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Post by ThaiGyro on Apr 29, 2021 17:16:34 GMT -5
Hi all! The past few days, I have been tuning and trouble shooting a 2T boat motor. Great shape, former owner passed away, so no way to brain pick. He was a Master Mechanic...
So, the new owner and his dad come along and get excited, because this boat has EVERYTHING!! However, it had not been run in 4 years. OK.
Enter my help. Only issue was no spark. (Initially) Upon checking ZZZZZZ circuits, with a multi-tester, I found a short in the emergency lanyard switch +++positive circcuit. Done and fixed with a new kill switch.
Ohhhh, nooo! No sparky, no nada. Traced my own stupidity and found no issues....except that I was reading voltage from a shit meter. I fixed was wasn't broken. My bad!
The problem was not spark, really. It was a stuck choke, (not the true issue) and a bad gear override switch...the one that lets sparky through!! OWAFIA. (Oh-What-A-Fool-I-AM) Spent two or three days, flocking up a shit sandwich.
The moral of that story? Do not forget to test the testers or you will get kicked in the testes. This was a $350 nut kicking.
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Post by oldgeek on Apr 29, 2021 17:57:14 GMT -5
I use a multi meter daily for years and I have learned to check it daily. For instance, you should never turn a breaker off and then check for "no voltage" Always, always first verify you have voltage with the meter, then turn the breaker off. Only then can you verify there is no voltage with the meter. Another thing to look out for is worn out meter leads that are intermittent, A lie there can hurt you quick! Just had to replace the intermittent leads on my brothers meter.
And yeah, I have been kicked in the nuts by meters a time or two Lol!
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Post by aeroxbud on Apr 29, 2021 17:58:14 GMT -5
That's a hard lesson right there. We just automatically assume stuff will tell us the truth.
I was watching one of these investigation programs years ago. They were trying to work out how a 747 crashed. When they looked at the black box, it had been flying upside down!
There are three artificial horizon gauges. The pilot, and co pilot have one each. With a back up in the middle. Both pilots gauges were faulty, and flying at night, in heavy cloud. No chance really.
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Post by FrankenMech on Apr 30, 2021 3:05:08 GMT -5
That's a hard lesson right there. We just automatically assume stuff will tell us the truth. I have a pet peeve with 'digital meters', their tiny chip minds are easily confused but people 'believe' them.
I have many meters, both digital and analog, along with other test instruments, even an O-scope. I also know how stuff works so I can often tell when a meter is trying to kick my testes. Intermittent test instruments can be worse than no test instruments at all.
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Post by Kenho21 on Apr 30, 2021 7:28:43 GMT -5
I avoided exposure to my multimeter the first couple years I owned it because the off-gassing fumes coming out of the very Chinese plastic it is assembled from. I don’t think I’ve ever really consciously checked it before I’ve used it. It may be safe to start now though. Haha. Probably a good idea seeing as it definitely not a Fluke.
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Post by captincvmn on Apr 30, 2021 11:34:19 GMT -5
I’ve used fluke, owned ideal and southwire meters. I like the southwire best. Fluke makes damn good stuff but very pricey.
I’m still confused about regular vs. true RMS
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