My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

You can probably find a used on on Ebay. Simpson, Triplet, etc. Or, go back to HF, and buy another. HF also often has free cheapies with coupon. I've got assortment of thier cheapies. They work well enough for most tasks. They also have clamp on ammeters, which are useful.

Radio Shack used to have good meters. After they refused to send me my $40 rebate on my cell phone, I don't shop there any more. Real shame, they used to have good products. Honor and trustworthiness is important to me.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"Pointer" wrote in message ...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

Pointer wrote:
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.
Hi,
I still have old work horse Simpson 260 and a modern digital meter
with amprobe and temp. sensor. I use either meter depending on work
at hand.

"Pointer" wrote in message
...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a decent
replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while out of
town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

It all depends on what you want to do with one. While not cheap at $ 100 a
Fluke T5-600 is almost impossiable to dammage electrically with anything
under 600 volts. It is good for general testing around the house. One
'problem' for home use is that it will not read low voltages to decimal
places that you may need to check out a battery or car charging system.

They also make other kinds that are usually around $ 125.

On Monday, July 1, 2013 6:30:58 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Pointer" wrote in message

...

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a decent

replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while out of

town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.



It all depends on what you want to do with one. While not cheap at $ 100 a

Fluke T5-600 is almost impossiable to dammage electrically with anything

under 600 volts. It is good for general testing around the house. One

'problem' for home use is that it will not read low voltages to decimal

places that you may need to check out a battery or car charging system.



They also make other kinds that are usually around $ 125.

I have a digital Fluke that's 30 years old now. Accurate, solid
as a rock. I've bought cheap Radio Shack, HF ones a couple times.
Kept them on the boat, where if it got lost, stolen, fell in the
water, etc, for $15 it was no big deal. They serve a purpose, but
you only get what you pay for. The HF one for example, quickly lost
it's accuracy and went off course by about 15%

wrote in message
...
I have a digital Fluke that's 30 years old now. Accurate, solid
as a rock. I've bought cheap Radio Shack, HF ones a couple times.
Kept them on the boat, where if it got lost, stolen, fell in the
water, etc, for $15 it was no big deal. They serve a purpose, but
you only get what you pay for. The HF one for example, quickly lost
it's accuracy and went off course by about 15%

Yes, the cheap meters can come in handy as they are cheap enough to leave in
differant places and if lost it is not that much of an expense.

I have a Simpson 260 that my dad had .. It is hard telling how old it is. I
also have one that is over 25 years old that I owned. They both seem to be
in good calibration as compaired to my much higher priced Fluke meters that
have been sent off and the calibration checked against lab quality
standards.

The old Simpson was hard to beat for the analog meters. You could damage
the meter if you do not pay attention to how it is hooked and what scale is
used. That is why I mentioned the Fluke T5. I used one at work along with
about 20 other people that had them. They were used from low voltage up to
some 480 volt 3 phase and I don't recall any going bad that were not dropped
from a great height.
One thing we used them for was checking to see if fuses were blown on live
circuits. Even on the ohms scale with some 250 volts across them and they
never went bad.

" wrote:
On Monday, July 1, 2013 6:30:58 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Pointer" wrote in message

...

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a decent

replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while out of

town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.



It all depends on what you want to do with one. While not cheap at $ 100 a

Fluke T5-600 is almost impossiable to dammage electrically with anything

under 600 volts. It is good for general testing around the house. One

'problem' for home use is that it will not read low voltages to decimal

places that you may need to check out a battery or car charging system.



They also make other kinds that are usually around $ 125.

I have a digital Fluke that's 30 years old now. Accurate, solid
as a rock. I've bought cheap Radio Shack, HF ones a couple times.
Kept them on the boat, where if it got lost, stolen, fell in the
water, etc, for $15 it was no big deal. They serve a purpose, but
you only get what you pay for. The HF one for example, quickly lost
it's accuracy and went off course by about 15%

I have a harbor freight that also has built in temp, humidity, light, sound
level. It's cool. I bought a couple old Amprobes on EBay. I've gone through
many meters over the years. When I left work, I also left an expensive
Fluke, what $400 ? I got a bench Tripplet I need to fix. I have Tripplet
old analog, good for HV. I got a Heathkit VTVM. I might also have an RCA
Senior Voltohmist. Couple broken HF cheapie.
The best meter, is one you have and works.

