Thanks!
Sounds like you prefer using hose grip pliers in this application?
Hose pliers have more leverage, but you risk damaging brittle connectors more easily. Most of these types of tools have jaws which do not fully close the tips, to help prevent this.
I can't think of a single connector that any of those pliers would help with (this is just my personal opinion)
Most connectors get a lot easier, in my personal experience, if you push the connector onto its mate while depressing whatever button/lever/whatever. As you push 2 connectors together you reduce the friction on whatever button that needs to be pressed, making it generally pretty easy to do.
Those pliers would all make life 1000000x more difficult, IMO
Just imagining trying to use those KTC pliers for literally anything is painful. Maybe they're designed for some kind of connector that I have no experience with. What would you guys use those on? I keep considering buying connector pliers myself (actually I was thinking about this more when I was into Audis which was a few years ago - I had trouble with some of the connectors on those) but a lot of them just don't look that useful to me.
Not to be argumentative, or disparaging, but do you work on cars professionally? Merry pliers and the long reach cable pliers from Lisle are amazing if you don't have DIY luxuries like removing extra parts, or replacing things which are ****** and old and aught to just be replaced. You're paid what you're paid, and anything deviating from the best case scenario makes you the bad guy and work for no additional pay.
The merry pliers are for seized and inaccessible connectors. Imagine an oil soaked connector whose weatherpack seals hold tight, obscured by a part which will break if removed, which you will not be paid to replace if it is damaged. I used them recently on an 02 connector, because it was right next to the 700*F converter which just cam back from a 30min test drive and I need this sensor out NOW. Wrap your hand in a rag to remove the sensor, and the reinstall the same way. That, or a severe burn using my hand on the connector.
You use the Lisle cable pliers for things you can't normally reach, or have access to depress. For instance - A Dodge "ESIM" which is basically the canister and mechanical vent valve on a variety of models. They fail, a lot. One hose connection for the pickups is above the tank, with a "quick" disconnect. It's obscured by a razor sharp shield, and covered in dust. Those cable pliers are the difference between dropping the tank (unpaid) and doing the job within the time allotted. The normal pliers they make are amazing after you've been up to your armpits in a full fuel tank fishing out a dislodged float, and now you need to go to the next car and use your battered fingers to disconnect plastic BS. As the connectors get full of dirt and dust, soaked in oil, it makes life so much easier to use 1 hand (via pliers) to depress the clips and wrestle it with the other hand.
Breaking it is not an option. Replacing it is not an option. Surgical strike, touch NOTHING not required, swap your part, and get out. These sorts of tools support that.
Any "quick" disconnect plastic connector will benefit from the lisle tools listed. The Merry pliers are more fore standard electrical connectors. Sometimes I can't fit my hand in an area then bend it at a 90* angle to interface with the tab..... but I can wiggle a pair of pliers in there and get what I need. Same idea as snaking an air impact down through an engine bay and then using channel locks to operate the trigger. Why work in such an insane way? Because the POS you're working on can't be disassembled without dying on the rack, and Becky NEEDS to pick up this car before the full labor time billed has even occurred.
Removing the bumper pays 1 hour. Changing the marker light, which includes bumper removal, pays 0.3. Get to work!
