Same happened to DeWalts a few years ago. The reason you fix it is obvious. So you can put the tool to work. There is no official fix at present. So you can cry and whine about it, or you can put on your big boy pants and be pro-active. It's pretty obvious that they have a design flaw. It happens. Should you push the envelope and take chances and sometimes things go wrong. Or should you stay safe and comfy wait on others to fail and learn from their mistakes. Anyway, you can bet that all hell is breaking loose in Milwaukee and China. That guy that saves them half a cent/unit getting cheaper retainer springs is likely unemployed already.......... Have a great weekend!
Dam. Thanks for reporting this issue. The collet intermittently releasing bits when pulling during extraction is definitely unexpected. I've not seen anything like that with my Rigid or Makita impact drivers. If you're not expecting the collet to release while using the drill you could easily lose balance when standing on a ladder.
@vcgconstruction I have been having this same problem with my gen 3 impact. I decided to take apart all the impact drivers i had by milwaukee and the only difference i found was the first spring that comes out when taking the snap ring off is much weaker than even the one on my m12 gen 2 impact. So i got a stronger spring like the one that is in my m12 and it works perfectly now. That spring is a very important part in holding the Collet back in the lock position, which in my opinion with the weaker spring used allowed the collet to bounce around and move the ball bearing up just enough to release the bit. Take a look at your m12 versus the m18 and you will see what im talking about. This actually worked for me and not just making a suggestion. Hope this helps everyone with this problem.
My friend works at a machine shop and he was able to get it for me. But if you measure the spring in the tool with calipers and go online im sure you could find it somewhere.
@@chriswebb3018 Are the dimensions of the spring the same as for/in the M12 gen 2? If so, maybe you can get that part as a spare, and stuff it in the M18 gen 3 (?)
My m-12 slipped and caught on to a screw and some how the came apart . I saw your video n ordered the ball-bearing n spring took two days shipping. I followed you on video and was easy as cutting a pie 🥧 😋 opps thank you for your help . I love my m-12 as it's great and light I'm 73 yrs young I'm building a patio for my wife and missed my m-12 Now it's working again and now to back to work . Oh while waiting on parts I've been painting my 2x6's n 2x4's I have up already 🙃 Thank you from south texas 🇺🇸
That's a really nice ho-to fix video. Thx. My Milwaukee store in Indianapolis great to work with and takes care of ANY issues I have with any of my Milwaukee tools. I use nothing but M cordless tools. You answered my only real issue, why you are drilling with an impact driver. For years I never used the impact driver that came with the twofer I bought. Then I realized the drill was SO powerful I was over sinking the screws with it and changed to using only my impact drill to set screws now. I don't like hex-head drill bits so i don't use my impact driver to drill with. always enjoy your videos.
I appreciate you Vince & your style! This video is very important. Now let's see how Milwaukee mitigates this "fall-out" problem. And it better be MORE than good. Thank you. P.S. Someone could suffer eye damage/loss if they were casually looking up at their college/co-worker at a job site at a time when a bit & even an attached extention comes falling out & down like a spiralling bomb & into an eye socket God-forbid!!!
PERMANENT FIX!!! I have my M12 impact driver and I had same issue, driver bit drops almost every time I point the collet down to ground, I found out that the problem is the secondary spring which holds the ball bearing was pushed down a little bit by the collet, it made the ball bearing drop a little bit from the top (which it is supposed to be), and the ball bearing will have space to move up and down, when you shake the impact driver you will hear clicky sound, that means the ball bearing is not all the way on the top because the secondary spring cannot press the ball to be all the way on top. Why the ball bearing needs to be on top? because the inside edge of the collet will lock the ball bearing in place, if the ball bearing fall down a bit, ball bearing will have space to move back and let the driver bit drop from the collet The solution is, you have to bend end side of the secondary spring up a little bit, to press the ball bearing to be all the way on top, and avoid it to be pushed by the collet when you put the collet back in place, in normal situation, if you put the collet back in place, you will feel the collet press the secondary spring a little bit, you have to avoid this, if you can put the collet back in place without touching the spring, and the spring still hold the ball on top, when you shake your impact driver and you dont hear clicky sound from the ball, you made it!!! I tried this and tested with loosening more than one thousand 10mm bolts from more than 300 motobikes, I did not find same issue again.
Hello Vince I'm all the way from the UK and I thought your video on the Milwaukee was very good. I have just bought a Milwaukee Drill and Driver set, so I was impressed by your show. I hope they have fixed the problem now! keep up the good work. Cheers from the UK.
13:20 😂 Priceless New Subscriber, great videos!. I just recently pulled a dummy and got a small bit stuck in my Gen 2 Milwaukee impact. I tried everything to remove it short of getting the welder out. So I put it into reverse and pulled the collet like a SOB and it finally came off sending my spring/bearings and retainer rings in every direction 😂. Honestly I was just happy to get it out. Anyways, I'm now waiting on new parts from Milwaukee (retainer ring & rubber ring) so I can get it back together. 🇨🇦
I think the look of disgust on Vince's face is the only bright part in this video. I think we all love our Milwaukee tools and expect more out of them, hence his look!!
Hi Vince, You shouldn't be disappointed. There's something else that is causing this problem. You did the best to inform all of us and Milwaukee. Now we just need to wait, be patient and hope they can find a solution. I hope this is going to be covered by it's 5 yr warranty and we can go to our nearst service center to get it fixed. Thanks for the updated video and just keep us posted.
I really wanted it to work. I got my M18 Fuel impact driver back yesterday, (Friday),from Milwaukee Warranty repair. It had trigger issues, and gear changing issues. They just gave me a brand new tool replacement. No shipping or other costs involved for me. Try to keep the numbers on the side visible. Mine were BARELY visible. 5 years on tools, 3 years on batteries. Monday I get the new M12 Surge Impact ordered, and then comes my collet test for both. Thanks for the update video!
I just took mine apart because I had the same problem, all I did was coil the secondary spring up tighter, and bent the part up that goes under the ball to put more pressure on the ball. Works perfect now
Good video Vince I got one that does the same thing what you ought to try to do is take the ball bearing out of that Surge and measure it and put it in the one that's screwing up and see if it works
Interesting information. Although out of my 20 years of commercial installations I have only seen 1 person use an impact driver with drill bits & etc. I am interested if people do this vs using a drill because I have never seen it. I only use my impact to install/remove fasteners.
