bhsrnd
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
Just out of sheer curiosity I want to know what the opinion is concerning digital versus solenoid type testers.
bhsrnd said:Just out of sheer curiosity I want to know what the opinion is concerning digital versus solenoid type testers.
rcwilson said:I know older solenoid testers (are they still called Wiggys?) can pop solid state circuits. The inductive kick when it is removed may create a voltage spike.
dereckbc said:Call me a ole fashion tinkier and black boxer, I can take it. But here is a trck I learned a long time ago when I was a young squirt and they took ny good old Simpsom away from me.
Can't remember what the plugs are called (too long ago, can be found at any Fry's Electric). It is a dual bannana plug that fits just about any Fluke meter, then has a receptacle for bannana pins on the back to plug your leads in. They come with holes so you can solder in a device. Take a 2-watt 50K-ohm resistor and solder across the plug.
This puts enough load on the circuit to short out any "PAHNTOM VOLTAGE", but not enough to load the circuit. It is good up to 240 VAC. Basically you lowering the impedance of the DVM down to 50K-ohm just like a good ole Simpsom-260 with the accuracy of a Fluke. It basically is a combo of a solenoid and DVM together.
Yes some have set screws, but not the one I made 20-years ago.rattus said:No need to solder these, they have set screws, and you can stack them.
georgestolz said:Fluke has actually put a low-impedance module on the market, for use with their DMM's, to do just what Dereck described.
When Ideal makes one to fit my meter, I might just go buy one.
Plate, since you were kind enough to throw up a link for the module, I'll throw up a link to the thread I think you're referring to:plate said:Also, check out the post in the power quality section titled "multi-wire..."
While I'm obviously a fan of solenoids, I didn't mean to imply it's my only tester. I do have a clamp-on, as well as a pocket multi-meter that measures frequency (handy for adjusting generators).e57 said:Depending on the type of work you do a solanoid my be all you need, rough it, test it, walk away... But whens the last time you needed to measure current might answer that question for you. Or the last time you needed to know a voltage like 24VAC or DC? But if you do service work a good clamp-on meter is nessesary IMO. I own a solanoid, but haven't touched in years.... The clamp-on I use almost daily... The day Amprobe or Fluke makes a combo 400-600A AC/DC clamp-on, with a live circuit tracer - I'm there! Ghost voltage or whatever that is - is still voltage that drops under load - it's still voltage... And sometimes that too is good to know. Bottom line know your tools and how to use them.
LarryFine said:While I'm obviously a fan of solenoids, I didn't mean to imply it's my only tester. I do have a clamp-on, as well as a pocket multi-meter that measures frequency (handy for adjusting generators).