FAQ
Technical
In principle, the plastic used by KNIPEX insulates against electricity, but this property is not tested on the blue-and-red sleeves. Other design features of the norm IEC 60900, such as slip protection, are also not met. Thus, pliers with blue-red handles are not permitted for work on electrical systems or for work under voltage.
KNIPEX offers spare parts for many tools with interchangeable parts.
However, spare parts are often not listed in the sales documents because they are requested very rarely. Please contact your specialist dealer.
For materials such as rubber cables, we recommend our precision stripping pliers 12 12 XX. These pliers work with two precise pairs of knives that cut through the insulation around the entire circumference of the cable. They are therefore also ideal for difficult materials such as rubber, PTFE or silicone.
There are a total of over 40 special knife sets for this type of pliers for a wide variety of applications.
12 12 10
Precision insulation stripper with form knives
Hard material cannot be cut flush with pliers. There are physical reasons for this:
For a flush cut, the pliers cutting edge must not have an outer bevel. The one-sided cutting wedge creates very large lateral compressive forces on the cutting edge when cutting at the tip. These bend the cutting edge or cause breakouts.
Flush, burr-free cutting only works with soft materials such as lead, copper, soft brass or plastic, without damaging the cutting edges.
Theoretically, it is possible with a lot of skill and suitable tools such as fine whetstones or fine diamond files, but there is a risk that the geometry of the cutting edge will be changed, which can impair the cutting behaviour.
In addition, by reworking the cutting edges, the reach of the pliers becomes narrower, because the hardened cutting area is “worn away” and becomes ever thinner.
If resharpening by machine grinding, the hardness may be reduced by the introduction of heat during grinding. The time, effort and risks of re-sharpening are huge, so it is usually not worth it.
Cable ties are usually made from high-quality plastics that have high tensile strength. When cutting with pliers, high friction forces arise between the plastic of the cable tie and the steel of the cutting edge of the pliers.
The wider and thicker the cable tie, the greater these forces.The surface of the cutting edges and their wedge angles also have a major influence on the cutting forces that arise.
Our recommendation is a precision electronics diagonal cutter from the 79 series, e.g. 79 22 125 or a diagonal cutter for plastic from the 72 series, e.g. 72 01 160. The frequently used 78 models Electronic Super Knips® come close to their load limit when cutting cable ties, especially with wide cable ties, but also when cutting with a fast cutting movement: speed increases friction. The 125 mm versions of the 7 models are therefore not suitable.
Steel rusts as soon as it comes into contact with water and oxygen. However, if it is covered with a waterproof layer, it will not rust. Such layers can be, for example, an oil film, a lacquer layer or an electroplated layer made of a non-rusting material such as nickel or chrome.
An oil film is the simplest method of rust protection. This is particularly effective on smooth surfaces, which is why pliers surfaces are finely polished by grinding, sometimes even mirror-polished.
Oil films wear out and have to be replaced regularly. Lacquer coats also wear out when the pliers are used intensively, but such intensive use usually also prevents rusting at the places where the lacquer coats have been removed.
In general, you should store your pliers in a dry place. If condensation (e.g. in a service vehicle) cannot be prevented in your work area, it makes sense to use a chrome-plated version.
Almost all KNIPEX pliers are available chrome-plated.
For a gas-tight connection, the conductor and connector must be pressed together so tightly that there are absolutely no more gaps.
With wire ferrules, such a firm connection is generally not possible. The reason for this is as follows: Wire ferrules are made of very thin-walled (0.1 mm) copper, which is why "gas tightness" is only possible if the wire ferrule and cable are pressed together by the closed crimping pliers.
As soon as the crimping tool is opened again after crimping, the thin-walled ferrule gives way to the springback of the crimped cable and gaps are created in the crimp connection. A permanent, gas-tight connection is only possible with connectors with thicker walls.
However, a crimp connection is generally considered to be OK if the following main criteria are met:
- If the withdrawal values of the crimped ferrule from the conductor correspond to the values specified in DIN EN 60352-2- If the volume resistance for the respective cross-section (determined according to IEC 60512-2, test 2) does not exceed the limit values specified according to DIN 60352-2 before and after the stress. For this purpose, test specimens are stored in a wired state in an industrial atmosphere in accordance with DIN 50018, climate level SFW 0.2 S.
The crimp connections made with our wire ferrule pliers meet these requirements.
The German standard for crimping wire ferrules DIN 46228 part 1 + 4 does not specify how or in which geometry wire ferrules should be pressed.
It is only necessary to ensure that the crimp connection between the ferrule and the associated cable meets the conditions specified in DIN VDE 0609 Part 1.
Unless you are dealing with fine-fiber Kevlar® ropes, ropes and thick marine ropes can be cut with cable scissors (e.g. 95 12 200). The handy cutter for flexible hoses and plastic conduit pipes KNIPEX PlastiCut® 90 20 185 also work very well for ropes up to 25 mm in diameter.
Our tip: Wrap the rope with adhesive tape where you want to cut it to prevent it from fraying / untwisting.
90 20 185
KNIPEX PlastiCut®
Cutter for flexible hoses and plastic conduit pipes
In general, copper pipes can be cut with cable shears for dismantling (demolition) up to the maximum diameter of the respective tool.
However, it is unavoidable that a pipe is pressed flat when cutting it with
pliers.
The capacity information on our crimping pliers often shows only one number per crimp nest due to space constraints. The inscription on the pliers indicates the largest possible cross section to be processed. However, smaller cross sections can also be processed in the same die. You can find out from the catalogue, our website and the packaging which capacities can be crimped beyond the specification.