I use mine for drilling stuff... in most cases it finishes making the hole before the drill driver... which I found interesting. If you are half decent with trigger control you can almost completely eliminate the need for a regular drill driver. Because it has no torque adjustment options you need to be careful to not overdrive the fastener when working with wood, but it's not been an issue for me.
Well done for taking matters into your own hands. Well done for being transparent about the Milwowkey problem. Apparently size does matter when it comes to ballsbearings. Take note, Millwalkie.
the ball bearing is the fix if it stops holding all together. That will happen after it slips out too much. the correction will likely come in a follow on generation of tools and include 1: a 3 bearing collet (what I would change the design to. it's a bit of engineering and 3-15 dollars increase parts and labor for production.) 2: a slightly stiffer spring.
VCG Construction I came across your videos and SOOOOO glad I did. Thank you for what your doing it has really made me think before i buy. New to Newark Delaware area from West Virginia. After being an electrician for 10 years getting my own businesses going and working for myself I want to update my Milwaukee Gen 1 and after going through your videos I see the Milwaukee Fuel Surge in my future but wondering if I should wait and see it the surge line starts having the same problem.
FWIW the Gen 3 impact is way too much power for all but the biggest screws and lag bolts. I am extremely disappointed with mine. The spring on the hammer is so strong that it doesn't start impacting smaller fasteners until they are nearly seated. This results in more torque against the wrist and requires you to push down on the fastener with more force to prevent the bit from caming out (slippy bit)... I recently bought the M18 surge and it is nearly perfect (and very quiet).
Fix or no fix Vince thank you for droppin the video and trying to figure out a solution. I was extremely excited to repair my Gen 3 but soon guys! VCG will find a way!
I enjoy seeing all possible fixes. I personally cant wait to hear from Milwaukee about this because like you said as a SMALL bussiness owner I've solely invested into they're battery platforms, because I truely found them to be the best. Although I've personally never had this happen but if it did, it would like your saying, be extremely hazardous to people around (below)me, or myself! I believe 100% that they will fix these issues, and it be no cost or almost no cost to their customers.
I have a Gen 3 Milwaukee Surge (2760-20), and the collet recently stopped working. I took everything apart as in the video, however mine had a different issue. The part of the spring that holds the ball bearing in place had snapped off. I took some needle nose pliers and bent the end of the spring inward so it put pressure of the ball. Now it works fine.
I see some folks mention the spring... that makes sense to me. If its impacting while the bit is being pulled against the ball then the spring may be giving under the tension and vibration combined. Just a thought!
I'm 73💜 and alone and hanging and learning with you. Your my husband without the dirty. Laundry. Thank you for breaking it down for this old lady, cutie! 💜
Great vid as always Vince. Honest and informative, "unbiased" despite what I have seen in RUclips tool vid comments. Keep up the great work and thanks for taking the time to inform consumers of your findings/experiences.
Oh man good thing I watched this video I'm a novice Electrician about to go out to start my own company I plan on going for the M12 milwaukee impact drivers do to the compact size but I liked the m18 is well maybe the problem is fixed by now but I will look into it first thank you so much
I’ve been using an inside cutter the last few days working on offsetting toilet flanges. My bit started falling out of my gen 2 impact so I was in the process of reaserching the gen 3 thinking my drill was going bad. Thanks for the video. My wife doesn’t need to know it’s an easy fix though. Good excuse to get the gen 3! Thanks
Very good Job, I never stop to say this, V.C.G. Construction it's the best channel on youtube. I hope that channel grow up like a big secular tree, in only one year.
I bought my M18 Fuel Drill Combo Kit a couple days after using it. After only a handful of removing drywall screws, that actual collet fell apart mid drill. Got the whole kit exchanged will try to comeback to see if we still have the same problem
Although I’ve been lucky and not experienced this problem yet I do hope Milwaukee comes up with a fix for this very soon. I personally feel the gen 2 and gen 3 are the best drivers on the market.
What about the grease you used? What if it makes things too slippery under impact? The powerful impact mechanism is definitely causing this bearing to let go at the insane amount of IPMs this thing is putting out. I just bought a set of gen 3 fuel drill and driver combo kit and my impact collet is doing the opposite. It won't let go of the chuck after heavy impacting. I will need to jam the chuck into the collet to get it to release.
This is my first set. My coworkers are saying it might need to be broken in. Is it normal to have the 3 drill jaws wobbly and loose when they're not grabbing anything? I bought these because I was told and have seen that Milwaukee makes some of the best tools out there. Now I'm having some doubts
The fix is simple the spring holding the barring is to weak stronger spring problem solved. Surprisingly the spring from a Mac 2 ton floor jack did fit perfectly. It may be a bit of overkill but it has been the perfect fix I have not had one bit come loose yet
Good to know. Good info I've worked on one ,my work colleague's I did like the power of Milwaukee impact Its very good if you are carpenter working on fixing rafters etc, I consider this impact good for any metal work as well. I'm sticking with Makita as main and Bosch. Good luck.
I don't think we should service these tools mechanically apart from lubrication etc. Milwaukee should work on this asap in my opinion as it's a big dawn fall of this issue. Have never experienced this with Makita and Bosch lines.
This also happens with my Bosch 12v pocket driver. I own an appliance repair company so I love the size because it allows me to screw inside tight spaces (inside and around washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc) but it's really frustrating when drilling holes because I'll have to put the drill back on the stuck bit to pull it out a little before it slides off again and I'll have to keep doing that until the bit is finally all the way out.
Great follow up Video ..See this is what I like ..you deserve your own network show on live TV..Just putting that out to the Universe and when you said it would take more force and effort that is good because you know it would take the opposite to extract why the tool was actually in use ...Great Content Vince
J M, if that’s truly the case, what difference does it make. It shouldn’t matter what type of bit and/or bit manufacturer, if the issue was replicated on the Makita, then the Makita also shares the collet problem.
@@mr.wizeguy8995 That's not even a logical argument. Collets aren't designed to be replaced like tires. It would be a more logical argument to say... the 5.4v triton engine has a problem spitting spark plugs, therefore ford got rid of that engine and replaced it with the 5.0. Going back to the point...come on....its a collet. Even my cheap porter cable has the ability to do one handed loading and doesn't suffer from this issue
Can you take apart the collet on the surge model so it can be seeing what is the difference between the surge collet system and the modified with the big bearing. Also compare thickness of the spring, basically compare everything. Thx.
I appreciate for your info also feed back in the tool. Helps people decide & see what’s a good product for them. To be honest I don’t do construction but I have been using Milwaukee for auto mechanics also I have the 2853-20 model. I use for light work not heavy to push or pull every time. So I believe I don’t have to worry this problem but also I agree with you with fixing this tool by the manufacturer as well.
My m18 fuel surge is currently suffering from this issue. Will be fixing it. I’ve got a secondary hex bit collet that may just get brazed in to place if nothing else works
I haven’t had any problems with mine, but I don’t use them as hard as a contractor would. I have both the M12 and M18. Mostly I use my drills for drilling and my impact drivers for driving screws.
Drills for drilling? Drivers for driving? That's crazy talk...... Haha! I feel the same way, but "impact rated" and "impact ready" is all the rage right now. Though drills drill faster, and drivers drive better, they may have set themselves up for this with all this "impacts for everything" marketing hype. I also think we may be seeing what happens when we approach the physical limits of what a 1/4 in hex can withstand at these impacting torque levels.
Thanks for the update on the collar. I was going to switch over to Milwaukee tools this Black Friday, but your video really enlighten me on what I also think is a major design flaw. I decided to go with a different brand.
My guess is it needs a stiffer spring, it could be the speed of rotation vs the weight of the ball bearing makes it release. Downfall of the auto loading function is the spring is the only thing holding the bit. The impact also may be harder and faster. I only have the older tools and don't use the impact drivers for drilling as I do automotive, I use them for bolts and screws.
Where did you order the ball bearings? I have a couple of M18 surge impacts in which the spring that retains the ball bearing has pulled out and straightened. Can you order the spring that retains the ball bearing in the collet?
Going by what many others have written its looks like its spring that is the problem and not the ball bearing - so VCG - any chance you can post something ideally seeing what Milwaukee have to say?
I fixed my NEW 3453 1/4 inch impact driver, it had this same problem. It's not the ball , it's the spring , you have to adjust the spring tension so the ball has more spring tension. Take it apart and adjust your spring with needle nose pliers and lube it up when you reinstall it. So the spring has a lot more tension pushing up the steel ball.
I have the previous model impact and no problems with the collet... For all that money for a high end tool, it is sad... I will wait before I invest my hard-earned money!!!!!! Thanks for your info...
Mine does not exhibit this issue. However, it does change the torque settings on its own between installing fasteners. Example - your on speed 3. Next trigger pull it’s on speed 1? Not worried enough to warranty it. Just an annoyance.
What if your driving the bit so deep to the point where the drill bit is pulling the drill into the timber pulling back on the collet ultimately releasing the drill bit???
Just a thought: would bearing and bearing-spring from surge fit in the gen 3 problematic model? If so, perhaps swap from surge to problematic model in stages and test? e.g. try bearing first, test, then try bearing plus spring, as necessary.
Thanks for the heads up Vince the look on your face said it all. I was really considering purchasing this combo set and now it just makes me feel sick to my stomach. Regardless it being a easy fix or not none of these fine folks should have to spend a penny to fix it specially a Milwaukee product! Milwaukee needs to get this fixed now. I am sure glad I subscribe to you before purchasing, let us know if you hear any updates from Milwaukee on this issue thanks for the review.
I don't think the ball bearing is at issue here. if the bearing was too small, to such an extent that it will let go during operation, it would definitely let go when pulling on it by hand too. This happens during impact operation, but not when stationairy. That tells me a retaining spring is too weak or short. As it does not give, even with a strong pull by hand when stationairy - that suggests it's the the coil spring tensioning the release collar that is at fault. Too short, weak, or even possibly misaligned. Or, possibly the circlip and washer needs a particular alignment? The latter - this being an issue of alignment - would explain why replacing the ball bearing has seemed to help for _some_ people. Because that spring, and the circlip and washer, has to come out (and go in again) to get to the ball bearing. Might be they went back in, slightly different from how they came out.
Hey Vince I had the same problem with my gen 3 however I remember I didn’t have this problem in the gen 2 model which was the 2653-20 so what I did was removed the collet sleeve from the gen 2 model and I noticed it had a tighter tolerance compared to the gen 3 model. So I was liked what the heck let’s install it on my gen 3 and I haven’t had an issue since then. All I did was replaced the sleeve nothing else. By the way I’m an electrician so I use daredevil bits all the time on it and it hasn’t failed me. Give it a try maybe that’s all Milwaukee has to do and give the gen 3 sleeves a tighter tolerance.
From what I can see from using Milwaukee impact drivers for 10 years, 2 things stick out to me immediately: 1. There needs to be 2 ball bearings as there are in the traditional brushed impact drivers. Either that or the tolerances in manufacturing have changed very gradually from the GEN1 to the GEN3. 2. The ball bearings you purchased Vince appear to be a more suitable fit then the OEM bearings Milwaukee installed so If at all possible try using a bearing as close to 4.5mm as possible if it is possible to purchase as well as if the retaining slot will allow. One thing that did come to mind was the thickness of the spring which retains the ball bearing. Not sure about the spring thickness of previous GEN1 & GEN2 models so just throwing the idea out there. Good luck with your endeavours Vince. 👍
My surge has this problem. Last year my surge trigger failed so Milwaukee overnighted a replacement Surge and I sent the faulty one back. After losing my 1/2” shockwave socket and adapter I noticed this problem. Since I only had my surge for 1 year ( 2 years since original purchase ) I just sent it in under warranty
Found this at 4am, with nothing better to do. So down the rabbit hole I went. The gen2 and 3 use a 4mm bearing. The hydraulic surge uses a 3.5mm bearing. The part numbers for the retention ring, sleeve, spring, etc are different. But are probably the same physically. (Why would they spend money on new machining specs for the same head/tip) if I had both tools, I'd try swapping the surge bearing and maybe its bearing spring onto the faulty tool. Then see if the bearing size difference is the culprit.
