Engineers have been buying off eBay for years because being analogue it can be left on waiting for an error to show where the digital meter only looks for an instant in time.also there are 18c meters which are a lot bigger ,more sensitive but will also measure faults.

what is it you do within OR?

Retired last month ,ex jointer/locals and junction cables and cabs and cse!happy to go,after 36 yrs ,best days had long gone.

Retired last month ,ex jointer/locals and junction cables and cabs and cse!happy to go,after 36 yrs ,best days had long gone.

Just joined last year as a copper jointer. Not done any since Yarnfield in December. All I do is tie cable stuff between DSLAMS and cabs.

Love the job so far but hate the admin bull****. Close to launching the iphone on a few occasions. lol

 

Had an interesting one today though, non standard. Had to find some old Krones. D side is the far right last ten then the other five to the left then E side is the fifteen. Had a job to find the covers with the numbers on aswell

I've watched you on here since you applied and got the job,most of the jointing on new work machines are used that makes it a lot easier ,but the job(bull) didn't get to me till after about 30yrs.so enjoy summers on the way.

I bought this one from Screwfix..........no idea how it works though as I'm not good with electricity, but I do at least have a multimeter

http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-mas830b-digital-multimeter-600v/75337

I have a uni-trend maplins meter and use it at work regular,

 

i bought a better one as i wanted a abit more than just the basics but its never missed a beat and gets calibrated by work for insurance purposes,

 

I also have a more basic one for home but test leads have given up the ghost,

 

Other MT at my old site also bought one after seeing mine,

 

Lad at work has a snap on auto range meter but it gets confused and can be difficult to read when its flicking about,

I bought this one from Screwfix..........no idea how it works though as I'm not good with electricity, but I do at least have a multimeter

http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-mas830b-digital-multimeter-600v/75337

Thanks, Bryan.

 

Perhaps I should mark this topic as solved as I did get a Philex one from Screwfix.

Tested a colleagues battery after work and he's getting me a McDonalds bagel meal breakfast tomorrow so it's already paying for itself

I use a fluke at work. 7 years old , on my second set of leads but the unit itself still fine. Use it every shift. My dad has one must be 20+ years old lol

This just came through on an email from Demon Tweeks

Bit late, but never mind

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Url.do?r=tools-workshop/electrical-system-testing-diagnostic-tools/sealey-digital-multimeter-8-function-with-thermocouple-mm20&utm_source=TOOLS1510&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=SealeyDigitalMultimeter&dm_i=HNI,38913,FW57M7,BK6NI,1

Early 1980s Fluke, still going strong.

 

Spot-on the values and built like a brick chicken house and encased in substantial impact absorbing outer holder -bounces off the walls.

 

 

Nick

Another telecom engineer of 26 years here..... With the railway rather than BT though..... All the older guys used to use the Avo 8 meters when i was out in the field years back. I never got one as we had standardised to the new Fluke digital multimeters so got issued with one of those instead. I'm in the office now so don't have one issued anymore but do have access to one we have in our office for when we make visits out in the field which i use. Keep meaning to get myself a little multimeter though so as not to have to wait till i'm in at work to check anything on the car etc...

Another telecom engineer of 26 years here..... With the railway rather than BT though..... All the older guys used to use the Avo 8 meters when i was out in the field years back. I never got one as we had standardised to the new Fluke digital multimeters so got issued with one of those instead. I'm in the office now so don't have one issued anymore but do have access to one we have in our office for when we make visits out in the field which i use. Keep meaning to get myself a little multimeter though so as not to have to wait till i'm in at work to check anything on the car etc...

 

Just bought this off ebay, as good as new £60 inc delivery

Just bought this off ebay, as good as new £60 inc delivery

SA9083.PNGSA9083_2.PNG

Nice one!

Pleased?

Nice one!

Pleased?

I'll let you know in three to five working days, Wayne

What's the reason for the warning? I always check circuits for live with a meter before I touch them having once turned power off and found a circuit to still be live the hard way.

Never had a problem with a Meter (but have killed one long time ago admittedly when I had the wrong range set)

REASON- meter leads. I always make mine from mains cable or use test leads with at least 1000v AC insulation. That cheap meter with equally cheap test leads, JUST what is the test voltage on the leads. THAT WAS MY REASON. In older days, apprentices were taught to clip one lead to earth, and only use ONE hand to hold probe to test a voltage.

Avos and flukes are great for what they're made for. But if I'm hanging upside down under a dashboard, I want simplicity. If you go in toolstation, you can get a pair of test lights, one for voltage, one for continuity for under a fiver. When I'm working on cars, it's rare that I need any more than that.

I have a Maplin Precision Gold PG10 I bought years ago. Good for continuity and voltage measuring - including detecting duff (usually coin) cells.

 

For some car stuff am now mooting getting something with a clamp ammeter on it.

 

J.

