power? Have a jobe coming up with quite a bit of grinding but can’t get within 100’ or so. That much cord is a PITA

Worth buying?

[ronsii]

I have a few

I have some of the top switch 4.5/5 inch... decent power for a cordless... the stupid switch broke off the other day so now I have a rubberband holding it on it will stall and shut down if you load it up too much compared to a corded dewalt 5incher..

I have some of the paddle switch they're ok but the stupid safety is reversed compared to the dewalts I like.... no problem yet with the switch breaking...

I have one of the 7/9 inchers.. will probably get another one or two soon as play money permits again decent power but not near wht the BnD's, makita's,etc... I have used.. also if you load them up too much they shut down... but still handy. I do like the tooless arbor nut but have heard it is flimsy and can break... I also really like the nuts on the 5 inchers way better then a standard pin wrench!!! the one downside is having to keep the allen wrench around and no place to store it on the tool

If you're going to do a *lot* of grinding make sure you have plenty of batteries!!! I keep no less than a dozen in the truck - couple of 12 amps, 5-6 5 amps 3-4 9 amps...etc....

[mla2ofus]

So you don't have to do any welding?

[oldwino]

So you don't have to do any welding?

Actually someone did the welding, hence a lot of cleanup needed. I have a small backpack set of torches if anything needs touchup. All architectural, not structural

[12V71]

100' of cord for a cord type 5" grinder is far cheaper than that many batteries IMO.

[ronsii]

Used my 7/9 on the fireline repair today... only because I didn't want to roll the 100' cord out again and start the genny

[JayWal]

I'm a big fan of the 5" one for prep and cleanup, especially for running a wire brush. Highly recommend. For any actual heavy grinding id be a bit hesitant, with a heavy load they eat batteries.

I also have the bigger 7/9" and frankly its the biggest waste of money I've spent on a tool if I'm honest. Good power, but the thing sucks batteries dry so darn fast. Its really only worth using with the 12.0 AH batteries as even the 9.0s will overheat and shutoff before they're even fully drained. You can probably get 15 minutes of solid grinding out of a 12.0. But at around $300 (Candian pesos) you can buy an entire electric grinder AND extension cord cheaper than one 12.0ah battery.

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[Capt B]

This is what I use as long as you have the 60 volt batteries it has plenty of power and battery life is pretty good.

https://www.dewalt.com/products/powe...eries/dcg414t2

[idacal]

I just got a 4.5” one its a joke. one tack, maybe a couple inches of weld, some cut off wheel work. but large amounts of grindingits time to run out the cords i put pressure on my grinders and this thing just shuts off I dont have all day liightly touching the metal while sending a delicate stream of small sparks. It shuts aff so easy i can let my 5 year old run it Grinders are Meant to grind. This thing doesnt. Imo

[JayWal]

I just got a 4.5” one its a joke. one tack, maybe a couple inches of weld, some cut off wheel work. but large amounts of grindingits time to run out the cords i put pressure on my grinders and this thing just shuts off I dont have all day liightly touching the metal while sending a delicate stream of small sparks. It shuts aff so easy i can let my 5 year old run it Grinders are Meant to grind. This thing doesnt. Imo

You sure you have the Fuel version mate? Milwaukee has a cheaper brushed version that is pretty much useless. While I agree with you, if I'm grinding I pull out a cord, the Fuel version has very good power especially with larger 9.0 or 12.0 batteries. I use it a lot with 40 grit flap wheels and I can put quite a lot of pressure on it. Comparable to my 5" corded Metabo in terms of power. But still, battery life is the issue with em

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[oldwino]

Thanx for the input, guys
Went to site today and I could get all the way close even without four wheel drive

Talked to a friend that has the 18v Fuel version that he will let me try out. Packing the generator and cords just in case. Will report back on my experience with the cordless. If it’s half as good as the sawzall I’m on it

[ronsii]

Thanx for the input, guys
Went to site today and I could get all the way close even without four wheel drive

Talked to a friend that has the 18v Fuel version that he will let me try out. Packing the generator and cords just in case. Will report back on my experience with the cordless. If it’s half as good as the sawzall I’m on it

I have a couple of the sawzall's... but I don't think they have ever had a battery in them so I can't give you a comparison there I do have the m18 fuel hackzall and I use the crap outta that... one word... HANDY

I use the grinders with regular 36 grit wheels for grinding and .040-1/16th wheels for cutoffs also put a wire wheel on em' once in a while but the main use I have for them is repairing railing -- anything from 20ga1inch square to 2 inch shd.40 pipe and they do an awesome job so I don't have the genny running except for welding and then when I'm all done with the fab work I'll run a corded dewong 5 incher with heavy wire to brush the whole shebang for paint.. sometimes if I was having a 'bad weld day' I'll run the corded one whith a regular grinding wheel to smooth things up a bit before the brush job

[idacal]

it was the Milwaukee from home depot so it could be the cheapie I know I use the 1/2" impacts and grease gun and now very rarely ever have to get out the 1" air gun

[ronsii]

it was the Milwaukee from home depot so it could be the cheapie I know I use the 1/2" impacts and grease gun and now very rarely ever have to get out the 1" air gun

A friend of mine got a set of M18's for Christmas from homedepot... they were all 26XX model numbers vs. 27XX/28XX which are the more powerfullbrushless motors... they may have newer stock number now this was last year.

