Replies

1. 
   rez | Nov 10, 2002 09:08am | #1

   Zach- the latest buzz on the fuel cells is to check the date listed on the canisters. Apparently as they age they lose some of their jazz. I was starting to freak when my 'never had a problem' impulse trimmer suddenly would shoot one nail and quit. Was planning on doing the disassemble and clean thing which I hate when some other posters here mentioned that their old cells were causing the grief. I keep new cells now and it's back to being problem free.

   You might want to use the search mechanism here on breaktime under 'paslode impulse' or such to find that thread. Informative and worth the read.

    Let the thunder crack and the waves roar.

    We're going on.

1. 
   snider77 | Nov 11, 2002 04:17pm | #2

   thanks for the tip.

   how old is an old fuel cell?

1. 
   rez | Nov 11, 2002 06:39pm | #3

   At the risk of sounding factitious I'd say anything as old or older than the last one you discovered that didn't work. I just know that I quit buying ahead of time to carry around till I needed them. The ones that messed up on me were freebies I was given during a paslode demonstration at a Gnome Depot and I don't believe had a date stamp on them.

   Great tool tho' huh? That's the only problem I ever had with either the nailer or the framer. Such a time saver on those quick jobs and in tight places you be hard pressed to hand nail. Let the thunder crack and the waves roar.

    We're going on.

2. 
   4Lorn1 | Nov 12, 2002 07:10am | #5

   I wonder. Could you use a small postal scale to compare a new cell to the used and maybe estimate how much life is left? I would think that the folding ones I hung off my thumb with a roach...er alligator clip to hold the bagg...er fuel cell would work. A bit of wire hung down and pointed at the scale. Used to use them to keep our dea... friends honest. Used to run about $5 with a handy little vinyl pouch and take up very little space in the stas...er tool box. Or so I hear.

1. 
   rez | Nov 12, 2002 07:14am | #6

   You mean you didn't go and get a triple beam scale with all that money you use to make back when you were young and foolish? Let the thunder crack and the waves roar.

    We're going on.

1. 
   4Lorn1 | Nov 12, 2002 08:33am | #7

   Profits? Na. Couldn't compete with the feds. They didn't have to bribe the border guards, pay for shipping by Air America, worry about smoking their own shipments and with all that free advertising they get. I mean anything they will spend 8 billion a year to stop has to be very dangerous, right, or very good. Besides triple beams were for powder heads or pumpers who worried about .01 gram discrepancies and were willing to get violent over the variance. A different and much more uptight crowd.

   Young and foolish? Haven't smoked in decades and I feel more foolish now than I ever did before. Feeling a bit down. Looks to me like Darth Vader and the empire has won for at least a generation. The myth of democracy is looking threadbare. Used to be people didn't know the answers. Now they don't seem to even know the questions.

   Wouldn't take much to make me move to the boonies, go underground and take up guerilla gardening. Live by bartering services and wait for the end to come. Come up for air when everyone is speaking in binary, Hindi, Arabic or tongues. Leaving nothing but footprints, knowing glances and smiles in my wake.

   Edit for punctuation.

   Edited 11/12/2002 12:34:38 AM ET by 4LORN1

2. 
   rez | Nov 12, 2002 08:53am | #8

   Young and foolish? Was watching the news the other day. Some band (guns&roses or such) cancelled a concert date. The news program showed the kids reaction when they found out. Fighting, breaking stuff, starting fires, chaos man.

   I remember doing wild stuff but this senseless violence at every whim is really weird. I think those newer drugs are playing a part. Let the thunder crack and the waves roar.

    We're going on.

3. 
   4Lorn1 | Nov 12, 2002 09:53am | #9

   Kids are frustrated. Their parents are frustrated. Industry and technology developed and perfected over here have been sold overseas for short term gain. People had just about adjusted to lowering their sights and having to work two and a half jobs to get by. Things were looking like the old bromide: "Work hard, study, be honest and everything will work out."  was working.

