Interstate Pneumatics G2112-160 2" 160 PSI 1/4" NPT Rear Mount Pressure Gauge

• Range: 0-160 PSI
• Dial Diameter: 2"
• Case/Bezel: Black
• Port Size / Port Direction: 1/4" NPT - Back Mount

The best part of this item is that it has a metal case, also had a part # and part do not match problem with 1st order. The customer service person did a great job of resolving problem. Regards, RJE

General Tools 370 4 Power Alnico Magnets

• 17 lb pull
• 1-5/16" width

The magnet worked extremely well for my presentation. However it was LOTS smaller that I had imagined. Do you have others similar that are larger? Thanks.

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The physical dimensions listed in the specifications are absurd.They say 1.4 pounds and then say what the physical dimensions are. If the magnet had those dimensiions it would weigh in excess of 50 pounds. For experimental use the distance between the poles is needed.

Campbell Hausfeld PL1558 Air-Powered Caulk Gun

• Smoothly dispenses caulks, adhesives and sealants from standard cartridges
• Shut-off valve stops material when trigger is released
• Dispenses 10.1 fl. oz (uses 1-15/16-Inch diameter by 8.5-Inch cartridge)

The era of pneumatic and battery powered tools has greatly increased productivity and made many arduous, but necessary, tasks like installing caulking, a lot easier and faster. The question that professional builders, tradesmen, and others must ask, is whether the cost of the tool outweighs the potential advantages and savings in time and effort that the tool promises.

In our case, having spent several hours in a row gunning a "conventional" caulking gun, and still needing to spend many more hours similarly installing caulking, the advantages of an air powered caulking gun was potentially offering as much advantage in speed and utility as an electric circular saw has over using a handsaw.

We bought the Campbell Hausfeld air-powered caulking gun to dispense some dozen and a half cartridges of 3M Marine Adhesive Sealant, the 3M "Fast Cure 4000 UV". We are mentioning the material because it is not quite like regular caulking, it is a bit thicker and a little more viscous and doesn't gun well from a regular caulking gun without a lot of pressure and constant squeezing.

The 3M marine caulking is quite expensive as caulking goes, and we wanted to install it as quickly as we could with as much ease and smooth seams as possible, thus we thought we would try an air powered caulking gun.

Unfortunately, the Campbell Hausfeld air-powered caulking gun does not dispense the 3M marine caulking at the recommended air pressure of 20psi; we wound up cranking the air regulator to the maximum air pressure specification stated in the manual: 50psi, and the caulking still barely trickled out of the tube, making the Campbell Hausfeld air-powered caulking gun a frustrating and slow tool to use with 3M marine caulking.

We have not tried the Campbell Hausfeld air-powered caulking gun with other caulking types, but the caulking gun could potentially work well with thin latex caulking types. Silicon caulking, "elastomeric" caulking, and construction adhesives are also thicker compounds, and may not gun well with the Campbell Hausfeld PL 1558 caulking gun.

Those that do caulking regularly or use thick caulking materials will likely want to look for an air powered caulking gun that has greater dispensing "push" than the Campbell Hausfeld PL1558. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground between the cheaper air powered guns like the Campbell Hausfeld, and more professional quality air powered caulking guns costing a lot more money.

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May 2010, Update:

The Campbell Hausfeld PL 1558 did not perform as needed, so we purchased the Cooper Tools, "Caulk Master pg110" air powered caulking gun (again from Amazon); an air powered caulking gun that allows cranking up the air pressure of the caulk gun to a maximum of 100 p.s.i. The new "Caulk Master" is a much lighter tool, is nicely machined, has a larger and easier to squeeze trigger, and has a three foot air hose "pigtail" ready to accept a 1/4 inch quick disconnect coupling. The good news for us is that the "Caulk Master pg110" pushes the heavier 3M Marine Caulking with ease (cranked up to about sixty p.s.i.). The "Caulk Master pg110" was considerably more expensive than the Campbell Hausfeld unit, but hopefully will give many years of service.

