First impression Ryobi 18v Caulk Gun!!!

[pirinst]

Starting to get back into caulking the walls in the basement and continue
upgrading the floor supports. Remembering the amount of caulking and hand
fatigue previously, I began the search for an alternative method.

My friend tried an air compressor caulk gun, but had problems with too much
pressure/too high a rate of speed which resulted in numerous deformations of
the caulk tubes and he gave up on using the air method.

Recently saw the Black and Decker AA battery version at Lowes and also the
Ryobi 18volt cordless caulk gun at the Borg.

Paying an extra $69 for a two pack battery/charger pack at the Borg along with the $40 caulk gun, I figured I could get some future one + items that I don't already have with my craftsman/black & decker cordless systems.
Namely: impact drill/portable air compressor/maybe one of the cheapo vacuums.

The result: variable speed is very nice. "dripless" feature releases the
push bar from the motor. While it does reduce drips (just like releasing the pressure in the manual guns) you are forced to run the bar back up into
the tube to re-engage the pressure to push out the caulk-takes time btw.

Tried the first time with a tube that was probably a year old partially empty.
Worked just fine until I took the tube out. Caulk was all over gun where the
base of the tube was attached. The pressure of breaking free the old caulk
apparently caused it to flow out the back end bypassing the push plug.
It was not enough pressure to stall out the motor apparently so I didn't know
it was happening.

Second try was with a brand new tube and almost nothing was left on the
gun/push bar.

Had to wait several hours for the caulk to dry to clean/scrape it out of all the
little holes and grooves.

Cleaning the gun took a Long time.

I'm going to use the manual gun on old tubes first to break free the caulk
flow and then transfer the tube to the Ryobi after making sure it doesn't
flow back out the wrong end.

Great tool. Heavy with the battery. No more hand fatigue when doing a lot
of caulking.

Anyone have the B&D unit? Wondering how that one works....

[sacherjj]

One tool I picked up for a specific job and am pretty happy with is the Ryobi right angle drill. If you have a need to get into tight places, this is a good tool that would be compatible with your 18V batteries. I was using it recently to drill through studs with a large butterfly bit and it did a good job, plenty of torque.

[mpauly]

If you have some old caulk that you are planning to use, one tip is to take a piece of wire (un-bent coat hanger or the like), stick it into the tip of the caulk tube a good ways and work it around real well. This will break the seal of any skinned over caulk so when you try to use it in a gun, it doesn't blow out the back. Learned this the hard (messy) way.

Michael

[jhart]

Bought the Ryobi caulk gun about 2 years ago, as was painting and caulking a couple of my apartments that summer. Overall, the gun worked very well, but was heavy, which made it difficult to use when up on a ladder. was fine when doing the caulking on the ground. Also thought the variable speed worked well as did the dripless feature.

After using it, not sure I would buy it again, due to the weight.

[paintandbodtman]

Bought the ryobi caulk gun few weeks back, have'nt used it yet so can't comment on that part but as for the part about it being heavy while useing it, I thought it was heavy when picked it up in the store so can't imagine anyone being surprised with it's weight once the battery is installed and actually in use.

wayne

[pirinst]

Thanks Sacherjj......

[QUOTE=sacherjj;

I have a 19.2 RA drill/driver and also a 14.4 RA drilll/driver. When working with a couple of friends for a couple of years remodelling, I used the RA daily
and almost exclusively. Used extensions when needed. Awesome for sister stud work. Used quick release with drill bit in an old style chuck. That way
I could just flip drill chuck/driver bit back and forth one handed and work really efficiently. One benefit was speed the other was saved time/no bit
spinning loose in the old style key chuck.

My only criticism of RA drills is the lack of torque settings. They are way too
powerful for small screws/small piece projects. I have yet to see one with a variable torque settings like the better regular cordless drills.

Since all my cordless tools are basically throw away when worn out, maybe there will be an affordable varialby torque RA when mine are done.

[pirinst]

Definitely heavy.....

But I'll take the tradeoff any day to the hand fatigue of endless pulls on the manual handle. I cut huge holes on the tips to make the pulls less work but wasted a lot of caulk in the process. With the Ryobi, I can cut a tiny hole and let the motor do the work.

[mpc]

I have the Ridgid equivalent 18volt battery caulk gun... it is heavy and does get tiring to use after a while. But for me that's a much better than the cramping I got using squeeze-type manual guns. And the caulking flow was so much easier to flow smoothly with the battery gun. I could concentrate on aiming the thing and moving it at a steady pace... no more fat "blobs" of caulking every few inches when squeezing the handle. When I showed it to a coworker he was mad that I didn't tell him about it two weaks earlier when he caulked stuff in his bathroom.

Besides the weight though there is one other drawback to the Ridgid unit: it's so much larger than a hand gun so sometimes you can't get the stupid thing where you need it. I ended up clamping a piece of clear rubber/plastic tubing to the end of the caulk tube.

Overall though I'm glad I have the thing. It really is easier.

mpc

[davethegolfer]

Pneumatic Caulk gun

I too got tired of the regular caulk guns so I started looking at air caulk guns. Most required 50 to 70# of air pressure. However, I did find a Campbell Hausfeld that operated at only 20#. This would allow small compressor to be used inside rahter than stringing a long air hose. It works extremely well. It was about $30 to $40, I don't recall. I figure the lower pressure would not break down the container as fast as the higher pressure units. I also just bought the small battery operated B & D but haven't tried it yet.

[MilDoc]

I bought the Black and Decker AA battery version a while ago, used it to recaulk way too many windows, 2 bathtubs, and 4 sinks. I like that it uses AA batteries. Easy to replace for as little as I need it.

Loved it. Would buy it again!

[siliconbauhaus]

seems like a good idea but I think 18v is a bit over the top

[mmgross144]

Ryobi Caulk for heavy work

I bought the Ryobi 18volt specifically fo ruse with construction adhesives ans I'm so glad that I did. During a kitchen remodel I used it to "liquid nail" bead-board wainscotting and flew through the process without any hand fatigue. I've been using a manual for 15 years as a professional painter and have become used to it when using caulk, but it kills me on the high viscosity adhesives & sealants. The guns weight doesn't bother me as all of my cordless tools are 18 volt. I echo the advise to use a nail or piece of coat hanger as a plug to prevent caulk/glue from hardening in the tip of the tube, though another thing that helps is using Press-n-seal plastic wrap (immediately applied) on the tip to prevent a clog. I haven't tried any other powered gun so I can't offer a comparison.

[pirinst]

Definitely a nice tool.

Thanks for the input guys....