"bud--" wrote in message
...

I am a lot more paranoid about possible failures and arc flash after
seeing some videos. Measuring on high capacity circuits, the meters should
be "category" rated. OSHA is likely to take a dim view of using not-cat
rated meters on high capacity circuits, particularly if there is an
injury. Fluke is likely to be cat rated. Not sure any Simpson 260s are.
Digital is also nice because it is more compact. (I coveted a 260 when I
was about jr high school and finally got one at a garage sale recently.)


I do not know what year the cat ratings came out. The Simpsons I have are
way too old for that. Where I work the meters are furnished by the company
and the Flukes are rated for cat 3 and 4 if you have the fuses in them Fluke
recommends for replacement if blown. I have seen a few films on arc flash.
We even have a long coat and face shield to use while working on some
circuits. There are differant levels of protection ranging from long sleeve
natural fiber shirts to heavy coats and face protection.

While I would use one around the house, I am not sure what the ratings if
any are on the meters that I have seen sell for around $ 5 to $ 15.
I just would not use one on the stuff where I work that has very high
current capacity. I do feel safe with the old Simpsons and the newer ones
do have a cat rating.

If you want to see something scarry, I have a few pix of the after math of a
460 volt 3 phase motor starter panel that blew up when a 15 amp breaker was
turned on. It was fed with a main breaker of about 600 amps.
I did not turn it on or see it hapen,but it was where I work.