Milwaukee m18 angler fishtape review and pull test

This is a review and usage of the Milwaukee m18 angler battery powered fish tape. A great addition to any electrician or Av data techs kit.
It’s just been released in Australia. It has a brushless motor being powered by Milwaukee’s fuel power. It has 250 ft lbs of pulling power. I’ve only used it a few times which is why I’m testing it out in a few differing ways. I’ll be giving another review later on this year after I’ve had more use.
I usually keep this in my packout roller box which it fits in very easily, which is great.
If you have any thoughts on other ways to mount these, let me know. I’m also wanting more packout ideas for utilising the stealthmount feet.
Stay tuned for more tool reviews and diy ideas.
Leave your questions, recommendations or comments in the comment section.
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[@drainmonkeys385]

Obviously it’s good for some jobs but sometimes you need the steel...

[@falcon5751]

Tip from a dutch electrician, we use conduit 99% of the time but when adding cables with 8 or 4 thin wires to a fishtape just put half of the wires in from opposites sides and twist the ends together tightly no tape needed and its faster

[@iTranquillo]

Heb jij dit apparaat geptobeerd om draad en kabels te trekken? Zo ja, is het een aanrader?

[@michael_mouse]

... very good demo... with the good and bad! Cheers

[@reynaldoovalle9362]

Great job bro God bless you

[@AddictedtoTools]

Thanks

[@DeviloftheHelll]

seems like it misses by design a secondary feed roller to prevent backrolling in the drum would give it a bit more pushing strenght too

[@AddictedtoTools]

Definitely agree. I wouldn’t have thought it would roll up the easy. That’s a large downside.

[@GeelongCableLocations]

Great work Matt, thanks for doing this as I've seen a few electricians on Instagram get this girl over the last couple of weeks, but no one seems to have done a review yet and I've been dying to know more about it, so thank you mate. Question for you - do you know if the steel reel is available yet? Obviously as a locator I need one that is locatable, so that is what I am after, but I'm just not sure if I'm just looking at the wrong spots or if it just hasn't hit Australia yet. I do have the traditional manual fish tape and use it at least a couple times a week, so after seeing this and seeing the weight it can do, if they have got one in Australia then I will definitely be buying it. Regards Ben

[@AddictedtoTools]

All good mate. I was keen to get some footage out of it in use. Let me know if you have any questions or things you wished to see from it.

[@GeelongCableLocations]

@@AddictedtoTools you mean other than the question I already asked in there about the steel reel? Hahahahaahhaha

[@AddictedtoTools]

Aha, sorry mate. I didn’t see the whole comment. I was actually wondering about the steel cartridges the other day. Especially as there’s a 240’ reel available. I’ve just sent a message to Sydney tools and the Milwaukee Australian rep. So I’ll let you know when they get back to me.

[@GeelongCableLocations]

@@AddictedtoTools hahahahahahha all good mate. Was just funny when I read it 😄 Yeah I actually message Tim from Sydney Tools as well 😁, I guess it's good as this way if he sees there is demand for them so they will get them in faster. Actually if they can get the 240 foot one in then I reckon a heap of locators will buy it. One aspect of the job that drives most locators crazy is rodding optic fibre conduits that have no other cable in them, so that we can then locate them. We have all been wanting a motorised option to do this for years, and looks like it's finally arrived 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@haigenwood8369]

I've noticed that the polyester fishtape, both manually and the auto, have a much bigger struggle through 90°'s compared to regular steelies (obvious reasons being) but I have this tool with the steel reel and I absolutely love it. It's far more superior in my opinion. Thanks for the review!

[@AddictedtoTools]

Cheers for the input mate. I would love to try the steel version especially as it’s longer. Unfortunately they won’t sell them in aus.

[@marwanalzadjali5851]

Great Video ! Thanks. Can this be easily used when the conduit contains many existing wires ?