Note that there are some quirks to using the "Caulk Master" gun as well, and hopefully we'll post some of our observations regarding those issues on the review section of that tool sometime later.

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Here's why you need this tool:

1. Dependability: Air tools are simple, durable and generally more reliable. It has outlasted every other caulk gun I've ever owned. Very TOUGH.

2. Quality: Mine was made in Taiwan, but I'd give a 9 out of 10 on quality. You can depend on it.

3. Flexibility: This is the third best feature in my opinion. If you work with silicone, this thing will push it easily! If you use those hand-cranking guns, silicone caulk is dense enough to make life miserable after a few tubes in some cold weather. With this tool, I just adjusted my compressor pressure to 35 psi and let it rip...SO EASY. Latex caulk runs well at 20 psi.

4. Speed: this tool is a marathon runner. If you're just using a few tubes of caulk, it's about as fast as a regular hand-cranking gun. But when you factor in fatigue after about 20 tubes, this thing will nullify it and you will be able to lay down far more caulk rather than taking breaks. Plus, you won't feel drained when you are finished, and you will most likely avoid tendonitis in your hand.

5. Price: This is one of those rare items when you receive it, hold it and use it, you'll be scratching your head wondering how you ever got it for so cheap. It's about the same price as a decent quality hand-cranker. Seriously, the only things that even really compare are the battery-operated ones, but those can cost 10 times more than this thing.

Here are the negatives:

1. Trigger. Many reviews complain about it and I agree. However, I suggest gripping the gun BELOW the trigger and pushing UP on it from underneath with your index finger. This eliminates the pinch from pulling it like a conventional trigger. Also wear gloves for added protection.

2. You need a compressor. If you already have one great! You have zero excuse for not owning one of these. If you don't own one, you'll have an added expense to consider before getting this tool. On the other hand, this gun uses very little air, so you can run it on the smallest of compressors.

3. Connection to air hose. Two things: A) What the hell is up with manufacturers no longer including a 1/4 inch adapter? You'll need to go buy one because it's not included...charge me a little extra and save me an annoying trip to the hardware store to buy a part that costs less than $1 please. B) Hand-crankers and battery-operated guns are cordless, this one will eventually be attached to an air hose which can limit its range.

4. Weight. It's a little heavy, but not bad. Some folks might complain, but I'd rather have a tough, slightly heavy tool versus a flimsy lightweight tool.

Summary

I ripped through about 65 tubes of silicone on a cool day, and I didn't even break a sweat. No sore hands. No frustration. It's not perfect, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of anything else out there. And for the money, it just can't be beat.

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Sure, the trigger stings a bit after several hours of use, but at 15 psi it lays out a great bead, limited only by my ability to #1: Cut the tip at the right angle. #2: Hold the gun at a consistant angle. As far as the tool, 5 stars. BTW: I'm sure my whole arm would have been in pain if I had been working with a manual. It's worth it in spades, and it's not expensive if you have a compressor, you will never go back.

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I cannot imagine a similar product performing any better than one this regardless of the price, and this one is really inexpensive: it delivers caulk smoothly, is well balanced, solidly built, easy to take apart to clean, and when trigger is let go there is no residual flow of material. It has already saved my hands and fingers from hours of pumping on a manual caulk gun only to get bumpy beads and a tired hand.

Absolutely nothing to do with the gun, but for convenience purchase an inline pressure regulator to connect to the gun since different caulking materials will require "fine tuning" of the pressure. Having a pressure regular at the caulk gun avoids having to run back and forth to the pressure regulator at the compressor.

However, whoever designed this otherwise excellent tool spent a lot of time making it work very well but they could not have used it for any length of time or they would have noticed a serious design flaw. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, the placement of the trigger leaves about a 3/16" gap between it and the bottom black collar of the tube. This absolutely ensures that you WILL get pinched when your finger gets caught between the trigger and tube bottom which will happen many times when you are caulking. This is a very annoying, stupid and unnecessary problem on an otherwise well designed tool which is why I deducted two stars and gave it a 3 star rating. This thing deserves 5 stars.

