Doorbell problem

[Paintedcow]

For general around the house wiring, I prefer an analog meter. None of that phantom crap to deal with.... And if it's just 120 / 240 ac, my cheap neon tester is really all I need to find if wires are hot or not. In my opinion, digital meters are more for working on electronics, where precision measurements of voltages or resistances are needed. Even to test a bell transformer, if my analog meter shows a voltage somewhere near 20v, I know the transformer is working. Precision is only needed on circuit boards, where for example a transistor should have 6.8 volts on the collector.

For auto work, I made my own tester. A domelight bulb in a socket, with alligator clips on the wires. Far too often I'd connect a meter to a wire under the hood, go inside the car to turn the key, and could not see the meter. I can always see that bulb, and it's a lot brighter than those 12V testers that they sell, which are usually dim, and tend to be cheaply made and have a short life. (Or they cost a fortune to buy one that is made halfway well).

[clare]

just what about "nothing" do you not understand???

[clare]

For such simple stuff as checking a doorbell transformer I have a few simple "test lights". One is simply an automotive tail light bulb with

2 wires soldered on.

[Robert Green]

Knew all that and that's why it's in the car, awaiting return upon my next HF visit. I have a hard enough time repairing things that are WORTH repairing if they involve little springs and the dexterity of a watchmaker. Wouldn't do more than look inside of a freebie HF thing.

Funny thing is it wasn't really round and could have easily been a stray solder blob. If the thing worked without the detents, I'd keep it and lock the dial down in DC Volts. But it didn't so back it goes. In contrast a number of $12 Fluke copies I got from Ebay/China are still plugging away.

Got a HF tong meter that works fine except for no AUTO-OFF. Uses 3 coin cell batteries, too. )-: Finally attached a "tail" to it that says: NO AUTO OFF to help remind me to shut it off.

[hrhofmann]

My HF voltmeter has worked just fine for a couple of years, even after it has been dropped a few times. I know this because I check it out on some known resistors and some known voltage sources, both AC and DC.

[clare]

They work pretty good until they don't. I've had some cheap meters that also lost the detent balls - making them totally inoperative and useless. They were not HF free units - they were units I bought for something like $4.95.

[Paintedcow]

If the transformer is 24V you better wire 2 bulbs in series. But a 16V system should be ok for a 12V bulb.

[clare]

a 12 volt bulb will last about 1.5 seconds (possibly a bit more) on

24 volts. Sometimes. On 16 volts not a problem.