   Just when it looked OK too many find out that their 1k a month health insurance will cover everything up to and including a band-aid. Anything more and they are dropped. The 401ks have been pillaged and the pirates have bribed the regulators and stashed the booty offshore. Decades of environmental work has been for naught as standards are compromised to allow greater profits for well heeled industries and public funds are used to clean up private messes. Even the basic right to vote and have it count has been sold to the highest bidder as partisan state overseers feign incompetence while jiggering the districts and the records.

   I'm a bit frustrated. Luckily I have, by chance or choice, no children or other commitments so I can't get hurt too much. I look at neighbors try to tell their children in little ways that the road only goes down. Trim your sails. Don't dream too big. That the game is rigged by those who own the nation. The middle class has much to learn from the poor.

   But maybe by redirecting our minds to the minutia of construction we can fool ourselves into getting up in the morning and thinking it will look better tomorrow. Hope springs eternal. Give that gram scale a try. Maybe you can estimate how many shots remain by comparing weights. Maybe a small victory for the little guy.

4. 
   rez | Nov 12, 2002 10:26am | #10

   Now that's an interesting rendition of a roar. Let the thunder crack and the waves roar.

    We're going on.

5. 
   StanFoster | Nov 12, 2002 02:05pm | #11

   That used to bother me not knowing if my fuel cell is empty..or if the spark is getting weak. I then discovered that by popping off the metering valve on a questionable fuel cell...and pushing the nozzle against a hard surface..it will either blast out if it still has plenty of fuel..or it wont if its out.    I cant tell by leaving the metering valve on as is just shoots a short spurt.  This method is fool proof..and saves a lot of messing around.

   Edited 11/12/2002 6:06:10 AM ET by Stan Foster

2. 
   booch | Nov 11, 2002 10:08pm | #4

   Yep, that is what they do. I have the IMT framer version and there is no way to tell when it is out until it mis (or doesn't )fire. I generally wait 'til the fan stops running then try again. After I get 4 or 5 misfires like that, I pitch it.

   The battery light is sweet as it goes red when done but the butane offers no clue. If you are really trying to get the last shot out then take the canister out and press the nozzle in (hard to do) I press it against the edge of some wood and look for a mist to come out. A spent one is barely noticable. A full cartridge will give a whitish fog. (it is a single shot dispenser) ( PUT OUT YOUR CIGARETTE FIRST)

   The weight is barely distinguishable full vs empty. Particularily after you've been hefting 100's of pounds of materials. Nice tool. Worth every cent.

   "The time has come" the walrus said. "To talk of many things, to talk of ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings"
1. 
   dustmonkee | Nov 12, 2002 10:14pm | #12

   To check fuel level, remove cell and press tip on a hard surface.  You'll see and hear fuel if any remains.

   Regards

1. 
   booch | Nov 12, 2002 11:09pm | #13

   That works, however it isn't good to do when standing on the top step of the ladder reaching. That is where it always seems to run out."The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships-- and sealing wax--Of cabbages-- and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot-- and whether pigs have wings"

1. 
   Piffin | Nov 13, 2002 07:00am | #14

   Here's the method the factory tech gave me to check if it is still charged.

   When you spurt check it on a hard surface once, almost any cell will spit and make a little wet spot. But if you spurt it four or five times qickly in a row and it still makes a spit spot, you've got fuel. If it's an empty or nearly empty cell, it will only spit once or twice..

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are." --Marcus Aurelius

1. 
   4Lorn1 | Nov 13, 2002 08:35am | #15

   On the other hand if you waste all that butane you can pretty much be assured, IMHO, that every cell will test as empty because you have emptied it. I like my gram scale idea because it doesn't effect the number of shots left, is cheap and won't pose a fire hazard.  I wonder what you would find if you took the scale to the home center and stood there weighing the fuel cells. Maybe you could avoid the short ones. Just my 2 cents.

2. 
   Piffin | Nov 13, 2002 09:00am | #16

   I like your idear too but mine doesn't use that much butane. Five squirts out of either twelve hundred(redcap) or four thousand(yellow cap) isn't going to break my heart. .

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are." --Marcus Aurelius

3. 
   snider77 | Nov 17, 2002 05:42am | #17

   I think that a fuel cell, even empty, would bottom one of those postage scales right out.

   -z