Electrician Tool Reviews & Buying Guides

When you talk to electricians, tools become a sort of sacred thing. Everyone has their favorites. Still, we have swayed more than one journeyman by placing a new tool in his hands. Our electrical tool reviews aim to reveal what electricians think about new products coming to market.
Our hands-on electrical tool reviews take things like press tools and metal hole saws and find out if they work faster than existing products. Manufacturers are quick to make claims, but testing those claims is what helps Pros and know if a tool can cut it in the field. Our Pro electricians work with us to determine whether or not new tools are accurate, ergonomic, and/or just plain helpful.

Makita HM0870C 11 lb Demolition Hammer Preview

Makita HM0870C 11 lb Demolition Hammer Preview

At the 2011 World of Concrete (WoC) show this year, Makita unleashed a new hard hitting demolition hammer that uses less weight to accomplish more. The demo hammer, which accepts SDS-Max bits, weighs only 11.1 lbs. and is ideally suited for horizontal work and jobs where you just don’t want to lift a heavier hammer off the ground. The new tool comes with an Electronic Speed Control that automatically applies additional power to the motor to maintain speed under load to complete the most challenging jobs. It also features a soft start motor to suppress start-up reaction and current draw for more control and better accuracy.

Milwaukee True RMS Fork Meter 2205-20 Review

Milwaukee True RMS Fork Meter 2205-20 Review

When we first set eyes on the Milwaukee 2205-20 Fork Meter, we thought it was a quaint tool – but its compact size is in stark contrast to its impressive feature set. Turns out, this is a rugged compact CAT IV electricians tool that has lots of great features, not the least of which are an integrated LED work light and reverse white-on-black LCD display. After using it over the past few weeks, we’ve come to appreciate its convenience and size as well as the way it makes one-handed measurements both possible and practical.

Milwaukee Voltage Detector w/LED (2202-20) Review

Milwaukee Voltage Detector w/LED (2202-20) Review

The Milwaukee 2202-20 Voltage Detector with LED light is a simple, but perfectly useful tool. It’s strength is in the fact that it does what it needs to without frills and without costing an arm and a leg. It’s powered by a couple of AAA batteries and is small and light enough to store in a pocket, tool belt or just about anywhere.

Skil 6716 Impact Hammer Drill Preview

Skil Impact Drill 6716 Preview

The Skil 6716 16mm Impact Drill is new and joins the 6002 and 6006 in the company’s lineup of products designed to provide more efficient and powerful drilling into masonry and metals such as steel plate. This new hammer drill extendings the company’s existing range of 10mm and 13mm impact drills. Positioned at the top of Skil’s lineup, the 6716 hammer drill has a powerful and reliable 710 W motor with an all-metal bearing system. It offers the highest rotation speed (up to 3200 rpm) and impact rate (51,200 bpm) in its class for efficient metal and masonry drilling.

Makita Drywall Screwdriver FS6200TP Quick Look

Makita FS6200TP Drywall Screwdriver Preview

Makita’s new drywall screwdriver line comes with an impressive new lightweight design. There are three new models and each features a 6-amp motor, aluminum gear housing, adjustable depth locator, and LED work light. The only difference between models is the maximum speed (which of course begs the question: why not one tool with three settings?). The FS6200 delivers 0-6,000 RPM while the FS4200 delivers 0-4,000 RPM – and both weigh just 2.9 lbs. The FS2200 delivers 0-2,500 RPM and weighs 3.5 lbs. Makita also provides several model options: The FS4200A features a 50 ft. cord and the FS4200TP a 50 ft. twist lock cord. The FS6200TP also features a 50 ft. twist lock power cord.

A.W. Sperry CS550A Circuit Breaker Finder

AW Sperry CS550A Circuit Breaker Finder

When it comes to identifying circuit breakers in an existing home, using a circuit breaker finder may be the easiest way to make a difficult and tedious project as simple as possible. By using a transmitter and receiver, a circuit breaker finder like the A.W. Sperry CS550A quickly and easily identifies individual branch circuits at the panel box without interrupting power. It is quite simply the easiest, if not best way to accurately locate circuit breakers. The system is compact in size and extremely easy to use and locates both AC Breakers and Fuses.