Self Tapping Mode

So I got my Gen2 Fuel kit yesterday and I had a Garage Door to install last night (100+ Self Tapping 7/16″ screws and about a Dozen or so 7/16″ x 2″ wood lags). I don’t know if it’s My Impact or the mode in general, but the Self Tapping screw mode is completely useless. I tried it a few times on both bare metal and pre-drilled holes and every time it would start impacting right away and would only put the screw in half way before stopping entirely. Modes 2 and 3 worked amazing, but on mode 3 I did feel like there was a risk of stripping things out. Overall I am really happy with the performance, but I expected a lot more out of the Self Tapping mode. 

On previous Door installs, using a Ridgid impact, I would use a full battery and the impact would be so hot at the end that you could hardly touch it. The Gen2 Fuel impact ran the screws in much faster, never got warm and at the end of the job I still had 3 bars left on a 3.0 battery (I didn’t have time to charge the 5.0).

Hrmm, I wonder if you got a bad unit or Milwaukee’s implementation of the self tapping mode isn’t good. The idea is you get a short period of max rpm and the computer or confuser as AvE calls it is supposed to kick the power and torque down to stop the possible breaking of fasteners.

wonder if it relies on pressure? I know old school self tapping ya pushed a bit to get it started…..

Jasonc wrote:

Hrmm, I wonder if you got a bad unit or Milwaukee’s implementation of the self tapping mode isn’t good. The idea is you get a short period of max rpm and the computer or confuser as AvE calls it is supposed to kick the power and torque down to stop the possible breaking of fasteners.

That’s what it does, but it seems way too sensitive, at least on mine. I have seen videos where is looks like it works great, but mine speeds up to cut through and then almost instantly it starts impacting and slows to a snails pace and then stops about halfway through. If I use mode 2 or 3 it doesn’t impact at all until the screw is all of the way in. It seems like the torque drops too much when it slows down. It seems to me like this would be an ideal use case for this mode and it failed miserably.

Thought that kind of functions was meant for very small screws?

ANd yours sounds pretty beefy.

I.e WIth such a load, it may think that you have bored it completly into the wood. And therefore will ramp down the speed, which in turn would sacrefice a lot torque, making it even slower. 

I was under the impression this mode was made for self tapping tons of small fasteners in steel stud and track, etc.

I think it’s meant for larger self tappers and heavier material. The concept is gimmicky.

A multi speed / torque setting is sufficient for self tappers.

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The great difficult to work quick and safe, and with it the great benefit of the self tapping mode becomes only important with thin metall sheets. Theres no spezial function for beefy stuff needed. If you ever work with thin metall sheets you’ll understand ; )

I’ve found self tapping mode in every brand of driver I’ve used to be a waste of time. Other than the speed offered by most impacts and the compact size, I still don’t think you can beat a drill driver for self tapping screws, especially in thin stock. 

Other than that, knowing when to let go of the trigger helps. 

Edit: just re-read the screws OP is using. For wood/woodscrews it’s completely unnecessary. It’s purely for use with metal stock.

Only for small self tapping screws in thin metal I’ve always thought

I use Tek mode for metal electrical cabinets/enclosures, fastening to decking etc, and it works. It does what it’s supposed to.

Cam out mode is for wood, is it not?



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