Handy Tools to Have.

[Sceadwian]

Nippy cutters? That picture doesn't help much, I'm asuming you mean flush cut wire cutters, they are handy. Most regular wire cutters are beveled on both sides because it gives a more durable cutting edge, but flush cutters are square to the cutting head on one side, so much better for precision cuts and getting right down to the base of a board like Krum said. I don't have a pair right now, and I miss them on a regular basis.

 

[Krumlink]

Yeah Nippy cutters! They have a real tiny cutting side on them, perfect for tight corners.

 

[Mikebits]

I must admit, I never heard the term, Nippy cutters, but by golly a Nippy cutter exist.
**broken link removed**

 

[Krumlink]

Maybe I picked up the term nippy cutters from the TV repair guy who I visited on a weekly basis

 

[Sceadwian]

The key term to look for is 'flush cut'

 

[Pommie]

I've always known them as 'side cutters'.

Mike.

 

[Krumlink]

I have a pair of side cutters/flush cutters, and my nippy cutters have a much smaller blade angle on it.

 

[Bob Scott]

I've always known them as 'side cutters'.

Mike.

Radio Shack advertised them as "Nippy Cutters" for years. I bought a pair from Anchor in San Jose and ground the ends to a finer point. They are perfect for cutting the legs off DIP ICs. This makes the IC legs easier to remove on 16 layer boards. Boards with internal ground planes dissepate heat from the legs so fast that it is difficult to desolder the ICs intact.

These cutters dull and nick easily and are not for cutting anything harder than copper. (Krumlink: -perfect for thick toenails too! I bought a second pair for that purpose. ) It is easy to overheat the steel when grinding the tip to a point so take care!

 

[olly_k]

I just picked up one of those non-contact AC testers, 15 dollars at Lowes. Truly a life saver. No matter how sure I am I've disconnected the right breaker I've had a couple bad shocks in my life where there was an extra live wire in a PVC conduit that I didn't know about when I went to work. I had a spot in my vision for almost 2 days from looking dead at the arc 12 inches away from me when it shorted. A few good waves of one of these things on the outside of the PVC and then against any suspect wire insulation will give you a whole lot more peace of mind. Better than testing with a finger at least.

Hi I have a volt alert and while mine has never failed yet I wouldn't ever use it to determine if a circuit is live or not!

 

[Pommie]

Hi I have a volt alert and while mine has never failed yet I wouldn't ever use it to determine if a circuit is live or not!

So, how do you check? Tongue?

Mike.

 

[Sceadwian]

olly, then what do you use it for? That's all it does!

 

[Hero999]

OOH! Forgot one.

Non-contact AC voltage probe. Fluke makes one for $25 called the VoltAlert, iirc. Several other companies make them too. Safety first!

Fine but whatever you do don't rely on a neon screwdriver as you might not be a good enough earth to make it light but a shock from live to neutral can still kill.

 

[Sceadwian]

Hero, those AC volt probes are fully insulated, they're not connected to an earth ground in any way shape or form. Playing around with mine and moving it around on various surfaces it will even give brief false positive blips from static charge on just about any object. Can detect a live TV from over a foot away due to the electric field from the tube. The 'sensor' is a piece of metal connected to a low capacitance Mosfet gate and that's fed into an amplifier. The whole thing is encased in plastic to isolate it (mines rated for 1000V Cat IV CE and UL listed) Getting the tip within a half inch of a 120 volt live outlet will cause it to go off. As the instructions say test it on a known live circuit before use but it will detect down to 50 volts AC, maybe lower above line frequency as the capacitive coupling is higher. I wouldn't trust it as an absolute safe way of testing a line, but it's a good final (all clear) once normal precautions have been taken, or a very good indicator for first level trouble shooting.

 

[olly_k]

olly, then what do you use it for? That's all it does!

Pretty much strictly diagnostic purposes where I just wanted to confirm the presence of a voltage. I used to fix catering equipment and quite often where contactors were involved it was useful as a quick test. Also useful with mains leads, and testing for a floating neutral etc..
I wouldn't say that I never used it for the purpose of checking the status of a live circuit but I would only be happy to see it turn off when killing the power and would never rely on it 'blind'.

I actually remember a couple occasions where the pen did give me false negatives for some reason...

 

[Speakerguy]

I've been using mine to test whether outlets are live or not in our renovated-multiple-times home. I test it and get a beep before anyone starts throwing breakers, and when they get the right one it stops beeping. There is so much liability involved with measuring line voltages that I'm sure they've got these things engineered down pat. Some systemic flaw and you've got a major class action suit on your hands.

 

[kchriste]

I would only rely on the AC probe to tell me that the circuit was live.
I would never rely on it to tell me that a circuit is off and safe to touch.
Keep one hand in your pocket and you'll live longer.

 

[Centretek]

A straightened paper clip is invaluable when working on CD and DVD drives. Only way to open the buggers without power.

 

[Clyd3]

A straightened paper clip is invaluable when working on CD and DVD drives. Only way to open the buggers without power.

Not true, if you hit them hard enough, they open...
Sometimes they even work afterwards, though they can get to a stage where you have to manually put them back in, cause you've hurt them so much...

Btw, earlier on page 1 pins on dip packages were discussed. I always found it useful when working on a new board, cause you can hold the board upside down, and the ic, cause of it's bent out pins, stays in place, much like how you can bend pins on resistors to keep them in place when you're doing a rush job. Works especially well when the holes are drilled finer / more accurately... for a cleaner job...

 

[The Mad Professor]

A straightened paper clip is invaluable when working on CD and DVD drives. Only way to open the buggers without power.

It's a classic 'trick' that ought to be taught to anybody that uses a computer, for many times have I seen the dire results of opening the CD/DVD tray with a kitchen knife...lol no..what am I thinking..nobody will ever ask us any us to rescue a stuck disc ever again.

 

[Marks256]

I didn't read the whole thread...

My FAVORITE tool for electronics is my tweezers. If i cant pick up a component, or need to put a wire in a hole, a nice round-tipped tweezers is a GREAT tool.