Feb
14
Written by:
Tom
2/14/2012 6:45 PM
Contents of my electrical toolbag, by Beth
Now that we’ve installed a lot of equipment, I have figured out what I want to have with me on an electrical job. In my bag, I have:
A: Multimeter. This is a very cheap one from Harbor Freight. So far it has done everything I needed it to do. I haven’t bought an amp-clamp meter yet; the shop has one and I haven’t used it yet.
B: A piece of cord I have used to fish wires through tight spots and to get a rough measurement before cutting wire.
C: Ratcheting crimpers. This pair does a single crimp and is perfect for heat-shrink terminals. I like the ratcheting ones because they won’t release until you have applied sufficient pressure to make a good crimp.
D: Ratcheting crimpers. This pair does a double crimp and is good for terminals without built-in heatshrink. I think it was $60 on Amazon. Both pairs do crimps up to 10 gauge marine wire.
E: Wire strippers: this tool is fast and easy to use, costs around $30 and worth it.
F: Diagonal cutters (diagonal pliers): From Harbor Freight, they will cut wire up to 8 gauge easily.
G: Electrical tape. We don’t use it much for installations, but tape always comes in handy.
H: A smaller pair of diagonal pliers I have had for years.
I: A Sharpie…there should be a pencil, too, but it must have fallen out.
J: A multitool for multi uses.
K, L: Flat- and Phillips-head screwdrivers for attaching wire terminals to busbars and terminal blocks.
M: a free (w/coupon) LED flashlight from Harbor Freight.
N: a small metal ruler
O: an adjustable (Crescent) wrench. My instructor frowns on them, but, like everyone else, will use one in a pinch.
P: a 5/16 combination wrench, useful for some hex nut connectors.
Q: a terminal block, used to connect pairs of wire (this one will connect 5 separate pairs; each pair is isolated from the others)
R: Phillips head driver bits, for my Makita drill
S: a busbar, used to connect many wires together (for instance, we lead all the grounding connectors back to a busbar near the panel and then from the busbar, lead one big wire back to the house battery)
T: heat-shrink tubing, used on terminals that don’t have integral heat-shrink
U: vise grips. These are not-very-good ones I got at a big-box store.
V: this tool cuts wire and has little prongs on the ends so you can cut cable ties that are holding a bundle of wire without nicking the wire. Very useful tool.
W: this one tightens a cable tie and then snips off the end. Also very useful.
X: needle-nosed pliers for those times when your fingers are too big.
Y: AC power sensor. This is a household tool you use to check that a circuit is not live. Works very well for AC circuit testing on boats, too.
Z: Nut drivers. I have a complete set of these and just included two for the picture.
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