Copper Pipe Tube Expander, 4EVERHOPE Manual Expand Tool for Air Conditioner Install Maintain Repair

We had a job to do where the original pipe work had froze and fractured- it had been repaired with mechanical joints and a length of pipe between but had failed and started leaking again because the two pipes were not in line and the stresses put on the joints caused another leak.After bending a length of 15mm pipe so the two pipes were in line with the new piece I used this staging tool to open up the two ends and slide it over the original pipe not an easy task but got there in the end. We were then able to solder the joints making it a much more stronger joint.This we wouldn’t have been able to do without this staging tool. We have used it a couple of times before but only on new installs where you can rotate the copper pipe. With this particular job I had to heat the pipe and rotate the tool.Made from zinc-iron it is sturdy enough for the amount of pressure needed to expand the pipe it’s lightweight and has a spring type handle.Although it says up to 22mm we use a staging kit as 22mm pipe doesn’t really fit.

The media could not be loaded.  To be honest when I saw this before I got it to test I was a bit sceptical because I assumed it would be a lightweight and somewhat flaky bit of kit.Not a bit of it. It a solidly made tool that works far better than I expected.Firstly, I suspect that this tool is made for the American market where the sizes are still in imperial not metric. That's not a huge issue at the smaller bore pipes, but I found that this tool didn't have the capacity for 22mm UK standard.On the 15mm and 10mm pipe, no issues. I also used this on 3/8" pipe typically used on AC systems.The technique one uses is to find the neatest fitting diameter on the tool to the inner diameter of the pipe and simply insert it. Then firmly squeeze - but not all the way and rotate the tool around to ensure you get a neat circular expansion. Repeat with more squeeze until you bottom out.I also try to see if the pipe to be inserted will fit as I go as over expanding will prevent the capillary action needed for a neat soldered joint. Less of an issue if you are using more of a brazing rod but low temp solder needs a really tight fit. There's a set of specific sizes to be used but honestly I just played around with it until I worked out what sizes worked best.So, what is this actually useful for? Well, if you are from Yorkshire clearly saving a few pennies on solder fittings is a bonus... Other uses is to make an imperial pipe fit into or onto a metric one. That's likely to be useful for a plumber dealing with some older properties or the likes of me, working on ships where in the industrial world, imperial still is probably the most common sizes in use.And, if you are the perfectionist, using this to make very neat pipe runs with the neatest joints is the way forward. Probably not the quickest way to do it but defo the tidiest.Oh, AC fitters of course. AC pipework is imperial - period.One last thing which I failed to mention earlier. You can expand copper pipe as it comes but, if you anneal it first - basically heat it up and quench it in cold water - it's far softer and less likely to fracture and more likely to nicely expand. If you have already worked the copper it will have hardened a tad and then expanding it without annealing will probably end in tears.

I have used this a few times now with great success. Yes, you must rotate the pipe while swaging to maintain a round cross-sectional shape. And, those who complain about split pipe are probably attemtpting to swage hardened (tempered) copper tubing used for water lines. Swaging must be done on soft copper. An end (say ~ 2 inches) of hardened copper can be annealed (softened) by heating with an ordinary propane torch to a cherry red color and then quenching in water. Be aware that "working" copper (via bending, hammering, swaging, etc. also "work hardens" (tempers) the material. However, merely swaging the end of a copper tube does not constitute enough "work hardening" to cause breakage. If the tube is rigid, as for water, it has been hardened and will need to be annealed before swaging to prevent splitting while swaging. That is not a big deal; just heat the end to be swaged with an ordinary propane torch and then dip in room temperature water to quench. After that process, the end to be swaged will be "annealed" and soft enough to swage. After swaging it will be ready to solder. For those unable to finesse the "rotating while expanding" part of the process to achieve an acceptably concentric tube end, I suggest using a tube flaring and swaging kit, many such kits also available here on Amazon. (I have one from the store that is very nice, is economical, and does both swaging and flaring. In that case, you lock your tubing into an appropriately-sized hole in a steel swaging bar, install an appropriate-sized swaging die into a swivel connector on a steel yoke (yoke is a type of clamp that locks onto the swaging bar) and then turn a handle to screw the swaging die into the inside diameter of the copper tubing to expand it. The latter method obviously takes many more steps and is thus much slower than using the swaging tool of this listing, but the die makes a perfectly symmetrical expansion without artistic finesse from the user. I believe that most of the problems expressed by frustrated reviewees stem from attempting to swage tempered (hardened) copper without annealing. The video by the seller is not helpul at all and probably adds to the confusion. He appears to be doing the process at breakneck speed to impress would-be buyers with how quickly swaging can be done using his tool. However, the undesirable result is that one can hardly see that he is rotating the tube while he works to maintain a symmetrical expansion. He probably receives many returns as a result, when a purchaser simply inserts the tool into a piece of tubing, squeezes the handle and is disappointed with the asymmetrical result. If the tubing is tempered, both an asymmetrical and split cross section can result. So much confusion due to poor communication, so little time...