We're planning on using 5V crimp roofing on part our new house (front and back porches), but don't know which brand to specify. I've heard that the higher end brands look nicer, but don't know what's higher end. Fabral? Which manufacturer would you recommend? Thank you! Temple

"Aside from reliability and durability, seems to me that the Stainless Steel ring method (ASTM F 2098) uses a smaller tool to crimp the ring and thus seems easier to use in tight spaces (like crawlspaces)." For this very important reason, I have come to prefer the Oetiker system shown in Figure 2.

Well, this is horrible embarrassing. I went and shot my mouth off and all thats left is the nose on my face. And that puppy is stickin right out there. Only once have I ever heard of this Propress thing and totally forgot about it. Ive never learned anything about it. No wonder I read "PEX" into your question, wheredaphuquia. Sorry to get it so wrong. But on to the questions of tool cost. First of all, my father-in-law (a man true to my own heart) used to say, "Hard work never killed anyone." Im not sure what it was, but he isnt with us anymore. And sadly, most of his contemporaries are gone as well. Tools have always been used to make human life more efficient and gain advantage over the difficult, even the impossible. So, no wonder a man and his tools are bound as if married. I dont believe I have any Ridgid Tools. (I used-to, sweetheart.) Thats better than some folks. Theres people that have Snap-On Tools. So, Im better off than I could be. Having said that, it seems I learned, somehow, that Ridgid Tools has been bought by Home Depot. Notice, that they sell them exclusively. (The Big Blue, Lowes, sells a brand call Co-Balled, so it looks like they are in the same business, anyhow. I dont know about this brand name business. Ever see one of them slip joint nut wrenches? Ever see a good one? They cost $10 and they are all junk. Then again, I used to buy machinists tools. I paid the premium price for Browne & Sharp, Lufkin, Last Word. Today, you can buy digital stuff, up-load-able, that is the standard of excellence and the average apprentice cant read a Vernier caliper. In other words, tools get better all the time. Id rather buy new every few years and have the latest than have a blow torch that my great-grandfather passed on thru the generations. Used to be, a plumber was a person who worked with Plumbum. Today that would probably be illegal in California. So whats with the blow torch? It makes my thumbs ache, just thinking about it. Probably, it doesnt matter much how to connect copper. The $2K tool will get cheaper. Next year, you can buy a knock-off at Harbor Freight. It wont necessarily work, but it will weight a lot. The important thing here, is that the price of copper is going thru the ceiling, so the expensive tool is cheaper just by comparison. Its going to get where plumbing is all about, "what size galvanized-cans can you carry on each shoulder?" China will be plumbed with copper, and Americans will be carrying water in buckets. Fortunately the people that gave us that condition were provident in also giving us 1.6 GPF toilets. BTW, FWIW, the crimp tools for PEX can be air-driven. No doubt Paslode with have an internal combustion version one day. I hope so. When it comes to plumbing, I just dont think "Ridgid" is the right word. I mean, doesnt PassLoad have an appropriate ring to it? Then again, one of the great names in water supply is Moen. Now would that be a great name for a toilet or what? Pinoke

Experience helps in these cases. Often the original installer cuts the wires very short- in violation of the NEC. In very tight places, I sometimes use a Dremel to cut along the side of crimp connector barrel to remove it without shortening the conductors. Suppose that you have 6 grounds and the crimp sleeve or wire nut will accommodate only 4. Combine 3 of the grounds with a pigtail (total 4) and combine the other three with the other end of the pigtail for another 4.