Customer Reviews

Senco 980001N AF41 Air Free 1-1/4-Inch to 2-1/2-Inch 15-Gauge Brad Nailer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Excellent tool, very handy could almost use as a production nailer...There is a slight pause, about 1/4 of a second from trigger being pressed, til nail fires. Incredibly nice not to have to rollout a compressor. Probably the most under rated tool at Amazon.com. Slight drawback is that it would not set a 2 1/2 inch nail fully in oak with a half inch still exposed, but believe the af25 will probably do the trick. For attaching 1 inch or less hardwoods, the gun works flawlessly and extrordinarily convenient to grab and attach casing, base, or crown, . I am a production finish carpenter and believe the gun is almost perfect besides the nail set problem in 1 1/2 inch or better hardwood stock You will use it for many different applications that you can't begin to realize until you reach into your job box and begin nailing within seconds and can put it back without a big production of rolling out and rolling up a heavy compressor and a 100 feet of hose. I have not used my air nailer in two months since buying the af 41. To make this gun a little more interesting I called senco and spoke with one of their technicians about the gun, as it seemed a little spendy and I didn't want it to become obsolete in six months or a year. I was told that the founder of senco, over ten years ago invented and patented the firing mechanism and only recently was the battery technology able to run it smoothly without too much weight. The af25 comes with a 12 volt instead of 14.4 volt like the af41, so if you want to buy both with the same interchangeable battery senco says they're coming out with a 14.4 volt 18 gauge brad nailer some time in the summer and I'm going to try and hold out til then to get the new version of the af 25. The gun is balanced well, easy to use, lighter than a framing gun, and something that shouldn't matter, but does, is it is the slickest looking finish gun I have ever saw, some overtime when into the aerodynamics of the gun, and the fact that there isn't a cord attached makes this gun almost irresistible, Hope senco designs the new af25 with comparable looks to the af 41... very trick.. Highly recommend.

I love this tool for smaller jobs. As a professional handyman, I do a huge variety of work and don't have the space to lug the compressor every day. If I need to install trim on one door, I spare my customer the noise of the compressor and I spare myself about three trips to the truck. I'm done in an instant. The drawback is the power. It easily sinks 2 1/2 into pine, but 1 1/4 is the best it can reliably sink into oak.

I've been using this tool for the past month (hard) and I'm not having any problems. When I spoke with sales guy at the dealer (Profast) he said that the initial shipments of tools had some kind of problem and that SENCO had taken care of it (said he swapped out a bunch of tools at first, but not anymore). Maybe that's the problem people have been having. (Knock on wood).
While the AirFree is heavier than I want, it's a lot more convenient than using a compressor and Anything's better than my old Paslode Impulse

First gun lasted about 3 clips of 2" nails. Then made a beep noise and refused to fire. Replaced with another unit which lasted less then 1 day or 50 nails. It worked then DEAD. Nada. Zippo. Called customer service 800 number. They said there is a problem with some of the clutches. I asked which serial numbers.
They do not track the problem with serial numbers. ha ha. They said to check for a green dot near battery. No green dot. So what? Post Tool in San Franciso has been good. Got refund. When this thing fired it was great. Good balance lots of power etc.
Made in China. 2 consecutive defective units with serial numbers 10's of thousands apart. yeah.

Unfortunately I would love to give this gun a better rating but can't. My first one broke down on the second day of light use. I finally got it replaced and the second one lasted a full two hours before a ball bearings fell out of it and again it died. I got it replaced for the third and final time and this one broke down on the second strip of nails.
I have gone thru three guns and still have an almost full box of senco trim nails to throw in the garbage!! What the hell was Senco thinking???

If someone from Senco is reading this please take this advise. TRY TESTING YOUR PRODUCTS BEFORE SELLING THIS JUNK TO THE PUBLIC!!!
I was really hoping to replace my paslodes with these because of not having to buy gas canisters, but I guess that hope is gone.
If you definitely have to have a cordless nailer, then get a paslode angle finish nailer. They are far from perfect, but they generally work and can take some abuse.

It is unfortunate that a product like this can make it into the commercial market place. I just finished reading the reviews on this nailer, and regrettably, I had already purchased it. My experience is similar to others who had the nailer fail after using only two clips of nails.

I purchased the Senco AF41 from my local hardware store. I had installed crown molding in one room of my condominium and was planning to install crown in a second. I wanted to buy a nailer for the following reasons: 1) Nailing crown while standing on a ladder is very awkward 2) Nailing is a particularly loud activity to subject your neighbors to when you live in a condo.

By using the AF41 I noticed several things: 1) I was able to hang the crown straighter because one hand was free to hold the crown securely while the other hand held the gun 2) The crown seemed to hold tighter to the wall than it did when I used the hammer 3) The installation was quieter and faster.

Operational: The safety must be completely depressed against the stock before firing. Once fully depressed, you have 3 seconds to pull the trigger before the gun times out. Once you pull the trigger there will be a slight pause (about a second) while the gun spins up, and then it will fire. There is a mechanism that allows you to set the depth of the driven nail. Note that if you don't have the firing tip close to the stock when the gun fires, this will also effect how deeply the nail is driven.

I love this nail gun.

I bourght this tool from my local dealer in the UK. As we pay a lot more for the tools (rougly $680 USD) in england i was expecting great things - how wrong was i!!

i used it for about six months then the driving blade wouldn't return into the cylinder so i had to keep pushing it in manualy. i returned the tool and Senco UK who gave me a full refund with not even the option of replacing the tool - i don't know if they are taking them of th marketin the UK but i now run with the DeWalt - what a tool - i know it is a brad nailer but that is the norm hear as most people who do trim use the paslode.

dont waste your money - get the DeWalt!

Like so many others, I was happy with my AF41 until it stopped working after driving about 2000 nails. The repair shop thinks it is a bad control board and estimate $150 to fix it. A $300 tool should not fail after such little use. I wouldn't recommend it for home use, and it is definately not for the pro.

I run a good bit of trim. I loved the convenience and reliability of this gun for the year or so that I used it, and then it dissolved. I heard parts rattling around inside and opened it up. A metal cover has fractured, the aircraft cable that wraps it was cut and pinched, and I can't find parts easily. For almost 20 years I have loved Senco tools, but I do not consider expensive bread and butter tools to be throwaways. It also gave no warning whatsoever. Great one minute, dead the next. Anyone need batteries and a charger?
Finally, I don't abuse tools, always kept it in its case, and used Senco nails. This tool has no excuse.


A follow up:
I called Senco and they agreed without fuss to fix the tool, which a local shop did quickly and for free. Now I am back to my air free addiction. I still am concerned about long term reliability, but must compliment the company for standing behind the product.