Another worthless device?

[junkcollector]

Hi Guys,

Take a look at these things: http://www.pluggrip.com/ Anyone ever used one or have one? I First seen them in the Harbor Freight tool catalog. They almost implied that this is to prevent shocks when working live. Seems a bit dangerous to me. I never seen the use for one. It says on the site that you should shut the power off. (No brainer)

Gimmick or not? What do you guys think?

[Mr T]

I dont think its worthless. If you have trouble holding onto a object like a outlet or you have tons of them to install it may be of help. I dont see where it implies that you can wire live with it anywhere.

[junkcollector]

Sorry,
I meant that when they first came out a few years ago and I seen them in the HF catalog they sad in the description, "avoid shocks." The picture showed someone screwing the Receptacle in and the indicator lights on the Pluggrip were lit up, so I assumed that it was for working live. (their ads can be misleading)

I do agree that they might be a help, I just didn't know if I wanted one or not.

[Mr T]

That was probably poor judgement in the marketing dept. Often when they photograph stuff for ads or packaging, they usually do so with the lights on or rework the graphic to make the lights look like they are on.. to draw attention to the lights feature... The graphic designer probably had no clue what the lights being on meant when they tweaked the image to make them "on".

[Bismarck Jack]

I can't see any real desire to purchase this item. I guess if you were working with a lot of them, it would benefit you. it is hard on the old fingers to keep pulling these out by hand. See, i try to do all my wiring before the sheetrock goes up, so i have to pull the recepticals out when i place the sheetrock on. But i still dont think i would buy this.

[Bismarck Jack]

you know, there was one thing simliar that i did buy. I dont have a link, but it was bright yellow like that and might be from the same company. it fits onto an empty gang box and has pins on the outside all the way around what would be the perimeter of the box. this way, when you place the sheetrock up against it and give it a little push, it will leave a perferated guide for you to follow when you cut out the square. A very neat idea that has saved me some time, but again, usually the box is full when i put up the sheerock unless i am absolutely sure about the wiring. good thread:five:

[scuba_dave]

I think possibly this would be useful on an outlet that might be a dual circuit
But a meter would do the trick
I remember trying to push an outlet into an old box & the plastic face on the outlet cracked. Everything I build now is 2x6 walls & I use the larger boxes

I don't know if it's worth $10

[junkcollector]

One potential flaw I was thinking about is are the two prongs on the hot side linked together? If they are, there would most likely be a nice arc flash when you plug one of these in a receptacle wired with two circuits.


you know, there was one thing simliar that i did buy. I dont have a link, but it was bright yellow like that and might be from the same company. it fits onto an empty gang box and has pins on the outside all the way around what would be the perimeter of the box. this way, when you place the sheetrock up against it and give it a little push, it will leave a perferated guide for you to follow when you cut out the square. A very neat idea that has saved me some time, but again, usually the box is full when i put up the sheerock unless i am absolutely sure about the wiring.

That is definitely a useful device. Sounds like it would be pretty handy.:razz:

[scuba_dave]

One potential flaw I was thinking about is are the two prongs on the hot side linked together? If they are, there would most likely be a nice arc flash when you plug one of these in a receptacle wired with two circuits.

Hmmmmm - I wonder if THEY thought of that?

[junkcollector]

Only one way to find out...:questionmark: Buy one!:-P

[Mr T]

It looks like there are 2 lights on it. I wonder if they are 1 for each half of the outlet. They should have buit in one of those 3 light outlet wiring testers so you know right away if your outlet is wired correctly.

[junkcollector]

It looks like there are 2 lights on it. I wonder if they are 1 for each half of the outlet. They should have buit in one of those 3 light outlet wiring testers so you know right away if your outlet is wired correctly.

I suppose that the amber colored one is to tell you that the power is on, and the green one is to tell you that it is grounded. The thing I wonder about is how they are wired. I bet that the two hot prongs are wired together, otherwise you would need 4 lights, correct?

[Mr T]

a neon bulb wont care if its being fed with 120 or 240 or even less then 120 to a extent.. I think they conduct at 50 volts usually.

There is probably a resistor on each hot. Each resistor goes to the neon. If done right there'd be very little current flowin from hot to hot.

HOT
|
R
| ---NEON--- Neutral
R
|
HOT

Guess i gotta get one and cut it open

[Bismarck Jack]

Great, can't wait to hear the results of your disection. Oh, and buy us all a coffee from Starbucks while you are out thowing your money around.:tee:

LOL. Only kidding. I am on a roll today sorry. I think it is due to finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on my bathroom remodel (home) project.

Posting new and innovative products is not a bad idea for this forum. maybe a separate catagory just for helpful tools of the trade. I just happened to stumble on that...well, i will just call it the yellow outlet pokey thingy for sheetrocking. But it really did bring a professional aspect to a DIYer sheetrock job.

[Bismarck Jack]

Sorry. Duh. I guess "The Tool Shed" is the category.

Still green to the forum i guess. :ahhhhh:

[junkcollector]

a neon bulb wont care if its being fed with 120 or 240 or even less then 120 to a extent.. I think they conduct at 50 volts usually.

There is probably a resistor on each hot. Each resistor goes to the neon. If done right there'd be very little current flowin from hot to hot.

HOT
|
R
| ---NEON--- Neutral
R
|
HOT

Guess i gotta get one and cut it open

That is what I was thinking too... :proud:Just hope those chinese Engineers thought of that as well...:-P

[Mr T]

Well Canada hasnt declaired war on china..... so nobody up there has used one of these in their kitchen yet.....or it actually does work on split outlet circuits.

Oddly enough I bet these things are totally lead free too.. That wouldnt suprise me with China's latest trends...

[junkcollector]

Well Canada hasnt declaired war on china..... so nobody up there has used one of these in their kitchen yet.....or it actually does work on split outlet circuits.

Oddly enough I bet these things are totally lead free too.. That wouldnt suprise me with China's latest trends...

:laugh:

Did you see, they have a switch one two... That one has one of those non-contact voltage detectors built in. I'd still use a standard tester before I bet my life on that...:afraid: