Garage Shop: Tools

My cousin is a lineman for TECO and he talks of this stuff all the time.

 

i stay clear of the buckets, gave that part up a while ago. but usually the voltage is a little higher for me, and nightshift makes for good sparkies Electricity is always something you learn to respect or you’ll find yourself not living very long.

 

so true, sadly deaths happen pretty close to weekly in this line of work.

we had a guy get burnt last week when a tie wire went phase to ground, the molten metal burned through his rubbers, and his FR giving 2nd Degree burns.

another former coworker, had a serious arc flash, melted his harness and charred his bucket liner. and he was spent a bit of time in the burn ward.

and recently a crew member let the blue dragon out, on a late night trouble call, underground fault, dead short phase to ground, and he bridged the cutout opening with the fuse tail, and when he pulled the stick back he lit up the nite sky like daylight. he got a nice little sunburn from that one.

 

yep things can quickly go south. We had a guy get hurt pretty bad, the details just came out late last week. The fellows that take care of this kind of work deserve the hazard pay they receive and then some, it’s certainly not the job for everyone and it takes someone with knowledge, cautiousness, and brass balls!

 

I get nervous changing a light switch or 110 outlet in my house.

 

I've done a few with the power on.

 

So have I, that's why I get nervous!

 

As it should be.

 

just turn the power off. whats the big deal?

 

Got the switch in hand, screwdriver ready. Breaker box on other side of compound.

Not telling people they should do this, or that it is any way safe. In fact DON'T DO THIS!! It's nuts.

 

do you have access to the box? have a friend help and have them by the box and you inside

 

Anyone have Wera tools? I know their screwdrivers are popluar. Their sockets and wrenches seem incredibly well built and have great reviews. The ratcheting wrench set even ratchets 30° on the open end. Also, the case and roll would be a plus for offroad and travel.

 

Thx I've seen these, I have a couple sets of ratcheting and bought my own roll ups, actually a lot easier to keep it open in the tool box. I know the Wera are not cheap. Seems the less expensive tools are made in Germany and the more expensive in Czech Rep.

 

Conversely I have a snap on ratcheting set and they're just not worth it, including the insane price. They're just too thin to handle for high torque, especially the larger ones. Also, the reverse lever will often lock the ratcheting even when fully engaged and I have to take it off and mess with it to ratchet. Totally first world problems.

 

I've never understood why ratcheting wrenches had reversing levers. Since they're usually flat or flex head, much easier to just flip it over. The little lever usually causes more headache by getting stuck or finding a false neutral

 

Yeah, probably because the ratcheting end is offset

 

on second look, I do see that on those WEN wrenches. the handle bias one side. mine are all flat/centered

 

My flat ones have no levers but the offset ones do. They are available both flat and offset.