TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
The air-conditioning technician must work with electricity. Equipment that has been wired may have to be replaced or rewired. In any case, it is necessary to identify and use safely the various tools and pieces of equipment.
Special tools are needed to install and maintain electrical service to air-conditioning units. Wires and wiring should be installed according to the National Electrical Code (NEC). However, it is possible that this will not have been done. In such a case, the electrician will have to be called to update the wiring to carry the extra load of the installation of new air conditioning or refrigeration equipment.
This section deals only with interior wiring. Following is a brief discussion of the more important tools used by the electrician in the installation of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.
Pliers and Clippers
Pliers come in several sizes and shapes designed for special applications. Pliers are available with either insulated or uninsulated handles. Although pliers with insulated handles are always used when working on or near “hot” wires, they must not be considered sufficient protection alone. Other precautions must be taken. Long-nose pliers are used for close work in panels or boxes. Slip-joint, or gas, pliers are used to tighten locknuts or small nuts. See Fig. 1-1. Wire cutters are used to cut wire to size.
Fuse Puller
The fuse puller is designed to eliminate the danger of pulling and replacing cartridge fuses by hand, Fig. 1-2.
Fig. 1-1 Pliers.
Fig. 1-2 A fuse puller.
It is also used for bending fuse clips, adjusting loose cutout clips, and handling live electrical parts. It is made of a phenolic material, which is an insulator. Both ends of the puller are used. Keep in mind that one end is for large-diameter fuses; the other is for small-diameter fuses.
Screwdrivers
Screwdrivers come in many sizes and tip shapes. Those used by electricians and refrigeration technicians should have insulated handles. One variation of the screwdriver is the screwdriver bit. It is held in a brace and used for heavy-duty work. For safe and efficient use, screwdriver tips should be kept square and sharp. They should be selected to match the screw slot. See Fig. 1-3.
The Phillips-head screwdriver has a tip pointed like a star and is used with a Phillips screw. These
Fig. 1-3 Screwdrivers.
screws are commonly found in production equipment. The presence of four slots, rather than two, assures that the screwdriver will not slip in the head of the screw. There are several sizes of Phillips-head screwdrivers. They are designated as No. 1, No. 2, and so on. The proper point size must be used to prevent damage to the slot in the head of the screw. See Fig. 1-4.
Fig. 1-4 A Phillips-head screwdriver.
Wrenches
Three types of wrenches used by the air-conditioning and refrigeration trade are shown in Fig. 1-5.
- The adjustable open-end wrenches are commonly called crescent wrenches.
- Monkey wrenches are used on hexagonal and square fittings such as machine bolts, hexagonal nuts, or conduit
- Pipe wrenches are used for pipe and conduit They should not be used where crescent or monkey wrenches can be used. Their construction will not permit the application of heavy pressure on square or hexagonal material. Continued misuse of the tool in this manner will deform the teeth on the jaw face and mar the surfaces of the material being worked.
Fig. 1-5 Wrenches. (A) Crescent wrench. (B) Pipe wrench.
(C) Using a monkey wrench.
Soldering Equipment
The standard soldering kit used by electricians consists of the same equipment that the refrigeration mechanics use. See Fig. 1-6. It consists of a nonelectric soldering device in the form of a torch with propane fuel cylinder or an electric soldering iron, or both.
The torch can be used for heating the solid-copper soldering iron or for making solder joints in copper tubing. A spool of solid tin-lead wire solder or flux-core
Fig. 1-6 Soldering equipment.
solder is used. Flux-core solder with a rosin core is used for electrical soldering.
Solid-core solder is used for soldering metals. It is strongly recommended that acid-core solder not be used with electrical equipment. Soldering paste is used with the solid wire solder for soldering joints on cop- per pipe or solid material. It is usually applied with a small stiff-haired brush.
