The "Tools I love" thread

[Greg Pack]

I thought I would start a thread for techs that have found a tool really helpful for car wash work. Here's my first nomination: Japanese made cable tie cutters

https://www.amazon.com/Tsunoda-KBN-...-5&keywords=cable+tie+cutters#customerReviews

I don't know about you guys but I buy cable ties by the thousand. My washes are held together by them. I am constantly scratching myself on the ones cut off with standard dykes. These cutters snip off the extra length so flush with the end that you can't even feel it anymore-it is smooth to the touch. These were the only true flush cut I could find that were also rated to cut copper wire up to 10AWG. Similar tools caution against wire and say for use on plastic or wood only. Every tech I show these to wants to steal them.

 

[JGinther]

These are the 'one' tool. The only channel lock type wrench I have found where the flats stay parallel at all times, making it where you can squeeze flat on both sides of a fitting or a bolt. Which makes it more useful than a fitted wrench assuming you have the room to turn it. This will remove a stuck bolt that a fitted open end or even box end would spin corners off. It's also thin, so fits between close pipe flats. It has no teeth to abrade working items, since it doesn't need them to grab. Pushing the button takes a little getting used to at first, but now it's just a part of my right hand. And it's built like a tool should be. Very high quality.

https://yk8vw.app.goo.gl/wkpjbjyMRhXUgWWt9

Oh, and once you are good with it, you can 'ratchet' with it as opening usually gets over the flat o.d. you can only use like a ratchet on items that are around half or less than the max jaw opening size.

 

[MEP001]

I've heard very good things about those Knipex pliers. Keep in mind that you have to use them the "right" way or they won't have any grip strength on a nut. Same with open-end wrenches, this is the sort of thing that happens when you apply force the wrong way (Someone could have been seriously hurt - jump ahead to 6:30):

[video=youtube_share;YUFNSvsaMaA]https://youtu.be/YUFNSvsaMaA?t=391[/video]

I picked up a customer's pair of the original RoboGrip pliers which worked much better than I thought they would. I doubt I'd buy them for myself.

 

[Greg Pack]

Ive got three different sizes of the knipex plier wrenches and they do a good job. As you mentioned they are a little clumsy to use at first. I still keep knipex alligators in my essentials pouch, but have thought swapping them out for the pliers wrench. Zoro has god prices on knipex tools.

 

[chaz]

Locking crescent wrench. Kinda like a vice grip and crescent wrench combined.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Crescen...vWr8joKMPleunaXXQU0aAkK4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[I.B. Washincars]

My favorite tool is my battery operated Dewalt right-angle grinder. It lives behind the back seat of my truck and I'm constantly going for it. I keep stainless cutting wheels and also bought the 12V charger so it's always ready to go. I use it mostly for removing HP hoses. We all know that those swivel fittings are always stuck and the hose just tends to wad up when attempting to remove it. It the event that it does break loose, those rust particles travel downstream and wreak havoc on the turbo nozzles my Mark VIIs use. It took me a while to realize why I was losing nozzles shortly after changing hoses, and those things ain't cheap. Now, I just cut the hose in two and never have to break those swivels loose. I've paid for that grinder many times over, just in turbos saved.

 

[Greg Pack]

Ok, family is out of town and it's just me and the pets. So I thought I would post pictures of my new toolbag and setup (yeah I know I have no life)

The pouch is a Veto TPB3. I can do the vast majority of my daily tasks out of the tools in this pouch. I don't always carry my multimeter in it though. It depends on the nature of what I'm doing. It will stand upright on it's own

This bag is a Veto Tech MCT. Its a very well constructed bag. It has a ton of pockets and is designed to store the tools vertically. Its the big brother of the tech MC. The tech line of veto bags was designed for HVAC industry but it seems like a good fit for us. The MCT is just tall enough to hold a 12" crescent wrench. I have my general tools on one side and most of my wiring tools on the other side:

Obviously I can't do everything out of these bags. I carry my heavier, rarely used tools for major mechanical work and power tools in other cases. But I usually go through most days using just what's here.

Both of these bags seems extremely well constructed and have a five year warranty. Both these also have a waterproof rubber bottom, which seems like a very useful feature for us.

Veto is running a Spring promotion right now. If you buy the many of their bags, including the tech MCT, and go to veto's website and fill out the nec essary paperwork you'll get a free TPB4, the slightly larger version of my pouch.

The best online price I found is at tech tool supply. These bags are not cheap, but I'd like to think I'm more productive and organized using them.

 

[Greg Pack]

If there's any interest I'l try to go through some contents of my pouch and bag.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

My favorite tool is not really a tool at all.
It’s the long slim flexible metal strip that’s in the windshield wipers that customers throw away.
Especially if it’s the kind that has hooked ends.
I use then to unjam stuck coins in the coin accepters.

 

[MEP001]

My favorite tool is not really a tool at all.
It’s the long slim flexible metal strip that’s in the windshield wipers that customers throw away.
Especially if it’s the kind that has hooked ends.
I use then to unjam stuck coins in the coin accepters.

I can unjam most coin acceptors with a hacksaw blade without opening the door. I use the teeth to pull what I can out the insert slot, then in most cases can run it up the return and wiggle the rest loose. The only time it won't clear a jam is if the chute to the safe is also jammed.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

My favorite tool is not really a tool at all.
It’s the long slim flexible metal strip that’s in the windshield wipers that customers throw away.
Especially if it’s the kind that has hooked ends.
I use then to unjam stuck coins in the coin accepters.

