Customer Reviews

Porter-Cable RN175A 7/8-Inch to 1-3/4-Inch Coil Roofing Nailer

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

bought this after the hurricans hit Fl.last year. Have done a half dozzen roofs with it includding my own and some hardee planking and it has worked flawlessly, no jams, concistant drive depth, the guy that had problems with it might have been a compressor problem.The people that I've been roofing with have hitachis and stanley bositches and the inexpensive little porter cable works the best. Also like the new selctable trigger switch, wish all my nail guns had it.

I have one of these little nailers - mostly used for roofing sheds. It works good. No complaints. Maybe one nail in 80-100 I'll finish with a light tap with a hammer. That's probably more a ding on the little compressor I use than on the nailer. For what I use it for it works fine. As the man said - It sure beats a hammer.

Update 8/12/08 - always add a little lubricant for every 3 hours of use

Still functioning like the champ!

I had used a friend's Bostitch coil nailler several times in the past. It was finally time to buy one of my own. I have always been a fan of Porter-Cable tools. The fantastic price offered by Amazon on this refurb was too much to resist.

I unboxed my nailer to find it in almost new condition; one slight scuff mark. i was suprised to find it much smaller and lighter than the Bostitch I had used before. I had ordered a RN175AR and received a RN175A. R - for refurbished.

Part 1

A couple of weeks later I was ready to put it to the test.

Location - Luling, Louisiana - 25 miles from New Orleans

I had a circa 1960, 11 square roof that had been redecked with 1/2 plywood over 1 x 10 planks.

In keeping with the 30 year, architectural, shingle manufacturers specifications ( driven nails must extend through decking) I chose to use a 1 1/2 inch nail.

Compressor PSI set to 100 lbs.

Six nails into the job an obvious issue became apparent. Some of the nails had not been driven completely - a few whacks with a hammer and all was ship shape. Time to look for the depth adjustment. Whereas I had recieved a safety brochure but not an operation manual - I was left to clever out the depth adjustment mechanism. ( pretty obvious - as was the operation of switching between single nail and multiple nail settings.)

With the depth adjustment set to maximum I made another test. Same problem.

So I increased the compressor pressure to 125 lbs - Same problem.

Then 130 lbs ( the stated maximum for safe operation of the the tool.) - Same problem.

For every 10 nails attempted- 1 or 2 needed to be massaged with a hammer. Time consuming but assuredly better than hand nailing.

On that job a fellow worker was using his Rigid coil nailer. Outside of a couple of minor differences - the Porter Cable and Ridgid nailers appeared to be quite alike.

Was he having the same problem? Yes.

So I was able to conclude that this particular application exceeded the abilities of both of these nailers.

There was a section of roof that contained all new wood. In that area both guns worked flawlessly.

Part 2

Several weeks later a friend, who has far more roofing experience than I, asked to borrow the Porter- cable coil nailer. He had loaned his Bostitch RN145 out and could not wait for it to be returned.

Apprised of my experience - he thought of a possible solution. He chose to change the hose nipple at the rear of the gun from 1/4" to 3/8" to configure with his equipment. It seemed to make sense that this may solve the problem.

Unfortunately not.

Similarly, he was able to nail without problems into all new wood and only found difficulties when nailing into time hardened subdecking.

Conclusion

Putting our experiences together we have conjectured that the porter-cable because it is light and small is a great choice for new construction. However, the extra weight and size of the Bostitch (bigger piston with more mass) for about the same price (refurb), may be the better choice for rennovations.

Caslo

I got my mailer from Amazon at an incredibly low price, half that I was finding locally, so that might taint my review somewhat. Nice light weight, but still with some heft and robust built. Did a 10 square roof in two days using this nailer alone... can't imagine how sore I'd have been without it. Shot about 1/3 of a box of nails without a single jam... and only about 2-3 times that the firing mechanism missed a nail, probably because of a failure of the collating wires. Easy to load nails, multi fire setting works great without double firing. Highly recommended and holding up great. I love it.

I own 5 different types of air nailers from Bostich, Porter Cable, and Senco and this nailer is by far the best. It is easy to load and use, never jams, reasonably priced, and is not too heavy. In other words it is perfect. It makes those dreadful roofing projects just a little more tolerable.

Executive Summary: Just buy it. It works very well!

Story: I started a small project over the Holiday weekend and got way in over my head. I only had a small 160 square foot edition to re-roof. After a three layer tear off, rotted decking and two days of prep work I was ready to give up. I went to Home Depot and purchased the least expensive gun they had (this Porter Cable for $228). I was able to nail 2/3 of the roof in two hours with no issues.

Tech Specs: I used a Porter Cable Dual Stack compressor set at 105 PSI and 100 feet of hose. I set the gun to the shallowest depth drive and it had more than enough force.

I live in Brooklyn, MI and recently purchased a "reconditioned" Porter Cable RN175A roofing nailgun. It shipped quickly, looked brand-new and worked perfect. I needed it right away to roof a 16 square house and it did the job great! No jams-- I mean zero.Maybe 2 nails out of the whole roof needed to be hit down. However, I agree that a case would be nice.

I own a construction company and bought 2 of these "reconditioned" in the spring. 6 months and about 300 square of roofing later here is what I got:

NO jams

Maybe 1 in every 200 nails needs to be finished with a hammer

Survived multiple drops off roofs

My guys love how light it is compared to the Bostitch

Price is incredible, do not fear "reconditioned" tools- they came out of the box looking and working like new.

If you want a dependable nailer, that can handle even the biggest jobs,at a great price, then this is the one.

I have several porter cable nailers in all different shapes and sizes and they all work very well and they all came with a case. This is the first nailer that I've purchased that didn't come with a case and that was a disappointment.

All my nailers are Porter-Cable. They are tuff. Very rarley one may jam. I do abuse them, and they take it. I also two framing nailers. One clip head, one full head. Have never had any problems with them. Make sure you oil them now and then!!! It's called preventive maintenance.