Campervan Electrical Tools List: Everything You Need
Having the right tools makes the difference between a frustrating, unsafe installation and a clean, professional-looking job. You do not need to spend a fortune, but cutting corners on certain tools — particularly crimping tools and your multimeter — will cost you in reliability and safety.
This guide covers every tool you need for a campervan electrical installation, from the absolute essentials to nice-to-have extras. For the full picture of what you are building, see our campervan electrical system guide. Once you know your system design — use our free calculator to work it out — you can match your tool purchases to the specific work required.
Design Your System First
Know exactly what you are building before buying tools. Our free calculator sizes your system and generates a wiring diagram so you know precisely what tools and materials you need.
Essential Tools (You Cannot Do Without These)
Multimeter (£15-£80)
A multimeter is the single most important tool for any electrical work. You will use it constantly — testing battery voltage, checking continuity, verifying connections, measuring current draw, and troubleshooting issues.
What to look for:
- DC voltage measurement up to at least 50V
- DC current measurement (10A range minimum)
- Continuity test with audible beep
- Resistance measurement
- Auto-ranging (saves fiddling with dial settings)
Budget pick: Aneng AN8008 or similar (£15-£20) — perfectly adequate for campervan work.
Mid-range pick: Uni-T UT61E (£40-£50) — excellent accuracy and build quality.
Premium pick: Fluke 117 (£150+) — overkill for most van builds but will last a lifetime.
For a detailed guide on using your multimeter in a campervan context, see our multimeter testing guide.
Test Your Multimeter First
Before relying on your multimeter for critical measurements, test it against a known voltage source. A fully charged 12V lithium battery should read 13.2-13.6V. If your multimeter reads significantly differently, replace the battery in the multimeter or return it.
Crimping Tool (£20-£50)
Crimping is how you attach terminals, lugs, and connectors to cable ends. A good crimp creates a gas-tight mechanical bond that is reliable for the life of your van. A bad crimp creates a loose connection that can overheat and cause fires.
Ratcheting crimper for insulated terminals (essential):
- Handles standard red, blue, and yellow insulated crimp terminals
- Ratchet mechanism ensures consistent, complete crimps
- Budget: £15-£25 for a quality ratcheting crimper
Hydraulic crimper for battery cables (essential for heavy gauge):
- For crimping large lugs onto 16mm2, 25mm2, 35mm2, and larger cable
- Needed for battery-to-inverter cables, main battery feeds, and DC-DC charger cables
- Budget: £25-£50 for a hydraulic crimper with die sets from 6mm2 to 50mm2
For a comparison of crimping versus soldering and when to use each, read our guide on crimping vs soldering for campervan wiring.
Never Use Plier-Style Crimpers
The cheap plier-style crimpers that look like a pair of pliers with a notch in the jaw produce unreliable, inconsistent crimps. They do not compress the terminal evenly and often create weak connections that pass an initial tug test but fail under vibration — exactly the conditions inside a moving vehicle. Always use a ratcheting or hydraulic crimper.
Wire Strippers (£8-£20)
You need to strip insulation cleanly without nicking the copper conductor underneath. Nicked conductors are weaker and more likely to break, especially under vibration.
Self-adjusting wire strippers (£12-£18) are the best choice. They automatically adjust to the cable diameter and strip cleanly every time. The Knipex 12 62 180 or similar clones work brilliantly.
For heavy-gauge cable (10mm2+), a utility knife or dedicated cable knife is more practical than wire strippers.
Cable Cutters (£10-£25)
For cutting cable cleanly without crushing or fraying the conductors. Standard side cutters work for thin cable up to about 6mm2, but you need proper cable cutters for anything larger.
A cable cutter that handles up to 50mm2 costs around £15-£25 and covers every cable size you will encounter in a campervan build.
Heat Shrink and Heat Gun (£15-£30 for both)
Heat shrink tubing is essential for insulating and waterproofing every connection. Adhesive-lined heat shrink is best — the adhesive melts and seals the connection against moisture ingress.
