volt meter

[tebstan]

If I were to go shopping for a volt meter, what should I get?

Keep in mind I know nothing about electric stuff, so dumb it down. :bigsmile:

[Europhyllia]

knowing nothing about electrical myself here am I giving advice lol:

I liked that our voltmeter thingy can be switched over from AC to DC. This was especially helpful when we were looking for the source of stray voltage and the powersupply for the LEDs was DC while virtually everything else was AC so if there are dual purpose kinds vs just AC kinds, get the dual purpose one ;)

(if they all come that way - AC AND DC- then just ignore my worthless advice! :D )

[alton]

http://www.myflukestore.com/p1393/fluke_87-v.php

You can also check the temperature of your tank

[Europhyllia]

lol alton. For $385 I think we might just try and borrow yours!

[alton]

No problem, just let me know

[Europhyllia]

just kidding. lol

sounds like a super snazzy voltmeter. But pricey!!!

[Europhyllia]

(what makes it so much better/more expensive?)

[tony]

i have a fluke too if it needs to be borried

[Kristy]

(what makes it so much better/more expensive?)

Gotta be that sporty yellow case. Makes the men do that grunty powertool noise.

[txmike]

I will 2nd the vote for Fluke meters I have two one that was my Dads and it is well over 30 years old he was a industrial maintenance mechanic so his tools got used hard it still works ever time I turn it on .This is a good deal for a fluke meter https://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT2?PMPXNO=28742464&PMTERM=59469270 (https://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT2?PMPXNO=28742464&PMTERM=59469270)
If you want something not as price look hear http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT2?PMCTLG=00&PMAKA=77335420&partnerURL=http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/mscdirect/index.aspxopagename=shopmainPcircularid=16558Pstor eid=1040626Ppagenumber=3611Pmode=
This is a good set for most people and will last we have a few sets hear at work and they have all done well.

[tebstan]

Why are some $30 and some $300?

I borrowed one from my dad... but I still don't know what to do with it. I don't know how it works or if it works.

Of course there are no instructions in the box.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/VoltMeter1.jpg


http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Miscellaneous/VoltMeter3.jpg

[txmike]

30 to 300 you get what you pay for .

[paul]

i have a fluke that is old but still works perfect. i also have a craftsman with temp. probes and infrared temp. sensor. i still like my fluke maybe because of the size. but they all are accurate its just a matter of what you are wanting. if all you need is to check volts and ohms, or amps, then all of them will do just that.

[txav8r]

30 to 300 you get what you pay for .

Exactly. It depends what you want to measure and how accurate your measurements need to be. Oh, and they go a lot higher than $300. Here's a few of mine that I use for avionics bench work.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii234/joat_mon_3/meters.jpg

The one on the far right is a Fluke 123. I think it was about $1500 new. Probably a bit overkill for what you want though.

[tebstan]

30 to 300 you get what you pay for .

duh :wink_smile:

But what are you paying for? Dual tests, temp probes? Accuracy? How accurate do I need to be when it comes to this hobby? Will my dad's old beat up one be good enough, once I figure out what to do with it?

[tebstan]

Probably a bit overkill for what you want though.

Wow, yeah, that's a bit much. I don't need it for anything other than the tank. And even then, it's just for peace of mind.

[Europhyllia]

Here's what I do with those higher priced items:

STEPHEN STOP READING NOW (and eek -Kristy you look away too)

I give them as gifts to my husband. If it's something that's more expensive than what I want to spend I justify it with it having triple purpose and so I can spend 3 times as much on it!
a) I can give it as a gift - money I have to spend anyway
b) I can then borrow it when I need it - savings!
c) I can use it later on to get what I really want (as in "what you are giving me a spa certificate? Like I would ever even go to a spa? When you knew I really wanted seahorses? remember when I got you that nice drill press???!!!") - better stuff!

I got a table saw and a drill press and several other things this way. He can feel like he's getting a nice tool collection and I know that what I can borrow from it will be suitable for my purposes. win-win

[tebstan]

I was afraid to mess with it and screw it up, if that's even possible. (I kept thinking about how cautious you're supposed to be with jumper cables. Like I said, I'm an electrical idiot.)

I put one plug in the "com" slot since that looked standard for any test. Don't know what "com" stands for though.
I put one plug in the AC slot. Pretty sure my stuff is all AC. :)
I left the red dial on the left alone since I don't know what it does and it has an ohm symbol on it.
I set the center dial to the lowest AC setting, 2.5
I put one probe in the water, and touched the other to the metal reflector for my T5s.

The meter read at about 1.25 volts.

Now, what does this mean? Is this bad?




(On a side note... I was very proud of myself for remembering what an ohm symbol looked like, even though I don't really remember what an ohm is)

[tebstan]

Here's what I do with those higher priced items:

STEPHEN STOP READING NOW (and eek -Kristy you look away too)

I give them as gifts to my husband. If it's something that's more expensive than what I want to spend I justify it with it having triple purpose and so I can spend 3 times as much on it!
a) I can give it as a gift - money I have to spend anyway
b) I can then borrow it when I need it - savings!
c) I can use it later on to get what I really want (as in "what you are giving me a spa certificate? Like I would ever even go to a spa? When you knew I really wanted seahorses? remember when I got you that nice drill press???!!!") - better stuff!

I got a table saw and a drill press and several other things this way. He can feel like he's getting a nice tool collection and I know that what I can borrow from it will be suitable for my purposes. win-win

HAHAHA
That is a fantastic plan. :D

[tebstan]

My dad is going trying to procure a more sensitive volt meter for me.

When I saw any reading on the meter at all, I got nervous. But I can't find any straightforward info. I want to be told "0 is best, 5 is ok, 10 is bad." Or something like that. Is 1.25 acceptable or bad?

I always have cuts on my hand. And when I have encountered voltage in the past, it didn't particularly bother me. So I always wonder if it's there and I'm not noticing it because I don't have a sensitivity for it.

The fish and coral are fine, there's no flashing behavior, lateral line erosion, or soft coral melt downs.
Last night my hands really hurt when I touched the water. But, I did sort of touch dry ice yesterday. Today it doesn't hurt so bad.

[ShAgMaN]

3rds on the fluke. The only multi-meter approved by the military for aviation maintenance.

However they are very pricey....any $30-60 multi-meter would be fine for general use in my opinion. Autozone and Sears have some in this range.

[alton]

With open lamps over your water it is normal to have stray voltage on your meter. What you do not want is current. I have seen voltage as high as 48 volts in an aquarium and never felt a tingle. I have had only two volts and it knock the heck out of me, it is current not voltage that shocks. Your best protection is a GFCI receptacle and grounding probe. Other wise your GFCI will not work because your tank is insulated. I had an old post here on MAAST about stray voltage

[tebstan]

I put one probe on the light reflector thinking I needed to ground it to something. Someone told me that would give a false reading because it would read voltage from the lights. So, I tried again with both probes in the water, and got a reading of only .5

I remember reading that voltage in the water would not be a hazard to the tank, just the person touching the tank. But it can be an indicator of faulty equipment, right?

The grounding probe is what had me confused. How is it safer? Voltage isn't dangerous until it becomes current. Providing a grounding probe would complete the circuit, creating current. So this would be bad, right?