When you are an electrician, you would oftentimes find yourself in a task where you would have to bend pipes to be used as a conduit for an electrical wiring. Oftentimes, the task will give you plenty of options to work your way about it; while other times, you simply make do with what is given.
But when you are set between doing it manually as with a mechanical pipe bender or with less effort as with a hydraulic pipe bender, common intuition would make you choose the latter over the former—and for some very obvious reasons.
Best Hydraulic Pipe Benders for Electricians
Using the most convenient design, a hydraulic pipe bender can do multiple bends seamlessly and repeatedly in a rate that is way more efficient than the manual means. This suggests that with a high-volume requirement, an electrician who bend pipes is more productive with a hydraulic pipe bender than he is with a mechanical pipe bender.
Although the hydraulic pipe bender is not necessarily the most convenient and the most efficient tool to use for the purpose of conduit-bending, it certainly has its advantages when it comes to cost-efficiency than the electricity-powered ones. It is for this same reason why this type of pipe bender remains significant and not obsolete.
But speaking of the truly significant hydraulic pipe bender tools already in the market, we listed down some of the best which money can afford:
1. Torin T31202/TA1202 Hydraulic Pipe/Tube Bender
Considered by some consumers as a kind of a “poor man’s hydraulic pipe bender” for its price, the Torin T31202/TA1202 is not just your cheap tool about pipe-bending. Despite being at a very affordable range, this tool actually delivers and with relative ease to booth.
Most people would notice how simple the design of the Torin T31202/TA1202, but is also conspicuously rugged which is durable enough to accommodate with the demand of many pipe-bending. However, do not let this tool’s plainness fool you into thinking that it’s simple to use—it is not. In fact, many claims that learning the ropes of Torin T31202/TA1202 could take some time before getting used to.
Being on the low-end side in terms of price, the T31202/TA1202 is bound to get some suspicion when it comes to actual output. Sadly, there is indeed a good reason for that—some report not getting the actual result they’re expecting from the tool.
Whether that is simply a case of being “nitpicky” or a random case of getting a “faulty” version of the tool, the naysayers are substantially fewer in number than the believers.
All in all, the Torin T31202/TA1202 makes for a popular option for those who are in a budget about a decent hydraulic pipe bender.
2. GoPlus 12-ton Hydraulic Pipe Bender
Yet another solid performer to make the list is the heavy-duty GoPlus 12-ton hydraulic pipe bender is another efficient tool that can handle whatever pipe you throw at it. Do not just take our word for it, though. While the exteriors of this pipe-bending instrument may be enough a statement of how tough this pipe bender is, then this is the kind that needs testing to be believed.
Others would also particularly like the GoPlus 12-ton Hydraulic Pipe Pender for the included dies which comes in various assortment.
However, this tool’s “toughness” may also come at a disadvantage. Specifically, some consumers complain about the relative hazard which comes by having overlooked a certain aspect of its design. Definitely, this is not the instrument to the “faint-hearted” or those with “obsessive compulsive disorder” about their safety.
Safety aside, the GoPlus 12-ton Hydraulic Pipe Bender is a great choice as far as getting things done about pipe-bending is concerned.
3. XtremepowerUS Hydraulic Pipe Bender
If performance is the primary criterion to judging a hydraulic pipe bender, then the XtremepowerUS would be among the top of the greatest performing tool of its kind currently out there. Like the other tools that made this list, this pipe-bending instrument is capable of working on whatever size of pipe is thrown at it—be it a ½” to 3” thick round or square solid rods.
But a capability like that does not just happen if the tool itself is not properly equipped to handle the assortment of pipes to which it is subject to bend. All of that is also thanks to the 8 precision cast dies that come with the package.
Another major aspect which makes the XtremepowerUS hydraulic pipe bender a good purchase is its relatively great customer support whose representatives are always eager to offer support to customer complaints, including cases of replacements.
4. JET JHPB-20
The previous three hydraulic pipe benders that made the list share commonality for having the same design and level of functionality which therefore easily makes the JET JHPB-20 unique in the list. Not only is it diverse when it comes to color scheme, it is also altogether different when it comes to external appearance as well, which affects the way it is used.
One very notable difference is on how the JET JHPB-20 performs its task involving pipe-bending—instead of doing so vertically, it does so horizontally, with little to no regards to gravity, with every push and pull of the manual lever.
Functionality aside, the design to which the JHPB-20 adheres to is undeniably some of the best-looking out there. When others in the list are marked for being mostly monotonous in their color scheme, this tool offers a layer of uniqueness in coloration, as well as the physical layout.
However, the real “magic” behind every hydraulic pipe bender like the JET JHPB-20 is the heavy-duty hydraulic cylinder which renders enough force to make certain pipes bend.
Yet, in as much as not all products are perfect, there are also unbelievers about the JET JHPB-20. Typically, it boils down to the level of output which the tool produces which some claims as rather unpolished. Truth or not, there are also people in greater numbers who are not necessarily displeased with the tool’s results.