Your Dream Practical Kit

rochem

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to help build a "practical kit" for a theatre where I do some work. What kinds of things would you want included in your "dream" practical kit? I'm mostly talking about expendables such as wire nuts and butt splices, but suggestions of specialty tools are also welcome. I have a pretty healthy budget for this, and while I already have some obvious things, I'm curious what y'all would want included.
 
Thats kinda a tough question, as I don't have a dedicated "practical" kit, but I do have some things in my kit intended for practicals.

I have a pair of chain pliers for opening/closing chandelier chain, and I always to have a GOOD combo tool to crimp/cut/strip and cut down machine screws. My favorite is the Greenlee 1923. If one does a LOT of insulated crimps, I could see a ratchet crimper being useful.

Maybe a soldering iron and associated paraphernalia? But that tends to be more props/electronics, for me at least.

While I will admit I do sometimes carry a small selection of crimp terminals and butt splices, for quick repairs and small personal projects, big jobs should NOT be supplied by you. Wire nuts and crimps are an expendable, and the shop should be supplying those things, or at the very least, quickly reimbursing you for the expenses, but I rarely recommend that.
 
I work at a theatre that does a variety of practical installations depending on the show. For example our current show has 8 standard A lamps on various pieces of scenery, but in November we mounted The Producers which had a whopping 1,200 lamps and 500 feet of rope light installed in the set. To help us work more efficiently I have built a special tool bag just for wiring practicals (and in-the-air repairs).

To start it has a good pair of wire strippers/crimper. There is nothing worse that a sucky pair of wire strippers! I also have a plastic organizer with small compartments that contains fork terminals, circle terminals, flag terminals, butt splices, wire nuts, and an assortment of replacement parts (screws and strain relief) for 2p&g connectors. For my terminals, butt splices and wire nuts I always have a good amount of 12-10 AWG (yellow), 16-14 AWG (blue), and 22-18 AWG (red).

In the bottom of the bag I toss a few Edison and 2p&g connectors, both male and female as well as Barbizon's Electricians Pocket Book. Add a multi-meter and you should have a very solid repair kit/practical kit.

As far as stocking bases and cable, it really depends on the job and I always consider that in my show budget when specing out a design.
 
Loose the wire nuts and stock up on these: Wago Lever Nuts they're UL Listed and work with wire down to 12 AWG and are the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to joining 2 or more wires together. They're much faster to install and they grip the wire much better than wire nuts. They are a little bigger than wire nuts but they do less damage to the wire so its easier to undo and redo your wiring if you need to make changes. And they even have a little opening for you to shove your meter probe into for testing.
 
Anderson connectors (and the associated very expensive crimper that is used with them) are the only method I reccomend using to make temporary connections in practicals. I've used the various spades and disconnects, but they just do not last anywhere near as long and are much harder to connect/disconnect. Unfortunately the crimper is ~$200.00
 
Loose the wire nuts and stock up on these: Wago Lever Nuts they're UL Listed and work with wire down to 12 AWG and are the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to joining 2 or more wires together. They're much faster to install and they grip the wire much better than wire nuts. They are a little bigger than wire nuts but they do less damage to the wire so its easier to undo and redo your wiring if you need to make changes. And they even have a little opening for you to shove your meter probe into for testing.

Heyo, cool! Thanks!
 
The Wago Lever Nuts are great speaking from the one time I've worked with them. Be sure to have a small flat screwdriver with you to open them up without taking a fingernail off.
 
The Wago Lever Nuts are great speaking from the one time I've worked with them. Be sure to have a small flat screwdriver with you to open them up without taking a fingernail off.

I've found the screwdriver method tends to cause more damage to my fingers that just snapping the levers down. Anderson connectors work great except they are a one time use only, they are expensive and there are different versions depending on amperage.

ETC supplies lever locks with termination kits for Unison systems, and Ive taken to buying them in bulk for my theatre as well. Its great to not have to find the correct sized wirenut when you are in a rush to get something wired up.

One other thing that are a must in my kit are wire ferrules. Putting them in terminal blocks makes life so easy and you dont need to worry about deforming the wire to fit in a lug.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back