I love the 1/2 impacts and sds guns!!!... well.... when they work, the one issue with hi tech electronic stuff... it can be finicky and working one minute then NOT

Used the 1-1/8 SDS today to drill some concrete for rebar -- 5/8 X 6 inch minimum holes I drilled 26 of em' in half the time another guy was drilling 20 of em' in the other side of the slab!!!using a D handle boschammer corded.
I run mine with an adapter for the smaller bits that are sds-plus as the gun holds sds-max, it does get a bit hot when your drilling more than just a few holes




Went through most of a 9 amp battery and about half a 12 amp... this gun will slow down a bit when you get near the end of a battery so just to save time I switch it ...if I ran the 9 dry I could get another 4-5 holes out of it.
Right after I finished I took it back to the truck to pull the bit an dern near burned my hand did I say it gets hot!!! I've had it hotter when we were drilling hundreds of holes but this time it got me by surprise

The adapter gets fairly hot too!!

[Mikel_24]

I don't know about the grinders but... I can tell you for sure that the 1/2" impact I bought recently (fuel version, non-OneKey, most powerfull of the line) is well worth the money. I also got a 1/2" impact drill and I am very happy with it as well.

For grinders... I have the feeling they are not going to be on par with corded grinders (for what I can tell from reviews).

If I am grinding something, chances are I will be doing some welding as well, so 220v will be available. I can see a locksmith having one for cutting padlocks or something. But always with thin zip wheels. I don't foresee any heavy grinding with grinding wheels, flap wheels or wire brushes with them.

Mikel

[N2 Welding]

I shopped around for a while and eventually got a decent deal on a Dewalt 20v 4.5" Brushless XR grinder. Very happy with it. They go through batteries quick as already mentioned but they recharge in about an hour or so. No memory with Li batteries so run em dead and charge up asap. Keep them stored with a full charge. I purchased a twin pack of 5AH batteries with charger last holiday season for a bill. Lots of deals on line if you live in a heavily populated area like CL offerup Facebook market place etc.

Robi is a good cheap alternative as is Rigid. Rigid has a lifetime warranty on the tool excluding batteries as long as you register the tool within 90 days of purchase. I chose Dewalt because I am already on that platform with my other tools. Leaf blower, string trimmer, hedge trimmer, multi tool, drill, flashlight and soon to be 1/4" impact driver, orbital sander, sawzall, jigsaw, circularsaw, job sight bluetooth radio etc. I like that all my tools will work with the same 20v batteries. I found better deals on Dewalt than I did with milwaukee when I started purchasing these tools and they had a pretty good reputation when I asked around. Could have got Milwaukee but as I said Dewalt was offering better deals imo.

[oldwino]

Ok guys, got a chance to try the cordless grinder.

Heavy grinding eats batteries pretty quick but I didn’t have any of the veryhigh Ah batteries with me. For cleanup grinding or a zip blade it worked really well.

Not a bad option unless youhave a ****load of grinding to do. I would not bother with the cheapy brushed model but the Fuel is pretty nice. Ordered on this evening

[ronsii]

Ok guys, got a chance to try the cordless grinder.

Heavy grinding eats batteries pretty quick but I didn’t have any of the veryhigh Ah batteries with me. For cleanup grinding or a zip blade it worked really well.

Not a bad option unless youhave a ****load of grinding to do. I would not bother with the cheapy brushed model but the Fuel is pretty nice. Ordered on this evening

Like anything that runs on batts... it's ALL about the 'power available' or more to the point WATTS!!! I know milwaukee likes to hype their line saying things like 'just a s many AMPS as a corded grinder... but they forget to mention that's at ~20 volts not 120 volts!!! I use the crap out of mine all the time... yeah if you're planning on doing 15 hours of heavy grinding you'd be better off using a corded grinder but if you're only going to be doing 14 hours then the batteries are a great alternative...

[nick121]

I have the m18 2780 fuel 4.5/5 inch. I'm actually happy I bought it. It really comes in handy for the jobs that you just need some quick metal prep before welding etc. I'e even done a lot of cutting 1/8 steel with it with thin cut offs and the battery's last decent. When it comes to grinding down welds or lots of steel, corded is the way too go.
I bought a 2 pack of bosch 4.5 inch slim corded grinders and they have been great for a cheap price.

[Welder Dave]

Cordless grinders are the greatest thing since sliced bread... for criminals wanting to steal your welding cables and other "locked" stuff.

[ronsii]

Cordless grinders are the greatest thing since sliced bread... for criminals wanting to steal your welding cables and other "locked" stuff.

Ain't that the truth!! my milwaukee will slice through a200 dollar padlock in less than 10 seconds

[chewinggum]

Cordless grinders are the greatest thing since sliced bread... for criminals wanting to steal your welding cables and other "locked" stuff.

And your catalytic converters!!

CG

[ronsii]

And your catalytic converters!!

CG

My milwaukee sawzall for that less than a minute

[albrightree]

I can't remember where, but I've seen them referred to as "key to the city" (4-1/2" cordless grinder) on one of the boards. https://www.weldingweb.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

[oldwino]

OK guys
Had the Milwaukee grinder a couple of months now. It’s certainly not a heavy duty tool but works well for cleanup work or light cutting/grinding. Unless you are married to the Milwaukee battery system and have plenty of the larger capacity batteries this can be a pretty expensive way to go (175 for grinder with larger batteries upward of $150). Won’t replace your corded grinders but is nice for what it is.
I find I use it more in the shop than in the field. One less cord to trip over. My work area tends to look like an orgy in a worm farm with leads, grounds, air hose and everything else that ends up under my feet