Considering future uses as well as the current one, I think she did fine with an autoranger. I think it's far more useful to a novice than a dedicated range meter and probably less expensive, too. The problem is obviously getting the probes in place to read the voltage.
What if it's a transformer with a rectifier? (-: (But I don't think so in this old a device.)
That's been established. They're parallel.
Damn you Micky, now I have to get up from my nice warm bed to grab some bulbs and my ohm meter.
[time passes]I got a reading of 1.1 ohms for my bulbs so you're right. I suspect an autoranging decimal error of some sort or skin contact interfering with the reading. Several of my bulbs in storage had substantial corrosion on the button contact that affected the readings as well.
I don't think it matters much as dead bulbs are an "either/or" proposition. Dead or not. Some small resistance or none at all. If she has an audio continuity function, a beep is good, none is dead.
That is pretty rotten life expectancy but is completely in line with almost all the bulbs being burned out. Have you come across many 12VDC laptop supplies? Everything I've got runs from 15 to 18VDC. Maybe times have changed. The key word in finding a power supply for this app, as you've noted, is "Regulated." Unfortunately not all regulated power supplies are marked thusly but a simple check with a voltmeter usually tell you. All the unregulated power supplies I've tested run several volts above rated voltage without load. .
I would have expected someone to know enough back then to use a lower than rated voltage to increase the life expectancy of the bulbs. I agree with your reasoning about why only one bulb is still lit. However, I think instead of yanking the transformer out or rewiring that she look into finding the same size bulb but with a much higher voltage. Won't be as bright but won't burn out as often.
GACK!!!!! I know it, I've seen it and just don't believe people do it. I got an electric wheelchair for a steal for my Dad because someone had simply twisted (WITHOUT TAPE!) the connections to the two 12V 60A batteries together and the chair lurched as it moved. The seller made me sign a receipt that said "runs smoothly" because it managed not to burp during my test ride. I took the risk on a brand new $3,000 heavy-duty chair for $150. Fixed it for 50 cents worth of heavy duty wirenuts. FWIW, the wires that were twisted together were between the main fuse and the battery. Those big
60A SLA batteries could have made quite a mess of things if they touched.Dude, even I don't know what you're referring to here, I'm betting Jennifer won't either! (-"
I'm betting about now the intended recipient and the giver might get a bigger kick out of throwing the house in a wood-chipper that rewiring it. Testing all those sockets without some sort of socket adapter probably is never going to happen, although it's what a thorough electrogeek would do. I just found a couple of dead bulbs (in the good bulb drawer!) by testing for resistance so I'm betting I could solder up a "socket probe" pretty quickly. It's much easier to do on 110VAC sockets by using a screw in socket adapter.
-- Bobby G.