[@alulaleak]

I think this is worth the buy even though it’s expensive and that’s simply because extending and retracting fish tape is the most annoying part of the pulling experience imo. I don’t think this thing actually helps with the pulling action unless it’s wedged between something to hold it still, while being only up to 20ish degrees off-parallel to the conduit’s exit. Better get a greenlee puller or make an extended contraption for this if you’re looking for pulling leverage. Cheers from Canada

[@ericpelayo9872]

Lol thats not a real test... Even my grandma can pull cat 5 lol

[@jakezhaocn]

Do you think this can pull the underground cable? like 2 x 16mm SDI and 6mm Earth in the orange conduit

[@billtruong2989]

How well do they go through inspection elbows?🙏🏿🙏🏿

[@Justasimpleniceguy]

Can I use this to pull rg6 cable through underground conduits?

[@AddictedtoTools]

100%. It would be perfect for that.

[@bobruletka243]

What about 12 circuits of 12 gauge solid wire in a lets say 1"/ 3/4 inch emt with offset, kick and 2. 90°

[@MrAnthonyfenech]

Definitely a nice to have but I can’t see myself buying it in the short term at least.

[@jeffhead8780]

I think milwaukee over reached with the power fishtape. I have a milwaukee 240 foot polyester tape and it is by far the best fishtape I have ever used.

[@AddictedtoTools]

It’s definitely a specialty tool for certain scenarios. It’s not cheap, so can be hard to justify. 👍🍻

[@rudekid82]

We have one at work, tool sucks

[@LAGMI20]

so if you had to choose wich version would you get the steel cable or the other ?

[@red_rocket.]

Even an old plumber could do that. Too easy

[@mattprzymierski]

why dont you clip your pipes down while youre trying to get there battery powered fish tape through?? it would make a huge difference rather than the pip[e being on the ground moving around while nits trying to go through. NOT a very good demonstration at all!

[@timbryan57]

I can see it being worthwhile just for simply rolling up the tape, but in a practical situation it would never leave the gang box. Especially with pvc. Vacuum and a string takes about .4 seconds to go 1/2 mile.

[@dylanzeltmann9755]

You still have to pull that string back and when you have heavy wire on there it’s a bitch to pull through 90’s with the string digging into your hand, glove or not

[@ابوعبداللهالفقيه-د9ح]

كم سعر هذا المنتج

[@drainmonkeys385]

Milwaukee says it will pull 400 pounds. I’d have too see to believe

[@terrygannom]

Those 90° bends look to be plumbing 90°s. Here in the State's our electrical tubing is regulated and has a substantial difference in radius, meaning the bend is tremendously longer than what's in your video. I believe this wonderful tool will perform much better in a true electrical tubing radius. Thanks for demonstrating this great Milwaukee product!

[@Kevin-ip8uf]

In the meantime I moved from Canada to the US and think the same about their standards. Some of the stuff I see here would never fly by Canadian electrical codes

[@xseveredsaintx]

@TrashPandaMedia I'm a Canadian electrician, I'm curious to what things you're referring to here

[@aaronw9035]

Our cable is more flexible

[@MrAnthonyfenech]

A true electrical tubing radius? That’s the type of conduit bends we have in Australia so it is accurate for the type of work we do here. Typical arrogant yank. There is a world outside of the USA.🙄

[@EyeOfTheTiger601]

Yes sir I agree with this gent. I’m thinking about purchasing this unit. Great demo though.

[@XvTOASTvX]

do you work in sydney matt?

[@AddictedtoTools]

Na I’m in brisbane

[@beardedswordsman2901]

I hear the steel one is not as good because it kinks in the drum. I do low voltage running through mostly 3/4. I have been considering this for some time now

[@AddictedtoTools]

Yeah I’ve seen similar problems with the steel reel. We can’t get the steel tape here which is crazy. I would have loved to review it and see how problematic it is. I haven’t heard of too many problems with the polyester tape.

[@fazkarimi158]

Can you pull two 16mm SDI and earth with this for underground in fast motion? Too

[@damagecase13]

I work for Bell Canada, we use Milwaukee drivers....I would absolutely love one of these.

[@AddictedtoTools]

It definitely makes life a little easier.

[@b-radfrommalibu]

Those are some really tight bends in the US our 90's aren't that sharp.

