On 11/19/2022 6:06 PM, George Herold wrote:> Hi guys! Long time no smell.* I miss you guys, but I've been doing almost zero electronics. (I lurk every now and then) So my son wants a cheapish DMM for Xmas. What brand should I look at? Extech? Searching this Klein tool one looks nice. > Klein Tools MM400 Multimeter, Digital Auto Ranging, AC/DC Voltage, Current, Capacitance, Frequency, Duty-Cycle, Diode, Continuity, Temp 600V > ~$50 on amazon > > George H. > > *Did I recommend "Emperor of Scent" as a good read?And it does not come with a way to drive the sockets. The extension does not fit the sockets. The bottom line: **Don't Waste Your Money** -- Dogs make me happy. Humans make my head hurt. So does cheap Chinese junk.
~$50 DMM
Started by ●November 19, 2022
Reply by ●November 21, 20222022-11-21
Reply by ●November 21, 20222022-11-21
On 11/21/2022 12:57 PM, John S wrote:> On 11/19/2022 6:06 PM, George Herold wrote: >> Hi guys! Long time no smell.* I miss you guys, but I've been doing >> almost zero electronics. (I lurk every now and then) So my son wants >> a cheapish DMM for Xmas. What brand should I look at? Extech? >> Searching this Klein tool one looks nice. >> Klein Tools MM400 Multimeter, Digital Auto Ranging, AC/DC Voltage, >> Current, Capacitance, Frequency, Duty-Cycle, Diode, Continuity, Temp 600V >> ~$50 on amazon >> >> George H. >> >> *Did I recommend "Emperor of Scent" as a good read? > > > Got one. If that folded piece of paper is what they call a manual, it's > a stretch of the imagination. > > It has a 1500mAh battery. Curious things about charging are: > * After normal use it will require 1 hour of charging. > * After it's fully run down it will 1 hour of charging. > * The wall wart charger capacity is 800mA. >Errr... Sorry, wrong thread. Sorry about my one below this one, too. -- Dogs make me happy. Humans make my head hurt.
Reply by ●November 21, 20222022-11-21
On Mon, 21 Nov 2022 21:48:53 +0000, piglet <erichpwagner@hotmail.com> wrote:>On 20/11/2022 22:10, Joe Gwinn wrote: >> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 17:42:39 -0800, John Larkin >> <jlarkin@highlandSNIPMEtechnology.com> wrote: >> >>> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 17:39:41 -0800 (PST), George Herold >>> <ggherold@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> On Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 7:14:13 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote: >>>>> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 15:06:09 -0800 (PST), George Herold >>>>> <gghe...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi guys! Long time no smell.* I miss you guys, but I've been doing almost zero electronics. (I lurk every now and then) So my son wants a cheapish DMM for Xmas. What brand should I look at? Extech? Searching this Klein tool one looks nice. >>>>>> Klein Tools MM400 Multimeter, Digital Auto Ranging, AC/DC Voltage, Current, Capacitance, Frequency, Duty-Cycle, Diode, Continuity, Temp 600V >>>>>> ~$50 on amazon >>>>>> >>>>>> George H. >>>>>> >>>>>> *Did I recommend "Emperor of Scent" as a good read? >>>>> I've been happy with extechs, for home use and teaching. >>>> >>>> Thanks, Extech it is then... One with a TC probe would be nice. >>> >>> Definitely get the TC. It's good for cooking too. >> >> Yes. I do that too. Particularly useful for determining the >> temperature of cast iron skillets, especially with a puddle of oil in >> them. Also used to measure the air temperature inside the oven. Not >> useful for broilers. >> >> What I have been using since 2007 is an Extech model 421501, which is >> a "Type K Thermometer". No problems so far. I bought it with a >> penetration probe, but it has standard thermocouple sockets, and so >> can be used with all manner of purchased or made probes. What I use >> for the skillets et al is a homemade Teflon-insulated type K wire >> probe about 2 meters long. >> >> While one is supposed to weld the two wires together to take the TC, >> it also works to twist them tightly and soft-solder them together. >> >> One can weld the wires together using a 100-watt incandescent lamp and >> a lump of carbon, drawing an arc between twisted wires (fluxed with >> borax) and the carbon lump. The 100-watt lamp will pass ten amps, and >> then drop to one amp. >> >> Joe Gwinn > >Yep, I very successfully welded TC junctions using a carbon rod (from a >old dry cell) and capacitor discharge arc. Cannot recall details, but >something like 200uF charged to 50V.That would work too, and is how commercial TC welders work. I'm surprised that 50 V worked, though. Joe Gwinn
Reply by ●November 21, 20222022-11-21
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 11:33:13 AM UTC-5, Joe Gwinn wrote:> On Sun, 20 Nov 2022 20:45:08 -0500, Phil Hobbs > <pcdhSpamM...@electrooptical.net> wrote: > > >George Herold wrote: > >> On Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 5:10:59 PM UTC-5, Joe Gwinn wrote: > >>> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 17:42:39 -0800, John Larkin > >>> <jla...@highlandSNIPMEtechnology.com> wrote: > >>> > >>>> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 17:39:41 -0800 (PST), George Herold > >>>> <gghe...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> On Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 7:14:13 PM UTC-5, John Larkin > >>>>> wrote: > >>>>>> On Sat, 19 Nov 2022 15:06:09 -0800 (PST), George Herold > >>>>>> <gghe...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>>>>> > >>>>>>> Hi guys! Long time no smell.* I miss you guys, but I've > >>>>>>> been doing almost zero electronics. (I lurk every now and > >>>>>>> then) So my son wants a cheapish DMM for Xmas. What brand > >>>>>>> should I look at? Extech? Searching this Klein tool one > >>>>>>> looks nice. Klein Tools MM400 Multimeter, Digital Auto > >>>>>>> Ranging, AC/DC Voltage, Current, Capacitance, Frequency, > >>>>>>> Duty-Cycle, Diode, Continuity, Temp 600V ~$50 on amazon > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> George H. > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> *Did I recommend "Emperor of Scent" as a good read? > >>>>>> I've been happy with extechs, for home use and teaching. > >>>>> > >>>>> Thanks, Extech it is then... One with a TC probe would be > >>>>> nice. > >>>> > >>>> Definitely get the TC. It's good for cooking too. > >>> Yes. I do that too. Particularly useful for determining the > >>> temperature of cast iron skillets, especially with a puddle of oil > >>> in them. Also used to measure the air temperature inside the oven. > >>> Not useful for broilers. > >>> > >>> What I have been using since 2007 is an Extech model 421501, which > >>> is a "Type K Thermometer". No problems so far. I bought it with a > >>> penetration probe, but it has standard thermocouple sockets, and > >>> so can be used with all manner of purchased or made probes. What I > >>> use for the skillets et al is a homemade Teflon-insulated type K > >>> wire probe about 2 meters long. > >>> > >>> While one is supposed to weld the two wires together to take the > >>> TC, it also works to twist them tightly and soft-solder them > >>> together. > >>> > >>> One can weld the wires together using a 100-watt incandescent lamp > >>> and a lump of carbon, drawing an arc between twisted wires (fluxed > >>> with borax) and the carbon lump. The 100-watt lamp will pass ten > >>> amps, and then drop to one amp. > >>> > >>> Joe Gwinn > >> Thanks, yeah totally getting the TC. Can you soft solder a type K > >> TC? I use to use type T, easy to solder and not very magnetic. (Hmm > >> maybe one for me and one for my son?) George H. > >> > > > >Nope, chromel and alumel don't solder. Type T (copper/constantan) is a > >good solderable system. > I'd bet that tinners flux (HCL plus Zn) would work. Failing that, > stainless-steel (phosphoric acid) flux. Haven't needed to solder > Chromel-Alumel so far, but have soldered lots of stainless steel > hardware. > > What also can help is to mechanically clean the surfaces under oil, to > keep oxygen away from the freshly cleaned surface to be soldered. This > also works on aluminum. > > Joe GwinnHmm I've got some Stainless steel flux, I can give that a try. It's too bad there aren't some DMM's that use copper Constantan. George H.
Reply by ●November 21, 20222022-11-21
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 4:44:24 PM UTC-5, erichp...@hotmail.com wrote:> On 20/11/2022 23:54, George Herold wrote: > > On Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 7:53:00 AM UTC-5, erichp...@hotmail.com wrote: > >> On 19/11/2022 23:06, George Herold wrote: > >>> Hi guys! Long time no smell.* I miss you guys, but I've been doing almost zero electronics. (I lurk every now and then) So my son wants a cheapish DMM for Xmas. What brand should I look at? Extech? Searching this Klein tool one looks nice. > >>> Klein Tools MM400 Multimeter, Digital Auto Ranging, AC/DC Voltage, Current, Capacitance, Frequency, Duty-Cycle, Diode, Continuity, Temp 600V > >>> ~$50 on amazon > >>> > >>> George H. > >>> > >>> *Did I recommend "Emperor of Scent" as a good read? > >> Nice to hear from you again! My experience is that auto ranging can be > >> painfully slow and does not make it to my list of desirable features. > >> Neither is frequency nor duty cycle. Capacitance can be handy but DMMs > >> tend to have rather limited ranges. Many low end units only have DC > >> current but AC current (even if only LF) is a nice to have. Personally I > >> like to have more than one DMM to hand, the second unit can be very > >> low-end but seeing (for example) voltage and current simultaneously > >> without swapping probes etc is great. A clamp meter with AC/DC hall > >> effect current sensor is always in my toolbag, not much use at mA levels > >> but very handy for general troubleshooting. > >> > >> piglet > > > > Thanks piglet, If there is a range button so you can turn off the autorange and just select one, then that works. > > I think mostly my son will want to check continuity/ resistance and low DC voltages and maybe currents. > > Nothing fancy just simple trouble shooting stuff. > > I trust you have plenty of haycorns packed away for the winter. :^) > > (2-3 feet of snow here and 5-6 just a few miles north of me. Lake effect in Buffalo, is fun and challenging.) > > > Thanks, yes foggy and cold here! > > pigletThere's no such thing as fog here in the winter... we do get all these lovely ice crystals drifting down. George H.
