# Cordless caulking gun help?



## EPD (Jun 23, 2008)

here it goes, 
decided to buy a cordless caulking gun for this hardie board job we are doing
couldnt get my greedy hands on a dewalt in time ( which would have been nice for the batteries to match my other ones) and stumbled across a ryobi in HD, one charge apparently lasts 200 tubes.
anyways the gun seems to either implode the tubes- making a large mess, or blow out the side of the tube - and make a large mess 
i have the trigger set to the lowest setting, im fully puncturing the nozzles.
using MULCO caulking ( the nicest stuff i have ever worked with )
anyone else having a problem like this?

also sometimes the tube pops out of the gun which flips the push part of the tube around and unloads caulking in the gun 

any help would be appreciated

Thanks!


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## TempestV (Feb 3, 2007)

I've used Dewalt and Milwakee cordless caulk guns and I've never had that problem before. Is it every tube? Are the tubes degraded any? Sometimes I've seen tubes fail if they are damaged, and it seems to happen just a little more on a powered gun than on a hand pumper.

All the cordless guns I've used were the larger size, I don't know if that makes a difference. 

Also, with the dewalts, at least the larger ones, for some reason they make the push rod too long. If you let it run all the way in, it will bend the push rod. If you buy a larger dewalt, the first thing that you should do is remove the piston and pull the push rod out the back of the tool. Cut about 1/2" off the end, drill the hole in the center of the rod deeper, and thread the hole. Then reassemble, and make sure to use locktite on the screw that holds the piston onto the push rod. If you do that, the Dewalts are a little nicer than the Milwakees becuase the Dewalts don't leak as much. Let of the trigger on the Milwakee, and it will run real slowly for quite a while. On the other hand, the Milwakee is a little lighter and better balenced. 

As for battery life, on a panel job, we run through 4-5 cases of panel mastic a day, and a battery in the smaller 14.4v Milwakee batteries last 3-4 days or more. The dewalt batteries are always getting switched out and used on other tools, so I'm not sure how long one would last if it was just used for the gun, but I would guess a long time.


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## Mark Schneider (Nov 23, 2009)

*Cordless Caulk Guns & Exploding Cartridges*

A cordless caulk gun is very powerful and can easily burst cartridges or creat a mess behind the plunger. In order to have success with a cordless caulk gun and standard cartridges you must slow down the tool.

Quart cartridges are the worst. Think of it this way, when you package material in a quart cartridge the material is designed to be dispensed in large volumes quickly with a standard manual gun.

Cordless guns will work for both cartridge applications, BUT and there is a big BUT, you must throttle them back. That really won't make the job any slower for the flow of material out the nozzle will remain the same, just the pressures inside the cartridges will be reduced.

The best cordless gun application is when you dispense material using a BULK dispensing tool.

Hope this helps.


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## JonM (Nov 1, 2007)

I thought they were all pretty much cordless....:whistling








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## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

why dont they make all tubes out of plastic like silicone comes in
paper tube get wet and there shot
i know you can wrap a soft tube in tape but still...


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## skipdow (Nov 8, 2009)

we've got 5 of the milwaukee guns for all our exterior caulking and every guy that uses them the first time curses them cause it "pumps out too much" :furious:then they start to get used to it, then they whine if they have to use a manual gun
here's my tips for happy caulking...
If its cold out... warm the tubes up. cold thick caulking does not like to fit thru that little tube.
don't get the tubes wet(plastic ones excluded) cause they will pop or come apart.
learn to use less... the trigger that is, its too easy to crank it up and then it oozes past the plunger or pops the tube.
keep the plunger clean or it gets gummed up and can strip a gear


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