Tool service and support

[jhendric]

Folks, I have a Dewalt pneumatic framing nailer that has seen relatively little use over it's life. I bought this nailer in 2007. It is now discontinued and the parts are not available to repair it. I was able to find the part I needed aftermarket online, we'll see if it works. Framing nailers have come down in price since I bought this one and I already replaced it with a Metobo.

Frankly I'm bothered that a $300+ tool that was supposed to be designed for professionals is no longer supported after 14 years. I guess I'm a throwback to the old Craftsman lifetime warranty. I'm not asking for a freebie, I just want to buy the parts I need. I'm afraid cell phones have got us to think that expensive tools are disposable every 2-4 years.

What do you think is reasonable for support life for a mid-range tool?

 

[FuzzyTiger]

Personally I think 14 years is pretty darn good for any tool.

 

[alcorelli]

I wouldn't be complaining. 14 years?
And you want them to have parts?
I agree that it would be nice, but what would those parts have to cost to be kept in the inventory list of a manufacturer? Shelf cost?


Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[bwringer]

Eeehhhhh... I wouldn't be too bothered. It was a fairly complex tool with moving parts intended for pro use.

Even with adamantium parts, any halfway busy pro framer would have completely worn it out within a year or two.

That said, there are tool designs that hang around and are sold virtually unchanged for decades, so parts availability can be pretty good for a surprisingly long time.

But I think nailer designs likely change more often.

 

[neophyte]

Black & Decker owns the Dewalt brand, and usually keeps the same tools in production for decades.
The exceptions might be tools that were engineering failures, or which might have been produced for by another company which got purchased by B&D( such as Porter Cable), or tools made by outside companies for them, in which case parts supply might be dictated by whoever the outside OEM manufacturer was.

A lot of pneumatic nailers used to be manufactured in Italy, but more recently a lot of tool companies have been switching to Asian manufactured units.
I believe one or two of the Italian manufacturers are still around, so if it’s one of those units, parts may be available if you can figure out what it was.
If it’s an Asian unit I don’t know.

 

[jhendric]

Good feedback thanks guys, I guess I've been spoiled by the "best in class" tools like Stihl, I can still get parts to my 20 year old saw, literally at the Town and Country hardware store.

 

[reader2580]

The Craftsman lifetime guarantee doesn't mean a part is always available. Hasn't Sears been known to replace a broken tool with a current model, or simply refund the money paid originally if there is no way to fix or replace a broken tool?

 

[macgee]

14 years of use is actually a very good stretch of time for a contractors tool. Especially for the era you bought it in as it wasn't exactly the glory years.
Not finding parts for that era is not surprising at all, there was a ton of jockeying around and re-positioning of products, quality level and where to manufacture and there's been many iterations since then. Plus, despite spending $300; Dewalt isn't exactly a Cleco, IR or Sioux level quality tool and company, they're more the disposal type of pneumatic product.

At least you wont get insulted like you would if you had a Craftsman life warranty product seeking service now a days and instead will be given an overseas plastic toy (if your lucky). There's no more lifetime craftsman warranty and there hasn't been one for years in the real sense.

By the way, your Metabo is most likely an overseas Hitachi not made in Japan or Spain. Use it anger, make some good money with it, don't abuse and when it does die, just buy another one or spend more money on a USA Made high end one like a Paslode or Senco. If you want a very good long term warranty, service and parts inventory you're going to have to invest way more money now a days for that and still no guarantee that it'll be around when you'll need it.

We did this to ourselves

 

[jhendric]

14 years of use is actually a very good stretch of time for a contractors tool. Especially for the era you bought it in as it wasn't exactly the glory years.
Not finding parts for that era is not surprising at all, there was a ton of jockeying around and re-positioning of products, quality level and where to manufacture and there's been many iterations since then. Plus, despite spending $300; Dewalt isn't exactly a Cleco, IR or Sioux level quality tool and company, they're more the disposal type of pneumatic product.

At least you wont get insulted like you would if you had a Craftsman life warranty product seeking service now a days and instead will be given an overseas plastic toy (if your lucky). There's no more lifetime craftsman warranty and there hasn't been one for years in the real sense.

By the way, your Metabo is most likely an overseas Hitachi not made in Japan or Spain. Use it anger, make some good money with it, don't abuse and when it does die, just buy another one or spend more money on a USA Made high end one like a Paslode or Senco. If you want a very good long term warranty, service and parts inventory you're going to have to invest way more money now a days for that and still no guarantee that it'll be around when you'll need it.

We did this to ourselves

Yeah, that's the conclusion I'm coming to. On the other side of the argument I paid more than $300 for the Dewalt and the brand new Metobo cost $189. My service expectations are lower for sure.

 

[Robinson1]

In a production framing environment a "good" gun will need constant maintenance and will be due a total rebuild in a year or less. Thats assuming it doesn't get stolen, dropped off a roof, or ran over by a skid loader. Id say 14 years is a hell of a run.

Also needs to be noted that a $300 gun pays for itself the first day on the job, possibly before lunch time

 

[jhendric]

In a production framing environment a "good" gun will need constant maintenance and will be due a total rebuild in a year or less. Thats assuming it doesn't get stolen, dropped off a roof, or ran over by a skid loader. Id say 14 years is a hell of a run.

Also needs to be noted that a $300 gun pays for itself the first day on the job, possibly before lunch time

True, it's not optional