Hey everyone! For electrical panel inspections I am looking for recommendations on a tool that you can place over the wires insulation and confirm the gauge? All I have found is that disc shaped metal gauge guide, and it has to touch the wire that is most often hot in a panel and it’s too big, so I prefer something non conductive to check a wires gauge, maybe pen shaped for tight spots in electrical panel is what I am after. Thanks!!
This might be better:
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Made by a home inspector for home inspectors, been using them for years. Came in handy again last week.
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I made one these
before Sean came out with the gauges.
Here is the website from the inspector that makes them.
I didn’t realize Inspector Outlet has the gauges now.
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Thanks Corey! These choices look great, I really appreciate it!!
Ron
Ron Holbrook
InspectRite Certified Home Inspections LLC
678-663-6404
I think I have been buying wire gauge sets from the Inspector Outlet for 7 or 8 plus years. A InterNACHI member started making the wire gauge sets using a 3D Printer.
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That’s great! Mine are on the way! Thanks!!
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Great.
Little story behind the wire gauge sets and who developed them.
The members name, Sean Fogarty. Follow this link: Wire Gauge Sets
I found they can break easily as time goes by. You might want to coat the exterior of the head or gauge part of the device with nail polish or even use duct tape or some type of film over both sides of the gauge head. I have purchased 3 pair in 8 years I belive.
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Thanks for the tip!!
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Those guages are worthless. A #12 insulated conductor can be as small as .128"D or as big as .212"D. A #10 can be range from.164"D to .26"D. That’s a significant amount of overlap. There is overlap between any two conductor guages. Even with a guage for every insulatiion type, you still need to know what the insulation type is.
Every conductor has its guage and insulation type printed on it. That’s what you should go by. If you are going to measure wire gauge, you need to measure the bare conductor, or have a big set of gauges to cover all the insulation types.
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George, come on buddy. That is a bit of a harsh statement. For one it helps the inspector want to learn more and be safe while inspecting circuit cables.
Would you prefer inspectors root around a panel board’s interior and try to gauge circuit conductor AWG with conductive calipers or plastic non conductive gauges?
AS well, there is a new set of colored non conductive low voltage cable gauges. You judge the AWG by visual comparison. IMO. Another hit or miss seeing AWG can vary depending upon heat and stretching when cables are pulled being fishes through structural components.
Here is the disclaimer provided by the retailer for the plastic AWG sets.
(Additional Disclaimer:
Wiring sizes range in thicknesses due to age and manufacturer. While these are fairly accurate, they cannot be guaranteed to provide accurate information for all conditions, and should be used as a guide. We do not guarantee accuracy. with older wires.
However, since new wire is smaller, you can be assured that the older stuff should be at least the size you are expecting. A modern #12 will be slightly smaller, so the old #12 will be between an 12 and 10 slot on the gauge.)
How is giving practical advice harsh? Please be more specific.
The disclaimer is nonsense. Either the writer doesn’t know what he is talking about or he thinks buyers of his gauges are dumb enough to believe his nonsense. The ranges I mentioned are current standards. As I said, all conductors have the gauge and insulation type printed on them.
If an inspector deems it necessary to measure the gauge of a conductor, the only reliable method, without knowing the type of insulation it has, is to measure the actual conductor. Even then, there are different sizes based on the number of strands. The most common conductors have 1, 7, 19, or 37 strands. Each has a different diameter.
How an inspector goes about measuring the conductors is his business. That’s no concern of mine. I cannot recall there ever being a time when I needed to measure a conductor, but I have several vernier calipers that I could use should the need arise. A vernier caliper will provide a very precise measurement. That would be my instrument of choice.
Inspectors too often rely on worthless gadgets. The plastic gauges are just that, worthless gadgets. The cost of a good quality vernier caliper is around $20. For those who don’t know how to read a vernier scale and don’t want to learn, the cost of a digital vernier caliper is only around $10 more. I wouldn’t use a digital vernier caliber, but that a personal preference.
The only way I would consider using plastic gauges would be if they were sized to measure the actual conductor, not the insulation. Actually, I wouldn’t even then because of the large number gauges that would be needed. That would be pointless when a single, inexpensive, and very accurate caliper would tell me precisely what I need to know.
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George, by claiming those gauges are worthless is not practical advice.
Worthless denotes having no real value.
I feel they do have value to some capacity.
1: They help the inspector roughly gauge the AWG they inspect safely as compared to conductive gauges inspectors use.
2: We are professionals and business people.
Code of ethic: The InterNACHI® member shall not engage in any act or practice that could be deemed damaging, seditious or destructive to InterNACHI®, fellow InterNACHI® members, InterNACHI® employees, leadership or directors.
Understandably they are not as precise as vernier caliper George.
I will leave it at that.
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You are right. To say that they have no value was an understatement. Anything that could cause an inspector to have a false sense of confidence and a false belief that might be passed on to a homebuyer or homeowner is dangerous. I was wrong not to more clearly and forcefully make my point. Bad information is bad for the trade. It’s bad for inspectors. It’s bad for the people who trust us to provide true, accurate and reliable information. I agree that we are, or ought to be, professionals. Professionals use professional tools. I put the plastic gauges in the same category as the popular Code-Check kiddy books.
I’ll revise my statement. The plastic wire gauges are a scam. They are not suitable for use a professional tool.
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“While some may agree, others may not.”
Keep well, George.
Robert
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The manufacturer states they are not reliable. George does nothing more than prove this point. It is a tale of caution we can learn from.
How did George violate this?
You have been on a tear for the last few days. Is this nonsense intentional?
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Those wire gauge tools can be useful if the person using them is aware of their limitations. Any home built in the last 40 years will almost certainly have NM cable with thermoplastic insulation. That being the case these gauges can be used to determine the conductor size. In cases where the panels is recessed or there is cable type AC (where you cannot see the conductor size on the outer jacket) you would need to look at the actual conductor itself.
For NM, AC and some MC cables the conductor size is not printed on the insulation so a tool like this can work. In older installations where they may be rubber insulated, tin plated copper conductors or type TW insulation these tools can give inaccurate results.
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That is true, they are worthless for inspecting. As George said, just look on the printing on the insulation. I do carry a set of plastic vernier calipers and a wire gage chart. That is the only sure way. Though I seldom use them.
Those wire gages are almost as useless as the shingle gages for roof life!
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“The thread that wouldn’t die…”
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True, and funny!
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