29
Why does nobody talk about the shift from analog to digital multimeters for appliance work?
Honestly, I used to swear by my old Fluke 77 for everything, even on modern boards. Ngl, after a job in Tampa last year where I missed a tiny voltage drop on a control board, I switched to a Fluke 117 for the low impedance setting. It just reads cleaner on those new digital displays and I haven't had a ghost voltage call since. What's your go-to meter for the smart appliance stuff now?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
wright.cole1mo ago
Oh man, ghost voltage drove me nuts for years until I figured out what was happening. Tbh, I had the exact same problem with a fridge control board a couple years back, kept getting weird readings that didn't match up with the actual issue. Switching to a meter with low impedance mode like you said just stopped all that nonsense cold. I still keep my old analog meter for checking capacitors though, sometimes the needle bounce tells you more than a number on a screen ever could. For straight up appliance work though, I will never go back to the old school stuff, it's just too easy to miss those small fluctuations that mess everything up. Honestly, once you get used to the digital readout you can spot a problem way faster too.
4
derek9393mo ago
Man, ghost voltage is the worst. That low-Z mode on the 117 is a total game changer for modern stuff, isn't it?
3