These Electricians Are Revolutionizing the Industry With Their Genius Invention
We sat down with Devin and Bret of Slammers Inc. to talk about their groundbreaking product, the electrical industry, and what it’s like to invent a new tool and bring it to market with Rack-A-Tiers. The Slammers cap and spacer system is the best way to protect and align conduit for concrete slab pours.
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A Brief History of Slammers Inc.
Rack-A-Tiers: Alright, well it’s great to meet you both. Thanks for hopping on to chat with us. Could you guys introduce yourself and tell the story of how Slammers came to be?
Bret: We started working together on some jobs and doing slab work. That can be quite challenging sometimes. We noticed when we had stub ups come up through the cement, that you’d have to get this bender called a hickey bender which is a short conduit bender to straighten our pipe to go into these electrical boxes. We would have discussions during lunchtime saying man I can’t believe there isn’t something out there that can hold that pipe up so we can put on the electrical box.
Devin: We did our research and couldn’t find anything that would work, Bret suggested maybe we should make something, they don’t have anything out there so maybe we should make it ourselves. So, we started making prototypes.
Bret: Yeah, then one meeting after another we finally came up with a way to make it tight enough to snap right on the conduit. Our partner Brian is a machinist and was able to machine some prototypes.
We applied for and received a patent, and we had visions of grandeur of living in the Bahamas for the rest of our lives. But, at our first trade show, we realized getting it into distributors would take some work.
Devin: Yeah, the representatives from different companies were going to make fun of our booth but then they noticed they didn’t see one electrician go by our table without stopping.
Bret: Little by little we started handing them out to other electricians and they’d give us some feedback, and because they knew us, they were a little brutal, but everybody seemed to like them.
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Why Electricians NEED Slammers
Rack-A-Tiers: What did you think that you were helping people with when you created Slammers? Was it saving money? Was it saving time? What was the thought behind it?
Devin: We’re out there in the trenches, we need something that makes this simpler. Without holding that spacing correct for your box, you’d have to use a hickey bender. Sometimes when you come back the wall is already framed up around your conduits so it’s kind of hard to even maneuver the bender in where you need it. So, we mainly wanted to find something to make this easier and quicker.
Bret: Yeah, and it looks so much neater and more professional.
Slammers vs. Tie Wire
Rack-A-Tiers: We posted some of the videos of the Slammers before and we had a lot of commenters asking why not use tie wire or duct tape. Why is this so much better than those options?
Bret: You know, I think everybody adopts a certain way of doing things and I think they make it work for them. You can make it work for the job. But if you’re a contractor paying for labor and you’re watching guys using tie wire or duct tape trying to get things to hold then having to deal with the extra complexity of straightening the pipe in the wall. You’re gonna be thinking about how time is money. Electricians’ wages are not cheap by any means, and you want, as a contractor, to make as much profit as possible. The labor cost savings alone make Slammers worth it.
Devin: Spacing is critical and it saves a ton of time not having to come back and try to get your conduits to fit the box. The cap is also very important. Sometimes these projects might sit for six months once you’ve roughed it in before you actually have the walls there and can come back in and start finishing out. So, with the weather, the duct tape will be destroyed. The cap is very important because if you end up getting something in that conduit and can’t use it that creates a huge cost.
Bret: I think most electricians that have dealt with the pain of having a rock jammed in their conduit and then the whole race is done. You have to abandon it and find an alternative route which is going to cost you quite a bit more money and time to get the job done.
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Conduit Spacers and Caps for Commercial Electricians
Rack-A-Tiers: If you were to describe exactly who Slammers are for, what type of electrician will need these?
Bret: It’s probably more for commercial electricians. Guys that work in slab or work on bigger projects, but you know it has uses anywhere that you run conduit underneath cement.
Devin: We initially intended for them to be used on a commercial building where you were stubbing up for a receptacle, light switch, or fire alarm but we’re finding that they’re being used for other things like in Sonotube for light poles. I’ve seen guys screw them onto kayaks and they’ll just snap them in their oars so they can fish!
Check Out the Slammers Spacers with Support Holes
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Why You Should Use Slammers for Slab Pours
Rack-A-Tiers: We love multi-use tools, right? Why should electrical contractors use them why should they switch to them instead of continuing to use makeshift methods?
Devin: Electricians take pride in their work. When you try to find something on the job to space between the conduit and then wrap a piece of tie wire around it, every stub ends up being different than the next one. With the cap and spacer system, everything is uniform and just looks cleaner.
Bret: Yeah, it’s clean, sturdy, and protected. The cap on top prevents any debris from going in. The simplicity and aesthetics of the spacers are incredible. These just sharpened the jobs right up. Plus, there are serious savings for contractors.
Devin: Another advantage of it is the color code that we used we used red for three-quarters and blue for one inch which is the industry standard for rigid conduit. You can quickly identify the different sizes, so you know where to work.
Check Out the Slammers Conduit Caps
The Life of Electrical Tool Inventors
Rack-A-Tiers: What do you think was the biggest complication that you faced in this production process?
Devin: I think a lot of that would probably tie to the fact that we’re trying to get this business going and yet we’re working our full-time job.
Bret: And raising families, trying to keep up with you know our civic duties, and volunteer time to our communities. I think there was also some challenges in understanding advertising and marketing. This has been an incredible education on how all that comes together. It’s a great product but for people to see it you need marketing, that’s why we like Rack-A-tiers so much.
Devin & Bret’s Favorite Electrical Tools
Rack-A-Tiers: What are some other tools that you really recommend to people and have found useful over the years?
Bret: The Bend-All that you put in the socket on the ratchet to bend wire. I used the heck out of that the other day bending some big wire. That thing’s fantastic. Whoever did that, good job!
Rack-A-Tiers: I’ll let him know!
Devin: That and the box with that little magnet too that you can put in your panel while you’re drilling a hole to catch all the shavings.
Rack-A-Tiers: The Dirt Bag, yeah!
Bret: Oh, and the Rack-A-Tiers wire rack. I use that all the time too and that’s been fun to use.
Devin: Also, I love the battery-operated tools on the market now. Those are amazing. When I was an apprentice, at the end of the job each day, we had to go wind up all the cords and I hated rolling up cords. Now that we’ve got the battery-operated tools, we don’t have to get all those cords.
Bret: I think we just aged ourselves because when we met each other cell phones were called bricks. But yeah, the technology that’s come with battery-powered equipment has just amazed me. I carry a little 12-volt all the time in my bag and it’s just so nice to use.
Rack-A-Tiers: Awesome, well it’s been great talking to you! Thank you so much guys, I’m looking forward to continuing working with you and seeing where Slammers Inc. goes next.
Devin & Bret: Great yeah, thank you!
Rack-A-Tiers: Thank you!
Slammers Conduit Spacers and Caps
Devin and Bret’s journey with Slammers Inc. shows what happens when electricians take matters into their own hands. They saw a problem on the job, figured out a better way to do things, and turned it into a tool that’s now making life easier for everyone in the trade. The Slammers cap and spacer system is all about saving time, cutting costs, and keeping jobs looking clean and professional. It’s clear these guys understand what electricians really need out in the field, and we’re excited to be working with them!
Interested in becoming an inventor, click here to check out the Rack-A-Tiers Inventors Corner.
Read more about the Slammers conduit caps and spacers: Use These Conduit Caps and Spacers for Perfect Conduit Runs
