Poor man's lab tools - Which cheap tools is good to have? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: martin1454
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 08:49:56 am
content: Hi there!So, currently im looking into expanding my "lab" with some of these nice-to-have cheap tools.I know a good Weller soldering station, fluke DMM and stuff like that is really nice to have, but what are your favorite "cheap tools" for those on a budget?Currently my list include:Cheap wire stripperhttps://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Self-Adjustable-Automatic-Cable-Wire-Crimper-Crimping-Tool-Stripper-Plier-Cutter/401457846747?epid=10011184077&hash=item5d78c099db:g:jUkAAOSwLM5bHkIq:rk:2:pf:0Crimp tool for most common types (DuPont, Molex KK, AMP standard)https://www.banggood.com/Paron-JX-D5-Multifunctional-Ratchet-Crimping-Tool-Wire-Strippers-Terminals-Pliers-Kit-p-1175357.html?Terminal remover toolhttps://www.banggood.com/11Pcs-Terminal-Removal-Tool-Kit-Wiring-Connector-Pin-Release-Extractor-p-1179384.html?Ts100 Soldering ironhttps://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-LCD-Mini-Portable-65W-Programmable-TS100-Electric-Soldering-Iron-Kit/173413703458?epid=11021487041&hash=item2860431f22:g:XEUAAOSwWV9bTDSA:rk:3:pf:0I just purchased one of these:https://www.ebay.com/itm/283331646211and hopes it will be good as my next "cheap" equipment.What cheap tools have you bought that you find really good?

author: JackJones
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 09:13:22 am
content: I use Plato brand side cutters, about €1,30 from China. They are just fantastic, and because they are so cheap I don't really have to baby them either. I've got one ruined pair I use for things you're not really supposed to use side cutters for, like poking and prying and one that's in good shape for everything else.I have been meaning to try Knipex side cutters but I just can't justify the €20 price tag when the Platos work so well.

author: martin1454
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 12:28:53 pm
content: Quote from: JackJones on January 15, 2019, 09:13:22 amMight give these a go - Dirt cheap

author: ggchab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 12:49:33 pm
content: I have some crimping tools and I wonder how I did before buying them. They are surprisingly cheap and very useful

author: rhb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 02:06:21 pm
content: My favorite is the DMMs that Harbor Freight gives away free with any purchase. I bought a bunch of them for $2 on sale before they started giving them away.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/habor-freight-giveaway-dmm-test/msg1473132/#msg1473132Sadly they have removed the trimmer in the last few I've gotten, but the older ones you could adjust to a DC reference. Moving up the price ladder a few dollars adds a lot of features like frequency counter, etc.My next candidate is the BSIDE ESR02 Pro. Not quite the equal of my Peak Atlas DCA75 but about 1/8th the price. Build is very solidThe idea that for a day's wages at a minimum wage job you can measure voltage, current, frequency, capacitance, resistance, inductance *and* test transistors is amazing. With less than $100 of carefully selected Chinese kit a knowledgeable person could open up an audio repair shop for through hole equipment. An old mains powered transistor radio can be tapped at key points in the circuit to provide access to thesignal path just before the mixer, IF, detector, AF amplifier and the speaker. And an LM317 and a pot will provide a small bench PSU.I fixed discarded audio gear as a grad student with just a VOM, soldering iron and basic hand tools.If I'd been born in India rather than the US and were well off financially, I'd be very tempted to start a free school for slum kids teaching electronic repair with a basic tool kit as the graduation diploma.SMD devices have made repairs rather more difficult. So my next favorite cheap tool is the LCD microscopes such as this:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-4-3inch-HD-3-6MP-LCD-Display-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-Metal-Stand/273573035827The screen angle is awkward, but if you cut the front bezel just below the LCD you can swing it out to a more comfortable angle. I've got mine that way using cardboard and duct tape, but will eventually make a permanent modification using some thin aluminum sheet secured by small screws. At present I'm still fiddling with the angle. Actual magnification range is 5-25X but with good working distances. So well suited to PCB repair.

author: martin1454
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 02:14:42 pm
content: Quote from: rhb on January 15, 2019, 02:06:21 pmI bought one of "PLUGABLE 250X DIGITAL USB MICROSCOPE " and the picture is really good, but since it over USB, the delay from a movement to I see it on my monitor is slow, that it really hard to solder under - It works fine for inspecting, but no soldering.

author: rhb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2019, 02:49:15 pm
content: The one I have will display over USB, but then it won't display on the builtin screen which is a shame. So you can't record a tricky job. I haven't done any actual soldering with it. So far I've just been simulating the motions with a cold iron and tweezers to find a comfortable angle.I bought an Amscope binocular microscope, but found that *extremely* awkward as hand position and eye position did not match up well. With the mod I made I can close my eyes, put my hands in position and they'll be in view on the LCD when I open them. The first angle I tried was too steep, so I increased the angle. I'm going to do another round of trials and cut the angle back a little before I make the permanent metal gap filler.