Greg

gregz wrote:
" wrote:
On Monday, July 1, 2013 6:30:58 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Pointer" wrote in message

...

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a decent

replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while out of

town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.



It all depends on what you want to do with one. While not cheap at $ 100 a

Fluke T5-600 is almost impossiable to dammage electrically with anything

under 600 volts. It is good for general testing around the house. One

'problem' for home use is that it will not read low voltages to decimal

places that you may need to check out a battery or car charging system.



They also make other kinds that are usually around $ 125.

I have a digital Fluke that's 30 years old now. Accurate, solid
as a rock. I've bought cheap Radio Shack, HF ones a couple times.
Kept them on the boat, where if it got lost, stolen, fell in the
water, etc, for $15 it was no big deal. They serve a purpose, but
you only get what you pay for. The HF one for example, quickly lost
it's accuracy and went off course by about 15%

I have a harbor freight that also has built in temp, humidity, light, sound
level. It's cool. I bought a couple old Amprobes on EBay. I've gone through
many meters over the years. When I left work, I also left an expensive
Fluke, what $400 ? I got a bench Tripplet I need to fix. I have Tripplet
old analog, good for HV. I got a Heathkit VTVM. I might also have an RCA
Senior Voltohmist. Couple broken HF cheapie.
The best meter, is one you have and works.

Greg

Hi,
Right. I have one of that RCA thing still working.
As long as one knows what s/he is doing with the meter
on what kinda circuits. i.e. I won't even think about using Simpson
260 trouble-shooting digital logic. Like wise I'd use Simpson 260
working on appliances, house power wiring, things like that.
On cars I use laptop with OBD II interface box I built. Even checking
accuracy of speedometer is possible with it.

On Monday, July 1, 2013 4:23:44 PM UTC-4, Pointer wrote:
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a

decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while

out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

I got a sears multi-meter with clamp on amp meter. Looks a whole lot like a fluke. But less money. The trick is figuring out who made the stuff. I still have a 40 year old montgomery wards chain saw. It's really a mac.

On Monday, July 1, 2013 1:23:44 PM UTC-7, Pointer wrote:

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

A lot of Sears Craftsman meters are from ExTech, a company that was
bought by Flir (they make infrared cameras and sensors, including for
military fighter jets) a couple of years ago. If you want to see the
widest assortment of meters, check the MCM and Contact East catalogs.
A lot of MCM and Newark Tenma brand meters are ExTech.

I have lots of those super-cheap Harbor Freight digital meters. They're
accurate enough, except on low ohms, and the LCD is better than that
of my ancient Fluke 73, but I'd rather not use them on high voltage. I
think Harbor Freight has all the user manuals for its products available
online, and some of their meter manuals include schematics and calibration
information.

Most meters are rated for a maximum of 500-600V, or at least have
scales that go that high, but their fuses may be rated for only 250V, and
fuses can explode violently. So even if you're not planning on measuring
high voltage, maybe you should check for the presense of a 500V fuse
because it may indicate higher quality construction in general.

A meter with tons of functions is the Uni-T UT-61E, about $60. I
think it's reviewed at EEVblog.com, along with many other meters.

On 7/1/2013 9:40 PM, wrote:
On Monday, July 1, 2013 1:23:44 PM UTC-7, Pointer wrote:

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year
while out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on
first use.

A lot of Sears Craftsman meters are from ExTech, a company that was
bought by Flir (they make infrared cameras and sensors, including
for military fighter jets) a couple of years ago. If you want to see
the widest assortment of meters, check the MCM and Contact East
catalogs. A lot of MCM and Newark Tenma brand meters are ExTech.

I have lots of those super-cheap Harbor Freight digital meters.
They're accurate enough, except on low ohms, and the LCD is better
than that of my ancient Fluke 73, but I'd rather not use them on high
voltage. I think Harbor Freight has all the user manuals for its
products available online, and some of their meter manuals include
schematics and calibration information.

