br /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.
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br /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 but received a RN175A. I have no idea of the difference between these 2 models.
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br /Part 1
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br /A couple of weeks later I was ready to put it to the test.
br /Location - Luling, Louisiana - 25 miles from New Orleans
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br /I had a circa 1960, 11 square roof that had been redecked with 1/2 plywood over 1 x 10 planks.
br /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.
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br /Compressor PSI set to 100 lbs.
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br /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.)
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br /With the depth adjustment set to maximum I made another test. Same problem.
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br /So I increased the compressor pressure to 125 lbs - Same problem.
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br /Then 130 lbs ( the stated maximum for safe operation of the the tool.) - Same problem.
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br /For every 10 nails attempted- 1 or 2 needed to be massaged with a hammer. Time consuming but assuredly better than hand nailing.
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br /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.
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br /Was he having the same problem? Yes.
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br /So I was able to conclude that this particular application exceeded the abilities of both of these nailers.
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br /There was a section of roof that contained all new wood. In that area both guns worked flawlessly.
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br /Part 2
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br /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.
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br /Apprised of my experience - he thought of a possible solution. He needed 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.
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br /Unfortunately not.
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br /Similarly, he was able to nail without problems into all new wood and only found difficulties when nailing into time hardened subdecking.
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br /Conclusion
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br /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), is the better choice for rennovations.
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br /Caslo

found the gun to be out of adjustment but once we got it working it is perfect, few scraches but it works like new and saved 40.00.

You couldn't tell this item from a new one at half the cost. I bought the same item elsewhere and it was a used piece of junk. Amazon is the only place to buy.

Worked great for the roofing jobs I needed it for. Still looks new and functions perfectly.

I have been using this daily for a month now to re-roof my 100 year old house with no complaints. The nails are perfectly driven into the old deck with about 90 psi, so I have not experienced the same short-drive concern of some other posters. Especially given the great price on the refurbished unit, which arrived in pristine condition, I can't think of any way to improve this experience.

Like the reviewer below, I have found all previous orders of reconditioned tools from Amazon to result in the acquisition of a new/near new tool. That was the case with a PC FC350 framing nailer I ordered from them at the same time I ordered this roofing nailer. The framer was new in every respect, so I was eager to open the roofer. When I did, I found a tool that had lived life to the fullest, and gotten more than its share of bumps and scrapes along the way. While it functioned well, it was clearly a well used gun, so I decided to return it. Amazon was great and even paid for return shipping. I hope the replacement they send in return will meet the level of quality I have come to expect from PC reconditioned tools. But the gun itself is a great tool. This will be my third of fourth, and all have held up well under daily use, so my review will carry a 5 star rating.