the other thing about specialist tools is a bit of a liability issue
you CAN work around them but unless you know where and how to find the right tool to tear apart something that shouldnt be tampered with odds are you shouldnt be tampering with it
you CAN rig up a manhole Lidlifter for example but there is a reason manholes are not easy to lift
12 feet underground in a flooded area that just been pumped with high voltage is not a friendly place for untrained people and thats just a telecom manhole let alone a sewer or hydro one.
Good GAWD, I need a new keyboard, or should get a good night's sleep before trying to type. Either that or I should quit drinking Vernors while trying to type.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
Yeah - cause they're also really hard on your toes if you drop them. It's like a Rigger, you have to keep your feet out of the "No Zone". And steel-toes don't help at all if it's your ankle in the way.
Actually, voltage concerns are not a big problem with telecom manholes - everything down there is Class 2 Current Limited. Some of the carrier circuits have 300V or more on them, but most is -48V DC.
Bad air from oxygen depletion or hydrogen sulphide and explosive vapors are a much more imminent hazard, and all you need to do to get killed by them is climb inside without testing and ventilating the space first. I was a construction splicer for 8 years.
Everything involved with telephones is bonded and grounded 47 ways from Sunday. The only holes we had to worry about power were ones located directly under the path of a high-tension transmission line, and they simply wanted us to keep the bonding straps connected at each cable end at all times, and hook up temporary grounds to the racking (instead of leaving them open for the day) and setup our work positions sitting on a rubber blanket with HV Lineman Gloves at the ready "just in case" we had to bail out in an emergency.
And they're damn hard to find these days. Of course, I use 'em on a ship that was designed 103 years ago... I use 8-point sockets or a cresent wrench on them, but they're 10-32 & 1/4" and pretty easy to get at.
You have a few in your socket set. I had to remove a square head pipe plug so I put the 1/4" Allen driver bit into the ratchet and then put the 1/4" socket on it backwards so you are driving with the part that normally goes on the ratchet. It will work for 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" with the adapters in most socket sets.
Chuckle..I have at least 3 monkey wrenchs in use in my shop. One an actual Stillson.
I use them to tighten machine vises, not having the proper handle, etc etc
Gunner
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