Tools for turning conduit locknuts are nothing new. You can already pick up a conduit locknut wrench or a pair of conduit locknut and reaming pliers for under $20, but when I spotted Klein’s conduit locknut wrench, I instantly realized how much more effective it might be.
Imagine you are trying to run conduit or even Romex to a single gang metal electrical box. You need to fasten the connector to the box by sticking it through a knockout and tightening a studded locknut onto the threads inside the box, but there isn’t much room to maneuver inside a single gang box.
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I don’t own a conduit locknut wrench, so in tight situations I’ll usually tighten the nut by pressing on one of the external studs with the blade of a screwdriver. I know I’m not alone in doing it this way. Using a wrench would make a much better mechanical connection, but in many situations there just isn’t much room to swing the arm of the wrench, and frankly the screwdriver is faster.
Compounding the issue, conduit locknuts aren’t like regular nuts, they usually have grooves or are concave with studs twisted out of plane to grab the inside of the box. Also the threads often aren’t perpendicular to the side of the box (or the box side itself isn’t flat), so when you start tightening, you think the nut is almost tight, but then it’ll start spinning freely again.
Klein’s conduit locknut wrench makes it easier to deal with these finicky nuts in confined spaces. Whats really neat about it is that the two drive heads on opposite sides of the wrench are mechanically connected, so when you turn one, the other one turns.
This connection means that you can stick the wrench over the connector threads onto the nut and simply spin the other head to tighten it. Then to finish torquing the nut, just stop the head with your hand and swing the body of the wrench.
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If you already have wire pulled into the box, the wrench has a pass-through head. You can pull the end of the wire through the head so you can fully engage the wrench with the locknut.
This 9″ long wrench is made from heavy duty steel and covered in plastic, presumably to protect the internal gearing. It’ll fit nuts on both 1/2″ and 3/4″ connectors.
Because of the mechanical drive, and probably the Klein name, this wrench is more expensive than other tools for tightening locknuts. You could spend $8 on the Gardner Bender conduit locknut wrench shown above, which is only good for one size of locknut, $17 on a Irwin conduit and locknut reaming pliers, or about $40 for Klein’s conduit locknut wrench.
Price: $40
Buy Now (Conduit Locknut Wrench via Amazon)
Compare (Irwin Pliers via Amazon)
Compare (GB Conduit Locknut Wrench)
Tyler
I have been an electrician for the past 10 years, and I have to say I see absolutely no use for this. I have seen it in wholesalers and could not believe how heavy it was. I rarely run across a situation where a pair on linesmen and a flat blade don’t work, there are a few tricks sometimes.
I have seen a few of these come and go, Channel Lock had some pliers, you linked the GB ones. Occasionally a new guy shows up with one and they always seem to end up never being around when you need them. The biggest problem is they’re a large heavy fairly expensive tool that only does a single thing.
fred
It seems innovative but it gets some mixed reviews and seems pretty specialized. Most electricians that I’ve seen just use their flat-tipped screwdriver to push on and turn the locknut.
Channellock also has a set of pliers:
http://www.amazon.com/Channellock-960-2-Inch-Electrical-Locknut/dp/B000E62L9I
Jerry
If I need the locknut tight and have full access to the box I found holding the but and turning the fitting with pliers makes for a tighter connection and is usually faster. I’d file this in the highly specialized tools section.
fred
Exactly right – or at least it seems that way to me – although I’m more a plumber than an electrician. The box they show in the picture is on “old work” – has been cut in – and is supported with Madison Straps – so presumably they could have made up the locknut(s) before sliding the box into the wall.
Jman
Except that doesn’t work. I’ve made up many a cut in box. Box always goes in first then pull the MC down into the connector. Try making it up before hand without cutting a longer hole that your plate won’t cover. I see plenty of use for this, I recently did a renovation with a ton of cut ins. If I ever end up on another job like that I’d consider buying this tool. Too much time seeing guys with big hands fiddle trying to get the locknut started or cross threading in the deep cut-ins.
fred
Thanks
I assumed you could just tilted the box in – but I can now picture the geometry of the thing with 2 “ears” sticking out and not wanting to tilt into place.
Learn something new everyday.
Mr. X
Actually, if the installer in this example selected a box with integral clamps, there would be no need to tighten a lock nut. In 30 years in the electrical trade, I have never installed an NM or MC cable into an old work box using an external connector with a lock nut.
The real application for this tool is installing lock nuts inside panels. Yes, it is very specialized, but when tightening a lock nut, especially on rigid metal conduit or EMT, inside a panel, it is critical to get it properly tight as the metallic conduit is often used as the equipment grounding conductor in the circuit. A solid connection with the lock nut ensures a good bonding connection between the raceway and the enclosure. In a panel, there is often a flange or lip around the perimeter of the front making it awkward to use the screwdriver/pliers method of tightening a lock nut.
I am going to give this tool a try.
Nathan
it’s a nifty idea. I’ll admit I would try one but I don’t know I’d try one for a whopping 40 dollars. at 20 – if I was about to do some extensive conduit work at home I might consider it
OnTheWeb
Any pair of long bent needle nose pliers resolves the nut issue except in hot panel situations.
Most of the time you just hand tighten the nut and then final tighten by turning the fitting into place, not the nut.
Tim
In 12 years of doing electrical work full time, I can’t think of one time i had trouble with a lock nut that I would need this for.
Josh
I picked up one of these for piping elevator components. There’s more than a few situations where the component is in an awkward spot and you don’t have room to swing whatever whacking tool is nearby against a screwdriver to tighten locknuts. This thing works perfect. Only complaints would be price and weight
Put cody
I have Channellock pliers and I didn’t think it worked very well. It always slipped off the nut. Put it back in package and never used it again. Should have returned it to the store
Jason O
There are plenty of snap-in connectors available that makes this tool less useful. That said, if I ever go back to commercial instead of solar, I’d probably get one to have in my box
Jim mc
If you were building assemblies maybe this would have some use – but snugging the nut down with a screwdriver and pair of linesman’s as a hammer is the way to go because those are the tools that are(or should be) in your pocket on a site!
Mike
I’ve actually used this. Where it really shines is in crowded panels and gutters (Because people always politely install at the rear punchouts first to make it easier on the next guy installing new circuits, right?) where it’s difficult to access. Even a screwdriver and hammer can’t get to some of those places easily.
The flat locknut wrenches from GB and Channellock are useless in any situation where you would actually want to use a wrench. You can’t use them in any box with a lip or where there is a device mounting tab in the way. They won’t work if there’s another connector installed anywhere nearby. If the locknut is already easily accessible they can be used, but in those situations you don’t need the wrench anyway.
Klein seems to be advertising this for use in small GEM boxes where it’s hard to turn a locknut. But as Jason O pointed out, the snap-in connector solved that problem long ago and is many times faster. Not their best marketing effort.