Here’s another Toolmonger item from way back that’s a good deal right now: Meritline has the Kill-A-Watt listed for $20 right now — about $2-$3 cheaper than normal – and while we did find it for $18 from one other mail-order-only shop, Meritline beats ‘em out on shipping. 

The Kill-A-Watt not only shows you the voltage and frequency that the power company is delivering to you, it also shows you how much power the appliance it’s connected to is drawing.  It’s a kick-ass (and inexpensive) way to “energy audit” your home, and I’ll bet we all have older power tools around that draw power just from being left plugged in or left in standby mode.  With the Kill-A-Watt we can know.  

The Kill-A-Watt [P3 International]
Kill-A-Watt Model P4400 for $20 [Meritline]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Via Amazon [What's this?]

Following last week’s $10 mini-multimeter deal, Sizod sent us this clamp-style for just $12.  From the online description:

“This electrician’s digital multimeter comes with an amperage measuring clamp.  Simply clamp it on one of the wires of a device and it will measure the amount of power being used.”

Other features:

• 500V insulation
• Diode test
• Double-insulated leads
• Resistance: 200k, 20k, 2M ohms
• DC V: 0-1000V
• AC V: 0-750V
• AC Amps: 20-200-1000A

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Sizod writes: “I have to admit that I don’t know much about them of if this is a killer deal or not, but a handheld 10 MHz oscilloscope for $210 seems like a good deal.”

If nothing else, this looks like it’d be handy as hell to have around — the portability factor is high.

What do you electronics wizards say?  Deal or no deal?

Velleman 10 MHz Handheld Oscilloscope [TechToolSupply.com]

Update: Well, it looks like at least someone thought it was a deal — they’re now out of stock.  Keep an eye out for the restock.

Update #2: Looks like there are better deals about.  Mike comments: “Starts at $129 at this site.”  And it’s in stock as of right now.

Sizod writes: “There’s no excuse not to own one now; they’re $9.99 at Sears.”

From Sears.com:

“Craftsman digital mini multimeter. Functions include continuity and diode tests. Measures AC/DC Voltage with 0.5 percent basic DC accuracy. Also measures resistance. Includes Type K thermometer; allows for surface or air temperature measurements. Display is a backlit, extra large 2000 count LCD screen. Also features fuse-protected current input jacks, battery test, tilt stand and a molded rubber holster. Includes test leads and temp. thermocouple. Category II - 600 volt.”

This looks pretty darn useful for the price.  I actually have a multimeter, but at this price I might just pick up another.

Craftsman Digital Mini-Multimeter [Sears]

Eli’s a long-time friend of Toolmonger, and comments pretty regularly hereabouts.  He’s moving to Austrailia soon, and finds himself in a bit of a fix regarding all his beloved power tools, both corded and cordless.

He writes: “Since RIDGID doesn’t make an Oz voltage charger, I’ve checked the Australian site of a certain online bidding service and come to the realization that tools are really pricey there.  It might make sense after all to bring ALL of my tools with me when we move there, even with the hassle of having to use special converters. I’m pretty sure they are 240 volts @ 50 cycles, and we are 120 volts @ 60 cycles.”

“So I’ve been looking at step down transformers, and working out all the wattage of my tools.  I thought maybe there was an electrical engineer or Australian ‘Monger among us that could help me determine safe working loads for the different stuff.  For example, my Makita power planer is 4 amps, which as I understand it translates to about 440 watts (amps x current=watts).  But I’m wondering how high a wattage transformer I should have for safety under load.  A grinder or any saw or a thickness planer would all be different under load.  I don’t mind buying several and hard mounting them right to the tool itself for the big ones, and keeping it with a U.S. extension cord in a bucket or something for the hand tools.”

We’ve contacted some of the manufacturers to see about conversion kits with no luck, but we wondered if some of you might have ideas for alternate solutions to the problem.  To help out, we’ll kick out a Black & Decker AutoWrench to a single commenter of Eli’s selection in this comment thread.  (And if you don’t care about the AutoWrench, we’d appreciate it if you’d offer your wisdom anyway.  Remember, we Toolmongers have to take care of our own!)

Rick writes: “It’s amazing how critical it is to have the right tool for the job.  I recently upgraded my cell phone which had seen better days, but I kept it around as a spare since my wife has the same phone.  Well, her screen flaked out and I decided to salvage some parts from mine since my screen was fine.  When I tried to take it apart to get at the parts – despite having a 100 piece security bit set for electronics – I just didn’t have the Torx T-6 driver I needed.  So, I took a look to see what Home Depot had.  I came across this little number.”

“It has room in the handle underneath the swivel cap for three bits, while the other stays in the tool.  It worked great, and just goes to show that when you’re talking about stuff like that, you need the right tool.  It’s not like taking a switchplate off a light switch where you can use a butter knife in a pinch – or a phillips screw where you probably have phillips bits showing up everywhere you look.  There’s just no way to try and fit a T-8 driver into a T-6 screw.  In any case, now I’m confident that the next time I need to take apart a phone, I’ve got the right tools for the job.”

“At $5.97 it’s well worth it to have the right tool.  I think just to have a nice matching set I may have to go back and get their standard slotted/phillips precision driver that looks just like this.”

