IBOSAD HVAC Hydraulic SWAGING tool kit for copper tubing Expanding 3/8 inch to 1-1/8 inch

I was kind of shocked at how well this thing worked. I bought it to expand 3/4 inch .035” (0.9 mm) wall 304 stainless steel welded tubing to make slip fit joints. I was dubious because of what a pain stainless can be and because I thought the welded tube might split. This machine handled it without difficulty. I have since used it to true up some copper sweat fittings that had been dinged too much to fit well. Again worked great. When the unit was shipped to me it was missing a spring retaining clip around the pivot for the handle. I contacted the company directly and they very quickly sent one to me. Five star customer service. The only slight quibble I have is with the included tube cutter. The cutting wheel has too much side to side play so it tends to “walk” on the tube when you are cutting, which is irritating.

This tool works as it should. I cannot speak on durability or longevity as I have only use this tool once. It does seem sturdy by weight and appearance. To all those that say it breaks pipe, your right. It was designed for SOFT TUBING not PIPE. It will work on copper if you ANNEAL/ SOFTEN it by heating it beforehand. I let it cool for a minute or two and it works with ease.

Work as intended, great product will recommend thanks a lot.

I gave 4 out of 5 starts because I had to make an adjustment to achieve perfection. I purchased the 90 degree model that is a bit more expensive. I doubt there is much difference in the two function wise just hand comfort wise mostly. The fact that it comes with the wide range of copper size dies in the box and is 6 times cheaper than the name brand with the same number of dies is a great value. First going to address some things I saw in other reviews.During testing I made at least a dozen swages in both 3/8 and 3/4 SOFT HVAC copper (The kind that comes rolled up). Not one split at all even when the tool over-travelled. I had some new 3/8 and 20 year old 3/8 and 3/4 and not one split. I did not need to anneal the copper but I was prepared to.I do not find it "Cheaply made" as others have said in reviews. It is heavy, sturdy and I think for my lighter, non professional needs will be just fine.I saw one reviewer claimed there was some kind of oil or lubricant all in the package because it leaked out the hydraulic fluid and it did not work. Impossible, this thing is pneumatic which means it uses air. Maybe the grease tube they include leaked but it would not prevent it from working.They include several spare seals in the package in case of seal failure which is nice.The tubing cutter worked very well and I believe has a space wheel in the body (I haven't opened it yet). The reamer also worked very well, I was surprised because the head seems to wobble a bit more than my others but it did a great job cleaning up the copper after a cut.One of the things I like about buying cheaper over-seas knock-off products is they are usually easy to tweak to get the value of the often 5 times the price name brands. That is what I did to stop the over travel where it made the swage too large and the fit was very very loose. See photos.How did I fix the over travel?Without a tubing die installed you will note there is an metric Alan wrench style set screw on the side of the metal collar the die attaches to. That prevents you from unscrewing that part from the rest of the unit. If you loosen that set screw and while there is no pressure in the system you can unscrew that outer cap so it will come off easily and reveal a large heavy duty return spring inside and the remainder of the parts. I considered what causes the over-travel of the tool making the swages too big I knew that meant the tool moves too far outwards. I printed a few spacers with my 3D printer to gauge what was the best size to prevent it moving as far. For MY unit, meaning your mileage may vary, I printed a 19mm ID, 28mm OD and 4.5mm thick 100% solid infill washer/ring/spacer printed from PETG. The 100% solid infill is because as you squeeze down on the handle when it is bottoming out anything not solid crushes in. Even with 100% solid part it still crushes a little and shapes itself to match the heavy spring. With the outer collar removed and the spring off place the part over the cone and press it all the way down against the surface that the spring comes into contact with and reinstall the spring and outer collar and test. Keep in mind different printers do different things so for example if you find it not returning to relaxed state when you open the side valve your OD might be too large so adjust.Making that change the 3/8 is just a little loose meaning if I put two parts together and turned sideways they would slip apart. The 3/4 however was snug enough to stay together.With a 1/2 penny adjustment this unit will perform very well for my needs.

Excelente muy práctico

Genial y hace muy bien su trabajo

Mine showed up broken, I couldn't even get a replacement sent to me in a decent time frame. Save your money and buy HIlmore. If I could give 0 stars I would.

Great tool