Heat shrink assortment pack: £8-£12 for a box of various diameters. Get adhesive-lined versions.
Heat gun: £15-£25 for a basic heat gun. A hair dryer does not get hot enough for most heat shrink. A butane lighter works in a pinch but risks overheating and damaging cable insulation.
Screwdrivers and Hex Keys
Many electrical components use Phillips, Pozidrive, or hex-head terminals. You need:
- A set of precision screwdrivers (for small terminal screws)
- Standard Phillips and flat head screwdrivers
- Hex key set (metric, 1.5mm to 6mm)
- A torque screwdriver or torque hex key set (ideal for battery terminals)
Drill and Drill Bits
For mounting fuse boxes, running cable through bulkheads, installing cable glands, and fitting components. You likely already own a drill, but you may need:
- Step drill bit (£10-£15) — essential for drilling clean holes in metal panels for cable glands and sockets. Much better than standard drill bits for thin sheet metal
- Hole saw set — for larger holes (mains inlet, ventilation)
- Metal drill bits — standard HSS bits for pilot holes
Important but Not Strictly Essential
Label Maker or Cable Labels (£15-£30)
Labelling every cable at both ends is not glamorous, but it is incredibly valuable when troubleshooting later. A basic label maker (Brother P-Touch or similar) costs £20-£30 and uses standard tape cassettes.
Alternatively, use printed cable wrap labels or even masking tape and a marker pen. The method matters less than actually doing it.
Cable Ties and Mounts (£10-£15)
For securing cable looms neatly. Self-adhesive cable tie mounts stick to flat surfaces and give you anchoring points every 200-300mm along cable runs.
Get a variety pack of cable ties in several lengths. Reusable (releasable) cable ties are worth the small extra cost for runs you might need to modify later.
Electrical Tape (£5-£10)
Not a substitute for heat shrink on connections, but useful for bundling cables, temporary marking, and wrapping cable looms. Get proper PVC electrical tape (like Nitto or similar), not cheap general-purpose tape.
Torque Wrench or Torque Driver (£20-£40)
Battery terminal bolts and bus bar connections have specific torque requirements. Over-tightening can crack lithium battery terminals; under-tightening creates high-resistance connections that overheat.
A small torque driver or torque wrench that covers 1-10 Nm handles most campervan electrical connections.
Circuit Tester / Test Light (£5-£10)
A simple circuit tester with a probe and earth clip is handy for quick checks — is this fuse blown? Is there power here? While a multimeter does the same job, a test light is faster for simple power presence checks.
Nice-to-Have Tools
Wire Loom / Split Conduit
Not a tool, but a material worth mentioning. Split conduit protects cable runs from chafing against metal edges. Essential anywhere cable passes through a drilled hole or runs along a sharp edge.
Ferrule Crimper and Ferrules (£15-£25)
Ferrules are small metal sleeves that go over stranded wire before it enters a screw terminal. They prevent strand fraying and ensure all strands make contact with the terminal. Very common in European electrical practice and a mark of a professional installation.
A ferrule crimper with an assortment of ferrules costs £15-£25 and is well worth the investment.
Fish Tape or Draw Wire (£10-£20)
For pulling cables through conduit, behind panels, and through cavities. A 15m fish tape or draw wire saves enormous time and frustration when routing cables through tight spaces.
Oscilloscope (£50-£150 for a USB type)
Completely unnecessary for most builds, but useful if you are troubleshooting alternator noise on DC-DC chargers, checking inverter output quality, or diagnosing interference issues.