author: RobertHolcombe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 05:26:53 am
content: Depends on your definition of cheap, I guess.I think there is always a place for cheap screwdrivers, knives, cutters, pliers, tweezers, picks, and prying tools. Have a set of each that you don't care about so that you can modify them for certain jobs, abuse them for purposes they aren't designed for, or lose them. I always recommend someone who doesn't know exactly what they need out of a specific tool to buy cheap first, learn the limitations of what you have so that you can make a more informed purchase, or perhaps realise that the cheaper option is perfectly suitable for your current needs.Crimpers are one tool I'd be wary of buying atextremelycheap pricepoint - they're really a one-time purchase, not a consumable tool. If its cheap enough to either break from normal use, or produce unreliable/inconsistent terminations then its not worth owning.Cheap multimeters are great provided you have at least one reliable one to be able to use as a known good reference.

author: rhb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 03:40:38 pm
content: I completely agree.In the case of crimpers, they may work fine and be durable, but also awkward to use. I'm recently got a Greenlee Communications PA1176 which is sold under a variety of other names. Quality is quite good and it makes good crimps. But you need 3 hands to use it. If I ever need to do a lot of crimping I'll get another one, remove the plastic from the handles and mount it so I can close it with a foot pedal.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 03:45:36 pm
content: Piergiacomi side cutters and pliers are available for not much money on Amazon etc in EU. Soldering irons, can't really beat the Quicko T12 ones from Aliexpress for the price.The only thing I would recommend buying quilty up front is wire strippers. I use Ideal Industries 45-120. They are amazing compared to all the crappy ones out there.

author: rhb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 03:55:45 pm
content: So how well do they do on THHN?I have a couple that use a slotted disk to set the size. I think I got them from Radio Shack. They work beautifully on most wire. But THHN is difficult because of the outer jacket.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 04:23:31 pm
content: Haven't tried them on that but they work on Teflon coated stuff very well.

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 16, 2019, 04:36:49 pm
content: Quote from: JackJones on January 15, 2019, 09:13:22 amAnother thumbs up on the Plato side cutters. I bought a bunch as giveaways for a class I did, and they're pretty decent for the price.Yihua 947 Soldering Iron is another cheap winner. $10, and it's pretty decent.Aneng 8002 or 8008 meter. The additional precision of the 8008 just isn't important to me +/- 1% is fine in my world.Oh, and while it's not 'cheap' in the sense, the PicQuic screwdrivers are my probably my #1 goto tool overall. The Multique is a nice size for electronics work, under $10 (the US market ones w/ Torx instead of Robertson bits are more useful for electronics work). I had always always hated multibit screwdrivers as cheap and nasty until an HVAC repair guy left his PicQuic behind at our office, just using it once was enough to change my mind. The fact that they're made locally to me is just a nice touch.

author: Hiemal
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 02:41:34 am
content: I'd also recommend auto strippers!https://www.amazon.com/Capri-Tools-20011-Automatic-Stripper/dp/B01018CX46/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1548211234&sr=8-6&keywords=auto+wire+stripperThese things are so handy and help a lot when stripping smaller wires.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 03:21:16 am
content: You're talking about hand tools, the more interesting solution space is super cheap electronics tools, of which there are a great many new game changers.I would nominate Sigrok-compatible cheap logic analyzers, (I got one for $6 recently) and the AVR Transistor Tester 2+3 pin device tester, ($10-20) and the last batch of incredibly inexpensive handheld DMMs.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 03:53:41 am
content: Quote from: JackJones on January 15, 2019, 09:13:22 amJust to clarify, you don't get genuine Plato brand for that price, you get a knockoff. I have some that are marked "Piatc".It's worth getting genuine Plato (or Hakko) for cutting copper wire. Then you can feel free to abuse the cheap(er) ones.

author: martin1454
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 06:47:10 am
content: Quote from: cdev on January 23, 2019, 03:21:16 amAllready have the transistor test, but haven't used it alot yet - Bought a few cheap multimeters that are on its way - I also own a cheap logic analzer that can use sigrok, but the model i ordered have some issues with the driver, so I might order a new different one.Anyone have good experince with some of the really cheap dso oscilloscope kits?

author: nsrmagazin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 07:20:32 am
content: Here are more cheap ones:www.cfcbazar.com/shopcategory/tools/?WordApp_launch=&WordApp_mobile_site=&WordApp_demo=&WordApp_mobile_app=&orderby=price&order=ASCBut it depends what do you need them for? Are you more interested in mechanical, low voltage electrical or middle voltage tools? Its not impossible to find a toolbox, like the 5th product on the first row:www.cfcbazar.com/?s=crimp+tools&WordApp_launch=&WordApp_mobile_site=&WordApp_demo=&WordApp_mobile_app=&orderby=promotionVolume&order=DESC

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2019, 11:17:24 pm
content: If I was going to buy one I would definitely buy a jyetech one before any of the other brands, because Ive had good experience with another kit from them, their capacitance meter, which cost only $9, was fun to build, came with 1% resistors and is accurate down to 1 pf.Other brands seem to copy their designs from them.Their manuals are decent. They are very beginner friendly. Their products are affordable. They deserve the business.https://jyetech.com/

author: Cnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2019, 08:01:16 pm
content: Cheap Chinese ESD pcb cleaning brushes you can buy off ebay.

author: nsrmagazin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2019, 08:06:28 am
content: We have another thread for brushes if you want to look:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/eda/looking-for-purchase-esd-brush-set-for-cleaning-pcb-and-other-electronic-gears/msg2121961/#msg2121961

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2019, 09:02:04 am
content: Quote from: martin1454 on January 15, 2019, 12:28:53 pmI also use those for all sorts of stuff, they're really surprisingly good for the price but damned sharp so be careful with them