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Whats your favorite electrical tools?


grampage

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I wanted to know whats everyones favorite electrical tools. In my school there are all kinds of tools from different manufacturers that we use. So far my wish list is fluke for the mutimeter, klein for the nut drivers and lineman pliers, greenlee for strippers, knipex for pliers and irwin for diagonal cutters. I ve only been using these tools for 3 months now. Figured i would ask everyone whose been using their tools longer.

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Fluke meters

Wera screwdrivers

I'd probably go with Klein or Milwaukee for nut drivers for the full length hollow shaft

Knipex pliers, strippers, cutters, and linesmen(maybe NWS or Irwin NWS)

Lindstrom for precision cutters

Milwaukee for power tools

 

BTW, the Fluke 117 is on sale for $135 on Amazon right now. I'd personally rather buy used Fluke for the money but if you want to buy new, you can't beat that price. It's cheaper than the 114 and only $5 more than the 110 Plus!!!

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1 hour ago, jeffmcmillan said:

self-adjusting-wire-stripper-662.jpg

 

I like those mixed with this style:

1262180-2__93592__19478.1461685359.jpg?c

 

The Irwin is good with super thin wires but it can struggle where the Knipex/Felo shines. For coax cable RG-6 I use a Knipex cable shear to score the insulation and the Irwin to strip, otherwise it has a lot of trouble. I don't do coax enough that I want a dedicated tool. I'd recommend the Irwin and a traditional style for someone starting, the Knipex/Felo style is more of an easy of use and nicer feel/lighter package.

 

BTW, the Knipex is better than the Felo. The red portion is grippy rubber and it's super comfortable. Also the jaws strip and open to release the cut insulation, the Felo's jaws remain closed and sometimes the insulation sticks. The Irwin sometimes has the insulation stick also.

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my favorite electrical tool is my cell phone, I use it every time an electrical issue arises I call my brother, he is the electrician....I'm no electrician nor try to be......ouch....son of a.... 

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6 hours ago, grampage said:

Has anyone tried those knipex strippers?

 

10 hours ago, BMack37 said:

 

I like those mixed with this style:

1262180-2__93592__19478.1461685359.jpg?c

 

The Irwin is good with super thin wires but it can struggle where the Knipex/Felo shines. For coax cable RG-6 I use a Knipex cable shear to score the insulation and the Irwin to strip, otherwise it has a lot of trouble. I don't do coax enough that I want a dedicated tool. I'd recommend the Irwin and a traditional style for someone starting, the Knipex/Felo style is more of an easy of use and nicer feel/lighter package.

 

BTW, the Knipex is better than the Felo. The red portion is grippy rubber and it's super comfortable. Also the jaws strip and open to release the cut insulation, the Felo's jaws remain closed and sometimes the insulation sticks. The Irwin sometimes has the insulation stick also.

I've used those and hate them compared to the Irwin style. The problem for me is the cutter is a set depth from the grabber so if it doesn't work you're stuck.  The Irwin style adjust the two individually by pressure and the pressure is easily adjustable from almost nothing (works on 30AWG) to pretty high, and most importantly when it maxes out you can manually apply pressure to strip pretty much anything that fits in the jaws.  That's particularly useful for teflon insulation or multiple wires.  Not to mention you can much more easily get to the middle of a cable to strip a foot or so of sheathing.  I've even used a ziptie on the handle to hold insulation open and tap into the middle of cables.  That's all ignoring that I can get three Irwins for the price of a Knipex.

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I had a pair of the Irwins, but they were finnicky and I stopped using them and going straight for my standard Channellock strippers. The Irwins also wouldn't work on wire with any kind of moisture, dust, slime, sludge, oil or miscellaneous on them. Those are the times when you really want the tool to work the first time.

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I had a pair of the Irwins, but they were finnicky and I stopped using them and going straight for my standard Channellock strippers. The Irwins also wouldn't work on wire with any kind of moisture, dust, slime, sludge, oil or miscellaneous on them. Those are the times when you really want the tool to work the first time.


Which irwins? The auto?


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5 hours ago, jeffmcmillan said:

 

I've used those and hate them compared to the Irwin style. The problem for me is the cutter is a set depth from the grabber so if it doesn't work you're stuck.  The Irwin style adjust the two individually by pressure and the pressure is easily adjustable from almost nothing (works on 30AWG) to pretty high, and most importantly when it maxes out you can manually apply pressure to strip pretty much anything that fits in the jaws.  That's particularly useful for teflon insulation or multiple wires.  Not to mention you can much more easily get to the middle of a cable to strip a foot or so of sheathing.  I've even used a ziptie on the handle to hold insulation open and tap into the middle of cables.  That's all ignoring that I can get three Irwins for the price of a Knipex.

 

It's virtually the same thing with the Irwins; when it doesn't work, it doesn't work and the Knipex/Felo will work. If you have insulation that stretches the Irwin doesn't work because it only cuts a small part of the insulation. This is why i use the cable shears to pre-cut the RG-6 cable. The price is definitely a down side but between the two, you can easily strip all common wires.

