air compressor or nail gun


  #1  
Old 09-16-19, 07:23 AM
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air compressor or nail gun

I have a 35 yr old Craftsman air compressor that previously operated my framing nailer with no issues but now it won't shoot nails, it still runs a finish nailer fine. My shop compressor operates the framing nailer fine. Both are set to the same operating pressure. I'm stumped as to whether it's a gun problem or a compressor problem. I've swapped out air hoses in case there was any obstruction but no change. Any suggestions?
 
  #2  
Old 09-16-19, 07:38 AM
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That is a tough one.
Did you try the gun back on Craftsman after testing it in the shop?
I'm wondering it was a piece of dirt in the air track within the gun or a not seated properly nail that could have got rattled between tests and it now is good to go.
 
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Old 09-16-19, 07:46 AM
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Ya, I tested it on the shop air first. It did this last week and I disassembled the gun, cleaned it and put it back together - everything looked and worked fine [on both compressors] but when I got over to my son's house the gun wouldn't work. Retested this morning and the gun works on shop air but not the little 1hp 11 gallon compressor. My finish nailer works great on the little compressor although I know it doesn't require as much CFM.

I've got to get if figured out. A muscle in my neck/shoulder hurts like crazy, I assume from hand nailing. We need to put the subfloor down saturday so I need to figure it out before then. I don't mind buying another gun but not if that isn't the problem.
 
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Old 09-16-19, 07:57 AM
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I'm assuming you are testing with same nails.
How long is the hose and is it decent quality?

I had a similar issue with my impacts back in the day, where my hose was long and soft, leaving me with less that needed pressure at the gun. Dropped to a just long enough good quality hose and put a few drops of oil in the gun each use.
I don't see your nailer needing as much PSI as I did with the impact. Could be a long shot as it sounds like everything else was covered.
 
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Old 09-16-19, 08:22 AM
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I had swapped out hoses with no change .... but now it's working I noticed when it cycles thru sometimes it would cut off at 115 psi [at the regulator] and other times it would be at 90 psi [which should still shoot nails] I took the regulator off to check for any blockage [didn't find any] put it back on and now it's shooting nails. I think I'll go to town this afternoon and get another regulator and see if that fixes it.
 
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Old 09-16-19, 08:26 AM
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Sounds like that may be the source of the issue.
 
  #7  
Old 09-17-19, 09:14 AM
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I installed the new regulator and it seems to be working fine although the true test will be this weekend when it's put to work.

Paid $11 for the regulator at HF but I didn't feel comfortable driving that far while taking muscle relaxers so I had to take my wife out to eat to convince her to take me ..... and then she says [going down the road] that her tank was almost empty. Yesterday evening almost got expensive
 
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Old 09-21-19, 01:16 PM
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Thought I'd report that my little air compressor worked fine today, the regulator was the fix.
 
 

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