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Based on a Toolmonger comment we read a while back, we decided to pick up a set of Irwin’s (semi-)new self-adjusting wire strippers, so we thought we’d give you a look at ‘em as well.  In short: They rock.  They’ve quickly become the wire stripper of choice in the TM shop.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experience and some detail pictures.

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Deal King Sizod writes: “I wish I’d found these $2.42 cutter/strippers before I bought the $20 at home depot.  It’s made of hardened steel, and the stripper has a plier nose and cutters.  It strips fiber jackets and 10-20 gauge wire.  They’re spring-loaded with a locking mechanism to keep ‘em shut when not in use.”

Wire Cutter/Stripper [MilesTek]

Some months back when Chuck mentioned a Storehouse brand assortment of crimp terminals, I commented that this was one place you really didn’t want to skimp on quality.  We all agreed this would be a good subject to test emperically, and I finally found the time to jump in and give it a shot. 

What follows is a test of three brands: Calterm (found at the local auto parts store), Storehouse (the Harbor Freight house brand), and some ETC terminals (which I can’t seem to find online) that I had in my toolbox from a previous job. 

The conclusion won’t surprise you, but there’s a twist that might.  Read past the jump for the skinny – plus oodles of pictures.

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Roscoe scores again today with another winner.  He writes: “These lithium smoke detector batteries are guaranteed to last 10 years in a smoke detector.  They’re $7 or $8 at Ace Hardware, but they’re well worth it, and they’ll quickly pay for themselves.  The cost is especially worth it in detectors that are hard to reach or those near bedrooms that might will start chirping in the middle of the night.”

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The original PanaVise set a new standard for “work holding devices.”  It’s leaps and bounds more versatile than the common bench vise.  What separates it from the rest is its split-ball mechanism, which allows the head to tilt 180 degrees from vertical, turn 360 degrees on its axis, and rotate 360 degrees within the mount — all with the release of a single knob.

I use my original PanaVise every day.  I adore it — so much so that when I found a semi-local dealer, I bought another.  Pictured above is my new rig: the model 376 “extra-wide-opening head” mated with a 305 “low-profile base.”  I could’ve bought just the head, I suppose, and used it with my existing base.  But having two complete vises opens all sorts of doors in terms of bench work.  Read on past the jump for some serious hands-on experience with it — and lots of pictures.

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James writes: “This precision screwdriver is available from Husky in both Torx and Phillips/slotted versions.  It’s hands down the handiest screwdriver for working on electronics and small items.”

We’ve been featuring a number of multi-bit screwdrivers lately — to the point where I think I’m going to have to pick one up soon.  I’ve always relied on sets, but this looks like a great solution.

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Virtually unknown outside the telecomm industry, spudgers are at least as handy as needlenose pliers when working on something small — especially electronics.  They’re available with various tips and handle styles, usually in bright colors. More pictures below the cut.

Spudgers come in handy for all kinds of small work. The wire tip is perfect for setting DIP switches, removing jumpers, scratching corrosion from hard-to-reach contacts, straightening wire after unwrapping, and cleaning fingernails.  The plastic end dresses wiring blocks, places labels, smooths labels, peels labels, pries cases open, snags wires from crowded harnesses, and twists trimmer potentiometers.

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When troubleshooting telephone wiring, sometimes you need to work with individual leads.  Also, the typical “butt set” tester includes alligator clips rather than a modular plug.  In both cases, the tool you need to make the connection between the leads and the modular plug is called a banjo.

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Andy from OneFromTheRoad.com writes: “Ideal’s SureTest is an AC circuit analyzer; basically it’s like one of those cheap three-neon-light testers on steroids – and then some.

“The problem with those neon light testers is that while they detect most problems, there are some very dangerous situations — ground/neutral shorts (aka “false ground”), excess impedance in the lines, voltage drop under load, among others — that they miss entirely.

“Both models of SureTest analyzers, the 164 and 165, test for all of these (including voltage drop over three different loads –12, 15, and 20 amp), as well as giving you a true RMS readout of the hot-neutral voltage and ground-neutral voltage, a peak hot-neutral voltage, a frequency reading in Hz, a measure of the available current through the breaker in a worst-case-scenario dead short of all three conductors, and a test of the GFCI if you’ve got one installed — this even includes a reading of how much current it took to trip and how long it took to trip!.  The more advanced 165 model adds testing of AFCIs and another related test or two.

“I recently replaced my no-longer-manufactured Ecos AccuTest circuit tester with a Suretest 164, and am in love.  (I went through a “new toy” phase of running every test on every outlet in my apartment).

“As a live sound engineer, I use it all the time to test power at a venue before I plug my (or, perhaps more importantly, my boss’s) expensive equipment into it, but it’s equally important for homeowners, where many of these problems can be the cause of electrical fires.”

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Fluke meters are tough.  I have a Fluke 77 my father gave me close to 20 years ago, and it’s been dropped in the mud, stepped on, and hit with water — and came through all the beatings just fine.  The new Fluke 115 should do the same. 

The 115 is bred to work, from the large, white LED backlight to the rubber shock-resistant jacket.  It’s a reliable piece of gear from a trusted name.  Fluke is the standard.

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Myself writes: “Got no use for the ‘blasting cap crimper’ in the jaws of your multi-tool? Spend more time in communications closets?  Try the 66 and 110 punchdown blades in the PowerPlay.  It also sports a drywall saw, real wire strippers, spudger tip, and all the screwdrivery and pliery goodness you’d expect from a multi-tool.”

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