For example, the crimping pliers KNIPEX 97 32 240 for cable lugs and cable connectors come with the information 1.5 / 2.5 / 6 mm², while it is actually suitable for sizes 0.5 -
1.5 / 2.5 / 4 - 6 mm² .
The small, forged letters or combinations of numbers and letters serve the traceability of the tools.They give us information about the forging period.
Atramentizing is another term for phosphating and part of the rust protection concept.
Atramentizing alone, however, usually does not provide sufficient corrosion protection to keep the pliers rust-free for a long time. It is perfectly normal for this layer to wear away permanently in the area of the cutting edge. The phosphate layer is an excellent primer for a lacquer layer applied over it.
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Pliers wrench
Pliers and a wrench in one tool
The blue-red handles are two-component handles that offer the user greater comfort than, for example, a plastic coating. They also insulate against cold and heat and thus increase comfort when working under extreme conditions. The plastic used by KNIPEX also insulates against electrical current.
However, when an electrician works on electrical systems, special rules apply. For Europe, these rules are standardised in the European standard EN 50110-1. These norms apply to work on all electrical parts that work with mains current and cannot be disconnected from the mains by pulling a plug.
EN 50110-1 prescribes tools for this in accordance with the relevant standards.
EN 60900 is binding here for Europe. It determines all electrical, geometric
and mechanical properties of such tools.
It also prescribes how to test these properties and how to label the tools. The immersion insulation and the yellow-red insulation of the safety tools meet all of these requirements. The final check for each pair of insulated KNIPEX pliers is with 10,000 volts for dielectric strength before it is put on the market.
These requirements are not taken into account for the blue-red covers; other considerations apply to their design.
They are therefore neither approved nor tested for electricians who are
supposed to work on electrical systems. If tools with blue-red sleeves without VDE approval are used on electrical systems, there is no insurance coverage from the occupational insurance associations in the event of an accident.
Our KNIPEX pliers wrenches are hand tools, so we have aligned them to the loads created by hand.
We consider the maximum loads that can be generated by hand to be those in which a user loads the pliers wrench with their muscle strength or body weight (by propping up or hanging on it). We determined our reference values with a 140 kg person.
The pliers wrenches are designed in such a way that they can withstand multiple loads without damage.
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Pliers wrench
Pliers and wrench in one tool
Any common industrial oil or motor oil is suitable for lubricating the pliers.
Self-adjusting wire ferrule crimping pliers are ideal for crimping twin ferrules. There are crimping pliers with different capacities for the different cable sizes:
The capacity range of the KNIPEX crimping pliers 97 53 04, 97 53 09 and 97 53 18 ranges up to 16 mm².
Twin ferrules can also be pressed in these pliers with a total cross sectional area of up to 16 mm² (ie: 2 x 8 mm²).
If a crimping tool is required for twin wire ferrules with 2 x 16 mm² (total
cross-section: 32 mm²), the KNIPEX solution are the crimp system pliers 97 43 200 (A) with the additional crimp insert 97 49 18 (capacity range 2 x 6, 2 x 10, 2 x 16 mm²).
97 53 04
Self-adjusting crimping pliers for wire ferrules with lateral loading
The offset of the cutting edges of the KNIPEX Electronic SuperKnips® has been deliberately chosen for the following reason:
Since the cutting edges are very sharp, they would destroy each other if they hit each other directly. That is why we have chosen a small offset of a few hundredths of a millimeter (up to a maximum of 0.2 mm) (micro cutting edge offset). This not only protects the razor-sharp cutting edges, but also reliably cuts the thinnest wire.
Combination pliers have (at least) two functions.
In production, it must be decided which function should have priority in the long term. This priority is given to the cutting function in combination pliers. For the cutting edges there is a distance between them and the gripping area so that nothing will be cut accidentally.
The standard ISO 57 46, which applies to combination pliers, specifies how large this distance may be. KNIPEX complies with these tolerances.
The permissible gripping jaw gap depends on the size and is 0.4 mm for 180 mm long pliers.
The double-red dipped handles come from times when it was not yet possible to manufacture two component handles.
Energy suppliers, above all, were very interested in VDE pliers with a significantly different look than "normal" pliers, in order to rule out misuse.
Both versions, provided they are marked accordingly, are suitable for work on electrical systems without restriction.
Left-handed tools are required when it is not possible for a left-handed person to use a “normal” tool, such as a bread knife, household scissors or a carpenter's hatchet.
Pliers, however, usually have a symmetrical structure that can be easily operated in both the right and left hand.
Only a few pliers have a "preferred hand", the adjustment of the opening widths of the KNIPEX Cobra® or the pliers wrench, for example, seems easier to operate with the right hand.
But adjustment is also possible for left-handers without any problems, all they do is use different fingers: instead of the right thumb for the right-hander, the left-hander uses the left index finger to disengage the hinge pin for adjustment.
It looks a little different than when a right-hander uses the pliers, but the
left-handers get the hang of it very quickly.
If you look at the closed jaws in the unloaded state, a light gap is visible in the rear gripping area of the pliers wrench. This “slot” guarantees that the jaws will lie completely parallel to the gripped workpiece under load (under load, the components always bounce a little bit).
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Pliers wrench
Pliers and a wrench in one tool
The pliers are lubricated with clean lubricating and preserving oil. The oil that penetrates the joint finds soot there. This comes from the tempering process, in which the tool steel is quickly cooled in oil after being heated – this optimizes the steel structure and significantly increases its strength. The hardening oil that penetrates the joint space during this "quenching" burns there due to the high temperatures – soot remains. It is not completely washed out in the subsequent washing operations.
If fresh lubricating oil penetrates the joint gap, this soot is dissolved and the very fine particles colour the lubricating oil dark brown.
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