Post by kraftt on May 26, 2018 16:45:55 GMT -5
Follow up, reality check…
Took tank to job site thinking I would use it for dust off around house.
First I wanted to shoot some more nails, testing 15ga and 18ga.
With the 15 you can move at a moderate to moderately fast pace but you should adjust pressure closer to 115 psi. I wouldn’t try bump fire 15ga gun though. 15ga drove nails well enough at 90psi but it felt underpowered and I paused 2 secs between shots. (fwiw - my 15 is oilless with a slightly higher volume draw than typical so not sure how that affects things. Also I was only driving 2-½" nails).
With an 18 ga. you can move as fast as you want. This has more to do with regulator & less the size of tank. (if you blinked you would miss the gauge needle momentarily drop to 50psi with 15ga before springing back during each piston drive. even less movement with an 18ga gun)
Including yesterdays testing I shot around 100 nails total plus a few prior dust off tests before using it for dedicated dust off around the clients house today. I clipped the tank to my belt, adjusted pressure to 80psi, and walked around dusting off things like screens, stair treads, fixtures etc. I was told to only use short bursts, like “one-one-thousand” to keep reg from freezing up. But I just went for it. After about 40 bursts the tanks was frosty ice cold and pressure had dropped. Thinking that Co2 is less productive when it’s cold out I placed tank out in the sun. I expected to go back to testing the nail guns but discovered there was only enough pressure left for a squirrel to pass gas. That was it, end of the ride, get off.
I would still recommend this size tank for smaller jobs like a few doors & casing or a fair amount of base / crown. But for dust off - fugetaboutit. It’s fine to use it for the occasional burst but those come at a steep cost to nail count. Stick to shooting nails and it’s legit.
To compliment the 20oz you should also consider a 5lb tank ($64 filled includes tax out the door & you can use same regulator as they just spin on & off by hand). Or get at least two 20oz tanks.
If you don’t shoot that often, a single 20oz if fine if you keep a rough track of nail count.
*oh yeah, those videos you see where guys refill their own tanks from a bigger tank... I'm told it doesn't quite work that way. To properly do it you need an expensive pump. What's happening, whether big tank is inverted or they fitted it with a siphon tube, is that they are getting about a half fill.
Took tank to job site thinking I would use it for dust off around house.
First I wanted to shoot some more nails, testing 15ga and 18ga.
With the 15 you can move at a moderate to moderately fast pace but you should adjust pressure closer to 115 psi. I wouldn’t try bump fire 15ga gun though. 15ga drove nails well enough at 90psi but it felt underpowered and I paused 2 secs between shots. (fwiw - my 15 is oilless with a slightly higher volume draw than typical so not sure how that affects things. Also I was only driving 2-½" nails).
With an 18 ga. you can move as fast as you want. This has more to do with regulator & less the size of tank. (if you blinked you would miss the gauge needle momentarily drop to 50psi with 15ga before springing back during each piston drive. even less movement with an 18ga gun)
Including yesterdays testing I shot around 100 nails total plus a few prior dust off tests before using it for dedicated dust off around the clients house today. I clipped the tank to my belt, adjusted pressure to 80psi, and walked around dusting off things like screens, stair treads, fixtures etc. I was told to only use short bursts, like “one-one-thousand” to keep reg from freezing up. But I just went for it. After about 40 bursts the tanks was frosty ice cold and pressure had dropped. Thinking that Co2 is less productive when it’s cold out I placed tank out in the sun. I expected to go back to testing the nail guns but discovered there was only enough pressure left for a squirrel to pass gas. That was it, end of the ride, get off.
I would still recommend this size tank for smaller jobs like a few doors & casing or a fair amount of base / crown. But for dust off - fugetaboutit. It’s fine to use it for the occasional burst but those come at a steep cost to nail count. Stick to shooting nails and it’s legit.
To compliment the 20oz you should also consider a 5lb tank ($64 filled includes tax out the door & you can use same regulator as they just spin on & off by hand). Or get at least two 20oz tanks.
If you don’t shoot that often, a single 20oz if fine if you keep a rough track of nail count.
*oh yeah, those videos you see where guys refill their own tanks from a bigger tank... I'm told it doesn't quite work that way. To properly do it you need an expensive pump. What's happening, whether big tank is inverted or they fitted it with a siphon tube, is that they are getting about a half fill.