I bought an expensive Milwaukee drill to replace an old Stihl drill my husband had. After he passed away, I had some drilling to do and found that old Stihl way too heavy for me to handle, so I bought a Milwaukee cordless since everybody told me it was the best. Used it once to drill a hole in a fiberglass planter with a hole dozer drill bit. Haven't been able to remove the drill bit, nobody else can remove it either, so I tossed in in my ''junk" corner and went back to using ultra heavy Stihl.
Vince. I believe that the vibration of the impact on the collet it causing the issue. Try testing it by pulling out the bit from the hole you drill slowly so it doesn't impact as you pull out. If it doesn't come out, that may be the problem. If Milwaukee would add a bearing 180 degree's from the other it would fix the issue.
This is the reason iv stuck with gen 1 the newer models have so many silly little problems, between lose battery and the collect issues easier to go gen 1 brushless.
I don't even own one of these but from all these videos I've seen and knowing that the surge doesn't do it tells me that it's from the (probably more) violent vibration caused by the regular gen3 impacts. The surge being smoother probably doesn't let it happen. I bet if you just tried to pull it out without hitting the trigger it would retain the bit just fine, or hell grab a bit with a vice and pull on the tool and see how much force it takes to pull the bit out. Add violent vibration to the mix and it probably jars the ball bearing around and eventually lets the bit out.
@@johnahamelv Hi. Yes it did the spring is different from m18 impact I bent it at the loop where ball bearing is and at the bottom took it it's and tested it using spadal bit
Vince Gotta give you mucho credit for trying this. Obviously the 4mm ball claim by other posters was a bogus claim. Is it possible to exchange the collet from the surge. Or it could be that the impact action is greater than the surge and causing the disengagement altogether.
Milwaukee needs to get back to use about this problem what the hell now i wanna see the difference between the collets on the surge and gen 3 to find out what the problem is this bugs the crap out of me when it does this
Hey Vince, my conclusion is: the secondary ring should have a thicker gauge, in order to have a higher pressure on ball. The bigger ball only causes lesser tension from the secondary ring. Guess Milwaukee should have all these rings replaced free!
Are you triggering the collet release by running the collet into the work surface? It looks like it is compressed or hung up prior to you reversing the driver.
Now, is this problem specifically for the quick insert models? What about the ones where you manually have to pull the collar to insert the bit? do they have a similar issue? I have a Milwaukee 2850-20 non-Fuel Brushless impact driver, and I want to know, because this seems to be a very serious issue. Also, any update on this?
I have a 3 year old mastercrap rattle gun 1/2 inch drive and the friction ring got broke by a co worker like a month after I bought it. Saving up for the fuel impact ugga dugga and gen 4 fuel driver and hammer drill. Looking for the good review on gen 4 good videos man
I have the gen 3, I can’t say I care much about it dropping a bit when pulling out as I will most always be using a drill. But I am concerned about the ball getting stuck. So I guess we now need to know. Does the 4mm ball keep it from getting stuck ???🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️
Its not the size of the ball bearing. It has something to do w the second spring not holding the ball bearing in correctly. It doesnt need to hold it on the way dwn only extracting the bit.
Milwaukee just needs to make a good collet. They charge more then enough for their high end impacts to make a good collet.
Agreed I don't get why they never get it right it's literally the only legitimate complaint most people have against their impact drivers.
Never trust a guy that points with his middle finger
Why do you have to fix anything, we pay a lot of money for our tools. This should never happen in the first place.
Ya and milwaukee is supposed to be bulletproof
@@mikegman7502 Supposed to be...😅 You know, it is not profitable to manufacture non-breaking product
Premium price for a fucked up tool
Same happened to DeWalts a few years ago. The reason you fix it is obvious. So you can put the tool to work. There is no official fix at present. So you can cry and whine about it, or you can put on your big boy pants and be pro-active. It's pretty obvious that they have a design flaw. It happens. Should you push the envelope and take chances and sometimes things go wrong. Or should you stay safe and comfy wait on others to fail and learn from their mistakes. Anyway, you can bet that all hell is breaking loose in Milwaukee and China. That guy that saves them half a cent/unit getting cheaper retainer springs is likely unemployed already.......... Have a great weekend!
@@MrJetDevil It's even less profitable to make a tool that fails less than a year into its 5 year warranty.
Maybe you should open up both the Gen 3 and the Serge collets and compare the parts.
We might need to do that!!
That’s a good shout.
I was gonna say the same thing make a video on it if you do
probably a surge. not sure wtf a serge is.
The part numbers are different for both the ball and the spring, but that doesn't mean it wont work.
I cannot belive my eyes............ Milwaukee please fix this ASAP.
Dam. Thanks for reporting this issue. The collet intermittently releasing bits when pulling during extraction is definitely unexpected. I've not seen anything like that with my Rigid or Makita impact drivers. If you're not expecting the collet to release while using the drill you could easily lose balance when standing on a ladder.
Oh man, that is very scary.
not to mention losing bits on the jobsite, mine are $11 each; Malco 3/8 & 5/16 flip bit
Was thinking the same thing about losing balance from pulling and it slips out😳
Maybe you shouldn’t be on a ladder then lol, you know what they say about people over the age of 45.
@vcgconstruction I have been having this same problem with my gen 3 impact. I decided to take apart all the impact drivers i had by milwaukee and the only difference i found was the first spring that comes out when taking the snap ring off is much weaker than even the one on my m12 gen 2 impact. So i got a stronger spring like the one that is in my m12 and it works perfectly now. That spring is a very important part in holding the Collet back in the lock position, which in my opinion with the weaker spring used allowed the collet to bounce around and move the ball bearing up just enough to release the bit. Take a look at your m12 versus the m18 and you will see what im talking about. This actually worked for me and not just making a suggestion. Hope this helps everyone with this problem.
Where did you get the replacement spring?
My friend works at a machine shop and he was able to get it for me. But if you measure the spring in the tool with calipers and go online im sure you could find it somewhere.
@@chriswebb3018 Are the dimensions of the spring the same as for/in the M12 gen 2? If so, maybe you can get that part as a spare, and stuff it in the M18 gen 3 (?)
Could you maybe heat and stretch the original spring to increase tension?
@@Scott00 that's a decent solution... my only question would be, would you create more wear and tear doing that to such a small thin piece of metal?
