Milwaukee Tool is finally launching an MX FUEL cordless Electrofusion Processor, model MXF545-XC.
The Milwaukee MX Fuel electrofusion processor can be used to fuse up to 8″ couplings and 12″ saddles.
It features 15ft leads and a wireless barcode scanner, and as it’s battery-powered there’s no need to first set up a generator or extension cords.
Milwaukee says it’s up to 40% lighter, presumably compared to existing AC-powered solutions.
This is just an early teaser – more details and application images will be available when the tool is closer to launch.
What is an Electrofusion Processor??
I could be completely wrong, but it’s my understanding that electrofusion is used for joining long sections of plastic pipe.
To put it simply, electrofusion welding uses a heating coil to melt larger sized plastic pipes and components together.
There are also welding processes for metal pipes, but I’m going to assume this is basically a specialized cordless battery-powered plastic pipe fusing machine designed to replace AC-powered electric models.
Looking into electrofusion processors, other models also have barcode scanners for quickly setting operational parameters. This is a standard practice, and one that makes sense as pipes and couplings can be different sizes or made from different materials.
There could be other factors that the optimal application settings could depend on, but I’m not very familiar with this product category and couldn’t tell you what those other factors might be.
As mentioned, this can be used for couplings up to 8″ and saddles up to 12″.
The Plastics Pipe Institute has a primer on HDPE electrofusion welding, and it includes a great visual example of how electrofusion processors are used with pipes and couplers.
Even if the PPI example isn’t perfectly fitting, the visual seems close enough to get everyone up to speed.
Discussion
The new Milwaukee electrofusion processor seems like a great example of how the MX Fuel platform is serving very different tool needs than the brand’s M18 cordless power tool line.
Looking online, electrofusion processors look to be bulky and difficult to transport, with quite a few packaged inside of off-the-shelf Pelican cases and similar.
Milwaukee’s isn’t the first battery-powered solution, but it looks to be more cohesive than the others I’m seeing.
More details are forthcoming, let me know if you have any questions. As a reminder, this type of equipment is beyond my typical comfort zone, and so it might take me some time to get and understand the answers.
