Ten Tools- "Day 5"

OK, so the whole ten day thing didn't work out at all but I am going to continue with my list of Ten Tools you should all have in your tool bag.  Today's tool is a flashlight.

There is one sure thing in maintenance, if it can happen it will and it will happen at the most inopportune time.  During my first winter working as a maintenance technician I got a no-heat call from a new resident.  It was about 11pm on Friday when the call came in so I headed out without all my tools, just my on-call bag, hoping it was something simple like a flame sensor.  When I arrived I found the gas valve was sticking.  I started to take it off so I could match it up back at our shop.  Somebody had put thread lock on the union threads so it was coming off real hard.  I gave it one final twist and the whole pipe came out of the floor!  You could hear the gas running out of the 3/4" pipe and I had just snapped off the shut off valve. 

I calmly (at least I think I was calm) asked the couple to step out into the hall while I ran downstairs to find the shut off.  Nobody had trained me to where the shut offs where for the buildings so I started making phone calls but nobody answered.  Because I didn't have my full tool bag I also didn't have much in the way of light.  I went running around the building, digging through the snow next to the gas meter's with a little pen light.  I had to get down on my knees just to see with that small light.  I finally found the valve about 10 minutes later and shut down the gas to the entire building.  I was soaking wet and freezing cold and had another two hours of fixing the pipe, fixing the gas valve, and relighting stoves for the entire building (my luck, it was the only building we had not switched over to electric ignition stoves) before I could go home and get warmed up.

The moral of the story is:  There are times when you need light and a lot of it.  I see most people using the flashlight from their cordless kit, which is great but they don't fit into an on-call bag very easy.  I would suggest everybody carries a quality hand held flashlight that isn't too bulky.  I have a Craftsman LED 160 lumen flashlight (Model #41-5900) that I love.  It is made of aircraft grade aluminum, is water resistant, and has a battery level indicator.  The flashlight puts out a ton of light also.  The aluminum is durable yet light and the design of the flashlight makes it real easy to put into your small bag. 

I have found that you can never have enough light.  Whether your crawling through a crawlspace, climbing through an attic, or stuffed into a base cabinet nothing is more frustrating than not being able to see that tiny screw head that has 10 layers of paint over it.  That is why I look for tools which incorporate a LED light. 

My screwdriver, cordless drill, and even my multi-meter feature a tiny work light.  I covered my cordless drill and multi-meter in my previous posts so I'll let you go back and look at those if you wish, however I think I should mention my screwdrivers here.  I have two screwdrivers which feature LED lights built into them.  The first is a Craftsman 6-1 lighted screwdriver (Model #35722).  It features a #1 and #2 Philips and slotted bit along with a 1/4" nut driver.  The handle is aluminum with rubber grips which is great for its durability but not so much fun out in the snow or when around electrical wires.  I also wish it had a 5/16 nut drive with it.  The three l.e.d. lights work great.  I also have a very similar screwdriver from Kobalt but I lost a bit and can't find the proper replacement.

Another great source of light is the head lamp.  I have had one in my small on-call bag for the last few years and they can be great while working on a furnace or under a sink.  Hands free operation is the key here.  I would suggest looking beyond the cheaper models here and go into a sporting goods store.  They sell high quality headlamps to sportsman for night fishing and animal tracking.  These models are heavier duty and more comfortable than the "Harbor Freight" specials. 

There are many different types of flashlights out there and I have tried a ton of them.  Tiny pen lights that you can keep in your pocket, magnetized, hooked, and flexible lighting, tripod lights, lights in your baseball cap, and even some that clip to the side of your glasses.  You are going to need to find out what is most comfortable for you.  Just remember not to just jump into something because it looks cool sitting on the hardware store counter.  Look at lumen, battery size, and other features to make sure that light is going to work the best for you.

I'm Back

Ok, so things got really crazy for the last couple of years but I am going to try and update this a few times a month from now on.
Here's the update:

I no longer work maintenance :(  It was a hard decision but I got a job offer to work as a construction manager from one of my vendors.  I have always been passionate about the construction industry and this was my chance to switch into the field I studied for.  However, I haven't strayed far from multi-family housing.

My new company acts as a general contractor for rehabilitation projects on apartment communities!  My experience working as a maintenance supervisor was one of the major reasons they hired me.  My job is to help organize and run a job from the planning stages right up to handing the keys over to the customer. 

The last year has flown by.  Along with learning a new job the company has paid for training for me which has included getting my builders license and fire and smoke restoration training.  I have been meeting a lot of new people in the industry and running all over the state gearing up jobs.

