Paslode Impulse is a trademarked name for a cordless

nail gun A nail gun, nailgun or nailer is a form of hammer used to drive nails into wood or other materials. It is usually driven by compressed air ( pneumatic), electromagnetism, highly flammable gases such as butane or propane, or, for powder-actua ...

manufactured by

Paslode Paslode is an American tool manufacturer that is a subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works. Paslode is an acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds ...

. Cordless nail guns do not need an

air compressor An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a Pneumatics, pneumatic device that energy conversion, converts mechanical power (from ...

. Instead, they use what Paslode calls a "fuel cell", but is actually a very small

two stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

which fires one ignition stroke for each nail driven, and reloads itself from a small metal can filled with pressurized flammable gas (a mixture of

propene Propylene, also known as propene, is an unsaturated organic compound with the chemical formula . It has one double bond, and is the second simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. It is a colorless gas with a faint petroleum-like od ...

and

but-1-ene 1-Butene (IUPAC name: But-1-ene, also known as 1-butylene) is the organic compound with the formula CH3CH2CH=CH2. It is a colorless gas, but easily condensed to give a colorless liquid. It is classified as a linear alpha-olefin (terminal alkene). ...

). It has a

battery pack A battery pack is a set of any number of (preferably) identical Battery (electricity), batteries or individual battery cells. They may be configured in a series, parallel or a mixture of both to deliver the desired voltage and current. The term ' ...

and a high-voltage

power supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, electric current, current, and frequency to power ...

, to deliver a

spark Spark commonly refers to: * Spark (fire), a small glowing particle or ember * Electric spark, a form of electrical discharge Spark may also refer to: People * Spark (surname) * Jessica Morgan (born 1992; formerly known as Spark), female singe ...

. The combustion chamber is divided in two parts and is normally open to the atmosphere. When the contact tip is pushed onto a piece of work, the lower piston chamber (which also serves as the piston bore) is pushed into the upper part, sealing it. Simultaneously, a metered amount of fuel is squirted into the chamber from the fuel container. When the trigger is pulled, a spark plug ignites the fuel charge, pushing the piston and connected drive pin to the bottom of the chamber and driving a nail. A small amount of combustion gas is briefly stored in a side chamber and is used to push the piston back into the ready position after the nail is driven. After the contact tip is lifted from the work, the combustion chamber opens and a small fan blows away the exhaust gas. Pressing the contact tip to the work without pulling the trigger uses one of the metered fuel charges. The unburned fuel is then blown away by the exhaust fan when the contact tip is removed from the work. These are best used in finish-nailing situations, which are where these tools are most common. Paslode Impulse nail guns are available as framing and finish nailers using a variety of nail types and lengths. They are well known by tradesmen for the smell of emitted exhaust gas, which some may find offensive. The fuel is a mixture of

and

. The fuel cells are designed to last for 1,000 rounds each, which makes them desirable for heavy duty projects where thousands of nails or staples are needed.

References

Mechanical hand tools {{tool-stub