Review on 🔧 Superior Tool Company 03943: Compression Sleeve Puller & Remover for 1/2-Inch Fittings by David Dreher

For decades I've hated, hated, compression fittings, especially in the form of angle stop local shut-off valves for all manner of plumbing fixtures, such as sink faucets and toilet fills. I hated installing those compression fittings, spent ugly whole days working hard in horribly cramped spaces trying to get the fittings to fit really tight in the pipe and stop the leak; and I hated taking them off, spent many awkward hours trying to take them off without damaging the pipe only to install the next equally horrible fitting (which was all there was). Finally, maybe belatedly, I discovered SharkBite fittings - the most wonderful things! - and now I'm doing the final removal of all the old compression fittings that will be replaced by SharkBites, hallelujah! Aside from hopefully this being the very last round of clamp fitting removal, it doesn't make them any easier, although perhaps a little less frustrating. So when I started this removal job I was very curious, this Superior Tool Co. 03943 Compression. Puller/sleeve puller, quickly ordered one thinking it should make the awkward task of sudden removal that much easier. Wish! The first thing I realized or remembered as soon as I crawled back into the plumbing was that it really was terribly cramped in there - so much so that of the dozens or more corner stops in my house, most were equipped with this Superior (want!) Tool, and about half of them, it's categorically impossible: either the tool can't maneuver to dock onto the end of the pipe with an attached ferrule, or it can't rotate once it's there because of cabinet walls, water pipes, and all manner of plumbing parts crowd around the end of the pipe. And I highly doubt that my position is particularly unusual; now that I think about it, I expect it to be true pretty much everywhere: about half of all the sleeved pipe ends to be removed that tool is utterly useless because it either can't get there or it can. t be rotated once it's there. So this tool is literally half useless before it even works. Is the instrument to blame? Maybe not, but who cares? I'm not looking for subtleties here, I'm looking for efficiency. And just because the tool can be inserted and rotated doesn't necessarily mean it's not very difficult, your difficulty may vary! (I really like the suggestion in Public Customer's review that this tool would be much better if it didn't have a T-Bar twist handle, just a hex head, which could use a nearly limitless variety of twist tools. This would allow for that this tool fits in many other places and is easier to turn.) And my experience is that once this tool is installed and turned, it only pulls/removes the compression sleeve about 3/8 inch, at that moment the sleeve is pulled up to the tip of the tool and stops, it cannot go any further; The tool then has to be removed, reinstalled, and rotated another 3/8" until the bushing finally actually pops off the pipe! Typically, in my experience, it takes 3 rounds of inserting, pulling, and removing the tool per case removal. Now I freely admit that maybe I'm not doing something quite right, but I'm pretty good at this kind of work and I follow the directions, and I follow the vague, half-assed instructions that come with this tool to the extent they're needed . walk; If I get it wrong, it's not my fault, it's the fault of the tool manufacturer and their bad instructions. So we have a tool that only works half the places you want to use it. And even then, it takes three times more time and effort than you expected when buying a tool. But half the time it works at all, this tool is probably still better than the alternatives, which are actually even uglier. I rate this tool 3 stars and find it quite generous.