[@jarrheadja1522]

If you can't pull cable thru 4 90's by hand then construction isn't for you lol

[@9plusinstalaciones]

Im guessing its not really for 20mm 90º bends, for 16 & 20mm you should be looking at a 3.5mm or 4.5mm fish tape. I don't think id go for the steel fish tape as virtually all my tapes are the same with an insulation covering.

[@AddictedtoTools]

Yeah. The idea of the review and video is to see what it is capable of. In this application, the steel would be better.

[@9plusinstalaciones]

@@AddictedtoTools that's it Bro

[@ARmYofSixxTH]

Will with for in insulation that’s what I wanna know

[@enzobravo992]

Great work bro, saludos desde Argentina

[@AddictedtoTools]

Thanks mate👌

[@justinmclean5778]

I want to know if the power of the pull is still there at lower speeds when running multiple cables through the conduit. If you have a lot of cables through the conduit and you a running a line the friction could ruin the run so is the power their with lpwer speed or is the power there only at full speed

[@AddictedtoTools]

They are great points. I’ll be hopefully using it more often at work and I’ll be able to either give an updated review or demo. Thanks for ideas.

[@jordanadams5902]

look up every single motor with relation to torque vs speed.

[@12101DyM]

I run a lot of big electrical wires through 2-4" pipe, this tool would make pulling in the rope we use for the wire far easier

[@WeatherNut27]

I gotta run 4 6g thhn through 170 feet of 1.5" conduit. Think this is worth the investment?

[@taylorjams4845]

It makes it soo much easier.

[@drainmonkeys385]

It’s too expensive... but I’m buying it... but not for its intended purpose.. I’ll be using on sewer lines to retrieve objects... treble hook will snag wet wipes and loose tree roots and other things.. I’ll put a magnet to grab metal objects

[@AddictedtoTools]

I have a friend that wants the longer metal cartridge to do pipe and service location. Same for of thing👌👍

[@kesavankesavan9562]

How many

[@electracian_khalil125]

varegood

[@justincolton4074]

You're a beefy dude, can you see smaller guy being able to use it pretty easy?

[@AddictedtoTools]

For your usual runs it’s should be fine. It wouldn’t be much different compared to a normal cable pull with rope or fish tape.

[@FigiCraft]

Love it

[@AddictedtoTools]

Thanks. 👍🍻

[@vibinoutside]

You seem like a good worker.. but from Canada.. those are plumbing 90's; if you had two factory bends with the proper inside diameter and turning radius, I think you'd have a better time. Cheers

[@chintanandhariya502]

I collected

[@Nick-vx6pr]

If it can't pull hundreds of pounds what's the point. Pulling 20lbs is nothing

[@loganreinhart8221]

The ultimate sin he used white tape but didn’t label anything

[@AddictedtoTools]

Hey mate. I’ve asked this a few times to other and haven’t had an answer. What’s wrong with white tape? I also usually don’t need to label single installation cables when running them in. Not sure what the point would be .

[@NpgSymboL]

Nice answer Logan

[@JulzVrsMaz]

Do you think it would be able to pull 16mm building wire mains through ?

[@AddictedtoTools]

It would depend on the length of the run, size of conduit and bends. I’ll have to see if I can try this out some time.

[@lkok931]

Yeah, I have a Southwire fish with the same end. I refuse to use that abomination; it's absolute junk. Sure the fiberglass or plastic is too thick, but the end alone makes it useless. You can't use it in conduit with existing wires, and you can't get around bends easily. All you do is fight the pos. If they made one of these anglers with a smaller end with a flexible leader, then I'd be all over it. I can't risk using steel where I work or else I'd maybe consider that option.

[@DilipGupta-ok4nh]

Coll me

[@ForFucksSake57591]

Man a video review is sooooo hard to find on these! I got a regular 200ft nylon Milwaukee fish tape a couple months ago and love it. Definitely the best fish tape I’ve had. Waiting for a deal on one of these m18 to come around. How’s it holding up? Any issues? Thanks again for the post! A HUGE THANK YOU all the way from the US 🇺🇸

[@AddictedtoTools]

Hey mate. The fish tape is holding up nicely. I haven’t had any problems yet. I have talked to another person who had the end break on them. Not sure how though. Warranty looked after them though.