# What is wrong with Bostitch?



## a1Jim

If you have a repair shop for tools close by let them check it out before buying another brand.


----------



## JohnGray

I have this same compressor and it is so loud it almost drives me out of my shop and when I first bought it and fired it up the valve you are talking about blew up, they did send me another part right away. *BUT* if this compressor breaks down again it is history. When getting the next compressor I'm going to take a good hard look at the Makita MAC2400 Oiled Compressor, ND2ELK did a review on it and it looks very promising. Here's a link to the review - http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/834


----------



## Ottis

I have had mine about two years so far…..and I guess I have been lucky so far…it has held up well. But I do agree that it will wake the dead it is so loud….it also takes longer than it should to build up air.

I have a big belt driven one for the shop…it is hard to beat a good belt compressor…but when this goes down… I will probably get the one John is talking about… Tom (ND2ELK) speaks very highly of it and says it is very quite.


----------



## ericandcandi

Well you can say that about anything. I think for the price it' a fairly good deal.I have had mine for a year with moderate useage and have had no trouble with it. If you bought this not to long ago is there a warranty? If not, a valve assembly is 12 dollars. I have used the small nailers alot but never have used the large one that came in the kit. Hope this helps


----------



## Dusty56

My Porter Cable has been going strong for over two years so far . I use it all of the time instead of firing up my big Craftsman unit. I probably over use it , as it was designed to operate the nailers that came with the kit , not for steady running. I would certainly buy it again : ) 
My friend had a Bostitch brad nailer and that thing ended up in the trash because it kept jamming on him . He liked my PC nailers and purchased one of his own and has had no problems with it to date.


----------



## Tim_456

if you decide to toss the unit you might want to consider keeping the tank. I did that and converted it into a portable tank. I added a few fittings, a valve, and a pressure regulator and now I have a portable tank that can be used around the house where I can't get my larger one.


----------



## Ottis

Dusty..thats wild… I have had nothing but good experiences with my Bostich nailers…I have everything from a pin nailer to framing and roofing nailers…but the few porter nailer's I have had have all craped out on me. My dad has a P/C pancake compressor and has had it for a few yars…use's it daily and has never missed a beat.


----------



## Dusty56

Don K…all I know is what I've experienced and also my friends issue with his Bostitch …. I haven't had a single problem with any of my PC products at all and would recommend them to anyone.


----------



## Ottis

Oh don't get me wrong Dusty… I have had nothing but good things come from ALL of my P/C tools…other than my nailer's…I was just saying how sometimes a tool..or a brand of tools will work great for some…and tank for others. My dad thinks ALL Bostitch tools are junk and I am nuts for buying their nail guns….he has had nothing but bad luck with them…and only buys P/C guns, But my oldest Bostitch brad nail gun is over 12yrs old and I have never even changed the O-rings in it yet….still works like the day I bought it.


----------



## pitchnsplinters

5 Stars???? You are ranting about abandoning a product and you give it 5 Stars? Huh?

Don't even get me started about the fact that this is NOT a review to begin with. Start a useless blog and keep this drivel out of the Review section.


----------



## Julian

I personally think that pc and bostitch trim guns are all crap. I stick with the tried and true hitachi models, and not the ones you buy at the big box stores, but the professional ones. They will last as long as your carreer as a carpenter. As for the compressor, it's a typical chinese made oilless compressor thats loud and not made to last. I prefer oil sump compressors due to the fact that they also will last a really long time and are quieter than the oilless models.


----------



## davidroberts

John Gray - About 2 years ago, I bought the Makita MAC2400 Oiled Compressor from Amazon after reading all the reviews. No regrets. Very quite and no malfunctions so far. I use it for something about 3 times a week. From just another believer.


----------



## craftsman on the lake

I've had this little Sears craftsman compressor for 4 years now. It has run my PC framing and finish nailer. Three roofs and several framing materials jobs later and it's still kicking. It keeps up too. It's an oil model. I know it's a craftsman but for $99 it's really held up and keeps going.


----------



## skywalker01

If you want something nice you need to spend more money. In my opinion any compressor that comes with a "real" motor is a much better buy. You can usually tell the crap when it looks like a big plastic assembly on top. I had a PC pancake for a while and the brushes went bad. Replaced em and they went again. Another problem was the noise. Ya, they're loud. The motor is jerry rigged into the assembly and if anything breaks it's usually better to buy a new one. My current compressor is a rigid dual torpedo with a very large motor. It has high cfm and only takes about 30 seconds to fill both tanks. It holds more air than the pancakes and is much quieter, it's more of a droning noise than that high pitched scream. My dad has an old torpedo with one of those plastic assembly, where the crap is the motor, things and it still works after 10 years. So I can't say they suck entirely. I'm going in circles here but I still think a real electric motor is the way to go. The rigid was about $400 and it is very very heavy and built like a tank. And pitchinsplinters…. It's a tool review if you ask me. Looks like he says it sucks, and maybe he edited it since you slammed it but it looks like he gave it one star…..


----------



## reggiek

I did a review on the Hitachi pancake compressor….it is by far a nice tool….a lot quieter then most…not to bad on the cost….and has been running like a champ.

see my review at = http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/861


----------



## jstegall

I had a similar problem with my PC pancake. My repair guy told me, before he looked at it, that I did not follow the manual. I was supposed to allow it to run with the drain cock open for about ten minutes to allow the seal to seat. Sure enough, I had overlooked that. The repair costs were not bad, and it has worked great ever since. I have heard good things about the Hitachi and Makita.


