On 09/08/2013 08:49 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 09/08/2013 07:59 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 08 Sep 2013 18:20:32 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:
On 9/8/2013 5:17 PM, wrote:
That's a viable strategy. I've had a long standing
discussion with a friend of mine regarding the "cheap
and disposable" vs. "quality but 'spensive" paradigm
when it comes to tools. I have a real Skil brand
circular saw, a Snap-On torque wrench, a Milwaukee
Sawzall, angle grinder, 1/2" drill, etc. Most of
his tools are from the Freight.
That might be true if the cheap tool actually works. I've bought
enough crap in my life to swear off cheap tools, forever. Saws that
don't cut straight to drills that don't. Even though I'm a DIYer, I
can't afford cheap tools.
CY: Some of the HF stuff actually works. The challenge is to find which
ones.
For varying values of "work", sure. OTOH, I'm looking seriously at
their steel tool chests. They seem to be very nice at a good price
point; very good roller slides for many hundreds less than the
competition.
They do seem nice, I'd stay away from the ones with regular nylon slides
though. Of course I have a Crapsman cheapest of the cheap roll cabinet
for household tool storage that I think I paid $120 for both pieces and
despite my expectation that it would fall apart in a couple years it's
still together...!
For flashlights around the house, anything works. Just salt enough of
them around that one will be within reach when the lights go out.
CY: The military talks about using your pistol to fight your way back to
your rifle. Rifle to fight back to your unit. The light in your pocket
helps find the real flash light in storage.
...which has leaking batteries. ;-)
OTOH, if I were a cop, I'd probably want a nice 6x'D' Maglight. ;-)
CY: Real cops carry tasers, pistol, and so on. Rent a cops
and security guys like 6D mags for the plausible deniability.
You've never seen a real cop with a 2' Maglight? Traffic and state
cops all seem to carry them.
snip
I thought they'd all gone to Surefires a decade or so ago... and there's
better (at least brighter) lights available than either, or get a
Malkoff drop in...
I hear you. I just do it occasionally. If I have a drawer full of
batteries, I just replace cells when I reach for the widget. I don't
store any batteries in more expensive gear (laser levels, DVMs, etc.)
that aren't in continuous use. I put new batteries in at every use
then pull and toss them when I put the tools away.
CY: You toss part used batteries? What a waste.
Better than keeping them until they leak. That's the choice.
snip
I've notices that, as well. Yes, I own a couple of Flukes and a pot
full of HFs. The HFs are bait. I've had a couple of Flukes run away
and not come home.
CY: I like being able to have HF meter in nearly every tool box.
If I blow one up, let out the smoke, it's no big deal.
I tend to end up using one multimeter or other at least
once a week, and in all cases removing the cells/batteries
requires at least a screwdriver, so I'm thinking switching
to NiMH is in the cards.
I may use mine at home once a year. They pay me too much to do
electronics on my time. ;-)
CY: Good on you!
Dunno, work is fun but doing it at home, too, doesn't seem like so
much. I'd rather make sawdust. Same sorts of thinking but more of a
sense of accomplishment.
Eh, I seem to end up always doing electrical troubleshooting on some
ancient vehicle or other... was just helping a guy put a new wiring
harness in a Studebaker last weekend, having a meter helped me check
everything out before powering it up.
nate
Follow up: Stopped by Micro Center today as I'd seen the Tenergy
Centura C, D, and 9V cells before. They still had 'em, prices in all
cases about $1/pack more than Amazon so I bought one of each and two 9V.
They've also started carrying the AA and AAA sizes.
Got lucky for once... went to change the 9Vs in my Flukes and the older
"backup" meter had an ancient Duracell in it, date on the case was 2004
(!!!) and it was decidedly bulgy but not leaking (and still working.)
The newer Fluke had a "Heavy Duty" 9V in it (carbon-zinc!) but it looked
fine and still had a charge on it, but it went bye-bye anyway. So no
worries there, I think the only devices that I now have with alkalines
still in it are my Simpson 260 (and I'll get that later today, but I
just changed the cells in it maybe 6 mos. ago so it should be good) and
a 4-D Mag-Lite that I just can't justify $40 worth of NiMH to switch
over - but if I can get the 3xAA to D adapters I will store my spare AAs
in it to kill two birds with one stone.
Now I need to acquire a charger that will charge the NiMH 9Vs... they
had the Tenergy brand chargers at Micro Center but most of them were
dumb timer-based chargers. They did have the Tenergy 9V only charger
which is a smart charger, but I'm trying to find a charger that will do
all sizes NiMH including C, D, and 9V and all smart, preferably able to
run off 120VAC and 12VDC; seems to be easier said than done however. My
Maha C9000 will do AA and AAA natively, C and D with adapters (but only
two at a time, and with limitations, so it's not real convenient save
for break in and reconditioning) and 9V not at all. The Tenergy 9V
charger won't work off 12VDC, but worst case the Maha 9V only charger will.
It is a little frustrating that I'm apparently having to become an
"expert" on NiMH batteries and chargers just to accomplish the simple
task of switching all my battery operated devices over to them... but I
don't want to repeat the experiences that I had a few years ago when
NiMH was newer and I just bought an Energizer brand dumb charger off the
shelf at a store; I was disappointed with the life of the cells I was
using and I'm sure that the charger was partly to blame, and at the same
time I was using non-LSD cells as that's what I could get in stores at
the time.
nate
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