My m-12 slipped and caught on to a screw and some how the came apart . I saw your video n ordered the ball-bearing n spring took two days shipping. I followed you on video and was easy as cutting a pie 🥧 😋 opps thank you for your help . I love my m-12 as it's great and light I'm 73 yrs young I'm building a patio for my wife and missed my m-12
Now it's working again and now to back to work . Oh while waiting on parts I've been painting my 2x6's n 2x4's I have up already 🙃
Thank you from south texas 🇺🇸
Man I just bought that combo Milwaukee combo kit for 499.99 now I'm having second thoughts about it.. thanks for your review on this impact drill
That's a really nice ho-to fix video. Thx. My Milwaukee store in Indianapolis great to work with and takes care of ANY issues I have with any of my Milwaukee tools. I use nothing but M cordless tools. You answered my only real issue, why you are drilling with an impact driver. For years I never used the impact driver that came with the twofer I bought. Then I realized the drill was SO powerful I was over sinking the screws with it and changed to using only my impact drill to set screws now. I don't like hex-head drill bits so i don't use my impact driver to drill with. always enjoy your videos.
I appreciate you Vince & your style! This video is very important. Now let's see how Milwaukee mitigates this "fall-out" problem. And it better be MORE than good. Thank you. P.S. Someone could suffer eye damage/loss if they were casually looking up at their college/co-worker at a job site at a time when a bit & even an attached extention comes falling out & down like a spiralling bomb & into an eye socket God-forbid!!!
This is true!
PERMANENT FIX!!! I have my M12 impact driver and I had same issue, driver bit drops almost every time I point the collet down to ground, I found out that the problem is the secondary spring which holds the ball bearing was pushed down a little bit by the collet, it made the ball bearing drop a little bit from the top (which it is supposed to be), and the ball bearing will have space to move up and down, when you shake the impact driver you will hear clicky sound, that means the ball bearing is not all the way on the top because the secondary spring cannot press the ball to be all the way on top.
Why the ball bearing needs to be on top? because the inside edge of the collet will lock the ball bearing in place, if the ball bearing fall down a bit, ball bearing will have space to move back and let the driver bit drop from the collet
The solution is, you have to bend end side of the secondary spring up a little bit, to press the ball bearing to be all the way on top, and avoid it to be pushed by the collet when you put the collet back in place, in normal situation, if you put the collet back in place, you will feel the collet press the secondary spring a little bit, you have to avoid this, if you can put the collet back in place without touching the spring, and the spring still hold the ball on top, when you shake your impact driver and you dont hear clicky sound from the ball, you made it!!!
I tried this and tested with loosening more than one thousand 10mm bolts from more than 300 motobikes, I did not find same issue again.
❤️❤️❤️
I believe you. Whatever you said?
@VCG Construction did u tried this
Yeetrue, please consider making a video of this fix. A little tough to follow without.
This guys needs some credit
Hello
Vince
I'm all the way from the UK and I thought your video on the Milwaukee was very good. I have just bought a Milwaukee Drill and Driver set, so I was impressed by your show. I hope they have fixed the problem now! keep up the good work. Cheers from the UK.
It’s the spring that keeps the ball bearing when it impacts it’s not stiff enough chance it or pull it to make it hold the bearing in tact
I agree it is the only thing that keeps the ball in place
13:20 😂 Priceless
New Subscriber, great videos!.
I just recently pulled a dummy and got a small bit stuck in my Gen 2 Milwaukee impact. I tried everything to remove it short of getting the welder out. So I put it into reverse and pulled the collet like a SOB and it finally came off sending my spring/bearings and retainer rings in every direction 😂. Honestly I was just happy to get it out. Anyways, I'm now waiting on new parts from Milwaukee (retainer ring & rubber ring) so I can get it back together. 🇨🇦
I think the look of disgust on Vince's face is the only bright part in this video. I think we all love our Milwaukee tools and expect more out of them, hence his look!!
Hi Vince,
You shouldn't be disappointed. There's something else that is causing this problem. You did the best to inform all of us and Milwaukee. Now we just need to wait, be patient and hope they can find a solution.
I hope this is going to be covered by it's 5 yr warranty and we can go to our nearst service center to get it fixed.
Thanks for the updated video and just keep us posted.
Thanks Michael we appreciate it!
I really wanted it to work. I got my M18 Fuel impact driver back yesterday, (Friday),from Milwaukee Warranty repair. It had trigger issues, and gear changing issues.
They just gave me a brand new tool replacement. No shipping or other costs involved for me. Try to keep the numbers on the side visible. Mine were BARELY visible. 5 years on tools, 3 years on batteries. Monday I get the new M12 Surge Impact ordered, and then comes my collet test for both. Thanks for the update video!
I actually had an issue with my m12 surge driver not holding in bits. I’m going to try this fix with the bigger ball bearing, thanks for the video
I just took mine apart because I had the same problem, all I did was coil the secondary spring up tighter, and bent the part up that goes under the ball to put more pressure on the ball. Works perfect now
Good video Vince I got one that does the same thing what you ought to try to do is take the ball bearing out of that Surge and measure it and put it in the one that's screwing up and see if it works
What about the spring that hold the ball in place I change it and had no more problems out of my impack driver
This may be something... everyone's focused on the ball bearing what about the spring that retains it?
That is what I was thinking, with the jarring force of the impact it could shock the springs if they are worn.
agreed. I think the spring is slipping out of position under impact and allowing the bearing to retract slightly.
Definitely the spring
Is the spring in the surge the same?
Interesting information. Although out of my 20 years of commercial installations I have only seen 1 person use an impact driver with drill bits & etc. I am interested if people do this vs using a drill because I have never seen it. I only use my impact to install/remove fasteners.
Richard McEwen your completely right impact is for fasteners and a drill for drill bits
I use mine for drilling stuff... in most cases it finishes making the hole before the drill driver... which I found interesting. If you are half decent with trigger control you can almost completely eliminate the need for a regular drill driver. Because it has no torque adjustment options you need to be careful to not overdrive the fastener when working with wood, but it's not been an issue for me.
Thank you for the honest review on every tool no matter the manufacturer it helps.
Well done for taking matters into your own hands. Well done for being transparent about the Milwowkey problem. Apparently size does matter when it comes to ballsbearings. Take note, Millwalkie.
