This won't make a whole lotta sense to most, but hey...

Specifically, I'm talking analog clamp meters.

I started in my field with an Amprobe RS-3 Ultra. PERFECT little meter for testing. Handy size, nice compact jaws for amp draw testing in crowded panels. HATED the bayonet lead sockets, but it was my constant companion for years until the taut band movement started sticking. When I called to see if it could be repaired, Amprobe told me: "Sorry, guy. You're SOL."

So I searched far and wide for a somewhat comparable analog clamp and ended up buying a Sperry SPR300 Plus. A little bulky compared to the RS-3, but it at least uses shrouded banana plugs and still has somewhat compact transformer jaws.

Now Kyoritsu (the Japanese company that actually makes this meter) has discontinued them, with A.W. Sperry no longer offering them. In the inevitable event that my current meter kicks the bucket, I preemtively bought a Kyoritsu from CHINA for a spare, and am hoping to God it's not a cheap knockoff. Luckily, I'm double protected by PayPal AND my CC.

Somewhere along the line, Amprobe got what is commonly referred to in the industry as "a clue" and released their CAT IV-rated RS-3 Pro. Which is even MORE bulky than the SPR300+ and ugly to boot. Extech has a similar offering, but in green and orange as opposed to red and yellow. Both have ginormous transformer jaws that I cannot realistically see shoehorning into crowded panels filled with spaghetti wiring.

The general industry attitude seems to be a Marie Antoinnesque: "Let them buy a DMM!"

Except I'm one of those fuddy duddies who LIKES using needle fluctuations in troubleshooting. It's super useful when I can tell if a belt on a rooftop fan is slipping without being anywhere near it, or if a solid-state relay is being "pulsed" because the heating element it energizes has reached its control setpoint. You know, useful stuff. And an analog clamp is more than adequate for about 99% of my testing. I don't need benchtop precision within +/- 1% of scale or less and/or True RMS (unless I'm dealing with VFDs, which is rare.)

Maybe I should just buy a Simpson 260-8 with a clamp accessory and be done with it...

Rant off.

I have a simpson 260-7 I got in the 90's. I'd say get one of those.

Well, thanks for making me feel like a complete dumbass.

I may just have to pinch my pennies and do just that. It'll become my "lifetime" meter.

Clamp VOA meters are just so so darn handy, though...

"The name's DUMAS. DU-MAS."

I don't know what Fluke offers but most of their stuff is top notch user friendly.

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Front sight and squeeze

I started doing HVAC repair in the mid 70's and bought the cheapest amp meter I could. I cant even find a name on it anymore. It is a clamp with a 1.25 inch widow area. it reads amps, by clamp and A/C volts by lead. That is it. The early and well made Rheem furnaces I worked on seldom needed an amp meter so It didn't get much use. 10 years ago this month I sold my apartment complex that I owned with my brother and was out in the real world where HVA/C is full of junk that was produced to lesser standards. Even later models of Rheem were full of relays that up and failed in 15 years or less and I was working on 3 stage electric furnaces and needed to know how many and which stages were out. The solution was the clamp on the "energized" wire of the relay before that reached the element. The first time I pulled out my little black Bakelite cheapo meter one of the young guys laughed at my antique equipment. Over the next three weeks my meter, which is smaller than a 3 year old's hand, slid in and out of the problemed furnaces like humming bird. The other men went looking for clamp amp meters that were small, no such thing had been made since 1972 or so (I bought mine on close out in January of '75). Everything made now is so improved they are worthless for much of the field work I did for the past 10 years. I have much newer equipment but it is not better!

Ivan

I think he was talking about electrical tools. thing I know nothing about.

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Carpriver.

Spring for a Fluke, bruh.

...when it comes to why analog meters can actually tell you more than a digital. Digital is great, but SOMETIMES you can use just a little more info.

PS: Do a google search for "analog clamp multimeter" and I see where several makes of these still exist, but I don't know if they are decent quality or not.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

My clamp on probe could have used an "Auto Off" feature...

Yup, if it's part of your job, it's tax deductible and will last for eons. So bite the bullet and spend the money for something that's quality, will last and will retain at least some of it's value.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Always buy a blue Dillon!

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Still Running Against the Wind

Say what?????

It's a reloading thing. When asked about presses. the universal answer is buy the most expensive regardless of individual needs.

A good friend (HVAC guy)was using his clamp o meter on my outboards and dropped the sucker in the saltwater, gone forever. Bought him lots of BEER!

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Still Running Against the Wind

I know not to stick a fork in an electrical outlet and water doesn't mix with electricity. Everything else I just read may as well have been in Klingon

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

+1 for a Fluke

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Life NRA, Life TSRA, C&R FFL

That first sentence was very perceptive!

I perked up again when I read "Simpson". That really describes my approach to electric repair. Just make like Homer Simpson, stick a metal fork into a plugged-in toaster and yell "Work, dammit!"

or a knife

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Still Running Against the Wind

Does Fluke make an analog meter?

Those old Amprobe units were hard to beat. I never used the volt meter part, I'd toss the leads in a closet and forget about them.

Used a Simpson 260 for ever, its just bulky. Went to Fluke 83, 87, 77 (?) and maybe a few others over the years. Toss it in the tool kit and go. Climb a ladder stuff it in your pocket!

Analogs havent been replaced, they very much have a place!

We had old Amprobe charting meters too.

Fluke does make quality stuff. All of it digital, sadly.

DMMs do have their place. I just don't find myself needing their capabilities much.

Lots of rs-3's on ebay. New and used.

CoMF you make a very good case for the analog meter. However, what I don't understand is why you can't see fluctuation on a digital meter? I mean, you can still see the variation in the way it reads.

I've spent years calibrating meters just like you're talking about. I would never suggest an Amprobe unit to anyone. They're just garbage when it comes to durability:

What a piece of feces this thing was. Sure, it worked, but compared to just about any other meter the accuracy was useless. Of course, for an indication of current fluctuation, without actually reading the value, it worked well; until it broke.

Many of the new meters from Fluke will do what you want with greater reliability and flexibility. Take this 376 for example:



Using their iFlex technology not only can you see the fluctuations you're looking for, you can record it and review just how much fluctuation you saw at a later time if you want. Further, you don't have to be standing in some weird location or position to get the reading. Hook up your meter and then read it on your smart phone.

Yes, you'll pay for it, but it's worth every penny.

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Freedom isn't free.

Rastoff,

If Amprobe's quality control is anything like you've described, I guess I shouldn't be surprised my old RS-3 kicked the bucket. My boss's Simpson 260, by comparison, has been to Hell and back and still works as well as the day he bought it (which had to be at least 35 years ago, if not more). So you're right, there are good and bad examples of the breed.

To be fair, you can measure fluctuations with a digital bar graph, but it doesn't seem as responsive in "real-time" as the old stalwart analog needle. I had a nice Fluke DMM with a range for testing capacitance (useful in HVAC/R), but ended up giving it away because it seemed like overkill for most of my testing needs.

Little to none of my troubleshooting requires super precision measurements, so I've not been handicapped by averaging meters with an accuracy of +/- 3% of scale. It's usually enough for me to say "Yup, this control circuit is line voltage." or "This motor runs on a 208/230 volt 3Φ power supply." I do come across having to work on VFDs from time to time (they're used for speed/torque sensitive applications), but I always just end up replacing/reprogramming them rather than analyzing them under load.

Just to give you an idea of how old some of the equipment I work on really is, a lot of it runs on A-B SLC 150 PLCs with line voltage outputs.

I've been through Flukes, Fieldpieces, Extechs, Meggers(brand name), and probably a few overseas knockoffs. When it comes to some things, analog is better. I like analog for micron gauges and crank megohmmeters, and I still have my 260 that I bought right out of the Navy in '86. It sits at home on my work bench and still gets used quite a bit. Both the Flukes I use on a regular basis (dmm and clamp ammeter) have lcd bargraphs in addition to the digital readout that responds much like an analog needle. Just about everything I work on has a freq drive and using true rms high end meters just makes the job so much easier. Not to mention being easier to read with aging eyes. I can just stick the remote display where I can easily read it instead of craning my neck to read it past the glare.
Just out of curiosity, how many other guys are in the HVAC trade and what sort of equipment do you work on?

