Common Workshop Tools, Uses and Maintenance

What are electrical tools

Electrical tools are used to do the electrical work like electrical wiring installations by using this
tool we can do the installation of electrical wire properly and quickly. We must be able to choose
the right equipment or tools to do the electrical work then only the quality of our work will
improve. By using electrical tools we could do the electrical tasks effortlessly.

What is the difference between hand tools and machine tools

Hand tools are tools that can be used or operated by our hands without using electrical energy it
doesn’t need any external power. While machine tools are tools that require electrical energy and
they are operated by our hands too.

Basic electrical tools which are used by an electrician

1. Pliers
Pliers can be used for cutting, twisting, bending, holding, and gripping of wires and cables. The
handles of the pliers will be insulated and it can’t be considered as sufficient protection. There are
different types of pliers

Side cutting pliers can be used for cutting electrical wires and small nails. Longnose pliers can be
used for cutting and holding of fine wires and they can be used in tight space, these types of pliers
are commonly used for making terminal loops in copper wire. Diagonal pliers are used for cutting
medium or fine wires they are also used in bending small faces of soft metal.

2. Wire strippers

Wire strippers are used to remove the insulation of wires, mostly medium-sized wires ranging from
gauge 10 to gauge 16. Wire strippers are also used to remove the insulation of rubber covered
wires from gauge 26 to gauge 10.

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3. Electrician Knife

These knives are used by lineman to remove the insulation of big cables in high and low voltage
transmission lines

The primary use for an electrician knife is cutting wires and cables and stripping off their plastic
insulation. It is also frequently used to cut boxes that carry electrical equipment. The knife is
perfectly designed so that it does not harm the core wire when stripping off the insulation layer.

4. Screwdrivers

Screwdrivers can be used to loosen or tighten screws with slotted heads, screwdrivers are in various
size and shape. Screwdrivers are made up of steel and they are tempered at the tip. According to
the size and shape of screw different types of screwdrivers are used.

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Screwdrivers are generally made up of three parts: the handle, the shaft or shank, and the drive tip
or bit.

 The handle is the part of the screwdriver that the user holds and twists. While some may
be wood or carbon fiber, they’re generally a hard plastic or nylon and some feature rubber
grips.
 The shaft or shank is the long section that connects the tip to the handle. These are
generally smooth and polished for easy cleaning, but some may be hexagonal or partially
hexagonal to allow the user to place a wrench on the shaft. They vary in length from stubby
(under 2 inches) to very long (over 12 inches).
 The drive tip or bit is arguably the most important part of the screwdriver as it determines
which fasteners the screwdriver can engage to tighten or loosen.

Common screwdriver bits include slotted, Phillips, Pozidriv, Torx, square, star, security or tamper-
proof bits, and hex or Allen bits.

5. Hammers

Hammers are tools which are used for pounding and pulling out of nails, there are soft and hard-
faced hammers. Hard faced hammer can be used to strike hard objects and they have a cylindrical-
shaped head. The soft-faced hammer is used for the rewinding process. Mostly soft-faced hammers
are made up of rubber or plastic. There are different types of hammers like a claw hammer, ball
peen hammer and mallet.

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6. Electric drill

These devices are used to drill holes in metal sheets and concrete walls, they can be used to make
holes in building structures for the passage of wires and conduit. They can be useful for indoor
and outdoor wiring.

7. Wirepullers

Wirepullers are used to pull wires into conduit or raceways, these devices will be very helpful for
wire pulling.

Fig. Solid Full Spring Type Cable Puller dia 3.0mm 3.8mm 4.8mm 5.5mm With Double Holes

8. EMT bender

EMT bender can be used to bend electrical metal tubing, it could be able to do back to backbend
in conduits, they can also do saddle bend and can be used to straighten the conduit.

9. Soldering tools

Soldering tools can be used to make splices and tap connections in wires. Many connections can
be done with the help of this device. Soldering must be done perfectly in order to get a better
connection.

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10. Wire gauge

Wire gauge can be used to measure the thickness or diameter of the wires, it can be used in sizing
conductors. The wire gauge can be used to measure from gauge 0 to 36.

Wire gauge is a measurement of wire diameter. This determines the amount of electric current
the wire can safely carry, as well as its electrical resistance and weight.

The gauge of a wire refers to its thickness. Each gauge is represented by a number, with smaller
numbers representing thicker wire gauges and higher numbers signifying thinner wires.

Fig. Jaibros Round Wire Gauge Standard Micro Meter Plate for Measuring

11. Hacksaw

Hacksaws can be used to cut metal conduit and armored cable, it can also be used to cut the
small and medium-sized metals.

Parts of a hacksaw

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12. Electric Phase or Line Tester – Construction & Working of Mains Tester
What is Phase or Mains Tester?

Phase, electric mains or line tester is a basic tool which is used to test and identify Phase / Live/
Hot or Positive (+) wire / conductor in electrical installation also known as voltage or current
detector.

Phase or Line Tester is also called Neon Screw Driver or Test Pin.

Good to Know: Phase, Line, Hot, Live and Positive are the same terms used for single item.

Construction of Phase or Line Tester

Following are the main parts of a typical Phase or Line Tester.

