Had to pick between a corded framing nailer and a cordless one for a big deck job

I was building a 400 square foot deck in Phoenix last month and couldn't decide if I should buy a corded Hitachi or a cordless Milwaukee. The cordless sounded great but I was worried about battery life in the heat. I went with the corded one since I had a generator on site anyway. It never skipped a beat, even when I was nailing joists for 6 hours straight. The only downside was dragging the hose around, but I think not swapping batteries every 40 minutes saved me time overall. Has anyone else dealt with the battery drain issue on cordless nailers in hot weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopherwilson1mo ago

My buddy ran into that exact "battery drain in heat" issue last year... he was out in Vegas building a pergola and his cordless Dewalt died on him after maybe an hour and a half of steady nailing. The batteries were hot to the touch and just wouldn't hold a charge the rest of the day, so he ended up borrowing a generator and a corded gun from a neighbor to finish the job. I think you made the right call with the corded one for that Phoenix heat for sure.

taylor_miller101mo ago

Totally feel for your buddy out there in Vegas... that heat is brutal on batteries. Ive had the same thing happen with my impact driver just sitting in the truck bed for 20 minutes in the summer, and it was toast for the rest of the day. Corded tools might be a pain to drag around sometimes but at least they dont quit on you like that. Better to be a little tethered than to get stuck halfway through a job.