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| Ek's Home | Forum | Chat | Electrical Links | |
| Subject - Staple guns? | |
| ladyestrogen |
Here in VA, I did time as an electrical project manager. I was approached by a buddy of mine who's a supplier. He showed me samples of a staple gun for romex. I was intrigued, and checked them out, but a hammer and a pouch full of staples I just couldn't let go of. Was wondering if any of you have used them, or are they approved for code? -Ladyestrogen 
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| JimmyDee | Haven't used then. Yes they are approved. Have no intention of using them. I like the new plastic staples and will stay with them. Jim |
| nfsus | ive used them. works nice, but will not hold as good as the regular knuckle busters. but im like you i cant get rid of the old ones. |
| kbsparky | I like to use the guns for things like doorbell and CATV lines. Even phone lines, but I stick with the old-fashioned ones for CAT-5 cables -- only driving them in ˝-way, to keep the wires from being pinched. We usually use T-18 for doorbells; T-25 for phone lines; T-37 for RG-6. I've seen those rx ones, but we don't install enough NM these days to justify the expense. Welcome Lady!  |
| stedder | Had a house where I had to go over the roof / ceiling boards before insulation board and roof materialbecause of master bed wing was on slab and the whole place was ceiling / roof as the same 2x6 cypress board, so after the tar paper stuff went on I had to run my a$$ off for a day running phone, coax thermo and line voltage switching to 63 locations of boxes set into the roof boards all by my lonesome (cheap and stupid) the romex stapler and lo vo stapler came in very handy, (hours saved) and the carpenter / roofers were pissed 'cause they had ta start the next day. Don't ever go against me when it comes to stayin' ahead.! |
| CooCooMike | I don't see me buying one of them.I am a screwdriver/pliers kind of guy.Still use a hacksaw over rotostrippers.Hacksaw is a multipurpose tool,the rotos are too one dimensional(besides I keep forgetting which way to turn the handle) 
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| luckyshadow | Rotostrippers - tried them , used them for a short while - tossed them into the bottom of toolbox - bought a new pair of BX snips. they work better , faster, fit in pouch better. 
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| Mike Delaney | kbsparky, If you're not pulling NM much, do you specialize in low-voltage systems? My 2cents, the staple gun seems like a nice idea, I know if I'm hand driving 1500-2500 staples a house, my arm and elbow get soar. It would probably take some getting used to, and how available the staples are, and how expensive, would also play a role. It sounds alot faster though. |
| stedder | the staples are a little 'spensive but in certain situations they are the right tool, ya don't need to use em all the time, I've also used them for installing rope lights in a pattern in display cases and restaurants, behind frosted glass. BTW(I love a good rotostrip!) And I love my cordless milwaukee sawzall w/ a metal blade ( I can still figr' how to use a man u el if I have to.) |
| kbsparky | quote: Those staples are cheap enough, for the low voltage work. Most of the time, you can get them at Lowe's. We install our share of Romex® when wiring the occasional shed or garage. Our work mainly consists of mobile/modular connections, sun porches, pools and spas. Many of the sun porches we do have pre-fabricated electric channels between the windows, which are UL listed as wireways. That makes it easy to install wiring devices, etc, as no additional outlet boxes are required. We will use some small screw-in straps when necessary to reign in that stubborn piece of Romex in those wireways.  As for the modulars, in addition to the service equipment, most require some site work for things like HVAC units, water and lift pumps, and attic/crawl space lighting. IF we were still doing new (Stick-built) houses on a regular basis, we might utilize those staple guns for Romex, but I might add that our use of the guns for the low-voltage wiring goes back over 10 years to when I bought those guns. I might do one or maybe two new houses a year these days.  -Ken |
| ladyestrogen | I think some of you misunderstood me. I am not talking about the use of those staple guns they have with the little staples for low-voltage. I am familiar with those. I am talking about a gun for regular 1/2" staples they have designed for regular romex. They look just like our reg staples, but have a plastic bar on the inside to cushion the staple from going too far into the sheathing. Was too hanky for me to trust. Was wondering if you all had seen them.
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| kbsparky | Milessa: No, I did not misunderstand at all. My point was that we used the smaller guns over the past several years, but since we don't install that much Romex these days, just have not bothered with getting the larger ones. Yes, I've seen them, mainly at trade shows, etc. -Ken |
| stedder | lady, yes they are good for certain apps, but for the cost of the staples I only use them in situations where pounding on something is a baad idea, in my first post I mentioned running romex to lighting and switching locations, the gun saved me tremndous time but also good for other aplications as well (when ya need a soft touch)and alot of pounding is bad. The staples seat well and, even though they look skimpy, hold well. |
| Romex Racer | I see this thread is a little over a month old, but today I bought a Desa PowerFast 12-14 staple gun for $40 and 400 insulated staples for $12. I tried it out at home and it seems OK, tomorrow I'm gonna give it the true test on a 1200 square foot room addition. I'll report the results. |
| eleccon | RR, I'm curious to know what you think of it, If it will help my elbow a little I might try it too. |
| Romex Racer | OK, I put the Desa PowerFast StrapGun to the test and I give it two thumbs up. It jammed a couple of times, and the secret to clearing jams is to make sure the staples in the magazine are lined up nice and straight. It holds 25 staples at a time. On 14-2 the cable is a little loose, but not bad. I stapled 2 14-2s and 2 12-2s and 12-3 and 14-3 and it worked pretty well. I had no problem using one hand and I had a couple of helpers do it one handed too. It didn't change my life but it was a little faster and easier than hammering staples. I also stapled cat 3 phone cable and it left plenty of room for movement which I think most of us like. I shot about 200 staples and my helpers shot about 250. The strapgun is very heavy and solid, it can shoot staples in spots where a hammer would be at a difficult angle. I give it a rating of 8 on a 10 point scale. The staples are expensive and it jams occasionally but it's easy for trainees to use and if you're a production electrician it does save maybe 10 minutes at the end of the day, that's 50 minutes a week and in my book, that's a good deal, time being money and all. I will buy a couple more. |