Tool Review: KNIPEX Tools Precision Electronics Super Knips XL
When working on electrical components and wiring in a vehicle, having the right tools for the job is critical. Tool reviewer Lou Fort, lead technician at K.A.R.S Inc. in Huntingburg, Indiana, tried out the KNIPEX Precision Electronics Super Knips XL on extensive wire harness repairs and found they were not only a high-quality tool but also a time-saving tool.
Fort notes the cutting pliers are made with INOX, a very high-quality stainless steel, and have very comfortable grips. By simply squeezing the handles, he says the tool is easy to use and doesn’t require any sort of setup or manual.
“These pliers are equipped with a spring that opens them and has an innovative stop, a rivet in the joint, to keep them from opening too far,” Fort says. “The placement of the spring on the back is better on the KNIPEX than on most, where the opening spring is located between the handles.”
The precision tool is also made with a sharp shear cutting edge, which is best suited for fine cutting required in electronics. With the shear cutting edge, as well as the small size of the cutters, Fort says he was able to work in more confined areas and was able to keep the work very precise. He mentions that when needing to trim a wire tie that a tie gun couldn’t reach, he used the KNIPEX cutting pliers, which made just as clean and close of a cut as a wire tie tool.
Fort used the tool on multiple wire harness repairs such as on a 2000 Chevy K2500 that needed the speed sensor wires reworked from the frame over to the transfer case. The cutting pliers allowed him to complete the repair with less main harness disturbance. He also used the tool to replace PCM terminals on a 2013 Ram 1500. He said that by using the cutting pliers, he was able to make the repair without having to open a large section of the main harness.
In addition to using the cutting pliers on wire harness repairs, Fort also discovered they do an excellent job when used to cut out wheel alignment dual angle contact shims such as on Dodge Caravans.
“The cuts were clean, and I didn’t have to worry about splitting the shim as much as I usually do,” Fort says. “So far I have easily and cleanly cut multi-strand wiring from 10-gauge down to 28, and solid Romex 12- and 14-gauge.”
Fort has used several types of electronics snips before and says that some come close to the quality he sees in the KNIPEX [No. 78 03 140] tool, however, are not equal. The attention to detail, quality of material, and assembly are second to none, Fort states.
Fort enjoyed using the KNIPEX Tools Precision Electronics Super Knips XL, No. 78 03 140.
“I don’t have any dislikes,” he concludes.