Most meters are rated for a maximum of 500-600V, or at least have
scales that go that high, but their fuses may be rated for only 250V,
and fuses can explode violently. So even if you're not planning on
measuring high voltage, maybe you should check for the presense of a
500V fuse because it may indicate higher quality construction in
general.

A meter with tons of functions is the Uni-T UT-61E, about $60. I
think it's reviewed at EEVblog.com, along with many other meters.


As others have said, it depends upon what you need to measure. I got an
Extech MN35 digital multimeter from Amazon for $25.28 back in January.
No complaints so far.

I don't think Sears makes anything, they just rebrand.

My Homelite chainsaw is an IBM clone / PC.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"jamesgang" wrote in message ...

I got a sears multi-meter with clamp on amp meter. Looks a whole lot like a fluke. But less money. The trick is figuring out who made the stuff. I still have a 40 year old montgomery wards chain saw. It's really a mac.

On 7/1/2013 4:23 PM, Pointer wrote:
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.
When my 35 YO Fluke's display died for the 2nd time, I tried to get a
replacement, like the 1st time. However, they don't have part for it
any more. So, I looked around and for $76 I got this Triplett from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Triplett-9045-...ett+multimeter
It's nicer than the old Fluke because it is true RMS on the AC scales.
It also comes with a temperature thermocouple. It also shuts down, if
you forget it on. And does many more things.

On 7/1/2013 4:49 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You can probably find a used on on Ebay. Simpson, Triplet, etc. Or, go back to HF, and buy another. HF also often has free cheapies with coupon. I've got assortment of thier cheapies. They work well enough for most tasks. They also have clamp on ammeters, which are useful.

Radio Shack used to have good meters. After they refused to send me my $40 rebate on my cell phone, I don't shop there any more. Real shame, they used to have good products. Honor and trustworthiness is important to me.
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
.
"Pointer" wrote in message ...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.


Interesting. My old Radio Shack one must be 40 years old and still
works. Googling up a new analog one there shows it costs only $25.

On 07/01/2013 06:40 PM, wrote:

I have lots of those super-cheap Harbor Freight digital meters. They're
accurate enough, except on low ohms, and the LCD is better than that
of my ancient Fluke 73, but I'd rather not use them on high voltage. I
think Harbor Freight has all the user manuals for its products available
online, and some of their meter manuals include schematics and calibration
information.

I have noticed on my HF meter (one of the bigger ones with the rubber
slip-on shell) that the banana plug interface between the leads and the
unit are the cause of high resistance readings when shorting the leads
(upwards of 10 to 15 ohms at times, and it is inconsistent). My guess
is that whatever coating they use develops a skin, which messes with the
readings.

The solution is to *gently* stick a jewlers screwdriver into the banana
plug end to slightly bulge out the banana, causing it to make a more
positive contact with the jack it goes into; this will return the
shorted lead resistance back down to the 0.4 or so Ohms that I usually
expect.

Jon

On Tuesday, July 2, 2013 8:23:54 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I don't think Sears makes anything, they just rebrand.



My Homelite chainsaw is an IBM clone / PC.

.

Christopher A. Young

Learn more about Jesus

www.lds.org

.
I assumed everyone knew that when I made the comment "The trick is figuring out who made the stuff."

Do you also use a bit of dielectric grease
on the push contacts, to retard corrosion?

A person with a dirty mind would have a
lot of fun, with enlarging bulging bannannas
and greasing push in terminals.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"Jon Danniken" wrote in message ...


I have noticed on my HF meter (one of the bigger ones with the rubber
slip-on shell) that the banana plug interface between the leads and the
unit are the cause of high resistance readings when shorting the leads
(upwards of 10 to 15 ohms at times, and it is inconsistent). My guess
is that whatever coating they use develops a skin, which messes with the
readings.

The solution is to *gently* stick a jewlers screwdriver into the banana
plug end to slightly bulge out the banana, causing it to make a more
positive contact with the jack it goes into; this will return the
shorted lead resistance back down to the 0.4 or so Ohms that I usually
expect.

Jon

Sorry, I missed that.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"jamesgang" wrote in message ...

I assumed everyone knew that when I made
the comment "The trick is figuring out who
made the stuff."

On Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:23:44 -0400, Pointer wrote:

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

Buy a slightly more expensive HF unit.. Cen-Tech - item#98674 ..