Right now I have two jobs going on, the first is a $4.6M rehab on a property which consists of 167 units in both a 3 story mid-rise and 18 townhomes.  We have been replacing cabinets, doors, shelving, electrical services, countertops, appliances, tubs, toilets, sinks, faucets, windows, flooring, ect, ect, ect.  The list is pretty extensive.  The second job is a $2.4M rehab in a 100 unit, 5 story mid-rise senior community.  The list is pretty much the same as above.

This job has been fun in that I get to know different maintenance teams and see how they operate.  I can also take my experience in the field and apply it when planning the jobs.  For instance we upgraded the bypass hardware to a system that more resembles pocket door hardware; the door has two- four wheeled trollies which can not fall out of the track.  This cuts out all the work orders for doors that have fallen off track.  The supervisor said they could get upwards of 10 per week before the change! 

So that's my update.  I start a new job in a few weeks and will get busy again.  Right now both of the jobs are winding down, which gives me some time to organize the future jobs and rest up for the next long haul.

Ten Tools Day 4 (about 3 weeks late!)

Sorry this is so late but we are going to pick up where we left off.  My fourth out of ten tools we all need in our bag is a cordless screwgun.  This could be the most valuable item in my bag.  I started out with a 12v Dewalt that worked well but sometimes just didn't have the power I wanted so I upgraged to an 18v Dewalt.  I stuck with the NiCad batteries for both.  I also got the Dewalt 18v impact driver which I love.  It is smaller and has more torque than a regular drill driver.

I have recently got on the smaller is better kick.  We carry our tools all over our properties every day and, frankly, I am tired of breathing hard when I get to that third floor apartment.  So I switched to a smaller tool bag, smaller hammer, smaller tape measure, and a smaller drill.

 Just this week I got a Rockwell RK2510K2.1 12v drill.  This is what I would call a "pocket driver" although it may be just a little too big for that category but it is still many times smaller and LIGHTER than Dewalts that I used before.  I am very impressed with this drill, it has no problem driving 3" screws, drilling countersunk holes, pretty much anything I need from it.  I don't know if it would put some 3/8" lags into a deck but short of anything heavy duty like that it is awsome.

                                                 

I think every maintenace tech should have a drill/driver in their tool bag.  There are many things you just can't do without them and cordless is the way to go.  Be sure to look carefully at the jobs you do and be sure you find the right tool.  There is nothing more disapointing that spending big money on a tool and find it won't do everything you need.  I think you need to seriously consider a name brand, contractor grade drill for this purchase.  I have owned Harbor Freight and Menards specials (not to say anything bad about the store they sell the Rockwell drill I am so excited about!) and they just don't handle the abuse for very long, they don't have the power of a heavy duty drill, and the batteries don't last near as long.  If all you have is enough for an off brand don't hesitate to get it but, if you can, save a couple weeks and get a Dewalt, Porter Cable, Craftsman, Rockwell, or any of the other name brands you won't regret it.

I would also like to put a link to a website I used to find this drill.  The website is called Tool Select.com and offers real world reviews of different tools.  I have been using this site for about two months now and have found it very helpful.  It allows you to compair tools and review them.   Its nice because all the tools are right there instead of having to search a few different web sites.  While their database is far from complete they add new stuff pretty often.  Also, for every tool you review you earn points toward a host of things in their store and its free!  They also have a great discussion board that covers everything from electrical to plumbing to fun tool talk.   Check it out!

Updated 11/3/2013:  Toolselect.com is no longer running.  I believe their website is still active but I don't know for how long.  I will be doing some research over the next couple weeks to try and find a new source for unbiased tool reviews, until then make sure you read customer reviews before you buy your tool, or post a comment below and I will let you know if I've used the tool or not.

Picking Up the Peices

I would like to apologize for my long absence and not finishing my tool countdown.  I got really busy at work and home.  It was the holidays and people are all of a sudden putting in work orders like mad and the weeks are short, not to mention the things that need to be done at home.  With everything going on I had to prioritize and, unfortunately, the blog had to wait.

So, we are finished cleaning up the wrapping paper (by the way my daughter had her first birthday on the 6th!), taking down the decorations, we took back the bottles and cans from the New Years party, and everything at work is caught up.  Looking back now I have to say that things got pretty hectic and stressful during that busy time but I am glad that it happened.  We learn from every experience we go through and it makes us better.  Every holiday season that goes by we get better at keeping up with the influx of work orders and the make readies that have to be done; all shorthanded as people take vacations and we deal with shortened hours and days off.

So I am going to sidetrack from my tool blog again and concentrate on something I learned from this holiday season; how to pick up the pieces!  During the three weeks that constitute our holiday season (week before Christmas, week of New Years, and week after New Years) we lost approximately 144 man hours.  We also took around 50 more work orders per week than we normally would and had six apartments to get ready.  We got all this done and even a little more but certain areas suffered.  Our grounds received little attention, the shop looked like a tornado went through it, and we had lots of bulbs burned out on the property. Even though the ball was dropped on those few things I am very proud of all that was taken care of. We handled all the residents issues and had work orders completed within 12 hours, we turned out some great looking apartments, the property was decorated for Christmas, we had a balcony decoration contest that was a huge success, and we were even able to join our sister property for a holiday dinner. 

