# M-18 Milwaukee Hammer drill repair



## cathead (Oct 7, 2022)

This turned out to be a borderline surgical procedure but in the end it works just fine.  The date on the motor was 2011 and is
one of the brushed models from that era.  I have another set of M-18 drills and drivers from that era and had previously ordered
from E-Bay a spare brush set!  Maybe I will get another spare as I have three M-18 that use the same brush setup.  Disassembly
is pretty straight forward.  Even soldering in the new brush set was pretty uneventful.  From there it gets interesting.  There
are several sizes of screws that go in specific places for one thing and there are detents that hold everything in place that
must be correct or the motor will bind.  The placement in the brushes in the back of the motor is critical and required several
disassemblies to get it right.  I won in the end after about two hours all together.   A friend of mine presented me with the 
drill in the original box with two 5 amp hour batteries(Milwaukee brand) and the charger as well so it was a real treasure
as far as I was concerned.  



	

		
			
		

		
	
 Here are the guts of the thing all prepped for surgery...



Here it is all back together along with all the tools I used to make the repair. 



Here's a photo of it all back together and running. 


So, folks, that's my POTD.  I'm not sure what the rest of the day brings but for now it's time for another cup of java and contemplate the day.  


Have a good day yourself out there in machining land.


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## Eddyde (Oct 7, 2022)

I admire your perseverance. When my Milwaukee M-18 tools died, after only 3-4 years of use, I just gave up on them in disgust.


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## cathead (Oct 8, 2022)

Eddyde said:


> I admire your perseverance. When my Milwaukee M-18 tools died, after only 3-4 years of use, I just gave up on them in disgust.


Do you still have them?


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## Eddyde (Oct 8, 2022)

cathead said:


> Do you still have them?


Yeah, I have a genetic disorder that prevents me from throwing any tool away, even if its broken.


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## cathead (Oct 8, 2022)

Eddyde said:


> Yeah, I have a genetic disorder that prevents me from throwing any tool away, even if its broken.


That's great!  If you want me to assist you in fixing it, I would be happy to do so.


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## Eddyde (Oct 8, 2022)

Thanks for the offer. I am capable of fixing them but I use cordless tools professionally (contractor) and I just don't have time to mess around with them. Easier to buy yet another set and keep the job going... 
The thing that ****** me off most, almost all my Milwaukee corded tools that I purchased in the mid 1980's -90's, are still working fine. I expected more from them...


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## finsruskw (Oct 8, 2022)

Cathead.....
Lucky you!!

I just  s**t canned a very low hour Craftsman HD I had only used a few times.
Bought new when I retired (2012)
No parts available, obsolete and discontinued is all I could find out about it when I went looking for a new field. Sucks big time!
Thinking now about a new Milwaukee but have not started serious shopping.
Now a possible upcoming project that will require drilling lots of 5/8" holes on concrete to secure lag screws, has come up.


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## alloy (Oct 9, 2022)

My M18 drill just died.  I paid $25 dollars for it at a garage sale about 8 years ago, came with 2 good batteries and the case.

I thought the battery was dead but put a new battery on and pull the trigger and the magic smoke comes out.  I've beat the hell out of it for all those years.  Both the battereis are still good.  This was my first milwaukee cordless tool. It made a believer out of me. I now own about 12 milwaukee cordless tools.

I just bought another used on off ebay for $40 to replace it.


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## cathead (Oct 9, 2022)

You can get around brushed M-18 tools by buying the ones labeled "fuel". 
They are brushless and run on three phase I believe by converting the 
direct current in the battery to  three phase alternating current.


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