Customer Reviews

Arrow Fastener ET200 Heavy Duty Electric Nail Gun, shoots up to 1 1.4-Inch Brads

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

Sometimes, a product is so well designed, so well made, and fulfills its function so beautifully, that it is a joy to own. While not one of these products, this one looks so capable and fails so completely that it enhances the experience of owning something that really does work. It comes in a terrific case that has little slots for all the brad sizes the gun can accommodate. The case has a slot for the instruction sheet and the gun fits so well, it's actually possible to get it back into the case. So, 5 stars to the case. In fact, opening the case and looking at this tool and the marvel of organization this setup is, I was confident that I could nail a thin strip of molding to a fence. But I couldn't. The nails wouldn't go through the 1/4 inch molding.

Since the brads this thing shoots are so fragile, I had a hard time hammering them into the wood without bending them. What this thing did do well is hold the brads, keeping me from dropping them into the weeds; and setting them, keeping me from hammering my fingers. It also makes a great tool noise.

I should have read the other reviews before buying this thing. I have no standards for workmanship, unless it's important enough for me to pay someone competent to do it. So, I'll keep this thing and use it. I'll just keep firing, hammering, and bending as many brads as it takes to hold something in place. If it really matters, I'll hire somebody who knows how to do it. Also, I'll already have the tool if I'm ever faced with the need to nail Jello to sheetrock.

My review is obviously not in agreement with most others but i believe it is very fair and accurate. I am 61 and have been carpentering since I was 16. I am retired but still work as a consultant for an emergency restoration company on very hard jobs in the renovation of homes after fire,flood and mold damage. I have used all four types of nailers including hand nail sets,electric. pneumatic (air drive)both portable and connected to an air compressor as well as manual hammer driven hardwood floor nailers. I am not connected with Arrow company in any way!!. The tool is used is the second version which tells me the first probably had flaws or why upgrade it. It takes a lot of power to drive a narrow nail through wood especially oak or maple and if you look at most expensive commercial nailers they have large heavy heads for the drive mechanism. A manual floor nailer has a one inch drive head that you slam with a three inch mallet that then transfers all this force to a single wire nail 1/16th inch wide. Even then they won't set all the time which is why they sell a "Bostitch manual nail setter" with most mallet nailers. Air drive nailers are expensive, heavy and also split and break moldings if you are not careful! This is an inexpensive electric nailer that will drive nails within its' limitations which is where I believe the negative ratings come from.My bet is most people did not take the time to read the instructions carefully. First is power and this tool pulls over 10 amps which is a huge electric load but that is why there is a 16 gauge cord on it. If you connect this to any typical extension cord you will have trouble since they are usually 18 gauge (higher number means smaller wire) and will not power this nailer.The gauge is listed along the side if the cord if you look close. A 12 gauge extension cord is expensive at half of one hundred dollars or more for 50 feet) which is why it's real nice to have this 10 feet cord.If you cannot reach an electrical outlet you will need the heavy extension cord.Even the outlet is no good if it is powering another heavy electrical load (fridge ,freezer, washing machine) at the same time. Next is nailing cycle which is 20 nails per minute which means you cannot go "pow pow pow" like an air nailer but you have to go "pow; count 3 seconds and pow again". This most like prevents overheating and I suspect charges a condenser for power. You also have to put heavy pressure and the head (use both hands) to prevent rebound.I know that is hard when putting up moldings in awkward areas but it may help to tack it with one hand in a couple of spots with one hand and then go back and use the 2 hand method. Also you should know that all wood is not wood and many moldings and materials you are nailing them onto are composed of resins, glues and other extremely hard substances made to appear like wood. In old homes "white wood" which is fir, spruce or pine gets very hard as it ages..especially spruce. If you are nailing into a knot you will see nails sticking out. I have no problem using this to set moldings in place even if I have to go back with a nail set and finish the job where I can't use two hands. So it boils down to you get what you pay for and this tool for its' low price does all the things I want it to do instead of several hundred dollars for air nailers, compressors etc. I have free access to all of those but this is much easier and handier. The only negatives I have with this tool is the safety slide switch above the trigger gets bumped very easily into the off position when you are twisting your hand around in tight spots.Too much safety is not a real issue. Also it would be nice to see Arrow come out with a multiple nail pack of the four sizes instead of separate 1,000 packs. hope this helps

I bought this nail gun to use to install base molding and do some light cabinet work. The nail gun was not powerful enough to sink the 5/8" brad nails or the 1 1/4" brad nails completely into trim or pieces of dimensional pine. The gun left most nails about 1/16" above the surface requiring a nail set to set them completely. Additionally, the nails tended to bend when set by hand. I would not recommend this product for any use.

I agree with the review above. The tool needs more power. I work on oak, and cannot get the 1" or 1 1/4" brads to penetrate fully. I tried 2 hands and putting my weight into it, but still no good. The nails are very difficult to set by hand as they bend easy. When I tried to remove the brad, it would snap in half! Very disappointing, since the tool appears to be good quality and it never jams.

