Tools Needed By Electricians
In order to work with electricity, one needs the proper tools and equipment. There have been many advances and improvements in the types of tools that are now available. While there are many tools that can be useful to an electrician, there are some that are of primary use, which are almost always employed, even when there is a need to limit the number of tools that are taken to a particular job site.
Electrician Tools Needed : Hand Tools
An electrician needs a number of basic hand tools, to perform basic tasks.
These include:
Square screwdrivers and Phillips screwdrivers, in a variety of sizes and lengths, as well as nut drivers and a hex key set. An assortment of pliers, including long-nose pliers, needle-nose pliers, side-cutting pliers, diagonal cut pliers, and channel lock pliers.
Wire strippers, hacksaw frame, cut off saw, a pair of tin snips, key hole saw, razor knife, and an electricians knife. Adjustable wrench, tap wrench set, crescent wrench, half round file with handle, cold chisel, scratch awl, reamer, tri-tap and center punch. Wire strippers, fish poles and fish tapes, basic tape measures, square, wood folding rule, and laser measuring tool. Level, torpedo level, chalk line, razor blades, electricians hammer, fuse puller, flashlight, carpenters pencils, nail puller, and labeling machine.
Electrician Tools Needed: Power Tools and Testers
There are also a number of power tools which are important to an electrician, such as power drills, cordless screwdrivers, reciprocating saws, spiral saws, and portable band saws. An electrician also needs a tool box or tool bag, an electricians belt, and an electricians pouch in order to keep all tools organized and safely accessible.
Electricians also need tools specifically designed for working with the electrical current, such as a 600V AC/DC vol-con tester, volt-amp meter, neon circuit tester, power testers, and VDV tools and testers.
While not all of these tools are needed on every job, as a general rule an electrician needs to have a wide assortment of tools, to insure that they have the correct tool for the job. Many of these tools are actually carried with the electrician on their electricians belt, and as such, there is a tendency towards choosing lighter weight and smaller tools whenever possible, not only to make them more portable, but because these are often the safest choice for the job. In addition to choosing lightweight tools, electricians should always choose the most ergonomically designed tool possible, to reduce the risk of repetitive stress on the job.
Electrician Tools Needed: Safety Equipment and Precautions
In addition to the various tools listed above, an electrician needs to have all the necessary safety equipment that would be needed for any given job site, such as possibly safety glasses, insulating gloves, dielectric footwear, and arc and flame resistant clothing. There are several different types of blankets and shields that might be needed by an electrician, such as an arc suppression blanket and an insulating shield or blanket.
Hand tools should be double insulated, and if the work environment demands it because of flammability issues, tools should also be non-sparking. The particular tools that are chosen for any given job should always be given careful thought, to insure that the choices are effective, efficient and safe for the work to be performed.
