Vde tools? If all working is after safe isolation, why spend extra money on insulated tools? Is it all just a money making wheeze from the tool makers, or is there anyone out there bar dno guys that work live and need the protection?
What's the point of this?
- Thread starter cajar
- Start date
I chose to use them, so on those rare occasion when absent mindedness has taken place or something is amiss, that I have some protection against a potential belt!
And are they really that much more expensive, if we take brand to brand likeness between uninsulated and insulated?
Maybe a set of 10 might be an extra £10-15, prefer to pay the money than be potential toast!
And are they really that much more expensive, if we take brand to brand likeness between uninsulated and insulated?
Maybe a set of 10 might be an extra £10-15, prefer to pay the money than be potential toast!
I would think solid chrome-vanadium screwdrivers would be quite expensive.
So, there you are, It's cheaper.
If you, cejar, would like to buy and use some solid metal ones please let us know when you receive your first shock because you made a mistake.
So, there you are, It's cheaper.
If you, cejar, would like to buy and use some solid metal ones please let us know when you receive your first shock because you made a mistake.
That assumes the first shock would be non fatal.
It's also so that all the DNO staff that work live can do safely.
Originally in the UK there was only one company supplying them -Insulated Tools Ltd who still supply the best quality stuff. Now there are a few more on the market but quality can vary
Originally in the UK there was only one company supplying them -Insulated Tools Ltd who still supply the best quality stuff. Now there are a few more on the market but quality can vary
In an ideal world "safe isolation" would mean that what you are working on IS ISOLATED and WILL STAY ISOLATED but we don't live in an ideal world.
In reality locks can be cut off. People can use widowmakers. Circuits can be fed by multiple breakers due to mistakes by people who previously worked on the installation, neutrals may become live when disconnected (despite being dead at isolation time) due to borrowed neutrals, cables and breakers may be misidentified (this is esepcially an issue if the circuit is already isolated for other work when you arrive or if you have to cut a cable you can't see either end of) and last but by no means least people simply forget things.
IMO staying safe (in general, not just electrically) is largely about staying at least two screwups away from injury. That way when a screwup happens you are still one screwup away from injury. Working only one screwup away from injury is something that should be avoided wherever possible.
I would imagine most electricians who have done commerical/industrial work will at the very least have changed a breaker in a live distribution board.
How about when you are working in an enclosure which has live terminals such as a consumer unit.
A VDE screwdriver isn't as likely to cause a short between a live-neutral or live-earth as a cheap metal screwdriver hence you are less likely to have molten metal in your face.
A VDE screwdriver isn't as likely to cause a short between a live-neutral or live-earth as a cheap metal screwdriver hence you are less likely to have molten metal in your face.
Did you know, BTW, that if you generate a 1kA fault like that, then in less than 10s it releases as much energy as is contained in a stick of dynamite?
I think I'll stick with my VDE tools thanks 
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