Fig. Internal Parts of a Phase Line-Tester

a). Metallic Rod and Mouth

It is a cylindrical metal rod. The flat end (mouth) is used as a screw driver or touch electrical
conductors/wires to find phase or live wires and the other end is connected to the resistance, neon
bulb, element and metallic cap screw respectively. The flat end of cylindrical metal rod is also
covered with transparent insulated plastic for insulation proposes except mouth.

b). Body and Insulation

All these components (Resistance, Neon bulb, Element or metallic spring, and Metallic Cap screw)
are covered in a transparent insulated body which made of plastic. The flat end of cylindrical metal
rod is also covered with transparent insulated plastic for insulation proposes except mouth.

c). Resistor

Resistor is an element which opposes the flow of current through it. In a phase or line tester, resistor
is connected between cylindrical metal rod and Neon bulb to prevent high current and reduces it

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to a safe value to protect the neon bulb. Without a resistor, high current may damage the neon
bulb. Moreover it may be dangerous to use this tool without resistor.

d). Neon Bulb

Neon bulb is connected between resistance and element (metallic spring). It is used as phase
indicator bulb. When a small current flows through it, the neon bulb starts to glow. Due to neon
bulb, a phase or line tester is also called a Neon Screw driver.

e). Element (Metallic Spring)

Element (metallic spring) is used to make connection between neon bulb and metallic cap screw.

f). Metallic Cap Screw and Clip

Metallic cap screw is used for to tight all the components inside the phase tester slot. In addition,
metallic cap screw is connected with spring (element) and spring (element) is connected with neon
bulb then. Moreover clip is used for holding the phase tester in pocket.

Fig. Construction Working of Mains Tester

Working of a Phase or Line Tester

When we touch mouth (flat end of the metallic rod) of phase or line tester with naked Live / hot
wire whereas one of our finger touch the metallic cap screw or clip of Phase/Line Tester, then
circuit is completed and current start to flow in metallic rod, Hence the neon bulb inside mains
tester glows.

Metallic rod is connected to the resistor which reduces high current to a safe value. The reduced
current passes through Neon bulb which is connected to (metallic spring). Metallic spring is
connected with metallic cap screw which is in contact of our fingers. A very small current passes
through our body to earth and complete the circuit. When circuit is completed, current starts to
flow and the filament of neon bulb starts glowing. This indicates that the touched wire with Phase
/ Line Tester mouth is Phase / Line / Hot.

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If we perform the same action as mentioned above, and Neon bulb does not glow, it means that is
a Neutral (-) Wire/Conductor or there is no mains supply in the phase wire or phase wire is broken
in the middle.

Fig. Using Phase Tester as Line Indicator

13. Multi-meter

Just as its name states, multimeter means a meter with a multi function, multi measurement, and
multi-purpose. Of course all of them need to be in the scope of electrical and electronics. A
multimeter can be used to measure voltage, current, resistance, and capacitance, conductance, a
frequency so this instrument could measure almost all things which is needed for an electrician.
This meter can show the exact reading too. Below are the uses of digital multimeter, measure
various electrical variables such as:

 Voltage (AC or DC),

 Current (AC or DC),
 Resistance,
 Transistor gain,
 Continuity,
 Diode,
 Frequency,
 Capacitance,
 Inductance, and
 Temperature.

Some expensive and advanced multimeters are able to measure power as well. Keep in mind not
every multimeter has the same measurement choices. The most common measurements to find in
every multimeter are voltage, current, continuity, diode, and resistance.

There are two types of multimeter:

 Analog multimeter
 Digital multimeter

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Digital multimeters are widely used nowadays so we will focus on digital multimeters instead. But
it is not a bad thing to at least learn what an analog multimeter is and what makes it different and
lose popularity.

What is an Analog Multimeter

Just as an analog voltmeter and analog ammeter, this multimeter has a printed background with
several numbers and symbols to indicate the measurements and their values.

The values will be displayed by an arrow, moved by magnetic force generated by a coil. The arrow
will move when there is:

 Current flows through the coil, or

 Internal electrical power to measure resistance, or
 Electrical pressure.

Even though its popularity is less than the digital one, it still has some advantages. Its size is
relatively small and you can observe the changes in current and voltages real-time even if it is only
by small movement.

What makes it lose popularity is you need a quick and precise mathematical calculation in your
head before getting the measurement values. Analog multimeter uses scales in its probe terminal
and thus you need to do a quick calculation. And we already know that time is short in the practical
field and of course we don’t like math very much. As long as we get the value, we are good. This
is where a digital multimeter kicks in.

What is a Digital Multimeter

A digital multimeter uses an LCD for displaying the measurement value. This display helps us a
lot because it allows us to read the value immediately without doing any calculation.

For its measurement capability, a digital multimeter doesn’t differ much from an analog
multimeter. The basic measurement such as voltage, current, and resistance will be the same and
they have their own scale we can choose with a rotary switch.

Nowadays, a common digital multimeter also has additional measurements such as diode,
continuity, capacitance, inductance, and temperature along with their scales.

A more advanced digital multimeter is capable of measuring power and even has auto-ranging
measurement. But in our opinion, having an auto-ranging measurement won’t help us very far, an
adjustable scale still works very fine for most people.

One thing to remember, manual scale needs us to take extra caution to the maximum value we will
get. If you think it will be over 500V then it is wise to use 1000V scale first. It will be disastrous
if we use 100V to measure 500V.

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Well, in conclusion, a digital multimeter is the absolute winner because of the convenience, speed,
and practicality.

14. Micrometer

A micrometer can be used to measure small and large sizes of wires, it is also used to remove the
diameter of circular wires. A micrometer can measure the diameter of thin wire accurately or
thickness of sheet metal.

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15. Wrenches

Wrenches are instruments that can be used to turn nuts or hold the piece of stock when tightening
screws, nuts, and bolts. There are different types of wrenches like adjustable wrenches, pipe
wrench, vise grip wrench.

Wrenches are made in various shapes and sizes and are used for gripping, fastening, turning,
tightening and loosening things like pipes, pipe fittings, nuts and bolts. There are basically two
major kinds of wrenches: Pipe wrenches used in plumbing for gripping round (cylindrical) things.

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