Snap On's little known program- the Electroset

[buick64203]

I thought you guys might like this.

The Snap On Electroset program was designed for field techs in the electronics industry. It was custom tailored to company specification. They had a special catalog for it, but I've never been able to locate it.

This particular set was tailored by Snap On themselves for automotive equipment repair which is what I did for them at the time. In 1999, the kit was $2,700. because it was a needed tool to perform your duties for the company, the employee price was 50% off. The equipment service division kicked in an additional one time discount of 30%. I was able to break it up in weekly, take out of pay installments.

Over the years, I took the tools out and migrated them to my home toolbox. The tools i kept in the van were just the basics as i was always afraid of the truck getting stolen or broken into.

I just recently took an inventory of the kit and reassembled most of it in the factory case and pallets. The little red metal box has a 1/4" drive set. Whats not shown are the J series wrenchs, impact sockets, industrial finish 1/2 ratchet and wrench sets. There was a supplimental kit that included an IM6100, an FAR750, two industrial finish wrench sets and additional wrench sets.

I was always curious if anyone else had an Electroset or knew any other info on the program? Im not even sure the program still exists

 

[pacsguy]

Interesting... Over the years I keep getting Jensen tool kits sent to me.
The quality isn't really all that great either.

Also, it looks like the xcelite stuff is universal in these electronic toolsets.

 

[buick64203]

Interesting... Over the years I keep getting sent Jensen tool kits sent to me.
The quality isn't really all that great either.

Also, it looks like the xcelite stuff is universal in these electronic toolsets.

Yes, the kit has the Xcelite nut and hex driviers but the handles are Snap On powergrips

 

[pacsguy]

Is there a part number on the handles? Curious if they are still for sale.

 

[buick64203]

Is there a part number on the handles? Curious if they are still for sale.

Part #'s are NDDC4 and NDDC3.


I never heard of those jensen tool kits. I Googled them. They look very similar. I bet the pallets and case are made by the same company.

The case and pallets are still listed in the Snap On online catalog under ESP115 and ESP10

 

[pacsguy]

Hmm.. now I'm going to be on the look out for those handles...

 

[pacsguy]

Here's a link to one that sold at auction. Pics at the bottom.

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=460208

 

[billymade]

Were these in the industrial catalog?

 

[buick64203]

Were these in the industrial catalog?

That could very well be. The 1988-89 tool catalog has it in there on page 173. I dont know when it was taken out. They do list a special catalog for it under number SS837B.

 

[pacsguy]

I called snap on and they don't offer those handles anymore. They said they do have repair kits for them though.

 

[Rawgem]

These "Electroset" travelling tool kits are really cool. I came across one in pretty much new condition a few years ago and have immensely enjoyed it. I was a little ambivalent at the original purchase, but it didn't take long for it to become my favorite little set.

It has one broken tool, the 1/4" nut driver NDI 8. The handles that fit it are the NDDC3 and 4. I think it's one of the newer sets as it has the black hardshell carrying case with the intregal wheels expanding carrying handle. Like I'm going to carry it through the airport with me, or something, eh? The case carries the ESP-125TW designation and the upper removable, unfolding tool folio is labeled similarly at ESP-15L.

Do any of you aficionados happen to know about what vintage this is? I'd sure love to replace the broken nut driver, but it doesn't seem that they are produced anymore and Snap-On no longer supports this product. Got any ideas where I might get my hands on that NDI 8 driver to keep the set all original?

Thanks in advance for any help that you can offer.

 

[Holt]

Is the case a platte

 

[Fred Mau]

Is the case a platte

(I know this is an old thread, but I have some 'inside' knowledge so I'm posting this for the sake of completeness in case anyone else is curious.)

No, the case isn't Platt. Or at least they didn't use to be. From the mid-'80s though at least '00 or so, the palettes and cases were made by 'Howe Industries' in Sanford FL. I used to live not far from there. I can't remember how I originally heard about them, but at some point I discovered they had a 'factory store' in the front of their building whey they were selling leftovers/imperfects/test-runs of whatever pattern they were making that day or week. Ridiculously cheap - As I recall I paid something like $5 each for palettes with Snap-On imprinted on them, and $20 for a heavy-duty 5" attache style case to put them in. Throughout the '90s up until I moved away in '01 I used to stop in every couple of months or so just to see what they had.

At some point in the mid '00s, Howe was bought by C.H. Ellis. But in the last paper Snap-On catalog I had - which now has been probably 3 or 4 years ago - it appeared to still be the same, my palettes and case was still in the catalog.

The relevant catalog is/was the "Snap-On Industrial" catalog which was mostly the same as the mechanics catalog but with extra goodies like the Electroset stuff the industrial users would be interested in. (Do they even still print actual catalogs?).

 

[anndel]

I had a similar set made by Xcelite back in the 1980's. When I left that company they hurried in recovering the tool set and inventoried every piece.

Yep, I know this threat is almost 4 years old, but hey.