The last two weeks have been catching up on all those neglected items.  Sometimes it seems like it takes much longer to do projects when they have been neglected.  We spent a total of 24 man hours just replacing common area light bulbs!  During this time it is easy to look at the work load and get overwhelmed.  Take things one thing at a time, writing them down so we don't forget, and prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.  The priorities might have to be revisited every day to keep up with the changes our business presents.  Make sure you are easy going with your co-workers (there is enough stress, you don't need to bring in more!), and don't rush through projects (your bound to spend more time fixing stupid mistakes!).  Take each item, each hour, each screw, nail, light bulb at a time and don't get ahead of yourself.  It may seem like you are neglecting other things but as long as your priority list is in order you can be sure you are working on just what needs to be done at that time.  Most of all, be sure to have fun!  No matter what is going on you can always find some fun in what your doing.

Good luck picking up the pieces!

"Ten Tools" Day 3

 So day three brings a tool I think everybody has at least seen and most know how to use. Used right a multimeter can have more uses than a Swiss Army knife.  I use my meters almost every day.  If you don't know how to use one or don't own one I suggest you go out tomorrow and buy one and find somebody who can train you how to use it.  Avoid those cheap meters if you are not familiar with the tool and go with an more expensive auto-ranging meter, this should make learning how to use the tool much easier.  The following information is VERY basic, for more info I have included a few links at the bottom of the post. 

Multimeter

 
Every good maintenance man knows the value of a good multimeter.  We can use muti-meters to fix furnaces, air conditioners, stoves, refridgerators, and many more things in the apartments.  Mine is in some ways a lifeline I don't know what I would do without.  There are many out there with endless options and price points to choose from.  I have two meters; one being more portable than the other.  My first is the Craftsman pictured above.  In my opinion auto-ranging is really the only way to go.  This means you don't have to choose the range of power the meter is measuring, just switch to AC, DC, Mfd, or another of the settings, and go.  Also, be sure it has the ability to test mfd for capacitors and a k type slot to plug in a temperature probe or clamp for AC superheat and sub-cool measurements.  The only feature this meter didn't have was the clamp head..  For that I went with a UIE G2 Phoenix series clamp meter.  The clamp head will tell you how many amps a device such as a compressor is drawing.  This comes in handy when working on some of the older AC or refrigerator units some of our older, aging properties have.  I love the backlight/ worklight feature of this meter and the magnet on the back.  This also has the ability to test mfd and has the k type slot for temperature probes, of which one is included along with your electrical probe and alligator clip attachments.  It also has the ability to switch out heads for more flexibility.  All these options come with a much larger price tag but the ease of use makes up for it.  Check out the models carefully and be sure to get all the options you might want, you won't regret it.

If you have never been trained on how to use these tools you are probably missing out on how versatile they are.  I use mine to check compressors on refrigerators and AC units using the clamp head on my UIE.  I have a micro-amp head that I use to check flame sensors and my temperature probe to check the degrees Fahrenheit output of furnaces.  I can check fuses, ignitors, and many other parts using the continuity setting.  I have even checked parts on our golf cart using the DC function.  Dryers, washers, dishwashers, furnaces, refrigerators, stoves, even garbage disposals, outlets, switches, and anything else electrical can be tested in one way or another with the right multimeter.  All it takes is a little know how and the right tool.


LINKS FOR MORE INFO

Sparkfun- how to use a multi-meter:  This is a basic but still informative article


wikihow- how to use a multi-meter:  This is a pretty detailed and includes a link to a YouTube video

The Family Handyman:  One of my favorite magazines teaches how to use a multi-meter.

"Ten Tools" Day 2

OK, here is my day two post in my "Ten Tools You Need In Your Bag" series .  Kinda short but still informative I think.  I would highly recommend going to the web site at the end of the post.  The site offers some very good safety tips and an elaborate explanation of how the tools work.

  Volt Sensing Tools

 










Nothing is worse than getting a poke when working on an outlet, switch, ect.  No matter how careful you are about shutting down breakers at some point you are going to slip up and run into a live wire.  That is where volt sensing tools come into play.  You could buy a basic non-contact volt sensor or you could opt for tools with this feature built in.  Gardner Bender has a good selection of these tools, everything from screwdrivers, to pliers, to utility knifes, to wire strippers.  These tools basically detect the residual electricity that every electrical circuit gives off.  For more details on how to use these tools and how they work you can follow this link http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_know_capacitive_voltage/.  These tools may cost a little more than their plain Jane counterparts but the safety is definitely worth the money.