Talked to a retired tech who fixed my thinking on test equipment

I was at the hangar last Tuesday complaining to a buddy about how my multimeter kept giving me wacky readings on a 737 nav system. An old timer named Mike overheard me and walked over with his beat up Fluke 87 from the 90s. He said the problem wasnt the meter, it was my technique for grounding the test leads properly. He showed me how he always twists the leads together before hooking them up to make sure they read zero. I had been chasing a phantom issue for two hours and his 30 second fix cleared it up. It made me realize how much I rely on the tool instead of trusting my own process. Has anyone else had a seasoned tech drop a simple tip like that that saved you a headache?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleyl555d ago

Nah, a good meter matters too. My el cheapo gave ghost readings no matter the technique.

zara4475d ago

@finleyl55 what brand did you get stuck with? I'm looking for a new one.