SENTAI Plumbing Copper Pipe Crimper - Press Tube Tools with 1/2" 3/4" 1" Jaws - Suitable for Viega Copper Only, Pro-Press, Elkhart, Conex Pipe Fittings

I wasn't confident in my ability to sweat solder copper pipes and was skeptical of shark bite fittings being placed in an inaccessible location. After researching the Propress system, this seemed like a good way to go. This tool is less than 1/10th the price of the battery-operated professional ones. I had a total of 12 crimp fittings to put on for my kitchen remodel, and this tool didn't let me down. NO LEAKS on the first try. Saved me probably $500 over having a plumber do this small job. If I was doing an entire house, I would probably rent or purchase the electric version The force required to operate the tool is comparable to large hedge trimmers chopping through a 3" oak branch. A workout, but not impossible by any means. The price of the propress style fittings (I purchased Viega fittings from Amazon) was only about $2.00 per fitting, compared to $6-$8 for sharkbite style.

Good tool but useless for tight spaces

Gave it 2 more stars. Must crimp center of copper Tees before anything is inserted in the straight branch ends, and can only be done with the Tee in one specific position. Ended up using push-fit where it was a problem. Press-fit and push-fit have strengths and weaknesses, and I think mixing the two in the right way gives you the best of both. I would use solder, and we spent an unbelievable amount of money on the fittings, but it was to build a stainless steel filter array. Youngins' coughing from overly chlorinated city water. Decided to avoid adding more materials that might have lead, etc. using fittings whoase composition is in the spec. I gave two stars back because it is actually better than automatic tools in the sense that you can control deflection, which is the bane of straight runs with press-fit and auto press tools.

Honestly, every plumber that works with press fittings and electric press tools should own one of these manual press tools. I own multiple cordless and electric press tools. The cost to service a press tool is more than 2x the cost of this manual tool. It's not going to get into the tightest of places, but with some pre planning you should be able to press the joints in place that matter. Heck for the cost of this tool, you can make it up in not needing to go to the gym to work on the biceps or forearms. This will separate the boys from the men with 1" crimps. But you didn't get Into plumbing if you thought it was for lightweights. I will continue to update as my experience with this manual tool plays on. But for now, I'm impressed, no pun intended.

The crimper appears to be a good sturdy tool, but it was too large to work within the small space where the broken water pipe was located (in an interior soffit, over deep cabinetry). We were buying it for a special project, and it didn't work for our application, thus it was returned (at our expense). It will likely work well in a standard plumbing application.

This was a life saver. Didn’t wanna turn everything into pex nor did I want to have to solder all the joints. The automatic tool version of this costs thousands from any company even as a plug-in rather the battery. So for 200 I jumped on this and it did the job beautifully.

The box where you store the item was broke.

Have only used these a handful of times since they are for a spare work truck we have. So far so good! They are good quality and seem like they will last for what we do.