Cordless vs air powered caulk guns

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redwood1922

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I have really a lot of caulking to do for weather sealing and my hands aren't what they used to be. It's battery vs air. I don't need to do super thick urethane, might mostly end up acrylic-silicone formula.

Batteries - I really hate batteries and I have plenty of not-quite-worn-out ones to prove it, and chargers that are only good for 1 thing I need. But as far as caulking is concerned the tools and prices seem to be OK, I think I've seen the Milwaukee 18 volt kit as low as $200 w/charger, some other decent choices as low as around $140.

Air - I'm a homeowner w/no experience with air but the question keeps coming up from one project to another. Looks like a nice lightweight pneumatic caulk dispenser w/good reviews on Amazon for around $55. I would want maybe the smallest compressor to bring into tight spots in crawlspace and so called attic and also ideally get compressor up a ladder and sit it where the paint usually goes. I have an idea a caulk gun is not going to beat up a compressor and a lower priced compressor will probably do. Not sure about cost after it's all fitted out but seems to be in the same ballpark as cordless?

Which would you choose and why? And thanks for listening.
 
I have the Milwaukee m12 caulk gun and love it. It has good speed control. You can get the kit at home depot for 169.00 or something like that. I got mine for 99.00 bare tool since I already had the battery and charger. my son has the Ryobi one and it works fine just the speed control is not as good. I wouldn't even consider an air power one, dragging the hose around would bother me I think, especially on a ladder. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I have the Milwaukee m12 caulk gun and love it. It has good speed control. You can get the kit at home depot for 169.00 or something like that. I got mine for 99.00 bare tool since I already had the battery and charger. my son has the Ryobi one and it works fine just the speed control is not as good. I wouldn't even consider an air power one, dragging the hose around would bother me I think, especially on a ladder. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Well that's a strong vote for the M12 caulk gun, unfortunately the $200 deal seems to be gone and what I'm seeing now is more like $200 tool only or $300 with charger and a battery. If I can't find a better deal, maybe Ryobi instead - tuffy, thanks very much for the info about your son's Ryobi.

Still would like to hear from someone who likes pneumatic caulkers, how many cfm I might need, probably not much. I see some small compressors made for nailing in tight spots for under $150. Would be another $50 or so for the air caulk tool. For example this compressor looks like a bargain and designed in USA - California Air Tools CAT-1P1060S, wonder if its lungs are big enough for caulking.
 
I haven't got one, I was looking at the Rigid and Ryobi chalk guns... But also looking at the one for air...@tuffy, I hear exactly what you are saying about the air, and have to take the hose with you... I dunno, I am still in the thought about it... But either way, I think it would be much easier than the manual ones if you have lots of chalking going on...
 
I have used air and will not recommend them as the hose is something of a problem to get where needed, but the real hangup for me is that I often want to tilt or turn the gun slightly different to get around corners or spots and that hose hanging on really makes it hard to move along a line smoothly without the hose suddenly shifting and making a big "bobble" in the line!
I also used a cheap, too cheap, air gun and sent it back because I could not get the tube to seal!
I have not tried battery as I no longer do so much caulk that it is a value to me. I feel I can get much better control with hand as I can tell far better when the flow will quit.
Knowing when to shut down seems hard to figure on powered guns.
If I were doing mass filling of holes, etc. then power would suit better but most of my caulking is for appearance where control is more a factor.
 
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