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19 minutes ago, BMack37 said:

 

It's virtually the same thing with the Irwins; when it doesn't work, it doesn't work and the Knipex/Felo will work. If you have insulation that stretches the Irwin doesn't work because it only cuts a small part of the insulation. This is why i use the cable shears to pre-cut the RG-6 cable. The price is definitely a down side but between the two, you can easily strip all common wires.

My point with the Irwin style was if they don't work you can manually press on the jaws a bit for certain wire.  Maybe it's bad luck or couple bad pairs from knipex but they just don't work for me.  Side by side the Irwins have stripped wires the Knipex wouldn't.  It could also be good luck with the Irwin pairs because I've heard of some having the wrong tension and won't strip anything.

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I've had the Irwins for a good 5-6 years. I've used the exclusively in residential settings on 10,12, and 14 gauge and have never really had an issue with them failing to strip a wire. The only problem I've ever ran into was having enough space to use them. They've either been slick as can be or totally useless.

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Knipex for anything pliers or cutter related, Wiha for all the screwdrivers as well as a set of insulated nutdrivers. As I get older, my impact has become my go-to tool for any fastener driving so insert bits, holders, and nut-drivers are important to me as well. I've been very impressed with some Wera PH2 S.S. inserts I bought, but I also get a variety of stuff from local tool vendors. I am particularly fond of the Irwin 9-in-1 driver tool (2051100) that has the Robinson 1 and 2 sizes most used in devices here in the US. 

 

The exception to Knipex for cutting are my cutters/strippers, which I buy the US made stamped steel ones which are branded by almost all the big players (Ideal, Klein, Greenlee etc.). None of the gadget type cutters/strippers do as clean a job for the day to day stripping as those tools do, and they're relatively cheap. I keep two strippers in my bag - one for 18-8 AWG and a second for 12/2 and 10/2 Romex and 12 and 10 AWG. They are especially handy in older homes where that chunky-assed PVC Romex or cloth covered Romex was used.

 

For test equipment, one option to look at is the AEMC store where they sell both new and refurbished test tools which they make themselves (unlike Klein, Milwaukee, Ideal, Greenlee etc) You can get some really decent test equipment for very affordable prices from time to time. Start out with a medium sized versatile clamp meter that can do TRMS AC readings and which fits in your tool bag or isn't a PITA to carry around, then work your way towards expanding the collection as you need better testers.

Here's a good, not-too-expensive clamp that will do a lot of what you need in a meter and has way higher specs than a Fluke 323 starter toy:
http://store.aemc.com/Clamp-on-Meter-Model-203_p_1152.html

 

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15 hours ago, Peter Argyropoulos said:

Knipex for anything pliers or cutter related, Wiha for all the screwdrivers as well as a set of insulated nutdrivers. As I get older, my impact has become my go-to tool for any fastener driving so insert bits, holders, and nut-drivers are important to me as well. I've been very impressed with some Wera PH2 S.S. inserts I bought, but I also get a variety of stuff from local tool vendors. I am particularly fond of the Irwin 9-in-1 driver tool (2051100) that has the Robinson 1 and 2 sizes most used in devices here in the US. 

 

The exception to Knipex for cutting are my cutters/strippers, which I buy the US made stamped steel ones which are branded by almost all the big players (Ideal, Klein, Greenlee etc.). None of the gadget type cutters/strippers do as clean a job for the day to day stripping as those tools do, and they're relatively cheap. I keep two strippers in my bag - one for 18-8 AWG and a second for 12/2 and 10/2 Romex and 12 and 10 AWG. They are especially handy in older homes where that chunky-assed PVC Romex or cloth covered Romex was used.

 

For test equipment, one option to look at is the AEMC store where they sell both new and refurbished test tools which they make themselves (unlike Klein, Milwaukee, Ideal, Greenlee etc) You can get some really decent test equipment for very affordable prices from time to time. Start out with a medium sized versatile clamp meter that can do TRMS AC readings and which fits in your tool bag or isn't a PITA to carry around, then work your way towards expanding the collection as you need better testers.

Here's a good, not-too-expensive clamp that will do a lot of what you need in a meter and has way higher specs than a Fluke 323 starter toy:
http://store.aemc.com/Clamp-on-Meter-Model-203_p_1152.html

 

 

If I was stripping the same size or few size wires every day, I'd agree with you about the wire strippers. If I'm using 16AWG, I will grab my Klein pliers to strip the wire instead of the automatic. I think it's more in what you're doing on which tool is the best for you. I use a bunch of different sizes and different coatings of wire so I tend to gravitate towards automatic strippers. If I was a professional electrician I would probably go with a regular stripper...but the electronics I do don't have standard sized wires/sheathing. I probably should have added that to my original post but your post sent me on a thought train.

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