i bought a craftsman nail gun off ebay. i know i know super dumb idea i thought i got a good deal, obviously i diddnt. I just replaced it with the new milwaukee but still i’d like to repair the old craftsman.
The problem: usually the gun works fine but sometimes (used to be once a month now about once per rack of nails) the nose cushin is depressed the trigger is pulled but instead of a nail firing air just comes out of the trigger area.
To fix it i un-bolt the head, pull it off, piston is all the way up (like it should be) i put the piston back in. bolt the head back down and it is fine.
nothing looks broken or scratched
I was hoping that with all of the amount of gun repair that BT members have colectively done, this might ring a bell for somone who has fixed this same thing. Thanks alot
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–> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
Edited 5/14/2006 11:25 pm by skyecore
Replies
Look for a twisted or bad ring in the piston.
My Bostitch had that same problem.
Usually needs to be replaced.
Jeff
sorry about the late reply do you mean a twisted or bad o ring?______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
On the piston there are usually a one or 2 rubber "o" rings.
Some are round, some are squared (still round to go around the piston) in shape.
If they are installed into the cylinder crooked or kinked, they develop a permenent kink to them (no amount of fiddling gets the kink out well enough) which causes the blowing you feel.
Replacement usually solves the problem.
Alot of the service depts will tell you the trigger valve's bad, but try the "o" ring first.
Jeff
thanks sardog. today i took it apart again and looked at the o ring. it looked fine but it lookes as if there should be two, there were two "grooves" but only one had an o ring. another thing that i noticed was that when it jambed (usually the piston is up in the gun, this time it was down) the piston was sideways (?!) i'll havto take the bottom apart, it looks like there is a way to tighten the piece that the piston goes through which holds piston in allighment.______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
You need a rebuild kit. They will run you about $10 and it'll be fine.
blue
I spent some time today trying to get my Bostich finish gun to work. I found that the piston was sticking at the high point. I oiled it a little and assembled it and it still stuck. It started firing ok after I assembled it with the piston halfway down the cylinder.
Where can I get the rebuild kit for my nailer?
"With every mistake we must surely be learning"
Sears?
blue
I find that when the piston hammers jam in the bottom, either something is loose or worn down there.
I usually need to dis-assemble the whole unit to un-jam them.
I can usually stone the hammer smooth and clean up the channel, but sometimes you just need to bite the bullit and buy a rebuild kit for the parts.
While not expensive (I think they go for $25 locally), it's the only way to get the right parts.
A small trick (shush) is that if Bostitch is having a demo and free clinic, they'll often give you the exact part free on the spot. The reps usually have the big parts kit with them and they can pick out the right part without buying the whole kit.
Biggest problem is the special parts can't be bought alone, only in kit form.
I keep rebuild kits in the shop and often find I only need the "o" rings from them.
Jeff
I've got the same problem with a Craftstman finish nailer. I'm assuming that all it needs is a rebuild kit.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA