Well, today I learned that old test equipment isn't always up to the task you had in mind . . . . . . . .

Popped down for the yearly visit to the parents and, whilst chatting to my father, we go onto an issue he had had installing a neighbour's electric shower. The old unit had stopped working and, my old man being a sort of builder/plumber type, had said he would fit the replacement.

An easy job it seemed, as it was like for like, and the installation went without many hitches, unfortunately, when trying to run the shower it completely failed to respond! No heating and no neon on the front.

My dad had popped back to the suppliers but they said they couldn't refund him, he had to call Triton directly . . . . . . . they are coming out early January . . . .

As the old unit had stopped, and the new one had failed to start I asked him if it had power, his neon screwdriver had lit up, so he assumed it was all good. I mentioned about switched Live/Neutral circuits and was met with a blank stare.

'Have you got a voltmeter' I asked, 'yes' he replied, 'it's your old one'. He fetched it for me.

Now, if memory serves, I purchased that meter in Coventry in about 1980. As you can see, the packaging has seen better days, what you cannot see is the verdigris on the + lead socket and - worse still - the AA battery terminals.

Well I thought, what's the worst that can happen, it may be almost 40 years old but it seems ok(ish).

Obviously, before venturing around to the neighbour I decided to test it (of course), so I set it to the AC 250V range, used one probe to depress the earth pin shutter and then popped the probes across the 240V mains . . . . . . . . . .

Well, the carpet didn't get burned at least, the case didn't fit together quite as well as it used to, the big bright flash that flew out of it was rather impressive, and the smelly smoke that rolled up our collective nostrils certainly didn't smell overly magic anymore.

As you can see, a nearly 40 year old meter, with pretty thin tracks in the first place, compounded by many years of neglect and corrosion, cannot actually handle 240V any more! Close inspection reveals a few tracks/pads are now absent, and some sections appear to be somewhat shorter and melted.

The inside of the case is a slightly different shade to the original too.

So there you go, you wanted a story - you got one, you wanted pictures - you got those too. My dad now has no multimeter, two 13A fuses less than this morning, and no way to test any he has lying around.

I offered him a replacement meter, he doesn't want one as, in his own words, he doesn't know how to use them . . . . .

A casual observer would argue that the same applies to me too!! 

Well, today I learned that old test equipment isn't always up to the task you had in mind . . . . . . . .

Popped down for the yearly visit to the parents and, whilst chatting to my father, we go onto an issue he had had installing a neighbour's electric shower. The old unit had stopped working and, my old man being a sort of builder/plumber type, had said he would fit the replacement.

An easy job it seemed, as it was like for like, and the installation went without many hitches, unfortunately, when trying to run the shower it completely failed to respond! No heating and no neon on the front.

My dad had popped back to the suppliers but they said they couldn't refund him, he had to call Triton directly . . . . . . . they are coming out early January . . . .

As the old unit had stopped, and the new one had failed to start I asked him if it had power, his neon screwdriver had lit up, so he assumed it was all good. I mentioned about switched Live/Neutral circuits and was met with a blank stare.

'Have you got a voltmeter' I asked, 'yes' he replied, 'it's your old one'. He fetched it for me.

Now, if memory serves, I purchased that meter in Coventry in about 1980. As you can see, the packaging has seen better days, what you cannot see is the verdigris on the + lead socket and - worse still - the AA battery terminals.

Well I thought, what's the worst that can happen, it may be almost 40 years old but it seems ok(ish).

Obviously, before venturing around to the neighbour I decided to test it (of course), so I set it to the AC 250V range, used one probe to depress the earth pin shutter and then popped the probes across the 240V mains . . . . . . . . . .

Well, the carpet didn't get burned at least, the case didn't fit together quite as well as it used to, the big bright flash that flew out of it was rather impressive, and the smelly smoke that rolled up our collective nostrils certainly didn't smell overly magic anymore.

As you can see, a nearly 40 year old meter, with pretty thin tracks in the first place, compounded by many years of neglect and corrosion, cannot actually handle 240V any more! Close inspection reveals a few tracks/pads are now absent, and some sections appear to be somewhat shorter and melted.

The inside of the case is a slightly different shade to the original too.

So there you go, you wanted a story - you got one, you wanted pictures - you got those too. My dad now has no multimeter, two 13A fuses less than this morning, and no way to test any he has lying around.

I offered him a replacement meter, he doesn't want one as, in his own words, he doesn't know how to use them . . . . .

A casual observer would argue that the same applies to me too!!