I contemplated buying a pneumatic nail gun or a cordless nailer. The pneumatic is cumbersome and the cordless is expensive. I'm going back to using my nail spinner, hammer, and nail set.

I spent an hour trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, even called arrow customer service to find the power adjustment that I just could not see. The agent was kind enough to tell me that they had never gotten a complaint about the ET200. Yeah right. DON'T waste your time with this Piece Of Shnot. I would be surprised if it could drive the smallest of nails into balsa wood.

This was an impulse purchase, as I am installing a simple baseboard. It will be an impulse return. If you bought this, take it back. If you are thinking of buying it, don't bother.

This product worked for all of 5 minutes before it stopped. The nails stuck out 1/4". Read the other colorful reviews. This is not worth your time or money!

To begin with, there's not much to choose from out there. If you want an electric gun that shoots both staples and brad nails, these only fit nails up to 9/16. This ET200 is the only one I found which will hold a longer 1.25 inch brad but no staples.

So I bought the Arrow ET200 yesterday, thinking Arrow's been in the business for a long time and make perfectly decent manual staplers so they should have this down by now. Electricity is not new technology, Arrow must have come up with a very good product here.

WRONG!! I read all the instructions, properly loaded the inch and quarter brad nails, plugged in the unit, released the safety switch, firmy placed the gun against the pine wood work surface to be fastened and pulled the trigger.

Not only did the nail not fully penetrate the soft wood but, the unit failed to fire another nail upon pulling the trigger again. All I got was a clicking sound but no power. I thought I must have a jammed nail (very disappointing after the very first use). I followed all the directions for clearing a jammed nail but there wasn't one. Everything seemed to be in perfect working order but the gun just would do nothing when I pulled the trigger. It seemed as if the unit was getting no power. I checked the plug, the outlet, went to other working outlets in the house... still nothing.

Today I returned the item to the store thinking I must have gotten a defective unit. I exchanged it for a new one, brought it home, checked it thoroughly, read the directions again, proceeded to load nails and use as directed. The same thing as yesterday happened. One nail shot about 3/4 of the way into the soft pine and then the gun quit working. No power, just a click from the trigger. No jammed nail, no defective parts, no nothing. The unit does absolutely nothing. I can't figure out what's wrong. There must be something I'm overlooking but I've looked over and over and re-read the meager instructions and nothing! That's two in a row: Nothing. I don't get it. I recommend that you don't get it either.

GREAT UNIT VERY POWERFULL I MUST NOTE THERE WERE TWO VERSION OF THIS UNIT THE 2ND ONE IS THE BETTER OF THE TWO. I HAD THE FIRST AND HAD TO RETURN IT BECAUSE IT WAS MALFUNCTIONING. MOST OF THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS WERE I BELIEVE FROM THIS OLDER MODEL. THE NEWER MODEL SAYS Arrow Fastener ET200 Heavy Duty Electric Nail Gun..VER.2

I was looking for a reasonalbly priced brad nailer to put down some quarter round molding. An electric model seemed a good choice - cost-effective and easy to carry around. I purchased the ET200 at my local home improvement store, and to second the opinion of other reviewers - what an awful product!

Before I got started, I tried out the nailer with a scrap piece 3/4" quarter round molding. Attempting to fasten it to the baseboard with a 1 1/4" brad left atleast 1/2" of the brad sticking out. (This was Pergo molding, real soft stuff - my backsaw went through it like a hot knife through butter). Just to confirm the shoddy performance, I also tested it with a block of soft wood (the kind you can easily dent with a fingernail, probably pine), again with the same result - atleast 1/2" of the brad was left in the air. This was with a good part of my body weight bearing down on the workpeice as I pulled the trigger.

Luckily, I had also purchased a tube of Liquid Nails adhesive along with the nailer, and the adhesive alone got the job done just fine.

Next time I tackle a job that absolutely requires a brad or finish nailer, I will invest in a air tool and compressor.
The ET200 is going back to the store.

If you want to spend your weekend basking in endless frustration, then this is the product for you. Otherwise, I would recommend that you avoid the ET200 electric nail gun.

Like most here, I needed to put up molding (base and crown), did not own a compressor, and didn't want to damage the molding by hammering manually. This seemed like the perfect item...until I used it. I shot a total of 5 nails - each went in half way and one actually jammed the "jam free" mechanism.

The model that I had was the version 2, which some claim is more powerful. If this was the high powered version, I can only guess that with version 1 the nails just fell out the front.

After this wonderful experience, I packed it all back up and returned it to the store. For a little bit more, I found a Porter Cable nail gun, "pancake" compressor, and hose kit (that even came with nails!). It was a great deal and I did the whole job in less than 1 hour - a highly recommended joy to use and worth every extra penny (model: CFBN125B)