10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

mudz — Wed, 15 May 2019 17:56:11 GMT

[mention:fee58664ea5a4d57992ff29af8a5084a:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05]

Today’s test tools contain safety features unheard of even a few years ago, features that are worth the cost of an equipment upgrade?

Like what?

Are you saying there something better then multi meter 87 v because this equipment is old but trusted one. Have you upgraded this one with modern safety features you are talking about?

Thank you

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

s8548a — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 08:00:02 GMT

Point #1 used to do when in the beginning, and later such circumstances were become rare.

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

Gough Lui — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 04:03:33 GMT

I'd probably add:

- Not changing the battery in the meter regularly or when the low battery indicator appears - I've seen a few videos online where the indicator is prominently visible. When the battery is low, the internal voltage reference may not be stable, thus the measured results cannot be taken to be valid. In some cases, the readings can be quite a way off. Aside from that, if the battery is already "low", there's a good chance it might leak soon and damage your meter as well. So make it a habit to change the battery regularly and at every time the indicator appears.

- Not inspecting your meters and leads prior to work - damaged insulation on leads can be rather dangerous, along with mis-connection of probes (e.g. in current position when measuring voltage) which can mean costly (premature) fuse replacements.

- Not checking the meter is operational by testing a live and dead circuit first - sometimes a broken test lead or a bad contact might mislead the user into thinking the circuit is "dead" when it really isn't.

- Trusting every last digit on the meter - just because a digital meter can read-out to a high resolution, the accuracy of the meter may be less than the displayed resolution, thus unwary users may come to the wrong conclusion just by looking at the digits on the meter alone.

- Not compensating for lead resistance for low resistance measurements - this can help improve accuracy with a few button presses.

- Gough

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

Sean_Miller — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 02:29:40 GMT

Great list. I'd throw in not knowing the limits of the amperage to run through the meter when measuring current in industrial applications.

-Sean

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

snidhi — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 12:38:18 GMT

The discussion on cheap DMMs is never ending. I tried to convince some companies in the electronics business to stay away from cheap made DMMs. And rather invest in good DMMs such as fluke ones as they will last you a lifetime.

RE: 10 dumb things smart people do when testing electricity

14rhb — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 10:40:57 GMT

Useful advice, thank you. The flurry of Fluke related pdfs currently also make great reading.

Rod