A while back HF used to give away their little red VOMs with any purchase. I amassed enough of these to stick one in each vehicle and two more in my garage. The meters are actually pretty good and are very handy for diagnosing automotive electrical problems. But the probes that come with the meter are junk and threaten to make the meter unusable. So I went to Vetco Electronics, a cool store not too far from where I live, to see if they had anything I could use to cobble some decent probe leads. But lucky enough, no cobbling necessary. I bought a couple of these lead sets to give them a try:
https://vetco.net/products/shrouded-ban ... e-leads-36
I had to cut 3/8" of the shrouds that cover the banana plugs so they would insert far enough into the meter and they work like a charm. Can't attest to their longevity of course but they appear to be fairly beefy and well made. Vetco tends to carry pretty good stuff.
Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
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- tlbranth
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Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
Terry
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Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
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1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
- pidjones
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
Paying more for the replacement leads than the meter sold retail for sounds wrong, but that said I have several of those meters and am considering the same fix. But also, remember to change the batteries yearly to avoid leakage damage, and maybe even keeping the batteries ready but not installed for meters left in a trunk/glovebox/tool tray, etc.
"Love 'em all.... let God sort 'em out!"
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Ex 2006 GL1800 - the Black Pearl SOLD! to make room for:
2021 Can-Am Spyder RT Limited Dark Chalk Metallic
1975 Red GL1000 project - ex Pistol Pete project
1972 Triumph T150V Trident rescue - finished and FOR SALE!
1976 Yamaha RD400c
1978 GL1000 with '75 engine - the Hunley
Ex 1978 GL1000
Ex 1979 GL1000
Ex '79 CB750F rat bike
Ex '86 SEi
Ex '77 GL1000
Ex '76 RD400
Ex '72 Penton 125 set up for flat track
Ex '73 RD250
Ex '68 TR6C - chopped
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
I was just using one of those to check a crank positioning sensor. It was giving a out of spec reading so I double checked with my snap on and the cps was in fact in spec. I imagine with all things chinese accurate function is hit or miss. Just my experience.
1981 Goldwing GL1100
Microsquirt efi
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- tlbranth
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
Good call on the battery check. I've ruined more gadgets by not doing that.pidjones wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:05 am Paying more for the replacement leads than the meter sold retail for sounds wrong, but that said I have several of those meters and am considering the same fix. But also, remember to change the batteries yearly to avoid leakage damage, and maybe even keeping the batteries ready but not installed for meters left in a trunk/glovebox/tool tray, etc.
Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good
1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good
1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
- Sidecar Bob
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
FWIW, similar leads are available on eBay for about $2 US (search multimeter leads with the order set to Price + shipping, lowest first), I don't know whether they are the same quality but if you only use them occasionally thy would probably be good enough.
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- desertrefugee
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
Could very well be the leads... topic of this thread.
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Re: Harbor Freight VOM resurrection
Possibly. Definitely worth testing against a known good meter so as to not be replacing a good part for no reason.
1981 Goldwing GL1100
Microsquirt efi
Microsquirt efi
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