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Electrical work, as well as laying electrical networks, cannot be performed without the proper tool, so each electrician has his own set of tools and fixtures.
And sometimes a good electrician has a set of tools that is not inferior in number to the tool of the same car mechanic.
Tool types
An electrician’s tool can be divided into main and auxiliary.
Also, tools can still be divided by type of use: electrical – an electrician checks networks, connects wires, installs electrical appliances, and installation tools – with the help of which the electrical network is laid and installed.
An electrician does not have so many electrical tools and partings, but they should always be at hand.
Often, for this, electricians use special belts with tool pockets.
This kit includes:
- Knives;
- Screwdriwer set;
- Pliers, pliers, wire cutters, stripper;
- Measuring instruments (multimeter, current clamps);
- insulating materials.
When laying networks, as well as installing electrical equipment, an electrician, in addition to the specified tool, may additionally need:
- Perforator with nozzles (drills, crowns);
- Screwdriver;
- wall chaser;
- Press key;
- A hammer;
- Electrical level, tape measure;
- A set of open-end and box wrenches;
- Tools for specific working conditions.
And these are just the tools and equipment that an electrician may need, but there are also consumables.
But for now, we are only interested in tools and devices, and also what they do.
Knives
So, a good electrician has several types of knives in his belt pockets. The first is a regular folding knife. It is used for various purposes – trimming, stripping, etc.
The main one is an electrical knife, with a special blade shape.
In addition to the shape, its blade is sharpened on both sides, which allows stripping wiring in two directions – towards itself and away from itself.
Some types of electrical knives have a special heel at the end of the blade.
Such a knife allows you to cut the lumbar insulation of the wire without possible damage to the internal insulation of the cores.
The third type of knife that an electrician can find is a regular construction knife with interchangeable blades. It can be used just like a regular folding knife.
Screwdrivers
One of the most important tools for an electrician is a screwdriver. Each specialist has several types of screwdrivers, but they are all specialized electrical ones.
Their feature is improved protection. Usually, in such screwdrivers, the tip is covered with a non-conductive material on top, only the tip of the screwdriver is exposed.
A Phillips and flathead screwdriver is required. The best option is to have several screwdrivers with different sizes.
Electricians also use indicator screwdrivers, which, in addition to the possibility of tightening and unscrewing bolts, also allow you to check for voltage in the wiring before starting work.
A simple indicator screwdriver is equipped with a diode light. When you touch the tip of a screwdriver to the wire, if there is voltage in it, the light will light up.
More complex are indicator screwdrivers with a display. In addition to determining the presence of voltage in the wires, this screwdriver also displays the voltage voltage.
Also read here about battery-powered screwdrivers, which can also be used for electrical work.
Pliers, pliers, etc.
Pliers, pliers and wire cutters are also one of the most important tools for an electrician.
Pliers and pliers allow you to twist the wires, make the desired bend of the wire, hold it when connecting, etc.
Often there are sharpened blades on the jaws of the pliers for cutting the wire, but few people use them, since the quality of the cut of the cable with pliers is low, while the edge of the wire is somewhat compressed.
For cutting the wire, it is better to use wire cutters. Their blades have a certain shape, which allows you to make a quality cut without compressing the edges of the cable.
The stripper is a special tool that allows you to quickly and efficiently remove the insulation from the wires, while it does not damage the wiring cores.
Its use makes it possible to carry out installation work much faster.
Measuring instruments
The presence of measuring instruments is also important. The advent of multimeters has made life easier for electricians.
It is enough to have only this device to make all the necessary measurements.
But you can only perform all measurements by connecting a multimeter to stripped wires, which is not always convenient.
Current clamps allow you to measure the current without the need to break the wiring for connection.
It is enough to place the wire in the clamps so that this device shows the current strength. Based on this, it turns out that an electrician needs both of these devices.
There are also combined devices, including both a multimeter and current clamps.
See also:
Insulating materials
The presence of insulating materials is mandatory. Two types of such material are used by electricians – electrical tape and heat shrink.
Both of these types allow you to insulate the connection points to exclude the possibility of a person touching bare live wires.
Insulating tapes are fabric (cotton, lavsan), impregnated with a special insulating adhesive or polyethylene, with an adhesive surface.
Heat shrinks are tubes made of insulating material of different diameters, which are compressed and stick to the surface of the connection due to exposure to high temperatures.
Tool required for installation work
Let’s move on to the tool that an electrician will need to lay and install electrical circuits.
So, a puncher with drills allows you to make holes in the walls of the building for pulling wires.
The same device, but with crowns, makes recesses in the walls for installing sockets, switches, junction boxes.
A screwdriver will be needed to quickly tighten all kinds of screws during installation work, for example, to fix tunnels into which wiring will be laid. Also, when working at a distance from the source of the industrial network, it is convenient to use special tools on batteries.
With a wall chaser, small recesses are made in the walls for laying wiring in them – strobes.
Without this device, an electrician will have to make strobes either with a puncher or with an angle grinder with a diamond wheel, which is very inconvenient and time consuming.
The press wrench is used by electricians to compress special copper caps on twisted wires. The use of this key allows you to strengthen the connection of the twisted wires.
A hammer is a universal tool that is needed not only for electricians. And when doing the wiring, he will find enough work.
Open-end wrenches may be needed by an electrician when performing industrial installation work.
For some electrical appliances that work with high power parameters, the wiring to them is fixed with bolted connections, and this is what keys are needed for.
Measuring instruments such as a tape measure and a level are needed for the most part for preparatory work.
A tape measure is used for correct measurements when punching strobes, measuring the length of wiring, etc. The level will be needed to evenly fix the sockets and switches.
Also, during installation, an electrician may need a wide variety of tools.
For example, the internal partitions of the building are made of wood, so you need a drill with different drills to make holes, and chisels for strobes.
In some cases, reciprocating saws may come in handy.
Sets
It is noteworthy that electrician kits are now sold, including all the necessary tools. They can be divided into small, medium and large.
Small sets usually include two main types of tools – screwdrivers of various types and pliers, pliers, wire cutters.
Medium sets may additionally include a stripper, measuring instruments, insulating materials.
Large sets, in addition to the complete set of the main tool, often also include some auxiliary ones – a screwdriver, a set of keys, a hammer, a tape measure, a level.
All of them are packed in a suitcase, which makes it possible for an electrician to have all the necessary tools at hand.
In general, for electrical work at home, you may need a wide variety of tools and fixtures.
However, without the main tool, it will be almost impossible for a specialist to perform the required work with high quality.