Tricks of the Trade are very practical ideas that will save you time and a little frustration.

If there is any Tricks of the Trade you would like to add, please fill out the submission form.

DISCLAIMER:

Electricians Toolbox accepts no responsibility for the content of these Tricks of the Trade. This page is maintained for the qualified person in the electrical industry. Before using such ideas make sure Codes and safety issues have been fully attended to by you and/or your workers.

"Latest Additions" - Tricks of the Trade

Drive Ground Rod with Ease - J. McDuffie II	Locating covered up boxes in walls - C. Collins
Cool off PVC in Seconds - J. McDuffie II	Remove PVC coating with ease - C. Collins

Tricks of the Trade Archives

Holesaw quick release - JS Sornberger Some quick tool related tricks - Terry Duke Prevent drills from wrapping insulation - Tony I Prevent rough ends from getting dinged - Tony I Use Jack Chain for Block Walls - K. Higgins How To make a Conduit Reducer - D. Haggard Pushing wire with ease - J. Scaff Locating Penetrations - R. Becker Inserting KO Seals - K. Brosie Solving tough underground wire pulls - R. Becker Easy MC Cable Pulling - J. Fisher 500' Wire Spools and 1/2" Tubing - Mike Use Foam for Underground Splicing - Larry Protect wires from sharp edges in panel - B. Bamford Dustless Recess Install - G. Nuzzi Save Your Fish Tape - G. Lahr Running Nuts On All-thread - J. Amado Use Utility Knife To Cut PVC - M. Brown Shorten conduit w/o damaging wire - M. Brown Trim Out Advice - B. Smith Use Velcro To Hold Tester - K.Vienneau Use Golfball To Snake Pipe - D. Prettyman Threading PVC Coated Rigid Pipe - R.G.D. Use Metal Strapping To Fish Walls - C. Kraweic Use ENT To Fish Walls - E. Brittain Locating Walls In Basments - A. McNeil Ground Rod Driver - B. Setliff One Man Wire Pull Ground Rod In Frozen Ground - H. Hanson Straighten Your Mangled Fish Tape - S. Albergo Use Cloth Bag For Photocell Test - S. Albergo Use #12 To Fish Insulated Walls - Jack Leave Plastic Wrap on Spring Nut - D. Kellerman-Smith How To Get Obstructions Out Of Pipe - M. Vervotte Fishing Insulated Walls - Mark D. Shepard Use Compact Mirror to see in wall - Richard Epley Removing 'Chico' with Ease - Richard Epley Mark Wirenuts With Pen - Norm Grimsby Fishing An Eave - Bryan Schneider Amps By Multiplication PVC Thread-in Connector Lube - EMS Smoothing Sharp Boxes - Scott A Good Way To Bend Wiremold - GR Friscia Use Bulb To Check Short Circuit - Brian Drumm Fishing Alone Made Easy - Brian Drumm Modify your cutting pliers to retain wire pieces - Dave Weaver Replacing residential switch boxes - Bart Johnson Use Wire Nut to push Wire - Mel Halcom Use Copper Tubing To Set Ground Rod - Robert W. Lifting Wire Spools With Less Ache - Andy Bailey Perfect Templet For Recess Cans - Shawn Use A Rubber Ball For Clean-Up - Rod Fleming Galvanized Wire Twister - Allen Barnett Portable Dust mask in your Hardhat - M. Blanford Cutting EMT with a Tubing Cutter - Shawn Moffitt Hammer Through Block Walls - Randy Dillon Use Bender To Bend PVC - Lynn Foley Use Pliers To Ream Pipe - Randy Adkins Easy Way To Set Nail-In Anchors - Eric Aubrey Cutting Sealtight With Ease - C Beals Put Plumber's Scraps To Good Use  Laser-Pointer Pipe Runs - S. Lizewski 90° Bends Simplified - J. Carns   Use a Ballon to Plug Unused Conduits   Another Repair For Acoustical Tile - B. Zannone   Keep Your Strands Together - M. Blanford   Removing Miniature Bulbs w/ Ease - Orlando E.   Driving Ground rods With Ease - Joel Smith   Cutting Through Fire Walls With Ease - Tazman   Use Oven Mitt To Form PVC - M. Blandford How To Match 90º Bends With Ease - T. Chism   Wire Marking Chipboards Make Great Snakes - John Gunn   Hard To Fish Conduit - (Joe Scerbo)   Use A Plastic Bag For A Mouse -(Laine Peterson) Use Paper to Hold Screw on Screwdriver - (A. Herron)  Use a Flat Boring Bit to Fish - (Marty Sigarto) Getting fish tape through a hard pipe - (Kelly La Rue) Cutting Conduit Made Easy - (B Jones) Untwisting wires made easier - (C Beals) Use PVC to punch under sidewalk - (Garald Smalling) Easier way to use drive pins - ( Tony Herron) Use wirenut to correct threads - (Tom Kallman) Use Paper To Catch Debris - (T Chism) Production PVC Bends - (Ken Depue) Use Duct Strap For Positioning Spring Nuts No pull for underground services - (C Beals) Reusable Splitbolt Bugs - (T Chism) Crazy Bars - (C Beals) Easy labeling for NMC - (Fred White) Easy clean up - (HWSparks) Slip joint pliers used to ream conduit - (Bill Butler) How to make a stand light - (Alan Buchanan) Paint boxes for ease of identifying Straightening a coiled up fish tape - (Scott Lear) Knock-out removal made easy - (EC Mag) Use a coat hanger to drill - (Ken Depue) Putting holes in drywall - (Ken Depue) Make template to hang lights - (Ken Depue) Handy notepad - (Ken Depue) Drilling in reverse saves saw (Ken depue) Use coat hanger to fish - (Kenneth Cronce) Extend life of saw blades Installing MC with ease (Mark Tidmore) Find phase by dividing (T Chism) Use conduit bender as a vise - (H.W. Sparks) Take the edge off of nylon ties - (H.W. Sparks) Make wire pulling smoother Prevent tangled wires How to protect your 7/8 hole saw How to repair bent/twisted fish tape How to pull cables across existing ceilings How to repair underground PVC pipes Making large panel covers easier to access Using cotton string to cut PVC pipe Keep wires dry How to hook your fish tape Identify boxes (T Chism)

