Rigid ProPress

Jason Janczak

Do any of you guys use the Rigid ProPress tool? If so, what are your thoughts? Is it worth the high cost for the tool? Thanks, Jason

Jason Janczak

Also, How does this exactly "crimp" the pipe? Any help would be great.

threaderman

It's good for quick repairs,the jaws make it hard to get into tight areas.The only place I would use it is for commercial work,2"-4" copper where the water is tough to drain down.I don't own one but have used it quite a bit,I have seen the fittings leak[not mine],but I've seen pex and wirsbo installed wrong and leaking too.I'm old school,I don't mind sweating or braising the large stuff.The fittings are VERY expensive as well.The jaws will rip your fingers off if you aren't careful.If you touch the trigger accidently before you are ready ,the press goes through the full crimping cycle .It's awkward on ladders because of its weight.

Bjd

I do a lot of large diameter water main repairs for comm business, hospitals, nursing homes, places that cannot have the water off for any lenght of time.
I freeze the mains between the leaks and press the new to the old.
Works the balls, as we do not have to worry about water screwing us up.

Yea i bought mine about a year ago, and it works but the tool gets pretty heavy after a while of use.

BJD

AllAmerican

We purchased a Rigid ProPress unit a couple of years ago. It is a great tool. We were able to demo the tool through our Rigid District Sales Manager on a commercial job we did. The plumbers doing the work finished the water rough-in in about half the time and had no leaks. The fittings are approved for use in the City of Los Angeles (we consider that the gold standard).

We primarily use our unit for repairs. It makes large line repairs (2 1/2" - 4") a snap. You can make repairs even with water in the line. Since you are not using a torch, there is no need for a fire watch and the additional costs associated with that process.

The fittings are a little pricey but the labor savings is huge. Your clients will be very pleased with the shorter amount of downtime.

You may be able to contact your Rigid representative for an on-site demo.

KillerToiletSpider

The cordless one weighs about half what the corded one does, I have no idea why.

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A flush is better than a full house.

Jason Janczak

Thanks guys. I am going to look into this a little more and continue to ask around to see if it is worth it for what I do. Thanks again, Jason

Bjd

I went for the corded unit, as the battery powered one just could not press many large joints between charges. Also the coreded one is a little faster than the battery.

BJD

Jason Janczak

So, BJD. Would you recommend the Propress tool to cut down on sweat time? I would be looking to use it on smaller residential applications like 3/4 or 1" fittings. Maybe 1 1/4" once in a while. Thanks, Jason

KillerToiletSpider

If it is for repair work, you are going to have to use it a lot to justify the cost of the tool and the fittings, and there will be a lot of applications where the thing won't fit in the space to make the repair. If it is for new work, it still adds up to a lot of houses, the price difference in the fittings is quite large.

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A flush is better than a full house.

Bjd

Yea but think about it, you just bring out your chop saw and a reamer and the press tool. Where as you skip the torch, flux solder sand cloth and the possibality of leaks is quite low with press.
Yes it does speed up the process quite a bit, however on the small stuff I am not real sure.

BJD

Jason Janczak

No this would be for larger jobs mainly. Some longer runs and some tight spots. I realize that I will not be able to fit it in all spaces but, I think it might be worth the cost. I found a local supplier of the fittings and checked out the costs today and it is not that bad actually. I also found a place online that sells the tool with 1/2, 3/4 and 1" jaws for around $1600. Thanks for all the input guys. I think I am going to like this forum. Later, Jason

Bjd

I bought the Rems tool, it came with dies for 1/2 - 2" and for the extra $50.00 I got the 3/8" threaded rod cutter.
I think I paid $1200.00 for the complete system, although it was at a show and on sale at the time.

BJD

Jason Janczak

Thanks, I had not seen that REM version of the crimping tool. Looks like it works the same way. Do you know if it uses the same fittings that the propress uses? Thanks, Jason

KillerToiletSpider

Yes it does, Viega holds a patent on the fitting design. Rothenberger makes a press tool also, I have seen them on Ebay complete with 1/2 thru 2" jaws for $1200.00.

__________________
A flush is better than a full house.

Jason Janczak

Thanks again!