What is your collective opinion of this type of spring compressor?

http://www.thetoolsbar.com/pd_hydraulic.cfm

Re Safety.
 

Observe EVERY safety precaution when working with a spring compressor, use a GOOD one, not some cheap one made in a 3rd world country.

Treat it with utmost respect, if you mess up, and it gets away from you it is like a missile, it could be deadly.

Like electricity, or nuclear power, a lethal weapon if misuse resulted in an accident.

The "Klann clones" do a perfectly adequate job, cost about $230., and certainly are not made in Germany or the United States.

I think we've put that argument to rest.;)

As we all know its prudent to use high quality tools when your life may depend on the tool.

I've broken too many cheap third world tools over the years to trust my life to a chinese knock off of the correct Klann spring compressor. BTW the chinese tools don't always break after the first or second use - by contrast I've NEVER broken a german made tool. EVER.

Brain (and whoever "we" are) may have put the argument to rest but I would never consider using a knock off compressor.

The Klann clone has been in the rental pool for over one year and has performed in an identical manner to the Klann. There is no risk of injury or damage when this tool is utilized properly.

You're free to use what you wish. If spending $800. on a Klann makes you feel better because it's made in Germany, more power to 'ya.

That's a great relief - for a moment there I thought I was going to have to sell my Klann.

Like I said cheap knock off tools don't always fail after the first "X" number of uses - sometimes they won't fail at all, In my direct personal experiences many do.

Have you ever broken a tool made of cheap chinese steel? Why do you think the Klann is 4X the price of the knock-off?

I'd be willing to take the chance on a socket or screwdriver - I'm not willing to take the chance when a failure may cause serious injury or death.

No argument on the cheap tools. When I bought this one, I expected to see a tool that might not go the distance.

But, the tool "appears" to be well constructed with proper thickness plates and a decent thread that works smoothly. I ran it myself for five or six springs on the SDL and it had no issues. The rental pool has used it at least 10 times now and nobody has had any issues.

Since the stress on the tool is identical for each use, it's unlikely to fail on the 11th or the 20th use. Now, if you want to argue cyclic fatigue of such a tool after 5,000 cycles, then you might have a case.

As a side note, the typical spring requires about 2100 lb. to compress it six inches (plenty to get it out). The thread on the tool is approximately 5/8". The ultimate tensile strength of this thread is approx. 35,000 lb. So, you can conclude that the tool does have a sufficient safety factor for the use intended.


One other fact that you fail to consider is the potential liability of the manufacturer of such a tool. If a screwdriver fails, there's no real capability of injury. If this spring compressor fails, there is definitely capability of injury. The nature of the tool would demand that the manufacturer ensure that the potential for failure during use is quite small..........if he wishes to remain in business.

So, as mentioned above, the capability of this specific tool to perform the task without killing anybody is proven...........and your Klann has not proven itself to be any better at the task.