Preview: Stanley Virax M20 Plus
By Sean O'Hara
A pressing machine squeezes fittings together to make solderless joints in copper, stainless and PEX tubing even with residual fluid still in the pipe. It’s wicked handy and it’s what many pros use to fix leaks in modern pipes. Stanley VIRAX now launched the first of its pressing guns into the U.S. market.
The Stanley Virax M20 Plus is a pistol-grip pressing machine about the size of a regular cordless drill. It was engineered specifically for the professional plumber and mechanical contractor who require interchangeable jaw inserts to join 1/2-inch to 1-inch copper and 3/8-inch to 1-inch PEX tubing.
As you can see from the image, the M20 is one of the first compact pressing tools here in the states to use 14.4v Li-Ion batteries that put out about 450 presses on a full charge. Stanley says the rig will come complete with two batteries and a 30-minutes charger which puts the daily work at about 900 presses without recharging.
The head rotates 180 degrees to accommodate any pipe angle and can bite down with 65Kn of radial force inside jaws.
Stanley says their new unit can make a join in about four seconds which, if true, will save contractors a heap of time since they won’t have to drain the pipe or reach for another tool. Just fit, squeeze, and move on.
No word on pricing yet but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear.
Virax M20 Plus [Stanley Virax]
July 24th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Interesting tool. Note spelling typo in headline.
July 24th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Nice Catch Old Coot
July 24th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Nah, Stanely is a fine Asio-Africo-American company in the tradition of Sorny and Panavox.
July 24th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Expect to pay quite a bit.
We’ve been using Ridgid 320-E’s which run about $2300 for a full kit and do copper crimps.
If we’d need to replace our ProPex 200 kit - we’d expect to pay over $5000
Our Wirsbo expander guns are running over $1200.
We looked at Viega’s 56030 which costs about $1300
July 24th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Pretty neat. I’ve been delaying some copper sweating work around the house. I did a quick search on Google for ‘Stanley Virax’ and on the 1st page of results someone is selling the M20+ cordless kit for for $1500. That is not in my budget right now. Oh well, back to some sweating while sweating on some exterior plumbing here in S. Florida. Feels like 100°F with 70% humidity everyday, not fun with a flame in hand on top of that.
July 24th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
How does it work ?!
July 25th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
I have seen this used in industrial machines, looks pretty handy, and it probably speeds up the process.
prices need to drop a bit before it’s homeowner ready, which, i guess for plumbers that’s a good thing?