It also has Temp, RH, sound, and light measurement capabilities.. (very handy).

In the Navy in the 1970s, our two main meters
were the AN/PSM-4B and the Simpson 260.

Asked what the difference was, I used to say,

"Hold one in each hand at shoulder height and let go.
The PSM-4 case will not crack, and the Simpson will still work."


--
Wes Groleau

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible
will make violent revolution inevitable.
€” John F. Kennedy

On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:03:37 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 7/1/2013 4:49 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You can probably find a used on on Ebay. Simpson, Triplet, etc. Or, go back to HF, and buy another. HF also often has free cheapies with coupon. I've got assortment of thier cheapies. They work well enough for most tasks. They also have clamp on ammeters, which are useful.

Radio Shack used to have good meters. After they refused to send me my $40 rebate on my cell phone, I don't shop there any more. Real shame, they used to have good products. Honor and trustworthiness is important to me.
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
.
"Pointer" wrote in message ...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.


Interesting. My old Radio Shack one must be 40 years old and still
works. Googling up a new analog one there shows it costs only $25.

About 35 years ago, I bought a Lafayette FET-meter. FET meters were
around only for a short while. They were analog and had the input
impedance of a VTVM but didn't require house current.

I measured a voltage when the rotating swich was in the Off position
and burned some part out. It was a bad design, that connected the
printed circuit traces even when the meter was Off. Took it to
Lafayette and it took them 6 or 10 months to replace it. I almost
went out to Long Island to demonstrate at their main store and HQ
(although maybe that was for the settings book for the tube tester
they sold me. That also took 10 months, but when it came, it was the
factory book, complete with plastic binding, not a photocopy.)

I've also had several Harbor Freigh meters, including several that
cost $3, when on sale, and they've all worked fine for years. If
maybe they're off by !0 or 20% I don't know and I really don't care.
Most of what I do doesn't require much accuracy. And if it did, I'd
use the Triplett meter or one of the others.

Please don't buy it, if there is a Radio Shack rebate to send in. You probably won't get your money back.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"Frank" wrote in message ...

Interesting. My old Radio Shack one must be 40 years old and still
works. Googling up a new analog one there shows it costs only $25.

On 7/3/2013 3:02 AM, micky wrote:
On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:03:37 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 7/1/2013 4:49 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You can probably find a used on on Ebay. Simpson, Triplet, etc. Or, go back to HF, and buy another. HF also often has free cheapies with coupon. I've got assortment of thier cheapies. They work well enough for most tasks. They also have clamp on ammeters, which are useful.

Radio Shack used to have good meters. After they refused to send me my $40 rebate on my cell phone, I don't shop there any more. Real shame, they used to have good products. Honor and trustworthiness is important to me.
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
.
"Pointer" wrote in message ...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.


Interesting. My old Radio Shack one must be 40 years old and still
works. Googling up a new analog one there shows it costs only $25.

About 35 years ago, I bought a Lafayette FET-meter. FET meters were
around only for a short while. They were analog and had the input
impedance of a VTVM but didn't require house current.

I measured a voltage when the rotating swich was in the Off position
and burned some part out. It was a bad design, that connected the
printed circuit traces even when the meter was Off. Took it to
Lafayette and it took them 6 or 10 months to replace it. I almost
went out to Long Island to demonstrate at their main store and HQ
(although maybe that was for the settings book for the tube tester
they sold me. That also took 10 months, but when it came, it was the
factory book, complete with plastic binding, not a photocopy.)

I've also had several Harbor Freigh meters, including several that
cost $3, when on sale, and they've all worked fine for years. If
maybe they're off by !0 or 20% I don't know and I really don't care.
Most of what I do doesn't require much accuracy. And if it did, I'd
use the Triplett meter or one of the others.


I've never used it on house current or high voltage items. Just use on
batteries or transformers and the like. Don't know how it would behave
otherwise.

On Wed, 03 Jul 2013 08:41:27 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 7/3/2013 3:02 AM, micky wrote:
On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:03:37 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 7/1/2013 4:49 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You can probably find a used on on Ebay. Simpson, Triplet, etc. Or, go back to HF, and buy another. HF also often has free cheapies with coupon. I've got assortment of thier cheapies. They work well enough for most tasks. They also have clamp on ammeters, which are useful.

