TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Are you sure about that? Tested it?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You have it backwards - it’s YOU who said a capacitance meter reads capacity (go read your own post - I quoted YOU). In fact, if you’re confused, reread the entire thread, especially page 1.

BebuLamar

Oh sure let see. These following meters have been tested with 480VAC. Fluke 87V, 189, 289 and 287, 114. I have the el cheapo Fluke 113 would automatically switches to measure voltage. The Fluke 8050A was tested with 120VAC because I had it at home so no higher voltage available. Saying tested but really I did them all by mistakes.
The only time I blew the fuses were when I tried to measure voltage with the meter in current measuring mode.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

OK - fair enough. I grew up in the VOM era (and my first cheap one in the 50s was not in the league with a Simpson 260 or Triplett 630) where doing that could blow the fuse if you were lucky or the meter if not, so I’m alway ultra careful not to make that mistake and haven’t tested any of mine. I will add that John Fluke for years made the industry standard DVM. A mantra I heard often from customers was: “ Tek scopes, HP Spectrum Analyzers and Fluke DVMs”

no12mo

Yes, a voltmeter - which is found on today's modern VOM (Volt, Ohm, Milliamp Meter) - If you pick the right one, they are around $10 per copy

Canisdirus

My initial comment was simply correcting your statement that it is called a capacity meter....when it is not.

BebuLamar

We all know about capacitance meter but we also know that it has nothing to do with battery so I think TriX thought there is a capacity meter to measure battery capacity that we don't know about.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Some people think erroneously think "It's measuring the 'capacity' of the battery, so it's a capacity meter.".
TriX knows that isn't true.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I did NOT call it a capacity meter. The initial post I was correcting talked about the capacitance of a battery. I said “I think you mean capacity, not capacitance”. I then went on to explain how to construct a load. In a later post after you used the term incorrectly, I corrected it and suggested how if you wanted to measure a battery’s capacity, how you could do so with a VM and a load under computer control (which is exactly what manufacturers do, but it isn’t called a capacity meter) back and read page 1-2 CAREFULLY, and then just stop please.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

PLEASE go read my comment on pages 1/2. The user who used the term originally went back and changed it and then agreed with me that it was incorrect. Believe me, I know there’s no such thing as a capacity meter. I’m the one that corrected the original post that mentioned a capacity meter. I then went on to explain CAPACITANCE and how it is measured. I also explained in detail how the capacity of a battery can be determined. It’s Canisdrius that misread the posts and started this little tempest in a teapot. Now that the original post has been changed, you can’t see the original error, but you can see where he agreed with my correction.

BebuLamar

But we all know using a capacitance meter to measure anything about battery doesn't make sense. You knew that so you asked "A capacitance meter? I’m thinking you mean capacity, not capacitance."
And he answered "Yes"

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Exactly, and thank you! BTW, how did you accumulate such a collection of Fluke meters?

BebuLamar

I bought the 87 back in 88. It broke twice and the second time I sent it in for repair Fluke said they couldn't fix it so they offer $100 toward a new meter. So I bought the 189. When I started working for my company they gave me the 87V and later they gave me the 289 because I need the logging capacity sometimes but I rarely use this one. The 287 belongs ot my co-worker but I use it a lot. the 8050A was an old one back in the 70's. I bought it surplus from an electronic company. The 114 I bought when I was working for another company that didn't provide the meter. I didn't want to bring my 189 to work to make it dirty. Someone stole the 87V and before they replaced it I told them to get me the 113. The 113 is a cool one because in one position you can measure continuity, volt AC and DC and resistance. It would automatically switches to the right measurement. It doesn't measure current so no blowing fuse. In fact I rarely ever use the multimeter to measure current at work. The only time I use it for such is to check the 4-20mA current loop. To measure other type of current I would use a current clamp. What caused me to blow the fuse in my Fluke meter most often is that I use the current measurement function as a jumper. When it's in current measurement mode the resistance of the meter is very low. In the 10A range it's less than 1 Ohm. It's good as a jumper because the test probe is easier to touch the point you want to jump than a piece of wire. It's protected with a fuse so it won't melt in your hand if you short out something. But well I do forget at time that the meter lead is in the current measurement jack and I tried to measure voltage and the fuse blows.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Interesting - never thought about using the high current range as a fused jumper, but that’s clever. I have 4 Tektronix Bench DVMs of various kinds and an old Simpson 260, but I mostly use this little Wavetek. Not as good as a Fluke, but I like the capacitance and inductance ranges for RF which are actually pretty accurate, and it has a junction test feature that biases the junction and reads the voltage drop - great for quickly checking diodes. It also has a safety feature that beeps continuously if you switch to a range that doesn’t match where the probes are plugged in. It also has a min and max function, but it isn’t autoranging.

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

Strange, the only Fluk meter I ever ran into was a wierd thing, had about ten knobs, each knob had 10 positions (0-9) and a Zero center meter. you measured voltage by zeroing the meter with the knobs, then reading what the knobs were set to. It had zero load on the ckt when the meter was zeroed, extermely accurate but useless as a lab meter...