Actually I think a how-to article just on using a volt-ohm meter would be great (I’m a newbie, so be kind if this is something you’ve done recently). Maybe just a run through of some of the basic tasks you might use a digital multimeter for, from testing battery strength to testing circuits to testing audio cables (and don’t forget to mention which setting the meter should be on for each task - I’ve seen articles that failed to mention this, which makes it useless for a newbie), and reminding folks of safety issues that they might not always consider, such as if there are two sets of wires coming into an outlet, you have to test both since it might be connected to two seperate circuits (I learned this one the hard way - ouch!).

You may not see a ground wire in some boxes, if it’s all metal conduit. If your boxes or conduit are plastic, you darn well better have a ground wire, otherwise, just screw the fixture’s ground wire to the box — often there’s a cross-brace that has a green screw on it.

I really like the clip-on wires — that would save a lot of headaches.

Last word of advice on fixture selection: pick ones you can put CFT bulbs into, meaning you probably don’t want to be able to see the bulbs, but you also have to make sure the fixture isn’t on a dimmer for most CFTs.

Same thing applies to winding Teflon tape around a plumbing joint.

I’ve found them screwed driectly into the paneling in my house (yes paneling). I’ve been slowly replacing it (and just about everything else).

I also like how they used lamp wiring as conductor for switch jumpers.

In any case, I just installed them this afternoon in my bedroom and the hallway. Then tonight I sit down to read toolmonger and I see this. Too much.

I’d never seen that style of clip for the electrical connection before. That’s a new one to me. I actually have an old cut up wire coat hanger in my “electrical” toolbox that I use to hang a fixture from the box while I make the connections. That way the fixture isn’t hanging from the electrical cables. Then once those are done I remove the coat hanger and install the fixture.

Also, I made mention of my electrical toolbox. It’s an old tackle box style toolbox and it contains all of my electrical-related tools. I find this is easier than taking the roll-away into the house. That said, besides my lineman’s pliers, electrical tape, crimpers, wire strippers, a nice flat and phillips head screwdriver, etc. I also have old bits/scraps of left over wire and/or other bits and pieces. I’ve got a varied selection of wire nuts, etc. The strips of cable come in handy at times.

About two weeks ago I needed to install a new 230v fusible switch in my laundry room for my driver. I had the outlet coming off of the old switch through a bit of conduit. When I installed the new switch, the cable from the outlet needed to go to a different location in the box. So I pulled out a nice piece of 10 gauge wire that I had left over from another job. It was about 4 feet long, but I only needed about a foot to make the connection I needed.

In any case.. that’s my little bit of electrical advice - and like Sean said - can’t emphasize this enough. TURN OFF THE BREAKER. Another nice piece to have, and I can’t recall if it’s been reviewed here already or not is an inductive electrical tester. It’ll tell you if you have any live wires in the box without needing to make contact with the copper. Just by putting it against the wire, it’ll beep if it detects a live current. I’ve found that invaluable to ensure that there’s no current in the box. Oftentimes the fixture I was going to work on had no power, but there were other wires that were running through it to other outlets and/or fixtures in the room. So it was nice to check the other wires before I stuck my hands in there.