It is not a solution, ONLY A FIX. The solution is for Milwaukee to correct the problem before it leaves the production floor
Except it didn't fix anything
the ball bearing is the fix if it stops holding all together. That will happen after it slips out too much.
the correction will likely come in a follow on generation of tools and include
1: a 3 bearing collet (what I would change the design to. it's a bit of engineering and 3-15 dollars increase parts and labor for production.)
2: a slightly stiffer spring.
VCG Construction I came across your videos and SOOOOO glad I did. Thank you for what your doing it has really made me think before i buy. New to Newark Delaware area from West Virginia. After being an electrician for 10 years getting my own businesses going and working for myself I want to update my Milwaukee Gen 1 and after going through your videos I see the Milwaukee Fuel Surge in my future but wondering if I should wait and see it the surge line starts having the same problem.
FWIW the Gen 3 impact is way too much power for all but the biggest screws and lag bolts. I am extremely disappointed with mine. The spring on the hammer is so strong that it doesn't start impacting smaller fasteners until they are nearly seated. This results in more torque against the wrist and requires you to push down on the fastener with more force to prevent the bit from caming out (slippy bit)... I recently bought the M18 surge and it is nearly perfect (and very quiet).
Fix or no fix Vince thank you for droppin the video and trying to figure out a solution. I was extremely excited to repair my Gen 3 but soon guys! VCG will find a way!
Thanks Michael we appreciate it!!
I enjoy seeing all possible fixes. I personally cant wait to hear from Milwaukee about this because like you said as a SMALL bussiness owner I've solely invested into they're battery platforms, because I truely found them to be the best. Although I've personally never had this happen but if it did, it would like your saying, be extremely hazardous to people around (below)me, or myself! I believe 100% that they will fix these issues, and it be no cost or almost no cost to their customers.
I have a Gen 3 Milwaukee Surge (2760-20), and the collet recently stopped working. I took everything apart as in the video, however mine had a different issue. The part of the spring that holds the ball bearing in place had snapped off. I took some needle nose pliers and bent the end of the spring inward so it put pressure of the ball. Now it works fine.
I see some folks mention the spring... that makes sense to me. If its impacting while the bit is being pulled against the ball then the spring may be giving under the tension and vibration combined. Just a thought!
Quite possibly!!
It’s the spring
Great stuff! Appreciate the thorough review on this continued issue, Vince. LETS GO MILWAUKEE 👂🏻
I'm 73💜 and alone and hanging and learning with you. Your my husband without the dirty. Laundry. Thank you for breaking it down for this old lady, cutie! 💜
Great vid as always Vince. Honest and informative, "unbiased" despite what I have seen in RUclips tool vid comments. Keep up the great work and thanks for taking the time to inform consumers of your findings/experiences.
Thanks cardo we appreciate it!
Easy solution i used. I removed the collet and glued a little magnet down the driver. Best thing i did to my milwaukee
Oh man good thing I watched this video I'm a novice Electrician about to go out to start my own company I plan on going for the M12 milwaukee impact drivers do to the compact size but I liked the m18 is well maybe the problem is fixed by now but I will look into it first thank you so much
Bought the surge on Friday, used it today for one hour putting in 1”5/8 dekfast screws. Looks like a easy fix but I’m taking it back to get replaced
Preciate that man..my m18 has the same problem.my wife used it for her upgrades, and I was accusing her destroying my dam dril!!! lol..thanks again
I’ve been using an inside cutter the last few days working on offsetting toilet flanges. My bit started falling out of my gen 2 impact so I was in the process of reaserching the gen 3 thinking my drill was going bad. Thanks for the video. My wife doesn’t need to know it’s an easy fix though. Good excuse to get the gen 3! Thanks
he didnt fix it
Very good Job, I never stop to say this, V.C.G. Construction it's the best channel on youtube. I hope that channel grow up like a big secular tree, in only one year.
Thanks Cuz we appreciate it!
I bought my M18 Fuel Drill Combo Kit a couple days after using it. After only a handful of removing drywall screws, that actual collet fell apart mid drill. Got the whole kit exchanged will try to comeback to see if we still have the same problem
Thanks for giving it a try! Keep us posted on anything from Milwaukee...
Although I’ve been lucky and not experienced this problem yet I do hope Milwaukee comes up with a fix for this very soon. I personally feel the gen 2 and gen 3 are the best drivers on the market.
I agree!
What about the grease you used? What if it makes things too slippery under impact?
The powerful impact mechanism is definitely causing this bearing to let go at the insane amount of IPMs this thing is putting out.
I just bought a set of gen 3 fuel drill and driver combo kit and my impact collet is doing the opposite. It won't let go of the chuck after heavy impacting. I will need to jam the chuck into the collet to get it to release.
Maybe they fixed it too good on the new ones!?
This is my first set. My coworkers are saying it might need to be broken in.
Is it normal to have the 3 drill jaws wobbly and loose when they're not grabbing anything?
I bought these because I was told and have seen that Milwaukee makes some of the best tools out there. Now I'm having some doubts
The fix is simple the spring holding the barring is to weak stronger spring problem solved. Surprisingly the spring from a Mac 2 ton floor jack did fit perfectly. It may be a bit of overkill but it has been the perfect fix I have not had one bit come loose yet
Thanks, where do you get a replacement spring?
Good to know. Good info I've worked on one ,my work colleague's I did like the power of Milwaukee impact Its very good if you are carpenter working on fixing rafters etc, I consider this impact good for any metal work as well. I'm sticking with Makita as main and Bosch. Good luck.
I don't think we should service these tools mechanically apart from lubrication etc. Milwaukee should work on this asap in my opinion as it's a big dawn fall of this issue. Have never experienced this with Makita and Bosch lines.
This also happens with my Bosch 12v pocket driver. I own an appliance repair company so I love the size because it allows me to screw inside tight spaces (inside and around washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc) but it's really frustrating when drilling holes because I'll have to put the drill back on the stuck bit to pull it out a little before it slides off again and I'll have to keep doing that until the bit is finally all the way out.
