My needle gun locked up halfway through a tube sheet job yesterday

I was about 50 tubes into a retube at a power plant near Baton Rouge when my old needle gun just seized solid. Took me 20 minutes to break it apart and clean out the debris. Anyone got a go-to model that holds up better on heavy slag?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenhenderson7h ago

You ever tried just running a cheap gun with some extra airflow and calling it a day instead of chasing the "perfect" model? I mean, that heavy fused slag you're talking about is gonna gunk up any needle gun eventually, no matter how much you spend on it. Maybe the real issue is not the tool but how you're prepping the surface before you start hammering away at it. A little bit of scraping or a wire brush upfront might save you 20 minutes of cleaning out a seized gun every shift. Just something to think about before you drop cash on another overpriced name brand, lol.

river3518h ago

What kind of slag were you hitting, the heavy fused stuff or the lighter scale? That'll tell me if it's a power issue or just junk getting in there.