We are all familiar with the 500w halogen work lights around that are the standard in lighting any unfinished space. These things are cheap, a heavy duty grade version goes for around $12 at Ohio Power Tool and certainly they can drop well below that for the lower quality units. The problem is these things get knocked around, become wobbly and quickly unsafe. Not to mention the flaming hot bulb inside that can start a fire within seconds of contact to anything flammable. Couple that with the bulbs that break if you sneeze too hard around them and it seems to be a pretty inefficient light source but cheap no question so we put up with it. The new Voltec 180 LED Worklight 08-00703 ($79, Ohio Power Tool) does offer some serious improvements over the status quo.

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Posted by Jay Amstutz at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 
It’s almost funny just how disposable extension cords are considered on large jobsites. Mostly due to these items just magically growing legs and walking off, never to make it back to the tool crib after even just 1 job. It is because of this many purchasers try to go as cheap as possible when it comes to extension cords. The result is this often means safety and efficient features such as GFCIs, lighted ends, 3-outlet, All-Flex insulation, E-ZEELOCK, etc might get skipped all together. What’s the point if they are only going to last a fraction of their life expectancy anyway?

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Posted by Jay Amstutz at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A very important part of any tool’s performance is getting it enough power to run correctly however it is a consideration which is sometimes overlooked. We wanted to quickly cover some of the basics and things to consider when purchasing and/or using extensions with various power tools.

The simple calculation for figuring your power needs is Watts/110 = Amps (or Amps x 110 = Watts). Each power cord will have a maximum Amperage rating which is a function of gauge thickness (thicker the cord, lower the gauge number) and length. As electricity travels the length of the cord, power is enviably lost so it is critical to always get a cord rated higher than your tool requires. Another consideration is if you use 2 or 3 cords together the Amperage rating will drop noticeably, which seems to slip people’s minds from time to time. Here is a voltage loss calculator if you want to get real scientific but that is most certainly overkill.

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Posted by Jay Amstutz at 04:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)