Jamie wrote:
Man-wai Chang wrote:

Meters like the Flukes are "Category" rated - 1, 2, 3. When working on
high capacity services, like 1000A 480V, you really want a cat 1
meter. You won't wind up wearing it as in your previous post. The
problem is not just the meter. Arc in meter causes vaporized meter
leads that turns into an arc between busbars - very dangerous.


The physics books I read did NOT talk about this danger. So were all the
physics teachers that taught me. Maybe I fell asleep when they talked
about this. In short, the "art" of choosing the right multimeter for the
right job was not covered by the physics course material of my school
time.

It's really lucky that I was never hurt so far when playg with hobby
circuits...

don't feel so bad, it used to be an accepted practice to use your index
finger and thumb as a go-no-go voltage test.. I know some one that has
one of the first NEC or what ever they called it back then, books, with
that statement in it.

The way I heard that was that with the one hand in the equipment
manipulating the probe, and the other hand in your pocket or tied behind
your back, that sometimes people will ground their thumb or more likely
little (pinkie) finger, so that when they _do_ get zapped, it only burns
their hand and doesn't go through their heart and cause fibrillation or
cardiac arrest.

Hope This Helps!
Rich