Tool Kit Summary and Budget
Minimum Essential Kit (£100-£150)
| Tool | Approx. Cost |
|---|---|
| Multimeter (basic auto-ranging) | £15-£25 |
| Ratcheting crimper (insulated terminals) | £15-£25 |
| Hydraulic crimper (heavy gauge) | £25-£40 |
| Self-adjusting wire strippers | £12-£18 |
| Cable cutters | £15-£20 |
| Heat shrink assortment (adhesive-lined) | £10-£12 |
| Heat gun | £15-£25 |
| Step drill bit | £10-£15 |
| Total | £117-£180 |
Recommended Kit (£200-£300)
Everything above, plus:
| Tool | Approx. Cost |
|---|---|
| Label maker | £20-£30 |
| Ferrule crimper + ferrules | £15-£25 |
| Torque driver | £20-£30 |
| Cable tie assortment + mounts | £10-£15 |
| Fish tape / draw wire | £10-£15 |
| Split conduit assortment | £10-£15 |
| Additional Total | £85-£130 |
Buy Once, Buy Right
These tools will serve you well beyond your van build — home electrical projects, boat wiring, garden lighting, and more. Spending an extra £20-£30 on quality tools pays dividends over years of use. The crimping tools especially are a false economy at the cheap end.
Where to Buy Electrical Tools in the UK
Online Retailers
- Amazon UK — widest selection, easy returns, Prime delivery
- CEF (City Electrical Factors) — trade supplier with retail sales, excellent for cable and consumables
- TLC Electrical — good range of professional tools
- 12 Volt Planet — specialist in 12V and campervan electrical supplies
Physical Shops
- Screwfix — good for general tools, cable, and fixings
- Toolstation — similar range to Screwfix, sometimes cheaper
- Halfords — limited but useful for automotive-specific items
Specialist Campervan Suppliers
- Bimble Solar — solar-specific tools and components
- Fogstar — batteries and related tools
- CAK Tanks — campervan-specific electrical supplies
Consumables to Stock Up On
Do not forget to budget for consumables that you will use throughout the build:
- Insulated crimp terminals — ring, spade, butt connectors in various sizes (£10-£20 for assortment)
- Cable lugs — for heavy gauge cable (buy to match your cable sizes)
- Fuses — blade fuses in various ratings, plus ANL/Mega fuses for heavy circuits (£15-£25)
- Heat shrink — you will use far more than you expect
- Cable ties — buy in bulk
- Self-amalgamating tape — for waterproof connections in exposed areas
- Dielectric grease — for protecting connections from corrosion
- Thread-locking compound — for vibration-prone bolt connections
Use our free calculator to determine exactly what cable sizes, fuse ratings, and connector types your specific system requires before purchasing consumables.
Know What You Need Before You Buy
Our free calculator generates a complete component and materials list for your specific system. Stop guessing and start building with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install campervan electrics with just basic household tools?
You can do some of it, but you really need a multimeter, proper crimping tools, and wire strippers at minimum. Trying to crimp terminals with pliers or strip wire with a knife leads to unreliable, potentially dangerous connections.
How much should I budget for tools?
For a minimum essential kit, budget £100-£150. For a more complete setup that makes the job easier and results more professional, budget £200-£300. These tools are a one-time investment.
Do I need different crimping tools for different cable sizes?
Yes. A standard ratcheting crimper handles insulated terminals on cables up to about 6mm2. For battery cables and other heavy-gauge connections (10mm2+), you need a hydraulic crimper with appropriate die sets.
Is soldering better than crimping for campervan wiring?
No. In a campervan, crimped connections are preferred because they handle vibration better than soldered joints. Solder can crack under repeated vibration and thermal cycling. A properly crimped connection with heat shrink is the standard for automotive and marine applications.
What is the most commonly forgotten tool?
A step drill bit. People buy all the crimping and stripping tools but forget they need to drill clean holes in metal panels for cable glands, sockets, and switches. A step drill bit is the only practical way to drill neat holes in thin sheet metal.
Where should I store tools during the build?
Keep your electrical tools separate from general van build tools. Metal filings from cutting and grinding can contaminate electrical connections. Store crimping tools, terminals, and connectors in a sealed plastic box away from dust and metal debris.