Cordless nailers vs pneumatic - spent $900 to learn the hard way

I ran pneumatic framers for 8 years straight. Bought into the hype last fall and dropped $600 on a battery powered framing nailer. Figured no hoses would speed me up on a 3 week addition job. First 2 days were fine. Day 3 it started skipping every 5th nail in the cold. By day 6 the battery was dying after 150 nails instead of the claimed 400. My old Paslode air gun cost me $200 used and has never missed a beat since 2019. Who else has gone back to air after trying cordless?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_hunt4d ago

Ha! Yep. Same boat. Bought a top tier cordless framing nailer last spring. First week I was in love. Then the cold weather hit and it turned into a $600 paperweight. Skipping nails, battery dying mid-wall. My old $150 used Paslode air gun from 2017 just chugs along no matter what. Never fails in the rain or snow. Cordless has its place for quick punch lists but for serious framing? Pneumatic all day.

sarah_brown4d ago

Ngl @joseph_hunt, you hit the nail on the head, no pun intended. I learned the same lesson the hard way a few winters ago. Cordless is sweet for light work or when you're just patching stuff up, but for a full day of framing in the cold, you're begging for trouble. Those lithium batteries just can't handle the drop in temps and the nailer starts jamming like crazy. Pneumatic is way more brutal but it works every single time, rain or shine or snow. Keep that old Paslode running, it's the real workhorse.