I just bought one of these hopefully mine works or hopefully Milwaukee comes up with a fix. Great video👍🇺🇸
Great follow up Video ..See this is what I like ..you deserve your own network show on live TV..Just putting that out to the Universe and when you said it would take more force and effort that is good because you know it would take the opposite to extract why the tool was actually in use ...Great Content Vince
Honestly this was the decision to go towards Makita. Milwaukee really disappointed me with this issue. Thanks Vince for the updates!
With makita you never had this problem? Tbh fiest time i see this problem... I dont have an impact driver yet
I never had this problem before with Milwaukee.
By that logic you change car manufacturer every time you get flat tire.
J M, if that’s truly the case, what difference does it make. It shouldn’t matter what type of bit and/or bit manufacturer, if the issue was replicated on the Makita, then the Makita also shares the collet problem.
@@mr.wizeguy8995 That's not even a logical argument. Collets aren't designed to be replaced like tires. It would be a more logical argument to say... the 5.4v triton engine has a problem spitting spark plugs, therefore ford got rid of that engine and replaced it with the 5.0. Going back to the point...come on....its a collet. Even my cheap porter cable has the ability to do one handed loading and doesn't suffer from this issue
Can you take apart the collet on the surge model so it can be seeing what is the difference between the surge collet system and the modified with the big bearing. Also compare thickness of the spring, basically compare everything. Thx.
It's probably the spring holding the ball bearing.
Getting pushed out while singing
Centrafugal force
I appreciate for your info also feed back in the tool. Helps people decide & see what’s a good product for them. To be honest I don’t do construction but I have been using Milwaukee for auto mechanics also I have the 2853-20 model. I use for light work not heavy to push or pull every time. So I believe I don’t have to worry this problem but also I agree with you with fixing this tool by the manufacturer as well.
My m18 fuel surge is currently suffering from this issue. Will be fixing it. I’ve got a secondary hex bit collet that may just get brazed in to place if nothing else works
I haven’t had any problems with mine, but I don’t use them as hard as a contractor would. I have both the M12 and M18. Mostly I use my drills for drilling and my impact drivers for driving screws.
Drills for drilling? Drivers for driving? That's crazy talk...... Haha! I feel the same way, but "impact rated" and "impact ready" is all the rage right now. Though drills drill faster, and drivers drive better, they may have set themselves up for this with all this "impacts for everything" marketing hype. I also think we may be seeing what happens when we approach the physical limits of what a 1/4 in hex can withstand at these impacting torque levels.
Thanks for the update on the collar. I was going to switch over to Milwaukee tools this Black Friday, but your video really enlighten me on what I also think is a major design flaw. I decided to go with a different brand.
Haha! I love your facial expressions. What a great video. I do hope Lady Milwaukee doesn’t mind you fiddling with her bits.
Thanks for showing this fix that did not seem to be the fix, I guess we just wait on Milwaukee to come up with the solution.
I do watch your vids a lot!
Keep up the great work!
I have the gen 3 impacts and do overhead doors and never had this issue!!
Nice to hear about real problems with the Milwaukee tools.
You guys aren't just fanboys!
My guess is it needs a stiffer spring, it could be the speed of rotation vs the weight of the ball bearing makes it release. Downfall of the auto loading function is the spring is the only thing holding the bit. The impact also may be harder and faster. I only have the older tools and don't use the impact drivers for drilling as I do automotive, I use them for bolts and screws.
Where did you order the ball bearings? I have a couple of M18 surge impacts in which the spring that retains the ball bearing has pulled out and straightened. Can you order the spring that retains the ball bearing in the collet?
Going by what many others have written its looks like its spring that is the problem and not the ball bearing - so VCG - any chance you can post something ideally seeing what Milwaukee have to say?
My Surge had the problem under discussion . I’ll try to convert all mine to 4 mm .Great PSA !
I’m not sure can’t really tell but does it maybe have something to do with pushing The collet into the material?
I fixed my NEW 3453 1/4 inch impact driver, it had this same problem.
It's not the ball , it's the spring , you have to adjust the spring tension so the ball has more spring tension.
Take it apart and adjust your spring with needle nose pliers and lube it up when you reinstall it.
So the spring has a lot more tension pushing up the steel ball.
I have the previous model impact and no problems with the collet... For all that money for a high end tool, it is sad... I will wait before I invest my hard-earned money!!!!!! Thanks for your info...
Hi I put small washer shim behind the spring it made it a little tighter also it stopped me from losing bits.
Mine does not exhibit this issue. However, it does change the torque settings on its own between installing fasteners. Example - your on speed 3. Next trigger pull it’s on speed 1? Not worried enough to warranty it. Just an annoyance.
What if your driving the bit so deep to the point where the drill bit is pulling the drill into the timber pulling back on the collet ultimately releasing the drill bit???
It really looks like you buried the collet in the timber in that last drive
Just a thought: would bearing and bearing-spring from surge fit in the gen 3 problematic model? If so, perhaps swap from surge to problematic model in stages and test? e.g. try bearing first, test, then try bearing plus spring, as necessary.
Good idea J D, thanks!
Thanks for the heads up Vince the look on your face said it all. I was really considering purchasing this combo set and now it just makes me feel sick to my stomach. Regardless it being a easy fix or not none of these fine folks should have to spend a penny to fix it specially a Milwaukee product! Milwaukee needs to get this fixed now. I am sure glad I subscribe to you before purchasing, let us know if you hear any updates from Milwaukee on this issue thanks for the review.
Ugh I thought it would have worked !!!! You think you can put an even bigger ball bearing??
What is the size if you but a big bal bearing in mm
I don't think the ball bearing is at issue here. if the bearing was too small, to such an extent that it will let go during operation, it would definitely let go when pulling on it by hand too.
This happens during impact operation, but not when stationairy. That tells me a retaining spring is too weak or short. As it does not give, even with a strong pull by hand when stationairy - that suggests it's the the coil spring tensioning the release collar that is at fault. Too short, weak, or even possibly misaligned. Or, possibly the circlip and washer needs a particular alignment? The latter - this being an issue of alignment - would explain why replacing the ball bearing has seemed to help for _some_ people. Because that spring, and the circlip and washer, has to come out (and go in again) to get to the ball bearing. Might be they went back in, slightly different from how they came out.
Hey Vince I had the same problem with my gen 3 however I remember I didn’t have this problem in the gen 2 model which was the 2653-20 so what I did was removed the collet sleeve from the gen 2 model and I noticed it had a tighter tolerance compared to the gen 3 model. So I was liked what the heck let’s install it on my gen 3 and I haven’t had an issue since then. All I did was replaced the sleeve nothing else. By the way I’m an electrician so I use daredevil bits all the time on it and it hasn’t failed me. Give it a try maybe that’s all Milwaukee has to do and give the gen 3 sleeves a tighter tolerance.
From what I can see from using Milwaukee impact drivers for 10 years, 2 things stick out to me immediately:
1. There needs to be 2 ball bearings as there are in the traditional brushed impact drivers. Either that or the tolerances in manufacturing have changed very gradually from the GEN1 to the GEN3.
2. The ball bearings you purchased Vince appear to be a more suitable fit then the OEM bearings Milwaukee installed so If at all possible try using a bearing as close to 4.5mm as possible if it is possible to purchase as well as if the retaining slot will allow.
One thing that did come to mind was the thickness of the spring which retains the ball bearing. Not sure about the spring thickness of previous GEN1 & GEN2 models so just throwing the idea out there.
Good luck with your endeavours Vince. 👍
My surge has this problem. Last year my surge trigger failed so Milwaukee overnighted a replacement Surge and I sent the faulty one back. After losing my 1/2” shockwave socket and adapter I noticed this problem. Since I only had my surge for 1 year ( 2 years since original purchase ) I just sent it in under warranty
Found this at 4am, with nothing better to do. So down the rabbit hole I went. The gen2 and 3 use a 4mm bearing. The hydraulic surge uses a 3.5mm bearing. The part numbers for the retention ring, sleeve, spring, etc are different. But are probably the same physically. (Why would they spend money on new machining specs for the same head/tip) if I had both tools, I'd try swapping the surge bearing and maybe its bearing spring onto the faulty tool. Then see if the bearing size difference is the culprit.
This just happened to mine as well, did you guys get a chance to replace your spring for something stronger? Any luck with it lately?
I bought an expensive Milwaukee drill to replace an old Stihl drill my husband had. After he passed away, I had some drilling to do and found that old Stihl way too heavy for me to handle, so I bought a Milwaukee cordless since everybody told me it was the best. Used it once to drill a hole in a fiberglass planter with a hole dozer drill bit. Haven't been able to remove the drill bit, nobody else can remove it either, so I tossed in in my ''junk" corner and went back to using ultra heavy Stihl.
Definitely need to hear from Milwaukee soon about this issue. I almost bought the Gen3, but after this video I’m not going to until this gets fix.
Vince. I believe that the vibration of the impact on the collet it causing the issue. Try testing it by pulling out the bit from the hole you drill slowly so it doesn't impact as you pull out. If it doesn't come out, that may be the problem. If Milwaukee would add a bearing 180 degree's from the other it would fix the issue.
Or try pulling while in the forward and not in reverse mode
This is the reason iv stuck with gen 1 the newer models have so many silly little problems, between lose battery and the collect issues easier to go gen 1 brushless.
Get the Problem Sorted Milwaukee Cheers Vince
Does this issue also impact the M12 Impact line?
None of our exhibit the issue
It doesn't happen with the m12 because they use a much stronger spring in the collet than the m18.
I don't even own one of these but from all these videos I've seen and knowing that the surge doesn't do it tells me that it's from the (probably more) violent vibration caused by the regular gen3 impacts. The surge being smoother probably doesn't let it happen. I bet if you just tried to pull it out without hitting the trigger it would retain the bit just fine, or hell grab a bit with a vice and pull on the tool and see how much force it takes to pull the bit out. Add violent vibration to the mix and it probably jars the ball bearing around and eventually lets the bit out.
Hi. I bent the spring to make ball-bearing stay at top it seems to fix it. I'm using M12 impact driver
Did bending the spring still continues to work for you?
@@johnahamelv Hi. Yes it did the spring is different from m18 impact I bent it at the loop where ball bearing is and at the bottom took it it's and tested it using spadal bit
Have you tried a stronger retaining spring for the ball bearing?
Vince
Gotta give you mucho credit for trying this.
Obviously the 4mm ball claim by other posters was a bogus claim.
Is it possible to exchange the collet from the surge.
Or it could be that the impact action is greater than the surge and causing the disengagement altogether.
My Milwaukee surge just did this I’ll have to try getting those ball bearings
13:23 😭😭🤣⚰️ that look and the silence that followed.
I guess I got lucky. Had my m18 fuel impact for 2 years of constant use. No issues thankfully. Love my drill
Milwaukee needs to get back to use about this problem what the hell now i wanna see the difference between the collets on the surge and gen 3 to find out what the problem is this bugs the crap out of me when it does this
Hey Vince, my conclusion is: the secondary ring should have a thicker gauge, in order to have a higher pressure on ball. The bigger ball only causes lesser tension from the secondary ring. Guess Milwaukee should have all these rings replaced free!
Are you triggering the collet release by running the collet into the work surface? It looks like it is compressed or hung up prior to you reversing the driver.
Is the collet problem also in the Milwaukee Gen3 One Key Impact as well?
Now, is this problem specifically for the quick insert models? What about the ones where you manually have to pull the collar to insert the bit? do they have a similar issue?
I have a Milwaukee 2850-20 non-Fuel Brushless impact driver, and I want to know, because this seems to be a very serious issue.
Also, any update on this?
I have a 3 year old mastercrap rattle gun 1/2 inch drive and the friction ring got broke by a co worker like a month after I bought it. Saving up for the fuel impact ugga dugga and gen 4 fuel driver and hammer drill. Looking for the good review on gen 4 good videos man
I was about to click on Amazon to purchase my new Milwaukee hammer drill and after seen this video I just panic!.. Hope it's been fixed ASAP!!!
I have the gen 3, I can’t say I care much about it dropping a bit when pulling out as I will most always be using a drill. But I am concerned about the ball getting stuck. So I guess we now need to know. Does the 4mm ball keep it from getting stuck ???🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️🙆♂️
Its not the size of the ball bearing. It has something to do w the second spring not holding the ball bearing in correctly. It doesnt need to hold it on the way dwn only extracting the bit.
does this have the same problem with the bits if you clean an entire hole or just drill and pull out without going through the wood entirely?>