• D61 [any]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    Not that I have any links to share but any sources that explain how to properly use some more specialized tools/equipment, when they should be used, when they shouldn’t be used could fall under the category of “working safely.”

    As an example:

    I found that the little “non contact electrical current” tester pen that I bought recently and have been trying to use to do home repairs has some caveats about when it will give a false negative. I had skimmed dozens of “how-to’s” and only a few of them mentioned that using this tool to check electrical outlets won’t work if the outlets aren’t properly grounded (I live in a shitty shitty house, a chunk of the problems wind up being things not done properly). And I think the same thing might apply to checking Romex cables but I haven’t spent the time to try to find out for sure.

    • arcane potato (she/they)@vegantheoryclub.orgOPM
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      4 months ago

      Thanks for this super helpful comment! I had no idea that those pens required proper grounding, but I suppose that makes sense.

      From my understanding, you’d need a multimeter to check the grounding. While the pens might be handy, unless you’ve previously confirmed the grounding, they don’t seem especially useful.

      • D61 [any]@hexbear.net
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        4 months ago

        Yeah… who woulda thunk it, not building things to code causes problems down the line? Not my in-laws that’s for sure!