 

[Fred Mau]

I had a similar set made by Xcelite back in the 1980's. When I left that company they hurried in recovering the tool set and inventoried every piece.

Yep, I know this threat is almost 4 years old, but hey.

Growing up around TV/Radio repair in the '70s and as an Electronics Technician in the Navy in the '80s, I was a big fan of Xcelite. There was a time when they were to electronics tools what Snap-on was to mechanics tools. And I'm pretty sure the early generation Elecro-sets had at least some Xcelite drivers - The pictures in the catalogs sure looked like Xcelite with the translucent colored handles and I don't remember Snap-On every making handles like that themselves; their own 'electronics' tools at the time had square black handles.

And back when RCA was still making TVs in the USA (up until '82 or '83 I think) the backs of the TV sets were held on with sheet metal screws with a 1/4" hex head, no phillips or slot on the head, and they were recessed deep down in the plastic. Only Xcelite made a 1/4" nut driver with a head that was thin-walled enough to get all the way down into the recess. I always wondered if that was intentional to keep 'amateurs' out.

But... I dunno what happened. By the early '00s either they had gone to **** or they stayed the same while everybody else improved. I bought a couple of drivers around '02 or '03 and the tips were garbage; the 3/16 flat blade tip fractured the first time I tried to use it and the #2 phillips looked worn out after a week's usage.

These days, Xcelite's 'Pro" series is okay albeit limited in selection (just flat and philips) but I think they're just re-branded Felo.

 

[Fred Mau]

These "Electroset" travelling tool kits are really cool. I came across one in pretty much new condition a few years ago and have immensely enjoyed it. I was a little ambivalent at the original purchase, but it didn't take long for it to become my favorite little set.

It has one broken tool, the 1/4" nut driver NDI 8. The handles that fit it are the NDDC3 and 4. I think it's one of the newer sets as it has the black hardshell carrying case with the intregal wheels expanding carrying handle. Like I'm going to carry it through the airport with me, or something, eh? The case carries the ESP-125TW designation and the upper removable, unfolding tool folio is labeled similarly at ESP-15L.

Do any of you aficionados happen to know about what vintage this is?...

Yeah, I know this is old, but just in case you're still curious and/or anyone else is...

The only paper snap-on catalog I still have is their Catalog #700i "Snap-On Industrial" circa 2003. Page N21 shows the ESP15L winged pallet and mentions the ESP125TW case "Extra Tuff 9" with Wheels and Telescoping Luggage Handle".

However the 'proper' 1/4" nutdriver for that set, per the list on page N20, should have been an ND108 which is also on page 199. But what doesn't make sense is that the ND108 has a fixed handle and the photo of the set clearly shows detachable and the list even calls out NDDC4 handle. I thinking the list is wrong and should have said NDI 8 instead of ND108.

Anyway, that puts your vintage at roughly 2003, +/- a few years either way because I'm sure they didn't sell it just that one year.

 

[tin medic]

Reviving an old thread. I picked up this case over the weekend for $20 and plan to fill it up. SO says they started these in 88 and the last year for them was 2007. If anyone has an older catalog with this style case I would be greatly interested in it.

 

[anndel]

Wow cool Snap On. Back in the mid 1980's when I was an electronics tech it was Jensen, Xcelite, Unger, Tektronix, Beckman, Fluke, HP and Panavise.

 

[cdalepilot]

hello all, I just joined the group.

I am looking for one of these.
Can any one help?

 

[Ton ton]

Nice history thread for snap on .

 

[Badger 13]

I have a set and case that is pictured by the original poster of this thread. I bought mine from someone that lost his job as a office equipment repair person. I added to the set over the years for what I used. As others, I have starting to remove the tools and put them in the "box". I really don't need the "traveling" carry case anymore. I have to admit, these were designed quite well, and really tough.

 

[richpa]

Hi there,

I had an Customer Engineers Electroset II tool kit, if I remember correctly. This would have been back in the mid 80s and it weighed a ton with all the equipment I had to cart around, so in the end I sold it and purchased a Jensen Tools 2B1714R-002/356-412 Horizontal Tough "Tote" Case, 12" Deep and transferred all the tools into that. I still have the catalogue for the Electrosets and I still have the Jensen Tool case. The Jensen case has travelled extensively throughout Europe and the USA and is till going strong today.

 

[jcochron]

Sorry to bump an old thread. I found a few handles in my stash & stumbled across y’all while searching for info. Great handles! We used them extensively in military avionics repair.

 

[Badger 13]

Nice find in your "stash". I have a bunch of the Excelite nut drivers, and a few handles as well.

 

[W-Cummins]

I have 3 of the sets, and I have scans of the pages from the catalog of the different sets + the listing of tools in each set....

 

[L.Cheapo]

I can't confirm this, but as someone who was recently shopping for an attache case like these, the cases/paletts in this thread look suspiciously similar to the ones I saw on the Chicago Case/CH Ellis website.