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meters, welder gaps




(Been reading olde stuffe again  8)>>)

On gaps from Welders:

I once haad occaision to do EMI sudies from an rf stabilized welder.  Got a copy
of the manual (in fact i think it was a Miller...).  One line always stuck in
my mind:

	Do Not Attempt to File the Points.
	They are tungsten & harder than your file.

On meters:
	At the risk of soudning a broken recor, LOTS of meters at Ham Fleas.
	Prices variable, best shopping if you know how to make a meter read
	something OTHER than what it sez on the scale.  Beware of high amp
	numbers on ac or dc meters.  Many of them are designed for use with
	"shunts" (DC) or transormers (AC).  Such a meter may say 0-100A, but
	internally only be good for 5A (The fine print on the meter face will
	USUALLY point this out, but read it alll.)  Either can be used,
	faking the shunt is not hard.

	Running 100A (or 50) thru a 5A meter results in "letting out the smoke",
	and it stops working.  I refuse to pay more than about $3 for a meter,
	as there are a LOT around & some digging will usually find one in that
	price range.

(Letting out the smoke:
	Everybody here knows that electronics really run on smoke, right?

	After all, once you let the smoke out, they stop working...
)

	regards
	dwp
	(who has smoke tested a few meters & seen more tested so by others...)