Just bought this off ebay, as good as new £60 inc delivery

SA9083.PNGSA9083_2.PNG

Thought I recognised it, as the old BT meter on general issue to BT blokes. The original one was a metal cased brick, but the one in the photo is plastic cased( as far as I can see ,and from the one I was last issued with). Possibly 20k/volt sensitivity. Great meter for telecomms work - you might find it better than the one BT provide, which from my information is a Fluke digital, but with no line reversal ( ballistic test) facility ( waits for Soot1e to educate Lee on this). ( Lee- in old country exchanges, there was a line test facility. You plugged  SA9083 into test set, and plugged test leads into number to be tested. Various tests could be performed, including looking for voltage on line. If all was well then a ballistic test could be performed. This involved the line reversal switch on SA9083, which would show capacitance of  each leg of line to subscriber instrument, looking for the bell capacitor on the phone, and could indicate if line was broken "dis one leg" or not)

Wavey- Avo's were a great meter on the bench ,but for telecoms work in the field, I'd prefer an OLDE SA9083, metal cased brick. Steve- for work tracing feeds on car/truck, i'd suggest making a 12/24v switch able diode probe.

Edited 20 March, 201511 yr by VWD

AND one last WARNING. I always test for live mains using a neon screwdriver, as it means I only present one hand to current, and if problems the path is through my body and insulated shoe soles to earth, so current is minimal (meter means one hand to live and other to neutral). Leads leaky and you have 250VAC on one hand and neutral on the other ,and in between -HEART, which does not like it's electrical systems being messed with.

As an U/G bloke, Lee a lot of years ago would have /might have met main cables with Coax where the power feed was 1000v AC. I've been involved with shutting this off and setting up dead zones, and once I had a massive belt, but only through one hand touching. These days power feeds are a lot lower and current limited.

I've also worked on up to 5KV power feed systems on cables into the North Atlantic , where cable discharge was a long pole with a thick earthed  cable and the capacitive flash could be "illuminating". I've held tickets on 650 v switching- sort of voltage used to feed rail signal voltages ( which the pied pipers of the keys in big caravans find a bit nasty) .

But the first thing to check for on any power circuit of any voltage using kit which provides most safety , is that the circuit is dead, and that any test gear/leads etc is capable of insulating you against in excess of the maximum voltage you may encounter, SHOULD THE CIRCUIT BE LIVE.

I was always taught that the Neon screwdrivers were a deathtrap; there can be significant voltage on the line, but they wont light until over 100v present (50v is enough to kill), plus these things get bashed about, how do you know the neon is still working??

 

Over the years I used a few meters, the AVOs go on for decades, although you really need to get them calibrated at a proper service centre every few years, but they are HEAVY.

 

I have had several Fluke digitals; yes they are expensive, but they are tough and reliable; the first one I bought (80 series) cost me the thick end of £300 and did EVERYTHING, including transient fault logging and NPN/PNP transistor test sockets. Sadly, it got nicked after about 10 years.

 

The cheap meters are exactly that - CHEAP, the leads are often not insulated well enough and non-replaceable, and calibration is suspect, OK for basic car electrics as long as you stay away from the HT, but I wouldnt trust one on 240v.

 

The cheapest meter I would recommend for serious use is the Fluke10/12 series mentioned earlier, I have a 12 for casual use, it has been doing sterling service for over 10 years (2003??)

Edited 15 May, 201610 yr by GentleGiant

I was always taught that the Neon screwdrivers were a deathtrap; there can be significant voltage on the line, but they wont light until over 100v present (50v is enough to kill), plus these things get bashed about, how do you know the neon is still working??

Volts don't kill. Amps kill!

Did you never play with a Van Da Graaff generator?

Volts don't kill. Amps kill!

Did you never play with a Van Da Graaff generator?

 

Volts Jolts, Current Kills; but we arent talking with anything current limited; that mains cable, even a lighting cable, can send 10 Amps through you for long enough to kill you before it trips out; as discussed in another thread, lighting circuits are rarely covered by an RCD, and neither are many houses properly covered (RCD covers shower only - if that).

 

[For non sparkies, the minimum* killing current is 0.02 Amps @ minimum* 50Volts ]

 

* For children and people with weak hearts

 

As for car HT, not sure what the current is; I know the voltage is in the 1,000s though; enough to give you a belt and (if you are an idiot like my Brother), enough to turn speaker cones into confetti.

Doesn't it go:

Wire into house - consumption meter - RCD - everything else

In that order? 

 

Pretty sure ours is like that, I'll have a look in a minute.

Doesn't it go:

Wire into house - consumption meter - RCD - everything else

In that order? 

 

Pretty sure ours is like that, I'll have a look in a minute.

 

Typically, (unless you wire it yourself, or request it), the RCD only covers the "Power" circuits, not the lighting; reason?? because blown bulbs can often cause the RCD to trip.

 

In many houses that havent been properly rewired in decades, there is no RCD at all, even in households with an electric shower - regs state it should be covered, but many cowboys and DIYers dont bother.

Typically, (unless you wire it yourself, or request it), the RCD only covers the "Power" circuits, not the lighting; reason?? because blown bulbs can often cause the RCD to trip.

In many houses that havent been properly rewired in decades, there is no RCD at all, even in households with an electric shower - regs state it should be covered, but many cowboys and DIYers dont bother.

Rcd trips covering all circuits have been regulation since the late 80s.

Mum & dad's was built in 87 and didn't have them, but the rest of the street was built with them the following year.

MIL has them and hers was built in 1990