Articles and whitepapers

Time to Get Tooled Up (1/4/2004)

By Adrienne Robins

Running and hiding wires and cables can be a time-consuming and labour-intensive task. What at first looks simple, can often disproportionately extend the time required to complete a project, and if you have not built this into your original price, it may end up costing you dear.

Having the correct tools to hand can go some, if not all, of the way to solving these all too frequent glitches. Fishing between levels, for example, is one of the most common snagging points. Wires can easily be lost or meet unexpected obstacles, and fish tape, although the product of choice for many years, does not always provide a means of overcoming such time-consuming problems.

Thankfully, the installation market has moved on, and alternative, more progressive tools and systems are available. The Labour Saving Devices range of wire and cabling tools is one such option that provides the installer with a number of systems to speed up and simplify even the most challenging installations. Installers can be forgiven for thinking that this is simply another range of basic tools, for there are many on the market, but a closer inspection will reveal that these are tools that have been developed by professional installers who understand the very real problems associated with cable and wire applications.

Let us return for a moment to the problems associated with basic fish tape. All too often, tape can become lost or difficult to retrieve from inside a wall, as well as getting stuck on unexpected obstacles. The Labour Saving Devices Creep-Zit kit, which consists of five 6ft green fibreglass rods, each with a diameter of 0.159", overcomes these problems and makes fish tape obsolete. Four of the rods have male/female screw-on connectors, and one has a female connector on one end and a bullnose head at the other for attaching wire. A 1ft ballchain attached to the bullnose grabs the wire when inside the wall while an 'eggbeater' shaped head is used as a guide to keep the rods from getting stuck on obstacles, and provides a 'wheel' to 'creep' from side to side.

the Labour Saving Devices Creep-Zit kit

Another valuable addition to the installers workbox is the Wall Eye. This is a periscope-type unit which incorporates a flashlight and mirror enabling the user to see inside walls, pipes or ceilings, via a 2" diameter hole. The Wall Eye is said to eliminate blind 'hits and misses' when searching for holes in fire blocks, top or bottom plates, studs or joists. According to Chris Metalle, Director of The Max Distribution, it is a must when fishing between the ceiling and upper floor. "Held with one hand, it lets you see the free hand and direct your fishing tool. Insert the end with the light and the mirror in the wall or ceiling, turn on the light switch, look into the peep hole at the opposite side, and the angled mirror and the light will reveal a well-lit wall cavity."

the Labour Saving Devices Wall Eye

The Identify-Zit kit is a similarly practical device. This has a decoder and 1 to 32 pre-numbered caps as either alligator clips, RJ45s, RJ11s or CAT5s, which eliminate the problem of trying to identify unmarked wire or cable runs. The decoder not only identifies up to 32 lines at a time, it also signals on the LED display if a specific run is open or shorted, or even if there is a resistance problem.

While all of these products can be specified as individual units, many installers will want to update their tools with an easy-to-specify kit system which they can rely on to meet all of their installation requirements. The Kary-Kit range offered by The Max Distribution for example, comprises everything needed for running and concealing wires in pre-wire or retrofit situations for empty walls, insulated walls, attics and crawl spaces, between baseboard and tack-strips, etc.

the Kary-Kit III installers tool kit

The Kary-Kit III, for instance, has been assembled specifically with the professional low-voltage wire and cable installer in mind. It comprises:

* TriScanner.
* Wet Noodle and Retriever.
* Pocket Hook Retriever.
* Creep-Zit Kit (Luminous).
* 3' Fibreglass Push/Pull Rod.
* 4' Fibreglass Luminous Push/Pull Rod.
* Grabbit 18' Pole.
* Rubber Caps for Grabbit.
* Set of 10 Spring Steel Wire Bits.
* Spear-Zit Bits: 3/8"x24", 1/2"x18".
* Freeform Bits: 3/8"x36", 3/8"x72", 1/2"x24".
* Auger Bit: 3/4"x18".
* Pro-Bore Kit.
* 6' Flexible Extension for 1/4" & 5/16" shafts.
* Directional Tool for Flex Bits.
* PullSleeve 3/4" & 1/2".
* Kari-Zit Extendible Carrying Case.

It may sound dramatic, but evidence from past users of the aforementioned equipment have reported a reduction in installation time by as much as 60%. And, if you can make time savings of this magnitude simply by specifying the right tools, just think of what it will do for your profit margins!

Adrienne Robins provides PR for The Max Distribution, UK distributor for Rockustics outdoor speakers, Labor Saving Devices specialist tools for installers, INCA TV and plasma lifts and Bohlender Graebener in-wall ribbon speakers.

The Max Distribution is no longer in buisness.