Pro tip: A false alarm call at a big warehouse in Tacoma made me start using a $5 laser pointer for every sensor check.

I was up on a 20 foot ladder for an hour trying to find the beam break on a motion sensor until the site manager came by and shined his keychain laser at the lens, showing me it was just a spiderweb that had tripped the sensor, so now I always carry one in my tool belt to save time.

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_black1mo ago

Read a forum post where a guy swore by a cheap infrared thermometer. He used it to find hot spots in electrical panels and even check if his tires were overheating on a long drive. It's not as fancy as a thermal camera, but for twenty bucks it catches a lot of problems you'd otherwise miss.

the_emma1mo ago

Honestly that's genius, and it makes me wonder what other cheap tools we're all sleeping on. Like, I've used a thermal camera to find overloaded circuits, but that's a huge investment. Are there other five dollar fixes for common problems? I'm thinking like using a piece of string to check for level over long distances, or a cheap magnet to find studs. What's the best low cost trick you've picked up?

mila_harris1mo agoMost Upvoted

My favorite is a box of dental floss for emergency repairs. It's stronger than thread, waxed so it slides, and I've used it to pull wires, fix a tent zipper, and even as a temporary fan belt. The real trick is keeping a multi-tool in your car console, the kind you get for ten bucks at a hardware store. That combo has saved me more times than I can count, and it all fits in a glove box.