Radio Shack used to have good meters. After they refused to send me my $40 rebate on my cell phone, I don't shop there any more. Real shame, they used to have good products. Honor and trustworthiness is important to me.
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
.
"Pointer" wrote in message ...
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.


Interesting. My old Radio Shack one must be 40 years old and still
works. Googling up a new analog one there shows it costs only $25.

About 35 years ago, I bought a Lafayette FET-meter. FET meters were
around only for a short while. They were analog and had the input
impedance of a VTVM but didn't require house current.

I measured a voltage when the rotating swich was in the Off position
and burned some part out. It was a bad design, that connected the
printed circuit traces even when the meter was Off. Took it to
Lafayette and it took them 6 or 10 months to replace it. I almost
went out to Long Island to demonstrate at their main store and HQ
(although maybe that was for the settings book for the tube tester
they sold me. That also took 10 months, but when it came, it was the
factory book, complete with plastic binding, not a photocopy.)

I've also had several Harbor Freigh meters, including several that
cost $3, when on sale, and they've all worked fine for years. If
maybe they're off by !0 or 20% I don't know and I really don't care.
Most of what I do doesn't require much accuracy. And if it did, I'd
use the Triplett meter or one of the others.


I've never used it on house current or high voltage items. Just use on
batteries or transformers and the like. Don't know how it would behave
otherwise.

I've used one or more to see if there IS house current, and iirc they
always said 117. Certainly between 115 and 120. My willingtness to
accept one that was 10 or 20% off was never needed.

On Mon, 1 Jul 2013 18:40:19 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Monday, July 1, 2013 1:23:44 PM UTC-7, Pointer wrote:

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

A lot of Sears Craftsman meters are from ExTech, a company that was
bought by Flir (they make infrared cameras and sensors, including for
military fighter jets) a couple of years ago. If you want to see the
widest assortment of meters, check the MCM and Contact East catalogs.
A lot of MCM and Newark Tenma brand meters are ExTech.

Google still finds them under Contact East, but I also found

"While some of you know us as Stanley Supply & Services, others still
remember us as Contact East or Jensen Tools. For more than 50 years,
we have been a leading supplier of products and services for the
electronics MRO industry and maintenance, installation and repair
professionals. Although our name changed to Stanley Supply & Services
in 2006, we continue to focus on providing your business with
high-quality, brand-name products and services. We're proud to be a
division of The Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) and we're excited to offer
you some of Stanley's innovative products and brands."

After all this, since I don't know the Stanley Tools logo by memory, I
still can't tell if that who is talking here. I think so.....

I have lots of those super-cheap Harbor Freight digital meters. They're
accurate enough, except on low ohms, and the LCD is better than that
of my ancient Fluke 73, but I'd rather not use them on high voltage. I
think Harbor Freight has all the user manuals for its products available
online, and some of their meter manuals include schematics and calibration
information.

Most meters are rated for a maximum of 500-600V, or at least have
scales that go that high, but their fuses may be rated for only 250V, and
fuses can explode violently. So even if you're not planning on measuring
high voltage, maybe you should check for the presense of a 500V fuse
because it may indicate higher quality construction in general.

A meter with tons of functions is the Uni-T UT-61E, about $60. I
think it's reviewed at EEVblog.com, along with many other meters.

I was so happy when I got a meter that measures temperature, but it's
been years and I havent' needed it yet. Still, I'm glad I have it.

On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:38:11 -0400, T. Keating
wrote:

On Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:23:44 -0400, Pointer wrote:

My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

Buy a slightly more expensive HF unit.. Cen-Tech - item#98674 ..

It also has Temp, RH, sound, and light measurement capabilities.. (very handy).


And capacitance and humidity!!

Do you think it has auto-polarity even though it doesn't say so?

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-...ter-98674.html

I've been using analog meters to check capacitance. All I can do is
watch the resistance go from very low to quite high as the cap fills,
then reverse the leads and watch it happen again. I'm figuring this
would show a shorted or open cap. (except the small ones fill so
quickly I can't tell if it's open or not.) But I certainly can't
tell if they are the marked value.

