Dewalt 18 gauge brad nailer not firing nails fix

It was 2 PM on a Sunday. I had a pile of baseboards in my garage and a fresh cup of coffee cooling on the workbench. I was finally getting to the trim work I had put off for a month.

I picked up my DeWalt 18-gauge brad nailer. I lined it up on a piece of pine. I pulled the trigger.

No nail came out. Just the sound of the motor spinning up and a hollow thunk.

I felt that familiar knot of frustration in my chest. My rhythm was gone. I looked at the tool like it had personally betrayed me. We have all been there. You just want to finish the job, not play mechanic.

But here is the good news. After years of using these yellow and black tools, I have learned that a DeWalt nailer not firing is rarely a death sentence for the tool. It is usually something small. It is often something you can fix in five minutes.

I spent that Sunday figuring it out so you do not have to. Here is my deep dive into why this happens and how I got back to work.

Understanding the “Click but No Stick” Problem

When I say the nailer won’t fire, I mean a few specific things. It helps to know exactly what is happening.

Sometimes the light flashes at me. Sometimes the motor runs, but the driver blade does not move. Sometimes the driver moves, but it does not grab a nail.

I realized that these tools are smart. Maybe too smart. The DeWalt DCN680 (the battery model I use) has sensors everywhere. If it senses a jam or a low battery, it shuts down to save itself. It is trying to be helpful, even if it feels annoying.

I learned to stop forcing it. If you keep pulling the trigger, you might actually break the driver blade.

The First Things I Check (The Easy Stuff)

I always start with the simple fixes. I used to tear my tools apart immediately. I stopped doing that after I spent an hour taking a drill apart only to find out the battery was dead.

Is the Battery Actually Charged?

I looked at the battery on my nailer. It showed one bar.

In my head, I thought, “That is enough for a few more shots.”

I was wrong.

These nailers need a massive surge of power to compress the spring and fire the pin. A drill can spin on low power. A nailer cannot. If the voltage drops even a little bit under load, the chip inside cuts the power.

I swapped in a fresh 4.0Ah battery. I tried again. It fired once, then stopped. So, the battery helped, but it was not the whole story.

The Safety Contact Trip

I pressed the nose of the gun against the wood. I paid attention to how it felt.

The black tip (the safety contact) needs to slide up smoothly. If it stops halfway, the gun will not fire.

I noticed a little bit of sticky pine sap on the metal shaft of the safety tip. It was moving, but it was sluggish. It did not snap back out when I lifted the gun.

I grabbed a rag and wiped it off. I added a tiny drop of tool oil. I worked it up and down with my thumb. Now it clicked up and down fast.

This is a big one. If that sensor does not see the tip is fully pressed, the trigger is dead.

The Stall Release Lever: My “Aha” Moment

This was the real fix for me that day.

I had never really paid attention to that silver lever on top of the tool. I just thought it was part of the design.

It turns out, that is the Stall Release Lever.

When the driver blade hits something hard—like a knot in the wood—it can get stuck in the “down” position. The tool detects this. It locks the trigger so you do not strip the gears.

Here is what I did:

1. I took the battery off. (Always do this first).
2. I located the silver lever on top of the motor housing.
3. I flipped it over.
4. I heard a mechanical snap sound. That was the driver blade resetting itself.
5. I flipped the lever back to the locked position.

I put the battery back on. I tested it on a scrap piece of 2×4.

Pow. Sunk the nail perfectly.

It was such a relief. I felt a bit silly for not checking it sooner. If your light is flashing continuously, this is usually why.

Clearing a Jam You Cannot See

Sometimes, the lever does not work.

A few months ago, I had a different issue. The gun was making the noise, the lever was reset, but no nail came out.

I opened the nose latch. This is the “tool-free” jam release. It is a nice feature. You do not need a wrench.

At first glance, the channel looked clear. I almost closed it back up.

Then I looked closer. There was a tiny, bent piece of wire wedged way up at the top, near the firing pin. It was a piece of a nail that had sheared off from a previous shot.

It was preventing the new nails from sliding into the chamber.

I grabbed my needle-nose pliers. I yanked it out.

Here is a quick reference table for what I look for when I open the nose.

Common Jam Scenarios

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