----------



## kosta

See this is what happens porter cable came out with the pancake compressor then everyone else comes out with a knock off. Look what happened with the festool track saw after them dewalt came out with one now makita and I would not be surprised if porter cable or hitachi came out with track saw


----------



## MrRon

I have several Bostitch nail guns and they are top notch. I don't have their compressor. I have an Ingersol Rand compressor. I also have a pancake compressor that came with a brad nailer. I hate the compressor and keep it around for jobs where portability is required or for inflating tires. It's much too noisy.


----------



## kosta

Ingersol Rand is the best choice for compressors we have a big tow behind one and we can run 3 jack hammers at a time with it


----------



## jcame

I have had this same setup going on three years with daily usage and NO problems. I do admit though it is deafening when building pressure. I was wondering if you are trying to build pressure with the hose attached or not because this could be your problem. When I first start mine up for the day I have to let it build up with nothing attached but after the first time it will cycle on & off each time fine with hose & gun attached. Good luck with it though.


----------



## jockmike2

You need to read my review of Bostich and my experience with them. I wrote a bad review because I had one with the bad valve in it. No matter how many times I changed the valve it crapped out on me. The Director of Product Developement at Stanley Bostich contacted me by e-mail and asked what he could do for me to make things right. For starters, I told him, he could have his piece of junk back. I did'nt keep the slip and Lowes would'nt help me. He said he would send me a new compressor with a new 23 gauge gun, not even on the market yet, new hose, new everything. There wasn't enough he could do for me. His name was Gary Blanchette if you can find this guy, I did'nt keep his e-mail address, he'll take care of you. I have not had a thing go wrong with it since then, and I've used it quite a bit.


----------



## buffalosean

the only bostich nailers i've used are for roofing and framing. i really enjoy using them. I have portercable finish and brad nailers… i also like them very much. I've no problems with them.

I have a small pc compressor. It doesn't have a not of power, but if your only using it for nailers, its perfect.

if you do get a new small compressor, i'd suggest a pc. I worked for a guy that had a small senco compressor, I've never had an issue with that compressor. the senco was a litttle smaller and easier to move around.

good luck


----------



## EternalDesign

I used mine once and it stopped working what a waste of money!


----------



## OutPutter

sboyle,

I gotta say that as a potential compressor buyer I find it confusing why you give an inoperable tool three stars. I see someone asked why give it five stars earlier. Does that mean you gave it five and then changed it to three. I also see you're releatively new to the site. Maybe you're confused about how this is supposed to work. If you didn't mean to actually write a review but just wanted advice, maybe you could ask the question in one of the forums???

No offense intended, just trying to help.

Best,


----------



## Ottis

Well…I guess I spoke to soon about my little compressor AND nail gun. Was on a little job today and my Bostitch compressor seized up tight as a drum. Went to the local big box store and bought a cheap little Porter cable pancake…(They did not have the Makita ND2ELK talked about)...so I just bought cheap to get by with…..with in 30 min of getting back to the job site….my Bostitch 18ga nailer died also.


----------



## skywalker01

For crying out loud. That's terrible Don K. I feel your pain.. But yo! You got 12 years out of it! That's not shabby at all. 
I have two bostitch guns. the 18ga nailer like yours and the stapler version which hold wood together like a mother. Both work perfect now for almost 7 years with monthly use. Meaning I only use them about once a month but thats like 84 uses for hours each. What I really like about them is that you don't have to get out the oil every time. 
The Dewalt comp. 55580 or similar, with the wheel and two tanks and the rigid OF45150 ( this is the one I have, Look at that motor!) with no wheels and two tanks are the bomb. Both powerful, both quiet, both expensive(down side). Portable but not quite light weight. They will power a framing nailer ( or two, with dual outlets) without problems.


----------



## Ottis

Oh I know Skywalker….I was just thinking I jinxed myself lol….just bragged about how good they have been…and "BOTH" crap the bed a few days later.


----------



## KnockOnWood

For what its worth, I have the Bostitch and have never had any issues with it or the 18 ga. gun. That said, it's way frickin' loud and pretty slow to compress, but the price was right. At this point, I consider it to have pretty much paid for itself.


----------



## eddiez

Anyone know where I can get a new set of brushes for my CAP60P-OF compressor motor? I hate to throw out a perfectly good compressor over a $5 part. Thanks.


----------



## cosmicturner

Had mine two years with no problem it is very loud I would give it a 3 star for my two cents


----------



## SC_GW

I see that many of these posts are a couple of months old. I just today finally opened up my compressor to find a bad valve. Same problem everyone has - the three pronged thin metal valve had shattered.

Anyway I called two repair shops in town listed on the SB website - they told me the part is no longer made and I had to replace the entire head of the unit. Cost was going to be between $80 - $100. This ticked me off so I called Bostitch directly. Got a wonderful woman who answered on the first ring, listened to my problem. Explained that those repairmen were overstating the problem, called them and gave them the riot act, then sent me the parts for free.

So bottom line, the design sucks, but they made it right be me…


----------



## trytodoitmyself

I feel everyone's pain as my CAP60 just suffered the same splintered reed problem. Went to the SB website and found a local SB repair center and purchased the N/S head kit 9429999/PO for $11 and change. Counter guy knew all about it and was very helpful.
I've used mine for home renovation for over 3 years and this is the first problem I've had. It *is* noisy , but it *is* inexpensive and serves my purpose.

Hope the info helps someone.


----------



## mastadon

I bought the Bostitch compressor combo pack with three guns three years ago, in order to save money at the time. Compressor died first three months. I brought it to local repair shop and they sent it to Dewalt for repairs under warrenty. ( I guess now Dewalt has something to do with Bostitch) It has been working fine. BUT now my narrow crown stapler and 18 g brad nailer both have quit working this past week. I thinkk I'm done with Bostitch. I'm gonna try the Hitachi finish guns, and probably repair the Bostitch myself and keep them at home for projects.


----------