"micky" wrote in message
...

I've been using analog meters to check capacitance. All I can do is
watch the resistance go from very low to quite high as the cap fills,
then reverse the leads and watch it happen again. I'm figuring this
would show a shorted or open cap. (except the small ones fill so
quickly I can't tell if it's open or not.) But I certainly can't
tell if they are the marked value.


Getting slightly off topic, there is a nifty device that will check almost
all small electronic components. It will do capacitors to about 100 pf or
so.
It is just the electronics without a case,but the price is right shipped
direct form China for about $ 25.

Ebay number 221197915142

On Fri, 5 Jul 2013 11:34:29 -0400, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"micky" wrote in message
.. .

I've been using analog meters to check capacitance. All I can do is
watch the resistance go from very low to quite high as the cap fills,
then reverse the leads and watch it happen again. I'm figuring this
would show a shorted or open cap. (except the small ones fill so
quickly I can't tell if it's open or not.) But I certainly can't
tell if they are the marked value.


Getting slightly off topic, there is a nifty device that will check almost
all small electronic components. It will do capacitors to about 100 pf or
so.
It is just the electronics without a case,but the price is right shipped
direct form China for about $ 25.

Ebay number 221197915142

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221197915142...142%26_rdc%3D1

Certainly is an interesting page. Keep scrolling down to see the
whole thing.

It's times like this I wish I were a pro just so I could buy all this
test equipment.

Just like I wish I had my own business so I could buy lots of
busilness equipment, color laser printers, etc.

On 7/1/2013 1:23 PM, Pointer wrote:
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

Get this one: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/dm620.html

For your "free gift" you can select a second meter.

Pointer wrote:
My ancient multi meter bought the farm. Any recommendations for a
decent replacement. Bought a cheapie at Harbor Freight last year while
out of town and that had a faulty connection and blew on first use.

I'd cry like a baby if the Simpson 260 I've owned for over 50 years gave
up one me.

I treat it like a baby and religiously return the selector switch to the
1000 volt setting when I'm done using it.

But, I see there are lots of them on eBay for prices around $50. Chances
are they are probably in good shape.

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

"jeff_wisnia" wrote in message
...

I'd cry like a baby if the Simpson 260 I've owned for over 50 years gave
up one me.

I treat it like a baby and religiously return the selector switch to the
1000 volt setting when I'm done using it.


I have one that is over 25 years old and would hate do with out it. I
don't use it very much as I usually use a Fluke digital, but there are
things that I would not like to use any other meter for. The Simpson still
checks out for calibration.

I also try to turn it to the highest voltage scale when I am done with it
and make sure the switch is in the off position. Not that it really cuts it
off, but jprobab ly puts a short across the meter so it will self dampen
when in motion.

If you need a schematic or the calibration for one look at this site.

http://www.simpson260.com/downloads/downloads.htm

On 7/5/2013 12:34 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"jeff_wisnia" wrote in message
...

I'd cry like a baby if the Simpson 260 I've owned for over 50 years gave
up one me.

I treat it like a baby and religiously return the selector switch to the
1000 volt setting when I'm done using it.


I have one that is over 25 years old and would hate do with out it. I
don't use it very much as I usually use a Fluke digital, but there are
things that I would not like to use any other meter for. The Simpson still
checks out for calibration.

I also try to turn it to the highest voltage scale when I am done with it
and make sure the switch is in the off position. Not that it really cuts it
off, but jprobab ly puts a short across the meter so it will self dampen
when in motion.

If you need a schematic or the calibration for one look at this site.

http://www.simpson260.com/downloads/downloads.htm

To dampen the meter movement, when I used to use analog meters, you put
it on the highest current reading, not voltage. That will put a low
resistance shunt across the movement and provide the best damping for
the movement.

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
...
To dampen the meter movement, when I used to use analog meters, you put it
on the highest current reading, not voltage. That will put a low
resistance shunt across the movement and provide the best damping for the
movement.


For the meters that did not have the off position the highest current range
would provide the best dampning.

I just found it beter to put them in the highest voltage range so if someone
picked up the meter and put the probs across something with voltage on it
the meter would not likely be dammaged
Jeff probably did that for the same reason.