Yep, I keep a couple in my truck and at each wash. Most used for cleaning the gunk buildup of the Rowe hopper chain track.

 

[MEP001]

If there's any interest I'l try to go through some contents of my pouch and bag.

I would be interested.

I still do a lot of service for other washes, so my tools are many and spread through multiple containers with at least one backup for most of them. I keep hand tools loose in an open-top plastic toolbox (I quit using steel after so many times of the open box getting wet in someone's equipment room). It has a 6", two 8", two 10" and two 12" crescents, 10" and 12" channel locks, 12" pipe wrench, a full set of screwdrivers including two extra of each common Philips and flathead, a small vice grips (Probably my least used tool), reverse Cat valve pliers, tons of other common and specialty tools.

I carry several boxes like this:

One has all my wiring tools including crimper, stripper, a backup combo tool, Molex crimper tool and pin pushers, spare small-blade screwdrivers, cordless soldering iron, butt splicers (Both insulated and uninsulated with heat shrink tubing) wire nuts for 22 gauge to 10 gauge, all kinds of crimp terminals. One is full of brass, one is full of stainless hardware from 1/4" to 1/2", a smaller one with #6 and #8 hardware along with all my step drills.

A socket set and all the tools above are with me all the time, as well as a rubber mallet and hammer, hacksaw, prybar, two 24" pipe wrenches. This is just the stuff I can't be without on a daily basis.

 

[MEP001]

Yep, I keep a couple in my truck and at each wash. Most used for cleaning the gunk buildup of the Rowe hopper chain track.

This is the best tool for cleaning the hopper tracks, as long as you do it regularly. Metal will remove the Teflon coating that keeps the crud from sticking in the track.

https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-16898-rowe-27023902-hopper-cleaning-brush-for-bc12001400.aspx

 

[mjwalsh]

Time will tell ... we have a lot of metal cutting to do in the near future with our Wasco Gen4 revision project updating to dollar coins & choice of price points related to to # of water fills & time the washer runs. The point is our "less than $1500" Hypertherm Powermax 30 Plasma Cutter may keep it the 32 machine job a lot neater & much faster. It is amazing how it cuts through metal like knife through butter. We had a local polycarbonate plastics fabricator use their CNC to make a 3/8" precise template guide from my CADD file. That template is for the nozzle to follow.

I tried to go the el cheapo way with a chinese made arc welder-plasma-tig ... that turned out to be a mistake. I wound up giving it & its accessories to one of my customers who was pretty sure he could make it work on his hobby farm. Not that every thing that comes out of China is bad quality by a long shot. It raised hell with bizarre electrical noise at our facility. Hopefully he will be able to isolate his electrical power better than I was able to do.

There are many YouTube videos showing the incredible speed & variety of metals & thicknesses that a Plasma Cutter can do. I guess an XY table setup with one would be nice but unless major production & multiple setups are needed ... not so much. We had a local water jetter do some things for us for the dog wash back in 2009 but the problem there is it is limited to only 2 dimensions. So portable plasma can be 3D friendly. I have been told laser cutting is the cats meow for 3D but I am thinking that would be out of sight cost wise???

I did do some collaboration over 5 years ago with someone who owns & who had became somewhat proficient with a small similar to a lower end Makerbot 3D printer for ABS or PLA plastic fabrication. That was somewhat labor intensive cleaning up the temporary honeycombing that was necessary during the overnight builds for each item. Anybody else notice how those devices have vastly improved in the last 5 years? For the bigger & more capable ... they are still too expensive from what I have seen for most of us.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Rotary Hammer.
I had always used a hammer drill for drilling concrete/stone/block, then about a decade or so ago I "discovered" the rotary hammer. Wow! Drills holes in concrete 100 times faster, doubles as a power chisel / mini jackhammer. My hammer drill immediately got sold.
Here's the one I have:
View attachment 1334

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

This is going to sound funny, but one of the handiest tools I have is a bunch of free harbor freight magnets.
I screwed them to the inside of the ER door, my most frequently used tools now live there:
View attachment 1335

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Also very handy: if you look at the upper left corner of my ER door, those little gold colored magnets are empty casings. A drop of super glue and an appropriately sized neodymium magnet inserted into the end gives me magnets that are easy to grab with my gloved fat fingers, and they stay put.
Larger casings like a 44 or 500 with 2 magnets hold up a shocking amount of weight.
(I hate wimpy little magnets that dont hold up a piece of paper when you walk by.)
As an aside, these fridge magnets make nice "hostess gifts" when you get invited somewhere for dinner or a beer, not to mention a great conversation starter.

 

[soapy]

I just keep a full set of tools at each location so I don't have to pack tools around. Now on my RZR that is a different story as I carry everything with it for repairs. I won't make it to Nashville this year so I guess Greg will have to show everyone going his pouch and tools there.

 

[carwashireland]

I recently got one of these doorsteps. It hooks over the catch in your vehicle door so you can reach the underside of your iba without a ladder. https://www.amazon.com/Rightline-Ge...moki+doorstep&qid=1552860658&s=gateway&sr=8-2

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I won't make it to Nashville this year

No!!! Say it ain't so...