Do you really need insulated tools?

[Pete999]

Lol not a bad wine Pete

very nice thanks no too expensive

 

[Dustydazzler]

2 or 3 pairs of blown up side cutters say yes insulated tools have their place in site

 

[telectrix]

Lol not a bad wine Pete

this is posh . 1 bottle sold for $500,000 in 1992:

mind you that was a charity auction with american (stupid) punters. probably pick one up for $100,000.

 

[telectrix]

all missed the point. we use VDE tools so we look better more professional than the wet pants.

 

[littlespark]

That is exactly right @telectrix
It gives the impression of professionalism to customers and lesser trades.

 

[D Skelton]

I'll always remember one of the first jobs I was left alone to do when I was still an apprentice. Needed to rip out the kitchen electrics so started by knocking off the whole place at the main switch (the flat was empty). Live dead live. Good to go...

First socket I come to I'm unscrewing the terminals and out pop the cables... BANG!

Called the gaffer (he was in one of the other flats), he was livid, stupid blimmin' apprentice can't even turn off the sockets! He comes over to sort my mess out.

Turns out all the kitchen sockets were fed from the flat downstairs. My VDE screwdriver most likely saved my life.

 

[DPG]

I'll always remember one of the first jobs I was left alone to do when I was still an apprentice. Needed to rip out the kitchen electrics so started by knocking off the whole place at the main switch (the flat was empty). Live dead live. Good to go...

First socket I come to I'm unscrewing the terminals and out pop the cables... BANG!

Called the gaffer (he was in one of the other flats), he was livid, stupid blimmin' apprentice can't even turn off the sockets! He comes over to sort my mess out.

Turns out all the kitchen sockets were fed from the flat downstairs. My VDE screwdriver most likely saved my life.

Shows the importance of performing safe isolation first.

 

[D Skelton]

Shows the importance of performing safe isolation first.

I did (at least I though I had at the time), at the board.

But yeah, you're right.

 

[David Prosser]

I did (at least I though I had at the time), at the board.

But yeah, you're right.

Great lesson there, proving dead at the board is not proving dead and identifying the isolation correctly at the specific point of work. Feed from another DB (even whilst being labelled otherwise) is reasonably uncommon in domestic work but it is an all too common problem in commercial or industrial work.

In theory we shouldn't need insulated tools 99% of the time but we know we like to have for the just in case.

 

[Sparkingmad]

Reminds me of a commercial strip out and renovation on a club. Stripping out the lights my mate said I’ve killed the lights which I knew were on when we turned up
And were now off. Still used my voltage meter but school boy error or complacency on my part tested live to earth only dead. Cut the cable Big Bang then silence! All the power went off, then a receptionist comes in and says all the computers have gone off and the lights. I know that they have their own 3 phase board which came off a different area to ours. Took another look at my brand new knipex cutters which were totally blown to pieces. Long story short the dimmer packs somehow were switching but not the outgoing neutrals and these were in fact 230v. I took out the main incoming 200A supply and know if I wasn’t using VDE tools it would have been a different outcome and I wouldn’t be alive to tell today. So now it’s test live to earth, live to neutral and neutral to earth before doing anything

 

[Zerax]

For me... part of having VDE tools is that it's easier to tell others which bag tools go into... if they're insulated, they go in that bag... if not, they go in the other bag.

 

[JBW175]

i'm a fan of insulated tools for all occasions, watched one of my best mates put a none insulated screwdriver through a hole of a fuse carrier in a 3P DB.

don't know why he did it and nor does he, he was only meant to be pulling the fuses to isolate the fire pumps, he just had a moment of madness.

thankfully he's never done anything as bone since then; and the look of shear terror he had on his face after he received a belt has always served as a stark reminder of why we take electrical safety seriously...

over 20 years later we still give him sh@t about it.

 

[ElectroChem]

We use insulated tools for the same reason we prove dead after isolation.
Because "I thought it wasn't live" makes a shitty tombstone.

 

[Pete999]

i'm a fan of insulated tools for all occasions, watched one of my best mates put a none insulated screwdriver through a hole of a fuse carrier in a 3P DB.

don't know why he did it and nor does he, he was only meant to be pulling the fuses to isolate the fire pumps, he just had a moment of madness.

thankfully he's never done anything as bone since then; and the look of shear terror he had on his face after he received a belt has always served as a stark reminder of why we take electrical safety seriously...

over 20 years later we still give him sh@t about it.

If you didn't have insulated tools there would be nothing for Tool Tarts to collect.

 

[littlespark]

Disclaimer. The following is written very tongue in cheek. Don’t follow this advice!


Life hack!

if you need an insulated screwdriver.... you know, when you really really can’t be bothered to turn off the power.... (Fusebox is in the cupboard, under the stair. Need to shift all that stuff!)
Just get any normal screwdriver, and a roll of insulating tape!

 

[pc1966]

We use insulated tools for the same reason we prove dead after isolation.
Because "I thought it wasn't live" makes a shitty tombstone.

Sadly it is not just a joke:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/302726406188616489/

You have to admire the honesty there...

 

[Zenaku]

Insulated tools are needed for electronics weak to static discharge