Milwaukee has decided to stun electricians even more by upgrading their 6-in-1 combination pliers into 7 functions combination pliers. Yes, a single pair of pliers that can perform the tasks of 7 tools. That’s the Milwaukee 7-in-1 high leverage combination pliers, part number 48-22-3078.
These all-in-one pliers combine 7 distinct functions to allow you to attain maximum productivity in your electrical installation. It is a perfect tool for a professional electrician who wants to reduce the number of tools on the job site without compromising on the quality of work.
In the next sections, I will explore in greater detail the functionality of these new multifunction pliers for electricians from Milwaukee. Hopefully, you will understand why it is a big deal.
Table of Content
The Milwaukee 7-in-1 electrician pliers have excellent build quality and feel heavy for heavy-duty work. The handles are designed to provide high leverage and are cushioned to provide a comfortable grip. They also have holes at the end for hanging the pliers or attaching a lanyard.
Functions of the Milwaukee 7 in 1 High Leverage Pliers
Key Features
- Length: 9″
- Wire stripper capacity (8-18 AWG solid and 10-20 AWG stranded)
- Bolt cutters for #6 and #8 bolts
- Wire cutters for electrical wires
- 1/2″ – 1″ conduit reamer
- High leverage handles with cushion grips.
- Lanyard holes on the handles
The following are the 7 tasks you can accomplish with the new multifunction Milwaukee combination pliers for electricians.
1. Cutting
The cutters on the Milwaukee 7 in 1 multifunctional pliers are extremely sharp and overlap to make nice clean and flat cuts. The blades are rated to cut wires as large as 12 AWG but some users report cutting 8 AWG stranded copper wires with ease.
The cutting edge is long enough and provides good leverage for cutting several wires simultaneously. For example, you can cut up to four 12 AWG wires at a go.
Generally, the cutters are one of the things that put these pliers ahead of any linesman pliers. They give you very flat and clean cuts even on very heavily stranded wire. You can use them to prepare panel flex cables for lug terminals.
2. Stripping wire
The Milwaukee 7-in-1 high leverage pliers have a robust wire stripper with wide stripper holes. You can use it strip solid core wires of sizes 8awg to 18awg or stranded wires of sizes 10awg to 20awg.
The stripper holes are as wide as the jaws and they strip wires without damaging the strands. You just need to make sure you put your wire in the right slot. Otherwise, you might cut some strands off and start blaming the pliers.
The sizes of the stripper holes are printed on both sides for righties and lefties. The only downside is that the markings are small and not laser-etched. As such, it might be difficult to read the sizes when the paint comes off. This is actually the only thing I feel doesn’t match the quality of these pliers.
3. Reaming
The head of these 7in1 Milwaukee combo pliers integrates a unique reaming design that lets you smooth out rough inner edges of 1/2″ – 1″ Conduit. The side profile of the jaws has ridges for reaming and deburring.
Reaming conduit is very important in electrical installations. It helps expand holes and remove burrs from freshly cut conduits to prevent damage to conductor insulation.
If you want to ream the outer edge of a conduit, you can use regular combo pliers with a round gripping area on the jaws.
4. Gripping, grabbing, and twisting wires
The 7-in-1 milwaukee pliers have a cross-hatched linesman head for gripping and manipulating wire. The jaws are wide and strong enough to grasp wires without releasing or causing damage. You can use them to pull wires or fish tape through conduits or studs without damage. The cross-hatched jaws are also excellent for twisting wires together to make a strong electrical bond.
Unfortunately, you cannot get as much leverage on the cross-hatched jaws as you would with regular linesman because of the distance from the pivot. Generally, the farther the load is from the pivot, the less the leverage. So, the mechanical advantage of any pliers reduces as the load moves away from the fulcrum/joint.
Another downside is that the gripping section of the jaws is just flat. There is no round gripping section that you can use to grip round fasteners and small-sized pipes.
5. Cutting bolts
There are two bolt cutters on one side of the hinge for numbers #6 and #8 bolts. These are ideal for cutting to length the bolts for wall outlet covers and light switches.
To use the bot cutters, just thread in the bolt to the correct hole until it comes out on the other side. Then squeeze the handles to snip it off.
If the bolt is hard to turn by hand, use a screwdriver to remove it. As you unscrew it from the hole, you clean the threads out.
6. Crimping
The 7-in-1 Milwaukee pliers have a crimper behind the hinges. This is the new feature that the 6-in-1 Milwaukee combination pliers did not have. You can use it to crimp both insulated and non-insulated crimps.
Unfortunately, the crimping section is not very versatile. It only crimps large terminals of about 10mm2. It also works best as a crimper for insulated terminals. You will like the type of divot the crimper makes after pressing insulated crimps.
7. Making wire loops
When wiring electrical outlets it is important to loop the ground wire around the screw terminals on the receptacle. This helps create a strong electrical bond.
You can use the jaws of regular pliers to bend the wire ends or the round nose pliers. However, the latter makes better loops. Alternatively, if you have the Milwaukee 7-in-1 combination pliers, you can use the loop maker hole on the hinge to make very nice wire loops. The loop maker accepts wires smaller than 12 AWG.
Other additional features that make the Milwaukee 7-in-1 combo pliers great are the spring-loaded mechanism that keeps the jaws open and a latch to lock the jaws. The pliers also come with lanyard holes at the back of the handles for attaching a split ring or lanyard. You can also use the loops to hang the pliers on a pegboard.
Needless to say, the handles of these 9″ high-leverage multi-function pliers from Milwaukee provide a very comfortable grip. However, the handles of not insulated, and therefore, you shouldn’t use these pliers on live circuits!
Wrap up
There you have it! That’s the new Milwaukee 7 in 1 high leverage combination pliers that does the job of 7 different types of tools. It is a must-buy for any professional electrician or hobbyist who wants contractor-grade pliers that can take the place of more than 3 tools in the tool pouch without compromising on the quality of work. The features that stand out the most on these multifunctional pliers are the wire strippers, cutters, and cross-hatched gripper.
You mentioned that the cutting function on this pair of pliers can cut up to 12AWG. That’s gotta be a typo since these can cut and strip 8AWG with ease.
Also, for wire looping you mention that it can accept sizes up to 32AWG. Shouldn’t you mention the largest size it can accept and let the readers deduce that any smaller size could be looped as well?
Just my 2 cents.
Hi James, thank you for your good feedback, and thank you for taking the time to read the blog. On the cutters, the manufacturer rates them 12 AWG but as you mentioned you can use them to cut larger wire sizes (especially stranded wire) provided you don’t damage the edges. Concerning the loop maker, you are right I should’ve mentioned the largest wire size the looping hole can accept. That must have been an oversight but I have corrected it now. The largest wire gauge you can effectively loop with the loop maker is 14 AWG or 3mm2.