Maintain your tools especially those with moving parts. Think of pliers, ratchet cutters or tubing cutters. Something as easy as a silicone-based spray to work the tool in its full range after doing so. I own tools that are older than me (I'm 35) that were gifted to me by a plumber who was religious with his tool maintenance. The tools work just as good as a brand-new tool. Just clean up the overspray, especially with grease because you can attract dirt to areas that you would not like to have dirt. 

 Every tool has a home. In my tool bag, everything goes in the same place every time. When I don't have a tool in a certain spot, I make sure I find the tool first before picking up everything. It helps with tool theft or loss. By having a place for everything and just glancing quickly to make sure everything is where it belongs, it has seriously cut back on tool loss. I use Veto tool bags and Milwaukee Packout to help with this. 

On a related note, I use the Veto Tech Pac, a backpack that lets me use both hands to either carry more things into the home or make it easier to put on my shoe covers without having to set the bag down. It's also easier to carry more tools because my shoulders together can hold a lot more than just what I could do before with my hand in my old tool bag. It works really great for ladders and it also helps greatly with accidental damage issues. 

Really pay attention to how you use tools. Plumbers use pliers a lot, and I personally have problems with many of the groove joint pliers that have straight teeth with slipping. Once I started using a different style, water pump pliers, I have almost zero slip issues. Taking it a step even further, I prefer the Knipex brand, which allows the pliers to adjust easily, but stay in place with a locking mechanism and once on something, you don't need to constantly squeeze the handles together to stay in play, you only have to push on one. They also have a much skinnier head than the Irwin locking pliers and can fit into tight places. 

Herschel Day
Arrow Plumbing Co.
Sugarland, Texas

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General Pipe Cleaners and PHC News have teamed up on a monthly Tool Tip contest. PHC News will pick one prizewinner in each issue. And each winner will receive a Kinetic Water Ram, including 4-inch rubber cone, five rubber plugs and a carrying case all with a retail value of $325.

The Kinetic Water Ram uses a burst of compressed air that drives a shock wave through water instantly pulverizing stoppages – rust, grease, sediment and scale – in 1-1/4- to 4-inch lines. It won’t harm piping since the Kinetic Water Ram directs 98 percent of the force down the line – and only 2 percent against the pipe wall.

Email your Tool Tip to Steve Smith, editor of PHC News at steve@phcppros.com. For more information on other products from General Pipe Cleaners, contact the Drain Brains at General at (800) 245-6200, or visit www.drainbrain.com.