Overheard a guy at the supply house say my multimeter was wasting my time, he was right

I've been doing this for like 9 years now and always used the same clamp meter for everything, even checking a simple continuity on a dryer thermal fuse. Last Tuesday I was at Appliance Parts Plus in Columbus picking up a capacitor and this older tech, maybe 60s, was talking to the counter kid about how he only uses a $15 wiggy for 90% of his calls. I kinda laughed it off at first. But then I had a fridge not cooling this week, compressor was kicking but no cold. I spent 40 minutes chasing a bad start relay with my fancy meter readings. Finally I just swapped the relay with a universal one I had in the van, fixed it. The wiggy would've told me the same thing in 2 minutes. I mean, I'm not throwing my meter away, but I'm definitely grabbing a solenoid tester for quick checks now. Anyone else find they over-complicate the easy stuff sometimes?

2 comments

2 Comments

rileyprice1d ago

Aint that the truth? I used to think guys who carried wiggy's were just cheap or old school, but after chasing a defrost timer for an hour with my Fluke on a walk-in last month, I get it. The wiggy woulda showed me line voltage on one side and nothing on the other in ten seconds flat. Still keep the good meter for actual component checking, but that little solenoid tester stays in my pouch now.

phoenix_brown851d ago

Man, tell me about it. Wiggy saved my butt on a rooftop condenser last week too, @rileyprice.