macmikeman

Carry an Olympus voice recorder around in your pocket and you can make hours of voice notes . For instance, one folder for recording how long typical tasks takes you to accomplish. Use another folder to record pipe measurements, another to record voice notes about what you need to bring to the job when you come back to it, you get it...

wayni

What color for 1/4-20 rod? Your post doesn't say and I'm anxious to try this out.

Thanks!

220/221

I have HUNDREDS. Where to start?

Trying to get a KO out of the back of an installed box? Run a short self tapper into the appropriate place and grab it with your sidecuts/needlenose.

Ever have to wrap rigid pipe?

Lay it on flat ground (concrete/asphalt). Start your tape at one end (left side for right handers). Give it one wrap to secure it, pull out about 4-5 feet at a 45 degree angle and roll the conduit with your foot as you keep the tape taut and move it along to the other end. Once you get the hang of it, it's WAY faster than even a threader head.

Running lots of (smaller) PVC? Glue as much as you can together from ONE spot. Lay the PVC with the belled ends behind you. Tape the leading end of the first piece to keep debris out and slide it away from you. Put glue on 4 or five ends at a time, couple together, slide down and repeat. If you have a hard surface and limited obstruction you can put together 100' plus feet of pipe from one location. No laying out individual pieces and bending down in the dirt every 10 feet and the chance of getting debris in the conduit is seriously reduced. I think I am the only one who has figured this one out.

Removing a remodel style recessed can? Use a short piece of fish tape with an "L" bent into it. Stick it in he clip and pull down.

Cutting an emt stub with wires in it? If you can't use a tubing cutter you can slip a smaller piece of emt over the wires to protect them and sawsall away.

Have to fish a long distance thru an attic or grid ceiling? Use 1/2 " PVC, tape together at the belled ends one at a time as you manuver/ push them towad your destination. You can do 30/40 feet easily. 50/60 feet in good conditions.

Crap. It's 1 AM and I have to work tomorrow.

sparkysteve

Here's a table that came on the back of a business card that came with my do-dog level. I keep it in my wallet, and it comes in very handy.

Attached Files

Bending table.doc (16.0 KB, 684 views)

480sparky

Ever have a bunch of receptacles that there's a short in the circuit?

DON"T start at one end and work you way to the other. You'll end up taking 3/4th of them apart before finding the short.

Take a minute and imagine how it was originally wired. Chances are, it's close to the way you would do it. Now try to find what you think is the receptacle in the middle of the circuit. Take it apart and check for a short.

If the short still trips the breaker, the problem is between you and the panel. If the problem goes away, it's further downstream.... Either way, you've eliminated half the circuit already!

Continue breaking the remaining portion of the circuit in half. Even if there's 20 devices in the circuit, you can isolate the problem by checking just 3 or 4 of them.

__________________
In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

CADPoint

Variable on this theme,use a scrap piece of 1/2" or 3/4" EMT back of end of Pipe 5"+ - bend a 45º, go 3-4" bend another 45º,
then go out 7-8" for another 45º a total of 3 hips and valley and bend the last 45º staight (to match beginning)
-\/\/\/- Basiclly looks like the high tech bar bell for weights, works great and one might have to straighten out or run a metal fish through a few times, but it will take most of them out

480sparky

Always pack a digital camera, and don't be afraid to use it!

Pix of a garage before sheetrock:


Pix after Sheetrock:


By having the 'before' photo, I knew exactly where to cut them out!

__________________
In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

JohnJ0906

A camera is also a good way to document damages before repair.

__________________
John from Baltimore
"One day at a Time"
All responses based on the '08 NEC
It's not my fault, it's not my problem, I'm not your solution.

480sparky

Or damages due to shipping.

__________________
In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

JohnJ0906

I have never thought of that. That is a durn good idea!

__________________
John from Baltimore
"One day at a Time"
All responses based on the '08 NEC
It's not my fault, it's not my problem, I'm not your solution.

Speedy Petey

On a note from another thread...

I have a Palm T/X and a Treo 680 phone. I got a program called LectriCalc for them. It's a very cool little program that does TONS of calculations and formulas. It's like an Ugly's book in my phone.
Along with the Palm OS program it also came with a desktop version for my laptop.

Resiguy

Back to back 90's made quick and easy....

Measure the distance from connector to connector, add 7" to that, then cut the pipe at that mark. Bend 90's in toward each other at both ends of the pipe. You'll have a perfect back to back run without any couplings inbetween. This works using 1/2" conduit.

leftyguitarjoe

Wiring multi-gang boxes:

Lets say you have a 4 gang with 8 pieces of 2 wire coming in the top and 8 more on the bottom (a REALLY cramped box). Make up all grounds first. To get the other wires neatly out of your way, fold the wires coming in from the top down to the bottom, and the opposite for the wires coming in from the bottom. Neutrals next. Be careful not to cross circuits. Try to stagger the wirenuts so that not all of them are behind where a device will be. To shove wires into the box without damaging them, use the handle of a hammer, but make sure it is rubber coated. And most importantly.....

ONE WIRE AT A TIME.
and label wires. there are alot of scabs that don't.

brian john

Lefty:

Do yourself a favor drop that word SCAB..

TOOL_5150

What does it mean? Is it a slur or racial comment?

Havent heard that word used before.

~Matt

brian john

Typically it is a derogatory term utilized by Union members for open shop workers.

Resiguy

Not nessesarly a derogatory term if you know true the meaning of it. At least not where I come from.
Dictionary.com defines it as follows...
scab noun, verb, scabbed, scab·bing.
–noun 4.a worker who refuses to join a labor union or to participate in a union strike, who takes a striking worker's place on the job, or the like.

I don't believe Lefty was knocking on anyone, just underskilled labor.
Union workers that I know don't TYPICALLY pick on the non union worker in any serious manor because you can bet half of the union consists of former non-union workers. While I was an a apprentice, most of my class previously worked at non union shops. And when I asked them why they came to the union...
To name just a few,
They all wanted more money, more work, better job security, benefit's, training and better working contidions.
In 10 years I've never met a union guy whom thought a non union guy was any better or worse than himself.
Do yourself a favor and don't be so quick to judge or categorise a Union worker as a "typical minded" person.
Not all Union members love their Union and tend to think alike as one may perceive such as youself.
To tell you the truth, I personally do not like the "Union" or what you might call the "typical union worker", partly because Unions protect the lazy deadbeat good for nothing worker and the corrupt representivite jerks whom both take advantage of the system thus giving the hard working worthy union guy a bad name,
...now if it wasn't for the excessive amount of these individuals....

brian john

Typically it is a derogatory term utilized by Union members for open shop workers.

I doubt he met anything against any type of worker either, but it is a work related term that is used in a derogatory manner for open shop workers. There are many other terms that do not have the cross over of scab. Such as SLACKER

Resiguy

Tyically the only prople whom take offence by this term are the people whom are scabs...temporarily underpaid underskilled band-aides. Is there a nicer term for this type of person?

Here in Illinois the non-union are called RATS. Not Scabs.

Wireless

The easiest way is to thread the fish tape through the holes in the back of a piece of uni-strut, and then slide it across the whole fish tape.