In situations where I need to calculate wire size, breaker size, or some other electrical value, I usually have to break out the electrical handbooks or hunt on the web to double-check my work. If, like me, you can never remember the codes and values for electrical wiring, the ElectriCalc Pro can help.
Normally when I’m testing one of the vehicles in my aging “fleet,” I’m lucky if I can stick a ground or a hot lead on a fuse box or something and have it stay there — more likely I’ll be balancing both voltmeter probes and trying to turn a switch while having to scratch my nose. It’s just a pain at times. These heavy-duty test hooks from E-Z-Hook can help test those wires.
I do a lot of work on my own cars, mainly because I’m cheap and I enjoy the work. I own a couple of test lights to verify that circuits are working, and I keep a small array of test wires that serve as jumpers, but the Power Probe III jumped out at me because it performs those functions plus many more.
A breadboard is an indispensable tool for testing circuits quickly, and since the connections aren’t permanent it’s a good platform for experimentation. With a breadboard and jumper kit like this one from Elenco, plus a source of power and a few electronic components, you’ll be building circuits in no time.
The Fluke 62 Mini Infrared Thermometer will allow you to read temperatures from -20 to 932 degrees Fahrenheit — while keeping at a safe distance. Great for motor maintenance, electrical, heating, and many other uses, the Fluke 62 stores the maximum temperature so you don’t have to write it down, and the built-in laser shows you what you’re shooting at.
Fluke is well-known and respected for very high-quality electronic testing products, so $90 for the Fluke 62 and a nylon belt holster seems like a good deal.
Fluke 62 [Fluke]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Coax-Seal protects cable connections from being degraded by their worst enemy: Moisture! The moldable, sealable tape is aimed at pros in the wireless, satellite, and radio fields, but it might also come in handy at home — for example, if the external connection for your cable or satellite dish is exposed to rain.
If you solder many hours a week you don’t want to scrimp on your iron, but for an entry-level price the occasional user can get some nice features and accessories with this dual-temperature iron from Black & Decker.
If you’re looking for an alternative to crimp-type connectors, check out these Posi-Lock in-line connectors. You don’t need any crimping tools, and the connectors are rated for 600V using stranded AC or DC wires.
When someone asks to borrow a tool from the Toolmonger shop, we usually don’t say, “Over our dead bodies” — unless the tool in question is our faithful Fluke 77 Multimeter. Though it’s not the latest model out there, it still keeps pace with any meter currently on the market.
After about a month of raccoon garbage patrol I can safely say that the Yeti performed admirably in all respects. Other than having to wrap it up in a trash bag when it rained, we hardly ever had to think about the Yeti — that is, until its warbling siren woke us from a dead sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
“Cheap” really doesn’t describe how far I’ll stoop to avoid shelling out money. So when my laptop fan started sounding like a small Allison aircraft engine about a year back, I was not spending the $110 to get a new fan assembly — even the $25 for a new fan wasn’t happening. Instead I decided to treat it like any other machine in the shop: When it squeaks, I start with giving it some oil.
If you could track and tailor your home’s energy consumption to save twenty percent a month, would you spend a hundred dollars to do it? Black and Decker hopes so. With their recently launched “Energy” series of products they aim to help you conserve by educating you about the energy your place chews up every month. This power monitor, the lineup’s flagship product, measures and displays your house’s overall energy consumption as well as individual appliance cost, and it sends that info to one handheld device.
Incorrect torque on a small screw may not lead to a life-ending event on the highway, but on precision machines and carefully calibrated devices, small screws require careful handling. If you don’t care to keep up with the digital age, an “old-fashioned” torque driver will do — but if you’re interested in the tools of the new millennium, check out this digital torque driver.
Sure, you could drop the money on a new Power Squid, but if you already own serviceable power strips with a few blocked outlets, why not just buy a few Power Strip Liberator cables from Ziotek? They’re not just for power strips — you probably have a few regular outlets blocked by power adapters somewhere in your house or shop.
A woodworker’s going to feel disappointed when he sees checking or warping in a beautiful piece of furniture after he’s already finished it, but imagine seeing those flaws in an entire hardwood floor. Flooring guys don’t have time to look at moisture readings on every piece of wood — they have ten more houses to do — so Delmhorst designed this contractor-grade moisture meter to tell you more than just how much moisture there is where you stick the pins.
You just bought a soldering station thanks to a timely Dealmonger post — now invest in a soldering accessory that’ll help you get the most from your new iron. With Hakko’s 599B tip cleaner you can clean oxidation and excess solder from the tip of your soldering iron with coils of brass, rather than a wet sponge.
Up-North lore says a yeti is an elusive snow Wookiee that lives in the Himalayas — you know, the Abominable Snowman. And it’s pretty easy to lure one out into the open: Just steal a guy’s tools out the back of his truck, and sooner or later the yeti/owner will appear, screaming his fool head off. The guys at Trident Security Concepts want to arm you with a Yeti of your own, so you don’t have to become one. We got our hands on one of the screaming yellow security units to find out if it could actually help keep your gear safe or not. Guess what? In certain situations it could.
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What's In Your Kitchen Tool Drawer?
Tool Talk #53: Old Hardware Stores & Pocket Knives
Tool Talk #52: Listener Calls & Reader Projects
Tool Talk #51: DIY Wedding Rings & Heirloom Shopsmiths
Tool Talk #50: Router Safety & Pointless Tools
Tool Talk #49: Bookcases & Ending Laziness
Tool Talk #48: Christmas & (Paint) Strippers
One Beer Projects: Repairing Wood Surfaces
One Beer Projects: Fixing Simple Problems With Your Dryer
One Beer Projects: Winterizing/Storing Your Bike
One Beer Projects: De-Badging Your Truck
One Beer Projects: Staining Your Fence
One Beer Projects: Doing Your Own Brakes
One Beer Projects: Balancing Your A/C For The Summer
One Beer Projects: Installing A Dimmer Switch
Hands-On: Milwaukee M12 Power Port
Hands-On: Caterpillars Fix Wiggly Outlets For Good
Head 2 Head Hands-On: Bosch SPS10 vs LI3000 SmartDriver
Hands-On: Striker Magnetic LED Light
Hands-On: Dremel Duo Kit -- Dremel Driver
Hands-On: Elmer's ProBond Wood Filler
Hands-On: Duo-Fast DF350S Framing Nailer
Hands-On: Watco Danish Oil - Cherry Finish
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 5: Engine Teardown
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 4: A New Transmission
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 3: Building An Engine Stand
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 2: Pulling The Engine
Budget Shop Truck Build, Part 1: The Truck
How-To: Cut Angles With A Circular Saw
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 5) -- Complete!
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 4) -- Installation!
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 3) -- Fabricating Engine Brackets
Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 2) -- GM Performance Parts
