HF Brad Nailer repair

[Rick Johnston]

Attached is a pic for a HF nailer. On the side, stock no. P973, Series C 007205.
It does not countersink the heads anymore. Just about flush is all it can muster. I've got lots of different lengths of brads so it's worth trying to repair.
It's well oiled, 100 psi and shooting through 1/2" maple into maple with 1" brads. Doesn't leak air or act like there is any resistance - just not enough depth.

A few months ago I wrestled with the problem and got someone in HF. There are no repair kits is what I was told. I do have the owner's manual but as I recall it was no help.
Never had one of these apart. Any tips for what I might do??
The piston head needs to be looked at, I just have no idea to expect or do before I open it up.

On the sidebar, I'm thinking about getting a HF pin nailer. I'm an infrequent user so cheap that works is fine.

[Jerry Bruette]

If you can take the four socket head screws, probably metric, out of the cover and get the piston out you could try replacing the seal on the piston. The seal could be just an o-ring, again probably metric, or it could be a chevron type seal.

Might not be worth your time but you could learn a little about air nailers. I would think a new one from HF can't cost a whole lot.

[Curt Harms]

I think most regard HF tools as disposable. It might be worthwhile to take it apart to 'see what makes it tick'.

[Myk Rian]

You can get a whole kit of O rings at HF. Metric and/or inch.

[Brian Henderson]

I couldn't find anything with those parts numbers, but clearly that's an older nailer and probably not made anymore. Unlike a lot of HF tools, their air tools run for a long, long time. You can replace it with something brand new for under $20 at your local HF.

[Lee Schierer]

I don't know HF brad nailers, but my brad nailer calls for a drop of light machine oil to be put down the air tube every so many hours of use. Basically I do it once every time I use it which is usually months apart. You might try a couple of drops of oil down the air chuck. I would also see if I could disassemble the driver. Sometimes little bits of metal from the brads break off and get stuck in the pin driver. A little cleaning and lubrication might work wonders.

[Art Mann]

It will probably be easier and not much more expensive to throw the thing away and go buy another one. I bought a 23 gauge pin nailer to play with about 10 years ago with the expectation of buying a nice new one when it fails. Unfortunately, the thing just won't die.

Edit: I just checked and new ones are only $20. That is much less than half of any name brand.

[Rick Johnston]

I took it apart. Several o rings one might consider. It's been well lubed. Not worth obtaining an o/ring kit to see what might happen.
New one is less than $20. However, it's a good feeling to repair something!!

[Jerry Miner]

Did you take a look at the driver (the metal bar that makes contact with the brad)?--could be worn out or chipped

I don't know that gun, but it looks quite similar to my Senco brad nailer. I have changed the driver a couple of times in 20 years or so.

[Matt Day]

I agree it's a good feeling to repair something, but I do the time/cost analysis too. My hourly rate is very low since I enjoy it but I also know when to quit. Good luck!

[richard b miller]

[QUOTE=Jerry Bruette;2659308]If you can take the four socket head screws, probably metric, out of the cover and get the piston out you could try replacing the seal on the piston. The seal could be just an o-ring, again probably metric, or it could be a chevron type seal.

i had replaced the piston seal on my PC nailer. my cap screws were very tight. hopefully, you had been oiling your gun frequently. i do and that helped with my disassembly but once apart, it was obvious my piston seal was cracked. rebuilt it in reverse order and it works like a champ again.

[Robert Parent]

What I generally do with disposable things is to take it apart to see how it is built, and then go buy a new one. Brad nail guns are about $15 at HF so really not worth wasting time doing repairs. I just tossed a couple guns that cost around $100 each a few years ago and replaced them with the on-sale HF guns as they work much better. The new guns are lighter in weight and no more jammed nails, they look cheap, but actually work well, go figure.

Robert