• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

New old multimeter

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Online
well friends, today I received (for free) a Micronta 22-191 Multimeter.

It seems brand new, in box, with plugs etc etc. Fellow I received it from says it doesn't work and he is sort of right. Put in new batteries and the display lights right up. But, things like continuity don't work and, some of the setting seem to work but most don't. I realize that is a very vague comment and can be more specific but, in my experience these either work or they don't and this seems to half work.

anyone have any ideas or thoughts?

Untitled by John-Peter Smit, on Flickr
 

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
Offline
I have a Radio Shack Micronta 22-204 Multimeter that I've owned, I think since the late 1970's that still works perfectly. Mine is analog. You might be able to find the schematc online but I suspect its all microprocessors so probably not worth fixing.

Radio-Shack-Micronta-Range-Doubler-Multitester-43-Ranges.jpg
 

PAUL161

Great Pumpkin
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I have 2 analogs and a couple of the newer digital read outs, both analogs work perfectly, the HF digital, (yes I have one), went haywire after a couple uses and a higher tech digital I have went kaput also! So now I use the old standby analogs that I've had for years. :encouragement:
 

Gliderman8

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
Before you ditch it you might try spraying some contact cleaner under the rotary switch.
Contacts may need cleaning.
 

Mickey Richaud

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Online
OP
JPSmit

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Online
Before you ditch it you might try spraying some contact cleaner under the rotary switch.
Contacts may need cleaning.

Good idea.

I do have the same HF red one and for the $8 or whatever I paid for it - and the yellow one before it - it does everything I need and when it is done it is done. (I know, I hate the throwaway world too - but, don't hate the player, hate the game. :smile: )

I also have an Allen PB 1081 garage analyzer. And a fox tach dwell unit and a micronta tach dwell unit. All of which means that I don't need it to work, but I want it to - just for the fun and the challenge.

will give it a good clean to start.

any and all ideas welcome!
 

dklawson

Yoda
Offline
As above... try cleaner on the selector. Since the resistance/continuity functions use power from the cells in the meter, make sure the battery contacts are 100% clean.

I carry the HF meters in all my British cars. I have yet to pay list on them. They are on sale this month (with coupon) for $1. Even if they die after the first use... they will be worth your dollar.

That said, I have a couple of decent meters that I have bought over the years but my go-to is my old Fluke-77. It just keeps working after almost 30 years.
 

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
Offline
I don't have any HF meters, but I did recently buy this: Digital Torque Adaptor

I bought it to use in areas where a torque spec is required but it's difficult/impossible to get a true torque wrench in the space.

I did some testing on some nuts bolts to test its readings against a known, calibrated torque wrench at different levels and it seemed to be pretty accurate.
 

Bayless

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I have that same meter that Basil showed and keep it in its original box too. I also have a much newer digital meter but decided I still like the analog much better.
 

LarryK

Yoda
Gold
Country flag
Offline
Open and check for fuse. Won't hurt it.
 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
but my go-to is my old Fluke-77. It just keeps working after almost 30 years.
Doug beat me to it. If you want a dead solid meter that will still be working for decades to come, it's hard to beat Fluke. I once held a "shoot-off" with all the meters I own, which includes not only HF cheapies but other semi-respected names like Beckman. Only the Flukes still met their original specs for DC voltage measurement. The latest HF cheapie was off by almost 0.5 volts right out of the box.

The HF throwaways are certainly better than nothing, I keep one in all my cars (typically in the spare tire compartment). If they get broken, lost, etc just buy another one. That's a really harsh environment, especially for an analog meter (my last analog Micronta lasted less then 2 months that way) so a disposable meter seems like the way to go.

Besides cleaning the contacts, it might be worth going over the PC board inside your digital Micronta with a strong magnifying glass (eg 5X loupe). Look for any dark lines across traces (indicating a crack) or solder bridges between pins, etc. If it still doesn't work, and you own a low power (or temperature controlled) iron with a fine enough tip, you can try walking along the connections from the IC, reheating each solder joint in turn just long enough for the solder to flow.
 

Boink

Yoda
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
I have many multimeters (including an older model of the Micronta FETVOM - which is really a good meter at 1 meg-ohm/volt!). I even have a few junky HF ones, and my even dad's old Heathkit VTVM.
But as others have reported, there's nothing like a quality Fluke unit. My only current gripe is that I can no longer easily hear any beep tones (for continuity, etc.). :(

I'd be sure the two dial switches have clean contacts.
 
Last edited:
OP
JPSmit

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Online

dklawson

Yoda
Offline
Most internal fuses are for current measurements, not to for voltage and resistance measurements.
 

Gliderman8

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
I also love my Fluke!
 

SD Bugeye

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
Yea love mine too used it almost daily when I was an FSR and lOTO was a matter of possible serious injuries
fluke 179 it is now retired to home use
 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
My only current gripe is that I can no longer easily hear any beep tones (for continuity, etc.). :(
FWIW, here's an article on how to roll your own continuity tester (which is the only function I use the beep for). The description includes several desirable features, including a loud lower frequency tone (age related hearing loss tends to affect high frequencies first), instant response and auto-off. This was in the May 2018 edition of "Nuts and Volts"; if the link doesn't work then maybe you can buy a copy.

https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/build-a-continuity-tester
 
OP
JPSmit

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Online
FWIW, here's an article on how to roll your own continuity tester (which is the only function I use the beep for). The description includes several desirable features, including a loud lower frequency tone (age related hearing loss tends to affect high frequencies first), instant response and auto-off. This was in the May 2018 edition of "Nuts and Volts"; if the link doesn't work then maybe you can buy a copy.

https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/build-a-continuity-tester

Link did work and I do love the interwebnet! the stuff to do & build continues to astonish me!
 
Top