Need A Multimeter?

Basic electrical diagnosis needs at least a test light like this: JENLEY Circuit Tester DC Systems Long Probe Continuity Test Light Car Voltage (6V - 24V) - - Amazon.com There are more expensive ones - this is the cheapest on Amazon, and it should work ok.

Most will want a multimeter. You can get a free or nearly-free meter from Harbor Freight or Princess Auto or whatever, but you probably want something a little better.

I've been watching Dave Jones' videos a lot lately, and he reviews this Aneng which is probably the cheapest you would want. Alloet AN8008 True-RMS Digital Multimeter Square Wave Voltage Ammeter MAX Display 9999 Counts Auto/Manual Ranges True RMS - - Amazon.com

here's Dave's review on YouTube:


Note that the mains voltage in Australia is 240V, twice that in the USA. Contrary to Dave's warning, I would not hesitate to use this meter in the volts setting to test presence of mains voltage here... JMO. Note also that he cranks up the input voltage to 900V to test the accuracy of the meter with no problem. Hmm.

The next step up is likely an Amprobe (a company owned by Fluke) Amprobe AM-510 Commercial/Residential Multimeter with Non-Contact Voltage Detection with a NIST-Traceable Calibration Certificate with Data: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

For education, there are 100s of YouTube videos that cover this topic: automotive electrical diagnosis with a multimeter - Bing video

 

Thanks Tim, great advice as I do in fact need a new one!

 

I am not an electronics guy or an electrician, but I work on circuits all the time. There is no way i could do my job without a multimeter. I use a cheap one I got at home depot that works fine, but that Amprobe one looks to be a great replacement at a fantastic price.

 

Oooh, the Avometer... made in the Old Dart! Kinda doubt you'd see many of those in the USA, but Simpsons and Tripletts are out there. Even an old Tandy analog meter would be fine, if it works.

The analog meters have their fans, but the digital meters usually give you a bunch of additional function, like temperature, capacitance, frequency counter, audible diode test, even inductance.

 

I have a good Fluke multimeter, but I like the free Harbor Freight multimeters. I have them all over the house and a couple of them in the garage. I think they're by far the best "free coupon" thing you can get. When I was about 15 years old (circa 1974), I saved $20 and had my dad buy me an Olson multimeter at the Olson Electronics store in downtown Cincinnati. According to an inflation calculator, twenty 1974 dollars is equivalent to $103 2019 dollars. That's why I'm impressed a multimeter can be given away for free. By the way, I still have that Olson multimeter and it still works today.

 

I still like an analog meter around to watch the needle deflect when testing capacitors. Everything else, digital is my go-to meter. I have a few cheap Craftsman digital meters, but no two read the same for 120v house current. They vary as much as 10 volts.
-Donny

 

Anyone remember the Keithley's?

Mike

 

My sister finally found my Dad’s Triplett meters.

 

I know the name, seen some of their test equipment.

Those Tripletts are cool. Do they have batteries in them? Leaky batteries can be bad news if they were in there a long time. I'd give them some gentle cleaning and testing.

 

I pulled the batteries soon after he passed away. IIRC they are a little longer than a pack of cigarettes.

 

If it needs odd-sized batteries, they can be expensive. Back in the day, these batteries were commonly used for portable radios, and not expensive I presume. Do you still have the batteries?

This meter from "Ballantine Labs Inc" -



I got for free at a hamfest. It probably works, but when I brought it home, I found it needed a hundred dollars of exotic batteries. It has a 90V battery as I recall? It could be very useful, but I have some other AC voltmeters using line voltage I could repair/restore if I needed more analog AC voltmeters. Label at the top says "Sikorsky Aircraft." The calibration sticker is from the "Meteorology Lab" and dated 04 May 78. So it was in use well into the 20th century.

 

It takes an NEDA 210 30 volt and a D cell battery. The 30 volt is about $25.00

 

I see that Excel alkaline battery that's a replacement for a NEDA 210. Pretty sure alkaline batteries cannot be recharged. Maybe you could put together a stack of NiCads to make 30V and have a rechargeable battery? You'd likely have to build a charger for that voltage.

 

I don't need the kind of accuracy the expensive meters give anymore. The cheap digital meters work fine for me.

Got a couple of the old Simpson's now used as wall hangers.

Used to troubleshoot circuit boards with those in the 80's.

Built a digital multi meter for my senior project in my Computer Engineering class (1983 -84?), The chip I ordered, never came in so I got a C.

Don't want to go back to those old meters, but they do look good as decoration.
A rep was showing a really expensive Fluke meter and as part of his demonstration he would knock it off the counter to prove how tough it was.
He was embarrassed when it broke into a thousand pieces. Did that one too many times, so he got two new ones and proceeded to slam them on the floor. It was funny to watch.

Dave

 

Or clip together 3 9V batteries in series to test them. It'll be close enough.

 

The Simpson 260 is great to check resistance of a contact closure. You can always zero the ohms reading or the needle. I used to carry mine in the truck in a box with soft foam so I didn't damage the meter movement.