Projects | Tool Review | Workshop

Review of the Milwaukee M18™ RADIUS Compact Site Light w/Flood Mode

Tool Review of the Milwaukee M18™ RADIUS Compact Site Light w/Flood Mode.

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

Hey guys, it’s the Toolbox Dude here.  This past Father’s day my other half gifted me some amazing tech. She really does give the best gifts.  I’m just getting around to using all of the things she gifted, and it feels like Christmas in July. She knows I’m a bit of a techie and I love experimenting with the latest lighting gadgets. One of the things she gave me was the Milwaukee M18™ RADIUS Compact Site Light w/Flood Mode.

This time, however, she made it clear – she had a gift that will help me fix the bathroom exhaust ceiling fan?  She’s tired of the rattling fan. Hahaha.  It’s not a daunting task to fix the fan, but with all that twisting and contorting in the ceiling and pulling a drop cord, fixing it isn’t happening anytime soon.  It’s probably more like when the fan calls it.

I thought yea, what’s going to motivate me to tackle this project? I can’t even see my fingers or anything to get any work done up there in the ceiling. The place is dark and I do not have an extension cord long enough to power a drop light.  She replied, “Don’t worry, I got you covered.”  You should have seen the look I gave her.

                  Milwaukee M18™ RADIUS Compact Site Light - Toolbox Divas

But anyway, she set down this light down in front of me with the manual next to it and walked away.  I shook my head and chuckled as I pressed the power switch.  This thing flooded the space with light. I thought I would need a pair of shades to balance out the light intensity, but heck you can even adjust the light intensity ( no shades required). ‘Sweet!’ I am seeing all sorts of application for this lantern.

Let’s get into the light techy stuff:

The Milwaukee M18 Radius Compact site light with flood mode is a battery operated lantern that can also be plugged in.  Unlike your average light source the Milwaukee m18 Radius Compact site light has a clear transparent high impact polycarbonate domed lens from which the lumen (light) is emitted and yes you can’t miss it, it is big. It ’s made to supply a whole lot of light to do work or have fun. With the Milwaukee M18 Radius Compact site light with Flood mode being a multimode powered device, you can literally run this by plugging it into an electrical outlet at the home or on the job site. And at 120 volts this can easily be powered by a  generator or solar array up-converted to 120 volts alternating current (ac).

In my case, while working in the ceiling the Milwaukee M18 Radius Compact site light was flexible. I could adapt the light from the saturating 360 degrees illuminating the entire workspace to a concentrated light source using the 90-degree flood light to focus in on a particular area.

 

I could hang the lamp on a joist nail so the light was over head and out the way.

The Milwaukee m18 Radius Compact site light with Flood mode is tough and took a lot of bumping while in the ceiling.  I also may or may not have dropped from a bit of a distance.

During my exit from the ceiling it fell from the roof access onto the floor below and it did not miss a beat ,it kept on shining on.

What I loved Most

  • Mode has some high-intensity LEDs which from my experience are rugged as the unit itself and because they are LED.  It probably will never need to be replaced.
  • It is powered by one Milwaukee M18 volt battery,  same as the battery used on many of my other half’s Milwaukee M18 volts tools. This one battery provides seamless power management for our Milwaukee M18 volts tools, there’s no need to sort through batteries to find the right one. I can get things done instead of wasting time sorting through a battery drawer.
  • There is an Alternating current (AC) inlet on the unit for extended runtime. This is an especially useful offering if you want to stay on the job site longer or light a campsite for a longer period.

What I didn’t like as much

  • The carry handle on the top, however, does not work well with a gloved hand – probably should have made this telescopic to adjust for glove use.  The metal hanging hook is good with bare or gloved hand though.
  • If you are going to work in wet space you might want to cover the AC inlet should you be thinking of plugging it into utility power. The AC inlet could have used a cover for that matter.
  • At high intensity, the battery life is not as long as I had hoped.  But I can always plug it in if using constantly at its highest mode.

All in all, this is an awesome light.  It is compact, rouged and portable.  It also makes good use of solid LED technology to provide some intense site illumination.

Awesome piece of light.  I definitely recommend adding this tool to your tool collection.  You won’t regret it.

Hurricane season is coming let’s see how the light will fare as we make our way through the season.  I might get a chance to test out the extended usage of the unit then – hope not. But I could probably say more about the light after hurricane season.

 

Oh, and I know what your thinking,  ‘Did I fix the fan?’ well… Mabybe??  I’m working on it.

 

I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the ProSpective 2018 Campaign. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *