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The old timer who told me to ditch my digital tester for a manual multimeter was right
Got to talking with a retired elevator guy named Ray at a supply shop in Cleveland last month, and he swore my Fluke meter was overkill for checking relay contacts. He handed me a $15 analog meter and said "you'll hear the difference when a contact is dirty, not just see it." Has anyone else found that analog meters actually catch intermittent faults better than digital ones?
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lopez.brooke2mo ago
Analog meters have that lazy needle swing that tells you way more than a number on a screen. Ray is right, you can hear the resistance change when a contact is dirty. Digital numbers jump around too fast to catch the intermittent stuff. It's a solid trick for old control panels.
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sarahh481mo ago
Read somewhere that the old telephone guys used to swear by analog meters for exactly this reason. Something about how the human eye picks up slow needle movement way better than flashing numbers. Crazy how a tool from the 50s still beats the new stuff sometimes. Definitely makes you think twice before trashing the old gear.
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william_taylor2mo ago
Haha yeah that needle swing is NO JOKE. I was working on an old press last year with a digital meter and it was all over the place on a relay contact. Switched to my grandpa's old Simpson 260 and the needle just barely fluttered on the bad spot. Woulda never caught it with the Fluke.
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