They needed to either lower the trigger farther down, or possibly extend the trigger forward and angle it down. Campbell Hausfeld needs to make available some sort of retrofit or plastic part that could be fitted over the trigger to avoid this very unnecessary design flaw. I guess I might just try wearing leather gloves.

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only complaint is the trigger,,, butt-an easy fix! use a air die grinder and a carbide burr and in no time it is a custom fit! It uses very little air at 10 psi.

I just went through 2 cases of caulking for a lap siding house. It is easy to control the flow and when you let off the trigger the caulking stops. My only regret is I shold have bought it a long time ago.

Maxus EX8403 21 Amp 5 HP 80-Gallon Cast Iron Oiled Two-Stage Vertical Compressor

• 21 Amp 5 HP 80-gallon cast iron oiled 2-stage vertical compressor provides up to 10,000 hours of pump life
• Ideal for automotive and job site tasks
• 2-stage 2-cylinder, and oil-lubricated cast iron pump for long life and durability
• Offers oil sight gauge, high airflow, and 175 maximum PSI
• 5-year limited manufacturer's warranty

I have owned this compressor for about two weeks so far so I can only comment on setup and limited use, as well as voltage requirements that prospective owners should know about before purchasing any air compressor.

I installed it at my place of business and quickly realized that the motor is wired for 230 volts, but my service supplies 208 volts. I emailed Campbell Hausfeld and they replied within a week,telling me that the motor requires a minimum of 215 volts to operate. I then called Emerson where the compressor motor is made and they told me that they do not recommend running the motor on 208 volts, and that the motor is not capable of being rewired for 230 volts.

Further research led me to hire a electrician to install a "buck and boost transformer" to raise my voltage from 208 volts to 230 volts. This was the solution I chose, rather than return the compressor and buy one that ran at 208 volts, because my research showed that the compressor would run more efficiently at 230 volts than at 208 volts. After all, if I couldn't achieve the maximum cfm that the compressor is capable of then why bother with a 2 stage compressor in the first place? The transformer cost $ 138.00 and the electrician another $ 180.00 for his expertise.

When the installation was complete we threw the switch and the compressor ran perfectly with a moderate amount of noise and hardly any vibration (I bolted it to the concrete floor with neoprene pads under the feet). So far I have only used it for about two hours on one project, but from what I can see it works perfectly. It builds pressure up to 175 psi as listed, then sits idle until the pressure drops down to 125 psi. I have another project coming up within the next two months and will follow up this review at that time.

UPDATE: I have now owned this compressor for about 18 months and I am happy to report that it has worked perfectly. The only con that I can see is that there is a very slight dripping of compressor oil that seems to be coming from the drain plug and dripping down the side of the air tank over time. I see this as an extremely minor issue because the level of compressor oil is still where I started when looking at the glass "bubble" on the side of the unit. I have not had to add any compressor oil to the unit. In hindsight, I should have removed the oil drain plug and wrapped it in teflon tape before filling the unit with compressor oil. I would definitely recommend this compressor.

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I should say that the unit did have a bad pressure switch on arrival but CH got that rectified quickly. Since, the initial problem there haven't been any and it has worked as expected. I have it in my hobby shop and it easily keeps with anything and everything I do. I have heavy air consumption tools and it has no problem keeping up, it could handle 2-3 times what I do and still keep up LOL.

This unit makes single stage, 60 gallon compressors sold at the BORG look and perform like toys. ;-)

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Love the Compressors section advertisements.

First this compressor is manufactured in Singapore. Should you need parts or anything else for the compressor head in the future this may be a concern.

Advertised as a seven and a half, 7.5, Horsepower compressor. I was planning on replacing my 5HP compressor until I found the amp rating on the motor was the same as my 5HP compressor. Physics says you can't get more power from the unit than you take from the wall. This is a 5HP motor. I don't care what the placard says. Amazing this type of advertisement is even allowed. Poor consumer that doesn't know a thing about electricity. He is at the marketers mercy.