Electrical Prob help?

[Neb]

Yeah. Me too. They sometimes try to put fewer and fewer knobs, buttons, etc. on the devices to make them look more sleek. And that just adds to the confusion of how to use the thing. "Oh, you want to measure voltage in the 100 - 300 volt range? Hold down button A while double tapping button B within 400 milliseconds of pressing button A. Continue holding button A down for an additional 3 seconds to lock in your new setting." Yeah, I'll surely remember that four years from now. Just give me an old style meter where I can figure out how to work it my looking at it.

If you don't already have one of these things below, buy one now. They are so much easier and safer to use than a voltmeter when you're checking if a circuit is hot overhead and things like that. Several people here recommended I get one back when I was replacing all my light switches with remote control digital ones a while back. They were 100% right in that recommendation. Get one!

Klein non-contact voltage tester

It doesn't have to be Klein brand or this specific model. Any of them are better than a voltmeter for quickly checking if a circuit is hot or not. But Klein is a very good and trusted brand. I like mine.

Yeah but...

Can't check continuity with that.

I have 6-9 multimeters scattered about. All Chinese knock offs.

Not that long ago I finally got around to installing a manual transfer switch that I had lost the instructions. Continuity checks cleared up which color went to the breaker and which color for the load.

But as far as o'scopes go...

I was not happy when an HP salesman tried to sell the lab at Pitt one of those new fangled scopes with sub-menus.

I liked the old school scopes with knobs and switches. Every time I got a new scope I read the manual cover to cover. I still have one on a cart in my shop and two spares on the shelf.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

I've got several Fluke meters, AC clamps, temperature meter, some other stuff. Some of it was freebies from our Fluke vendor, some items I've had for years.

 

[backlash]

I have a Fluke model 10. They don't get much simpler that that.
I also have a coupe of other Fluke meters that do a lot more than I will ever need.
I think I even have an old O scope somewhere.
If I ever had to get that thing out to repair a machine I had a real bad problem.

 

[Neb]

I have a Fluke model 10. They don't get much simpler that that.
I also have a coupe of other Fluke meters that do a lot more than I will ever need.
I think I even have an old O scope somewhere.
If I ever had to get that thing out to repair a machine I had a real bad problem.

Soon after I started at the company I retired from the owner was outraged when he discovered I had brought in a scope to verify the drive signal I was generating. He asked why I brought in a scope when there was a lab full of data acquisition hardware. I told him the drive signal was running at 10Mhz and none of the DAQ hardware could sample that fast but my scope could handle 100 Mhz. Shut gim up.

Then there was a system used to monitor the cell voltages that were generating chlorine gas. The computer science major could not figure out why the cell voltages would go wonky. I used the scope to do differential voltage measurements. Turns out when too many cells were connected some voltages exceeded the common mode rejection of the A/D converters.

Best story came from my wife.

She confessed that she was impressed when I showed up with scope and used it!

Gotta love a woman that is impressed by an o'scope.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

I used O scopes weekly up until about 1995, haven't touched one since.

The fluke 117 i have is a good meter. I liked my old fluke 87 better but... my dad blew it up trying to check current out of the generator on a tractor (he didn't know what he was doing).

So I bought the 117 ($225) which is about half the price of an 87. And, it has met every need here on the farm for a meter.

 

[Haertig]

Yeah but...

Can't check continuity with that.

Of course not. That is not it's purpose. It's purpose is to help reassure you that you switched off the correct breaker and are not working on a live circuit. It can also be used as a quick check to see if there is household AC voltage making it to a specific point in a circuit. It really doesn't do any more that those simple things.

If I could only have a multimeter OR this no-contact voltage checker, I would choose the multimeter because it is more flexible and can do more things. But since I can have both, I have both. Now that I have this no-contact tester, I wish I would have bought it many years ago. It's a handy tool.

 

[Neb]

Of course not. That is not it's purpose. It's purpose is to help reassure you that you switched off the correct breaker and are not working on a live circuit. It can also be used as a quick check to see if there is household AC voltage making it to a specific point in a circuit. It really doesn't do any more that those simple things.

If I could only have a multimeter OR this no-contact voltage checker, I would choose the multimeter because it is more flexible and can do more things. But since I can have both, I have both. Now that I have this no-contact tester, I wish I would have bought it many years ago. It's a handy tool.

Fair enough.

My brother prefers those checkers as well.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

I used O scopes weekly up until about 1995, haven't touched one since.

The fluke 117 i have is a good meter. I liked my old fluke 87 better but... my dad blew it up trying to check current out of the generator on a tractor (he didn't know what he was doing).

So I bought the 117 ($225) which is about half the price of an 87. And, it has met every need here on the farm for a meter.

We have used Fluke 87's at work for years. I've started transitioning them to Fluke 287's. Has a few extra features. The big one we wanted was an extra digit. Some of our measurments is VERY precise.

 

[Peanut]

We have used Fluke 87's at work for years. I've started transitioning them to Fluke 287's. Has a few extra features. The big one we wanted was an extra digit. Some of our measurments is VERY precise.

Up until the mid 90's component level trouble shooting and replacement was normal on catscans and mri's. After that is was cheaper to replace circuit boards, sometimes whole subsystems, than to pay a guy for component level work (bench work was still done, but by a repair tech at the factory). O scopes were no longer used in the field, all a guy needed was a good meter.

We called that kind of work 'easter egging'. Trouble shoot down to a subsystem then order a bunch of parts... hoping you ordered the right ones. If you got the right part... you got and 'easter egg'! Hence the name..

I have a 'chip kit' that was my carry on luggage on countless flights. I actually had two chip kits, one for the high voltage side of the system, the other for the logic side.

Can you imagine trying to get this through airport security today??
Honest officer, it's for my work!

 

[Bacpacker]

Up until the mid 90's component level trouble shooting and replacement was normal on catscans and mri's. After that is was cheaper to replace circuit boards, sometimes whole subsystems, than to pay a guy for component level work (bench work was still done, but by a tech at the factory). O scopes were no longer used in the field, all a guy needed was a good meter.

We called that kind of work 'easter egging'. Trouble shoot down to a subsystem then order a bunch of parts... hoping you ordered the right ones. If you got the right part... you got and easter egg! Hence the name..

I have a 'chip kit' that was my carry on luggage on countless flights. I actually had two chip kits, one for the high voltage side of the system, the other for the logic side.

Can you imagine trying to get this through airport security today??
Honest officer, it's for my work!

View attachment 121241

That would be NO fun in todays world.

We do some component level repairs on both the environmental equipment and the radios. But both are getting to the point, radios in particular, that it's most cost effective to replace boards instead of surface mount stuff. A lot of the newer techs can't even trouble shoot to component level. Thanks fully the bulks of our work is calibrations on a tightly controlled schedule.

 

[Magus]

I cant be bothered with anything that recharges, wont be any good post SHTF.

Why not? you can use stuff until it breaks, then repurpose it.

 

[lonewolf]

Why not? you can use stuff until it breaks, then repurpose it.

because its not my way.

 

[joel]

I do as little electrical as possible.
I have wired a few three phase motors, reset breakers & fuses, some ice cube relays.
But my son is a professional, so I just pay him to do it most times.