Another way to look at it: if your meter is going to burst into flame, HarborFreight Free is the right choice.
The "10 amps" reminds me that the neg probe was plugged into the port labeled "10A", not the regular negative port. The reading with the regular port was too low to be believed, but no fire. So the HF meter wasn't quite as fragile as portrayed, and I don't know much about using it.
In any event, powering the tool with an adapter didn't seem viable.
...
for something that doesn't get used much i'd never go with a battery operated device again.
i had a cordless drill, but i ended up giving it away to someone who'd actually use it.
by the time i needed it the batteries always lost their charge and by the time it would recharge i could do the job with a regular screw-em-driver.
songbird
I just leave a battery on the charger so it's always ready to go when I need it. However, lithium batteries don't self drain the way the old Nimh or NiCad batteries did. I've had batteries sit unused for months and they still have a lot of usable power left in them.
Also, I use my drill/driver in a lot of places far away from an electrical outlet. I could drag out an extension cord, but that's a real hassle for a small project.
I have a really nice corded DW246 corded drill, but I only use it when I have a lot of drilling to do, or when I need the high torque for a 2-inch auger bit or something:
Anthony Watson
On Tue 04 Apr 2017 05:33:23p, Oren told us...
I have a dedicated cordless screwdriver that will also accept small drill bits. It has a self-contained battery and will sit on the charger. I've had it for nearly 20 years and show no sign of going south, despite the fact that it's used frequently. My other cordless tools are roughly 15 years old and perform like new. I that somethimes they are either overused or abused. I don't giggle when I use them.
Has to be one. obviously. Otherwise, various companies would have no way of reliably testing their HV output devices to ensure it is providing enough juice to energize neon and/or a magnetron tube. I'm looking for one thats hand held and doesn't require being pushed around on a cart due to it's own weight. Reasonably priced. By that, I mean less than say, 2 grand or so. I couldn't justify anything more than that for the times I'd have use for it.
Understood. Like I said, I don't do much with 1+kv on a daily basis or anything, but, it would be nice to acquire an accurate reading on the display.
It's not the insulators directly at fault, rather it's the airgap and how far the voltage can jump it. The voltage does not need to be 1kv or more to do this, either. You can get an airgap jump with a 240volt water heater, too. Just make sure it's under load, preferably with both elements fired up. Take the wirenuts free, and connect a mulimeter to them to take a reading. Now, slowly take the probes off the wires; An arc will form going from each wire you were reading from to the probe attached to it, until you pull the probe far enough way where the arc can no longer follow. It's nowhere near 1kv, it's only 240 volts, but, as the water heater is running, it's 240volts under load vs just being present on the line. The arc will try to keep the connection between each wire you tested and the probe that was previously touching it.
When you're dealing with voltage without amperage behind it, you need more volts to make the airgap arc jumping effect. IE: neon sign power supply. A typical neon sign power supply can jump approx 2 inches from the contacts feeding the tube. So it can shock you without you actually touching the connections, two inches or so before you reached the connection point itself.
Obviously, the higher the voltage, the further it can jump. Which is why a simple power switch isn't going to do shit in a lightning storm. As the lightning storm has a high voltage level AND a shitload of amps behind it too.
It's also why the devices that blow to seperate your mains because of a surge may not be as effective as you might think. If the incoming voltage is high enough, it's going to jump across the break and re- establish the connection until the juice is gone OR it's burned off the connection points enough with the arcing that it cannot remain established.
While the connection is by no means a stable one in these situations, it is a connection and power is flowing (even for a short period of time) into your panel and anything connected to it, even if the breakers are set to the off position. It's just arc jumping those open points too.
While I understand where you're coming from, that doesn't take into consideration a failing transformer. While it may have little to no trouble delivering 900 or so volts with/without a load present, it doesn't mean it's actually still capable of delivering say the 5kw with or without a load present. Which is why I'd be interested in a meter with the high voltage probes to check it while it's inline with the circuit it's supposed to be providing power to.
I can see if it tries to drop out under load with that. Or, if it tries to drop out under no load getting closer to the output it's supposed to be supplying. As I'm sure you know, transformers can get weak due to the insulation failing in the wrapping and it may not show any signs at lower (for it) voltage levels. But, as it gets closer to the expected output, the weakness can show.
Yes, and, like I said, this doesn't really help for the above stated reasons. The math may be perfectly sound, but, it's making the assumption that the transformer has no issues and is delivering what it's supposed to be. Without it being tested with a meter capable of reading the higher voltages, one cannot be sure.
Umm, no. The milwaukee family of impact drills aren't using plastic gears. The porter cables aren't either, afaik. And, depending on the model kobalt (if one so desires to purchase it) doesn't use plastic for the impact driver either. Those manufacturers fully understand that plastic gears won't hold up for any real length of time if the tool is actually used on a daily basis. If you're just screwing off about the home or something, it probably wouldn't make any difference. If you're using it for professional work, as say, an electrician, it does make a difference. A big difference.
Mounting boxes to bricks all day via tapcons for a large job will usually result in the premature death of a plastic gear driven impact driver. If you depend on quality tools as a professional, in this case, plastic is a bad choice.
I can only assume you're being cheeky, otherwise, you're trolling and doing a poor job of it. Or, you just don't know.
Thanks. I'll check this out in more detail. Which meter did you pair it with?
Some cut.
More cut.
Take a look at the "other" on Ebay once you decide what brand and such you want. I got a good deal on a return out of the package.
I don't remember if it was a Fluke but we used a high voltage probe:
The products were dielectric preheaters for the plastics industry and were basically a 15 kW Hartley oscillator with the plastic material placed in the tank circuit.
The RF voltage measurement was more primitive. There was a homemade device that was two brass balls on a screw. Put that in the cavity, crank down the top plate, and pull the strings until it arced out.
RF leakage was determined by a fluorescent tube on a broomstick.
Ahh. Thanks for the valuable information. I figured some high ohm resistors would be in play; much like an electric fence reader, then?
They're not fancy. Given the era when I used them there wasn't any active circuitry involved.
The hardest part is getting a resistor that won't flash over, hence their length. Other than that it's a voltage divider with possibly a few bells and whistles.
The ones I have are simply a resistor of about a Giga-ohm in series. They were designed back in the day when the input standard was
20K Ohms per volt. For a High-Z meter, shunt the meter (creating a voltage divider) until the voltage reads correctly.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.