Tricks of the trade

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e57

Senior Member
I'm sure a few of us have a few... It's a neat list.... Some I do - like lubing NM.... Some seem a little off...

Some interesting ones came up on another site I think...
  • Dropping sash wieghts down a wall to fish wire (Maybe someone here?)
  • Hammer-drill with a chisle tip to tighten lock nuts (Tried it on 3" RMC - worked great!)
  • Greenlee level makes a good stud finder - locate the screws with the magnets (I've found buried metal boxes with it too...)
 

Jon456

Senior Member
Location
Colorado
Some good tips, but also some bad ones...

"Cut a piece of romex the same length of your screwdriver shaft and remove the wire from it. Slide it onto your screwdriver and you have a safer, insulated tool for working in a panel or any other live situation."

This sounds downright dangerous. A screwdriver with a loose piece of romex insulation floating on the shaft while working in a live panel? Even if it were taped I wouldn't trust it. Isn't your life worth the cost of a properly insulated screwdriver?

"To splice telephone or smaller guage uf cable-first cut the cable in half if its not already,then slide a 1" pvc pipe over one end of the broken cable,stagger the wires and reconnect with wirenuts or crimps {non watertight} slide the pvc pipe over the splice area leaving about 4" past the splice on both sides,using great stuff foam sealant put the straw in one end of the pipe and tape it to seal it to the pipe, fill the pipe with the sealant until it come out the other side of the pipe,let it dry 10 minutes and cover with dirt. This splice is very cheap and has NEVER failed me"

I doubt this would be code compliant for UF. And I question the longevity of such a splice even for telephone cables.

"After heating PVC and making your desired bend rub the area with PVC glue. The pipe will cool in seconds."

First thing, PVC pipe is not glued, it's solvent welded. So that "PVC glue" he's referring to is actually PVC solvent (which is designed to chemically melt the PVC plastic). I can think of at least five reasons why this is a bad tip: (1) Applying PVC solvent to the bend will damage & weaken the PVC pipe; (2) It's expensive to waste solvent like that; (3) It's bad for your health & the environment (why put all those solvents in the air -- and your lungs -- if you don't have to?); (4) It's messy having melted PVC gooping everywhere; (5) For visible installations, it makes the PVC pipe look bad (and it'll make your work appear very sloppy). So what's wrong with a rag soaked in plain 'ole cold water?

"Here is an alternative to extensive digging when repairing damaged underground PVC pipes of any size. Cut out the bad section of pipe, then cut a new pipe to fit. Ream out the ridge in the center of the two couplings, apply pulling soap, and slide completely over each end of pipe. Set in new section of pipe and use hammer to slide couplings into the proper position."

I'll bet they have a heck of a time getting a good, watertight solvent weld on those two couplers after coating the insides with pulling soap. Anyway, a solvent weld cannot be made after the couplers are in position on the pipe; the solvent must be applied to both the inside of the fitting and the outside of the pipe (to the full depth of the fitting) and then the pipe quickly inserted all the way into the fitting with a quarter turn.

I'm sure there are other bad tips there; I haven't read them all yet.
 

Jon456

Senior Member
Location
Colorado
wasasparky said:
Does the "straighten your mangled fishtape" trick really work?

That should work as long as the fishtape is only bent in the direction (or opposite direction) of the side that wraps up in the reel (i.e., not bent sideways).

Where he talks about a "snake shape", what he's describing is a zig-zag pattern.
 

Rockyd

Senior Member
Location
Nevada
Occupation
Retired after 40 years as an electrician.
The real trick is to recognize what will, and won't work in practical installation! Cool to look for new ideas though to be on to thinking outside the box.

Conceptuallity, first

Is it safe, second

Is it legal, when complete.
 
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