How to striaghten your fish tape - A thompson No chuck key handy? - K. Depue Enlarging holes with a hole saw Bending PVC without a bender - J. Taber Easy Method for Connecting Motors - D. Cramer Another way of straightening a Fish Tape - J. Grimes Mark rope to identify end of wire pull - L. Shorts Bend PVC pipe using truck exhaust - B. Heller No hex key? - Bill Fishing Frozen Pipes - J. De Melo Easy Drilling Into Concrete - B. Frank Lube NM Cable For Ease -  M. Brown A Flashlight Can Help You Fish - M. Brown Pushing Wires Through Short Runs of Conduit - M. Newberry Switch Motion Lights - B. Bamford Quick Rubber Cutting - K. Vienneau Make A Close Nipple - J. Ivy Removing Lime From Water Heaters Fast Wire Respooling - P. Zumwalt Use Arc Tube To Sharpen Knife Use Tape On Holesaw In Live Panel - C. Beals Insulate Your Screwdriver - E. Finkelstein Plugging Sheetrock Holes - B. Bamford Use Tennis Ball To Pull Cable Use C-Clamp in Tight Stud Spaces - S. Voegel Tight Spot Nailing - J. Fiala Forgot to mark your wire pull - J. Bowe Use Bender To Aid In Bending PVC - J. Fisher Plastic Wire Spool Secret - Brenda Using Old Conduit in Old Houses - P. Clayton Untwisiting Twisted Cable - A. Balduc Use Whitney Punch for Washers - S. Albergo A Continous Wire Feed for Nipples - S. Albergo Temporary Splitbolts - Kevin Haskins Use Excel To make Panel Schedules Use EMT to make Deep Socket - Jess Estrada Use Tape Measure to find Circuit Color - Corey Lutters Pulling Heavy Gauge Cable Manually & Efficiently - M. Hilbert Keep Pipe Racks Even And Straight - Kenny Wilee Wire Nut Driver Save Time With Index Cards - Bassjigger Use Plastic Bottle To Help Fish Tape in Big Pipe - Chris F Use #2 To Grind Paint Off - R. Becker Locating Attic Locations With Ease - Jerry Weems Easy Wire Pulls In PVC - Bruce Toward 5/16 Nutdriver for wirenuts - E.D. Blacker Instant Allthread Nut Spinner - Lawrence Easy Bend For PVC Conduit - James Dekanich No More Sharp Edges On Tie Wraps - Jay Davis Making Holes In wall - Gardner R. Friscia Use Hanger To Find Wall Location - James M. Knecht Use Milk To Drill Stainless Steel Use Strain Reliefs In Correct K.O.s' - A.C. Indicator bulb Removal - J. Gouveia Keep Threaded Rod From Rolling Use Ceiling Grid Wire to Fish Walls - Tisha Greer Strip Wire, Then Push - Shawn Moffitt Fishing NM to existing J Boxes - Michael Lenherr Difficult Fish, Done Easier - Jack Fisher Use Magnet To Clean Metal Shavings - E. Aubry Tape Measure Note Pad - M. Blanford A Driller's Helper Use Pull String to Pull Wire - J. Carns Use KO Filler To Enlarge Hole How To Keep Blueprints Wrinkle-Free  Repair for Acoustical Tile - Kevin C. Self-Holding Scewdriver - Bruce H. Necessary Tool for Clean-up - HW Sparks Terminating Stranded Wire Under A Device - T. Rust Use Cosecant For Multiplier Use Stick Ruler To Find Degrees Use A Tank To Pull Cable Finding A Lost Wire Or Box - Bill Davis Sealtight Hacksawing Made Easy - (John Ellett) Threading PVC Coated Pipe - (Joe Scerbo) Drywall Biscuits For Old Work - (Steve Miller) Find Boxes After The Drywallers - (Ken D.) Use Morse Code - (Ken Depue) How to replace a broken light bulb - (C. Gilchrist) Use a Torpedo to find back of conduits Use Vise-Grip to hold box - (S. Albergo) How To Keep Cables Straight in Tray - ( M Mendoza) PVC to EMT Transitions - ( Michael Tomashowski) Use Magnet To Collect Shavings Use Tape MeasureTo Fish - (T Chism) Anti-Itch Remedy For Insulation Professional Off-sets - (Dan Calloway) Drilling for a Service Riser Color Blue Prints for Easy Use How to bend conduit with wire - (T Chism) Stranded wire hooks - (Chris Beals) A good way to ream rigid conduit - (CNJ) Penetrations through fire-rated walls - (Bill Butler) Reduce friction when drilling How to make a circular snake holder Twisting wires on fish tape - (T Chism) Use insulation to cover burrs Make use of an old tape measure - (T Chism) Use wire to fix rec. - (Ken Depue) Hang cans with ease - (T Chism) Use a small pulley to pull wire Reinforcing sledgehammer handle Ease of troubleshooting for photocells Use duct tape to remove adhesive A different way to ream EMT - (vortecs10) Liquid soap is no lubricant - (vortecs10) Duct seal helps hole sawing Vinegar cleans out old compound Repair marked up acoustical tile How to keep rust off your tools Safer fishing in live panels Stop stripping threads on quickbolts Use the phone to identify wiring Use a magnet to keep screws handy (T Chism) Installing box supports (T Chism)

If you have any  Tricks of the Trade you would like to add, please fill out the submission form.
This page is updated monthly.

Back to Main Page

2007, Electricians' Toolbox Etc...

Design by TC .