Well it finally gave up the ghost. It's as old as my kids and has four times more miles on it. Rode with me faithfully in four service trucks and three pickup trucks. Had a hard life as I got it second hand in a trade for some other stuff about twenty years ago. It's been dropped, soaked, electrified, broke and glued back together twice and now the needle only moves halfway and gets stuck. It's a Simpson 260 that's been one of the most durable and trouble free tool I've ever had in my inventory. So here is the question. Is there anything out there with at least half toughness and doesn't cost a quarter of the national debt that will do the same job as this unit?
I don't that stuff like that is made anymore! I am still using my father in laws battery charger at home. He passed away 33 years ago. When I was at an R/V shop that guy had a Fluke that would read A/C amps with an inductive clamp. Did not know any little meters had that capability. That was much nicer than lugging around my large machine. I bought brand X off Amazon. Was supposed to do everything but it does not. I thank I will look at his and buy the same thing. Give this one away or just leave it around the house.
I’d hit eBay and find another one, I use a -8 and it’s the stuff. I’m on another board and I started a thread about who uses one still, the younger guys hassled me some, but grudgingly admitted that it was a great meter, just bulky and heavy. If you are used to a analog meter, you’ll have a hard time with a digital, they don’t follow pulses like an analog will. You got great service out of your-6, it’s at least 40 years old, buy another for your next 40 years of work!
If you like the Simpson 260, why not just buy a new one? They go for around $275 new. My 260 is over 40 years old and still going fine but I've seen guys with the new ones and they seem as durable and of good quality. There are some cheap DMM's under $100 that can do a lot of things but quality is hit or miss. Fluke has some great meters. I've got a model 70 that has been to war and back and is a really solid tool but did cost about $500. I use it every day. The Simpson stays on the bench, the Fluke goes everywhere else.
I meant to say they don't make stuff like that anymore. Looks like E bay is your place. Sometimes I still struggle with with some of the electronic stuff but that little Fluke was the cats meow for what I was working on.
Fluke model 115. I bought mine used a long, long time ago and it has never given a lick of trouble. It has a bar graph across the bottom that takes the place of the analog needle for wavering measurements. Mostly I like a digital readout and it has a good backlight also.
If you want to get a digital one get a military surplus Fluke 27FM on EBay. I brought one in cherry condition with case leads military manual and high voltage probe for $70. The dark gray military ones are true rms too Analog just buy another Simpson At work I use a Fluke 87V. Pricey but it has the stuff we need for some of our tests
x2 on the Fluke 87..
That pic made me think I was in a Antiques Roadshow episode. Everything I use now is Fluke and have never had an issue with any of their products. Well worth the money if you ask me!
I assume that you have checked the fuse inside the case....... Rick
Fluke 88 and power probe. As BV pointed out you have the bar graph for fluctuating voltage. I also tote an old snap on vantage for the graphing meter.
If it goes to half scale and sticks, that means the movement is bad. Most likely the pivot jewels.
Sometimes the foil strip behind the glass curls up on the old ones and makes the meter stick check you just might get lucky
I figure it is in the movement as well. So what will a digital meter enable me to accomplish that an analog meter won't? All I use is the ohm meter and the volt meter.
No you just take an exacto knife and cut off the foil and it will be ok may not be the movement what do you have to lose
In that case nothing.
I need to be very precise with some voltages and the big display that is four digits, 00.00 is nice. When I started analog was the thing also but I don't miss the slow action or anything.
I love analog, but for ohm, digital is the way. Infinity indicates break in coil, zero indicates dead short inside coil, and then when all things are good you get a digital (resistance) reading of the coil. Bonus, most digital meters in ohm position will offer an audible beeeeeeeep for continuity test, very handy. As for volts, analog is better, but you'll learn to live with volts just don't seem to settle down on a hard number when you switch to digital. Digital meters are hyper sensitive to voltage fluxuations where analog is more forgiving of such. Setting the recommended 9.0 volts on the horsepower limiter board on a Genie lift with a digital meter, yeah, good luck, get it bouncing somewhere around the 9 volt range with wild +/- fluxuations and call it good. LoL
Does anyone read milliamps through a coil with either unit? Why won't a digital meter read out a diode? Why would I need a graph ever when working on heavy equipment?
laycobeau, I did the foil thing about five years ago.
I don't know about the Fluke 87 but my 115 does up to 10 amps and also has a separate milliamp scale. It has a diode check function. The only graphing I ever do is with a CRT scope and I have to dust the spider webs off it whenever I use it which is like never.
Ok sorry put you can't have mine
John C I read mA through my meter. Can also read diodes , caps, resistors and any thing else I can jam my probes into. Lol. When I want to read dwell or duty , I use the vantage. Shows me a nice graph, and if the coil is breaking down it shows me nice big spikes.
Cool, educate me on how all that works. The early digitals needs something outside of the meter to read diodes for some reason. Later they came with a function on the mode dial. Caps? Resistors I've had no problem with. Vantage?
Caps , Starting and run capacitors for like furnace blower or compressor starter. mA just interrupt the circuit and measure in series like you always would have. You can also measure up to 10amps on a different port. Past that, you'd need some sort of shunt. Interstate batteries used to offer something for just that. Even cheapie dvom's offer so much more than back in the day. That old vantage, I got from snap on for 75. These kids today don't want to think. If it's not in color and spelled out, they don't want it. And I agree, the sweep of an analog needle is still very telling, if you know how to read it. I learned on analog, forced to go digital.
Yea, I'm not even going into line voltage issues. They have licensed electricians for that type of work. I'm also not going the Snap On tool route either. I bought an early Snap On multimeter back in the day and found a cheap Radio Shack unit for a tenth of the price was far better for field work. The Snap On meter after a year turned into green dust on the inside. At least the Radio Shack unit only cost about twenty bucks when it died. I've measured milliamps through a pump control coil with both and found as Willi said, it bounces all over the place. The analog was far easier to use.
The digital meters I use have a diode test setting.
Fluke 233.... detachable screen. Worth every penny
Digital multimeters are 'Cool' as to readout and features but they have a inherent design delay, that will miss slight blips the old analog units caught, trust me I have used most on the market and still have my OWN Simpson, keep it on a tight leash and try to keep it from harm, So Far, Knocking on my wooden analog head still hanging in there.