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Fluke only makes digital stuff. Simpson is the fluke of the analog meter world.

My original background is in electronics, specifically commercial fire alarm systems and building controls. You are right, for reading fluctuations in current or picking up pulsing voltage a analog meter is really the only way to go. You can do it with some digitals, but it's easier watching a needle. I have a couple of Triplet 310's that I bought back in the mid '80's that are still going strong that I use for analog duty.

For digital duty, which I use for 95% of my VOM needs, I'm a Fluke man for the same reason I'm a Glock man. They just plan work. As Rastoff notes in his post, the Fluke iFlux technology is some pretty cool stuff. Testing fire pumps can present some dangerous exposure with high voltage arc flash and wearing full PPE (i.e., face shield, insolated gloves, leather apron, rubber boots) is an absolute must when testing with conventional VOM equipment. But with the new Fluke iFlux you can power down the panels, hang the meters on the test points, shut the doors and power up and get the readings off the iPhone via the Bluetooth app without wearing all that hot and cumbersome PPE gear. Technology is great, might as well take advantage of it.

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- Change it back -

Hmm. Is that the dumbass father or the dumbass son?

You got me with that one, but then again I'm a laboratory guy. This is my "office" now:


You can't see it in this pic, but there is a Fluke 289 just off to the left. It is always present on my bench and if it goes missing I track the *** down that took it.

You're right about the venerable Simpson 260. I've calibrated hundreds, if not thousands, of them when I was strictly in Metrology. They are as good and durable as any analog multimeter got. The one exception is the military's AN/PSM-37. Now that thing was indestructible, but not small:



A while ago only analog meters could check diodes properly. Digital meters just didn't have enough voltage to bias the diode properly. That is a thing of the past though. Modern digital meters have a special diode function. Also in the past, the analog meters ruled for AC measurement because they had a higher input impedance. That also is a thing of the past. I'll put my 289 up against any analog meter today for any type of non-lab accuracy testing. Shoot, the 289 is so good I even use it over my lab standard Agilent 3458A most of the time because it's just so much easier.


Edit to add an anecdote:
A few days ago I was embarrassed by an HVAC guy. Now remember, I've been in electronics for over 30 years and am sought as an instructor at work. Anyway, my AC quit working. My wife called me and I called several HVAC places. Of course it was the hottest day of the year and everyone was busy. No one can come out until the next day. So, when I get home, I check the fuses and breakers. My mistake was relying on the visual indicators not actually testing continuity. Well, a fuse I thought was good was bad. Charged me $95 for the call out and I'm only telling you guys 'cause none of you work where I do.

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Freedom isn't free.

One more thing, do you electricians use one of these?


My buddy calls it a wiggy. It's a voltage tester. All it does is show you if there is voltage present or not. If you know what you're doing with it, you can tell if an outlet is wired properly. One of the most handy electrical tools for general household wiring stuff I've ever used.

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Freedom isn't free.

Hey! It's a Tic Tracer! (Otherwise known as a "non-contact voltage tester.")

They are indeed useful for checking outlets, but I lost mine years ago.

Edit: Nice setup you've got in your "office," by the way! My fanciest benchtop toy is a BK DC power supply.

WHATI've had an Amprobe over 40 years and it been VERY RELIABLE my shop owner bought me a Fluke and I compared the two on differant circuits and motor amp draws and the Amprobe held its own ,even bench tested them with a Simpson meterHere is an old meter for ya an Everready battery meter

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Thanks for the comment. I had to do a little begging, but I landed two of these:


How much of a geek am I that I was like a kid at Christmas when this came in?

I'm hoping to get one of these soon, but the price tag tells me I shouldn't hold my breath:

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Freedom isn't free.

I have one my dad left....have no idea how to use it....

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Electrical tools here? Shocking just shocking.

I have an old analog Triplett, a fluke and a multimeter I built from a Radio shack kit back in the stone ages.

I like the Triplett, the fluke is digital and just too easy,

I have one of these that I show my students in my "Good old days" class. Our college issues either Amprobe or Field Piece multimeters.

The Amprobes are good'ncheap, but some of the display characters need a microscope to be seen.
I will never go back to analog.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

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