Review of Milwaukee 49-24-0146 M12 12-Volt LED Work Light

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $82.00
Sale Price: $43.58
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It goes down hill from there.

I really like the the bright light & beam pattern. For me it's ideal for illuminating a small work area. The light intensity is constant right-up until the battery is depleted. Which leads into the con's.

You have no idea when the battery will die, and then you have nothing.

The magnet is not really strong enough to be useful.

IMO it's not really water resistant other than a few rain drops.

Other notes:

Mine developed a rattle after a couple days use and then the articulating head started jamming. By the time I got around to get it fixed I was a few days past the 30 day policy and would have to send it in for repairs. So I decided to disassemble it & see what's going on. Luckily it does come apart with a T10 & T9 driver. A screw had loosened and fell out of the LED head that was jamming it. No biggie but I noticed all the screws were loose. After tightening everything up it was good as new.

I was planning to get another one of these because I really like the light beam & brightness despite the other issues. However, after disassembling this thing I don't have a good feeling about it's durability and have changed my mind. Specifically, the plastic is cheap, there is a PCB inside subject to moisture and the wires going to LED head are going to chafe. As someone else mentioned, the odd are not good if you drop this thing. Given the weak magnet its going to happen.

I bought mine for $44.99 and hoped for a outstanding light. Now at $49 its definitely not worth it!

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The gadget geek inside overcame reason when I saw LED and once again Milwaukee's m12 line surpassed my expectations. It's a lot for a flashlight but I think it was worth it.

The Bad

* It doesn't feel very tough in places. Especially the black plastic on the business end of the light and at the joint where you can twist to a 90 degree angle. I would take it hiking but I'd probably take extra precautions to secure it when in high places. I like the light overall but this is uncharacteristic of Milwaukee tools and bugs me enough to pull a star.

The Good

* It's LED. I didn't notice any candlepower ratings on it, which surprised me because it seems quite powerful. Definitely more powerful than a large mag-lite. Won't have to replace the bulb and you get more light for the juice.

* It's powered by m12 batteries. I've been using them for months now and have been very impressed with their longevity, ability to hold a charge over time and very rapid recharge.

* Powerful magnet. Sticks to our fridge which is more plastic than steel and usually requires more than a strongish fridge magnet to hold a piece of paper. It's not a super-lightweight flashlight so this impressed me.

* The 90 degree tilt works well in conjunction with being able to stick it to stuff.

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Might as well get the negatives out of the way first on this one.

1) The price is much higher than a work light with a "regular" flashlight bulb.

2) The magnet could stand to be a little stronger it holds fine unless the light or what it is fastened to gets bumped sideways.

3) There is no power gauge to let you know how much battery life you have.

All the rest is positive.

1) The light is bright. Almost too bright working in a tight cabinet doing plumbing with this light, you may be wishing it were dimmer.

2) Great design with the aluminum head working as a heat sink for the LED! Aside from driving an LED with too much voltage/current, heat is the real killer. A properly designed and cooled LED light should have a life of 20,000 to 30,000 hours. Given that the "end of life" tends to be when half of a large sample reaches 70% of it's initial output, the light should still have decent light output for a very long time. After 10 or 15 minutes of use, mine is only slightly warm!

3) Smallish and easy to carry size this will fit in a pants pocket. Try that with your 18 volt worklight :-)

4) Solid construction and quality materials. This looks like it should hold up over the long term very well.

Not only has mine earned a permanent place in my traveling tool bag, it will do double duty as the light of choice when the power goes out! When Milwaukee releases the M12 radio, that will be the other missing piece solved for power outages.

Honest reviews on Milwaukee 49-24-0146 M12 12-Volt LED Work Light

I have both the standard bulb and this new LED light. Was a little surprised at how much light this one produces. I also like the fact that the light is in a flood patern. Works great in both tight places and larger places were you need a fair volume of light.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Milwaukee 49-24-0146 M12 12-Volt LED Work Light

After 2 years of using the original M12 flashlight I finally bought this one because aside from the bulb getting really hot (energy loss) quickly draining the regular M12 batteries, the regular light just OK and who really likes that cock-eyed, dingy, amber colored light? I was glad to see pretty even beam distribution instead of the bright center beam & dim surrounding light that's cast by other LED work lights that use high-intensity LED bulbs and reaches further than those with the little dome shaped, low-intensity LED type bulbs. Battery life is better than my original M12 light and the body on this feels more rugged.