Recommend Pex copper crimp tool

Motorapido

Please recommend a quality PEX copper crimp tool with the knowledge that I will use it only a handful of times in my life and in circumstances in which access to pipes and fittings is relatively open (unfinished basement ceiling, standard residential trunk and branch PEX hot and cold water pipes). I don't want to cheap out and buy junk, but I don't think I need top-end pro quality either. I'm looking at this particular kit https://www.amazon.com/IWISS-Crimping-Sharkbite-Apollo-Light-Portable/dp/B073GFVS1D/ref=sr_1_60_sspa?crid=2DGGWIR25H6WH&dchild=1&keywords=pex+crimping+tool&qid=1598967087&sprefix=pex+crim,photo,185&sr=8-60-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExWkpISkJPQTJMRzRNJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTA0NTI0UERXWUg3MFgzSTUwJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2MDMxNDcxVk1RMFlKQzFSOTFGJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYnRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Hope it's OK for me to post that link. I know we don't discuss price.

hot_rod

How many sizes do you need? I have a few new, 1/2" top quality one is a close quarter.

That type where you need to change the size are a bit of a pain to use.

Motorapido

My main trunk Pex line measures OD 0.88"
and the branch lines measure OD 0.63"

hot_rod

Regular pex tube not pex al pex?
1/2 should be 5/8" OD .625,
3/4 pex is 7/8" OD .875

So you need a 1/2 and 3/4 crimper.

Motorapido

How can I tell if it is standard pex or pex al pex? This is for my hot and cold water supply. Isn't pex al pex used mostly for radiant floor heat and ice melt?
I think my measurements are a little off because I used a Horror Fright, or Harbor Freight, caliper.😃

mattmia2

You can look at the name/part number on the tube, you can look at a cut end of the tube(youwill see the aluminum layer), if you bend it, plain pex will spring back, pex/al/pex will more or less stay where you bent it. Plain pex will usually be translucent, pex/al/pex will be opaque.

Jamie Hall

I use the Iwiss tool @Motorapido mentions. Reasonably sturdy. I have dies for 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 and 1. Don't use it all that often (I'm a building manager, not a professional heating person -- which means I do a little of a lot of different stuff!) and it suits me just fine;

Motorapido

Thanks, Jamie, Hotrod and Mattmia2, for the info. Looks like I'll buy the lwiss tool. Now I can add shut-offs for one the of the bathrooms and replace my non-frost-proof hose bibs with frost-proof and add a sink in my workshop. I was always proud of my clean copper fitting soldering skills, but times change and I bought a house that was already converted to pex, and now I will be a pex man.

mattmia2

I found copper was still less expansive once I started buying pex fittings. I really only use it in places where fitting copper would be difficult.