Tool Review - Senco 501CL 1st Fix Nailgun

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

judder

Established Member
Joined
10 Feb 2005
Messages
115
Reaction score
0
Location
Lanarkshire, Scotland
Hi there,
Recently my Paslode nailgun brokedown so I thought I'd do a stripdown and source the problem. Problem turned out to be a broken shaft on the motor. New motor - £75inc Vat. Add a new fan,O-ring and filter, your talking £100 just for parts. Gun was >10yrs old So went looking for a new gun as I guessed if I fixed that, there might be more trouble ahead.

Options were to either buy a new Paslode gun and have the old one as spares. Buy the Senco, which I couldn't find anything written about it, or buy the Hitachi.

The Hitachi was ruled out early on as I had heard a couple of bad stories about them.

The cheapest I could find the Paslode locally was £295 + vat. I found the Senco gun here http://www.powertoolwarehouse.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/2405 but seemed pricy at £468 inc vat.
Bearing in mind I cannot claim my vat back.

Trolled Ebay and found one for a bargain £200.

Opening the box was an impressive looking gun, more akin to the traditional air-fed nailers, with a large capacity carriage for the nails.
Holding the gun I was disappointed that there was no belt clip, as it's often used( The new Paslode + Hitachi have new style clips that can rest the tool over a joist).

DSCF0001-1.jpg


Looking over the tool, it seems to be very rugged and will suit site work very well, but no better than the Paslode. I haven't weighed the tool, but strangely feels lighter than the PL.There is a no mar tip clipped on the side of the gun which is an extra cost on the PL, but I will be removing this as it will end up getting detatched and lost.
Sitting the tool on the ground throws up another problem - it's poorly balanced because of the nail carriage is set at an angle, the machine wants to tilt over.

DSCF0003-1.jpg


It came with only one battery but to be honest, I can't remember if the PL comes with one or two. There is no oil or cleaner included, but there is a set of goggles. The manual could be better as the lanuages are mixed in together, so you have to turn two pages to keep reading in English. It's also pretty cryptic as there is no explanation as how to adjust the depth of drive, and there is no cleaning or oiling instructions.
Using the gun was a pleasure and seemed to be more powerful, however there were a few misfires (using PL gas), but no more than the original PL. I did notice, worst of all, the battery comes loose and disengages after half a dozen fires and i'm constantly having to "thumb it up" a bit - very frustrating considering the size of the carriage is one of it's strong points.

DSCF0005-3.jpg


DSCF0007-2.jpg


To sum up, yes it does challenge the PL, but not at that price. If they were the SAME price, I'd still buy the Paslode.
Thanks to Scott Mains (partner-in-crime) for lending me his gun for the photos.

Stephen
 
good write up mate.

as you say there is very little between the two. i think only time will tell, once its had a bit of abuse, droped, knocked and scraped.

it was good to use and as you sayed feels lighter than the PL.

i think a review of this thead in about 3-4 months would be good idea. there not many of those nailers going about.

cheers;; mr mains
 
Back
Top