I was asked to look at this new product from the Knipex stable recently by Professional Motor Mechanic.
I was excited to see what the Knipex EV Kit may contain as having used this company’s products before I know what the quality is like. Knipex has been in business since 1882 making predominantly pliers for all kinds of industries, manufactured exclusively in Wuppertal in Germany, which means that quality is always paramount.
When the box arrived through the post, I opened it to find a heavy-duty briefcase style case, special sections and colour coded foam inserts to house possibly all the tools you would require for the average garage looking to get involved in high voltage work. The tools obviously are all VDE tested to 1,000 V and I was told by the brand’s marketing manager that each individual tool is tested before leaving the factory to 10kV to ensure it’s safe operating rating of 1,000 V is met.
Some of the tools are a new design, the pliers have a new ridged design to the metal handle to ensure the insulated grips remain tight and secure along with all having a finger guard to prevent your hand slipping towards the working part of the tool.
Included in the set are not only pliers, two which are fully plastic in normal combination and snipe nose format for total insulation but also snipe nose and side cutters in heavy duty metal coated formats.
A special adjustable spanner or ‘Pliers Wrench’ as they call it is in the set, although I had not seen this type before and it impressed me. It has smooth jaws to protect components, which also if used to bent delicate metals does not damage them. It can be locked at any size up to 52mm/2 in. and settings are laser cut in both metric and imperial scale along the side. It also has a ratchet principle to allow quick removal and tightening of a fastener. Due to the design the grip and 10:1 leverage with this tool is superb and not to be judged with other generic adjustable tools.
Contents
There is a fully insulated socket set comprising ratchet, short and long extension with common smaller end sockets and torx drivers.
Screwdrivers are catered for with a selection of the most commonly used crossrecessed and slotted types.
Three different sized but very useful fully insulated slip-on/self-clamping caps to protect removed wiring/connectors, these not only prevent accidental touching of the terminals but also keep them clean from contaminates which is vitally important with high voltage connections to prevent any high resistance.
A selection of standard open-end spanners is provided in the common smaller end sizes.
A set of Class 0 gloves and some signage is provided and all of the above fits neatly into the strong case with extra room for any additional tools or test equipment you may wish to add to your collection at a later date for specialist jobs.
Having trialled these tools over several weeks I found them to be solid, well built and should withstand the usual torture of the average vehicle workshop. They could also present a valuable investment with the rise of the e-mobility market for those garages that are planning to invest and embrace the future and train and equip their workshops for what will be entering their doors very soon.
