EEVBlog 121GW Discussion thread

[EEVblog]

I have a few available on ebay for those in Oz:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/223244201244
My web shopping cat is currently rooted, being in investigated.

Big shipment of meters finally due next week.

[kahuna0k]

I have a few available on ebay for those in Oz:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/223244201244
My web shopping cat is currently rooted, being in investigated.

Big shipment of meters finally due next week.

It seems that there were 10 in stock in the web but when trying to add them I get -3 available, unable to fulfill. About the ebay option, I understand that you will only ship to Australia right?

[Simon]

ebay is a pain in the ass which is why I packed it in. I have actually just bought the shiiping plugin for woocommerce so that I can do flexible shipping in my shop based on weight so that i can sell some small parts without having to charge one shiping rate no matter what.

Last time I had a problem buying on ebay I found it impossible to contact ebay when the seller would not play ball. so I avoid ebay for buying as well now.

[kahuna0k]

ebay is a pain in the ass which is why I packed it in. I have actually just bought the shiiping plugin for woocommerce so that I can do flexible shipping in my shop based on weight so that i can sell some small parts without having to charge one shiping rate no matter what.

Last time I had a problem buying on ebay I found it impossible to contact ebay when the seller would not play ball. so I avoid ebay for buying as well now.

I was referring to the ebay item sold by eevblogstore himself (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/223244201244) that I suppose I should trust as much as I trust the cart in this webpage (or more given what he said

[Simon]

I meant Dave is probably only doing AUS shipping due to the pain in the ass it becomes on ebay to ship all over the place and deal with any fallout. Not to mention the 14% charge between ebay and paypal.

[Terry01]

Why don't you get one from Welectron?

https://www.welectron.com/

That's where I got mine. Sipped in just under 5 days from Germany to the UK.

[Simon]

Why don't you get one from Welectron?

https://www.welectron.com/

That's where I got mine. Sipped in just under 5 days from Germany to the UK.

Soon I will hopefully have quite a few directly from Dave to resell. I also have one of the first batches for me personally already. I was simply musing on the feseabilities of selling on ebay. I considered selling Daves products on ebay but decided that given the following Dave has and i am his UK distributor why bother. I would have to add at least 10% to the price and in fact due to the hassle factor of doing business on ebay I would put way more than 10% on. As i have just discovered ebay is shit for buyers as well as sellers so avoid it entirely unless i am prepared to loose my money as a buyer like i have done once already.

[EEVblog]

Soon I will hopefully have quite a few directly from Dave to resell. I also have one of the first batches for me personally already. I was simply musing on the feseabilities of selling on ebay. I considered selling Daves products on ebay but decided that given the following Dave has and i am his UK distributor why bother. I would have to add at least 10% to the price and in fact due to the hassle factor of doing business on ebay I would put way more than 10% on. As i have just discovered ebay is shit for buyers as well as sellers so avoid it entirely unless i am prepared to loose my money as a buyer like i have done once already.

I do an ok amount of business on ebay, and the fees are of course much higher. But like Amazon it's about the extra reach you get with Joe Average. Not great for niche products like this, but it at least helps get some extra sales.
Ebay is tied into my StarShipIt system like my Woocommerce store, so it just pulls in orders from both places. So in theory I never have to actually touch ebay to handle the orders.

[Simon]

Yes, I did early on put µCurrents on with a +£20 markup and a couple sold. My main concern is trying to keep stuff all in one place with money to make accounts simpler which I suppose happens with ebay anyway and as a sole trader i probably don't need such stringent paperwork just a paypal log and they can pick the bones out of that. If people will pay +10% + a hassle fee (buyer is not always right but buyers don't know that yet) I suppose it is worth it. µCurrents sell so well I stopped bothering with ebay as it would just be ripping people off. I don't do enough to pay for a third party tool that brings stock together, maybe it's worth a look but really people need to get that ebay is not automatically safe and painless to buy from.

[kahuna0k]

Why don't you get one from Welectron?

https://www.welectron.com/

That's where I got mine. Sipped in just under 5 days from Germany to the UK.

I'm in the US, finding a US retailer would be best, if not probably ebay is going to be cheaper. In the worst case I prefer to buy directly from the eevblog store.

[Simon]

why is ebay cheaper? you will pay at least as much if not more. If I did ebay for example i would spend more time per sale with ebay sales versus my own store.

[Terry01]

Why don't you get one from Welectron?

https://www.welectron.com/

That's where I got mine. Sipped in just under 5 days from Germany to the UK.

I'm in the US, finding a US retailer would be best, if not probably ebay is going to be cheaper. In the worst case I prefer to buy directly from the eevblog store.

It's free shipping with Welectron and 5 days is really not a long time to wait. I'd rather by from a proper store that Ebay any day!

[Simon]

Well you never know who is behind the store (and thank you for your order ) but ebay separates you from the seller so if they don't help you are screwed and paypal do not want to know either so actually you are paying more for nothing.

[Terry01]

I was checking your shop periodically for the Probe Masters for a while but last I looked they were "out of stock", that was a while ago though.
I got a set with my 121GW just a couple days ago and liked them so I'll get a another set for now for when I need 2 meters but may end up getting more. They're great wee leads!
Also, i'll keep checking in for the Probe Master leads racks to be back in stock but if you remember when you get more in would you let me know and i'll take a couple of those too please?

[Simon]

Well it may be time i got more stuff from probemaster the first time i just got the sprung probes, this last time i spread out a lot more and found that the other probes are even more popular and wish I had bought more lead racks, i have the portable probe holders .

[Terry01]

I know this is not the thread for discussing this so will delete these messages ASAP so as not to clog the thread up.

It's more a couple of the racks I was after as I have quite a few sets of croc clip leads and 4mm banana leads along with quite a few sets of normal leads to hang up. Can you remember of hand roughly how long the lead racks are? A guess of 6" or 12" or 18" will be close enough if you can remember? 
I intend to screw a couple of them to one edge of my desk.

[ELzekio]

Just as a heads up it looks like the 121 gw is back in stock in the store.

https://www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/

I believe Dave posted somewhere of getting a boat load of units so the 121 gw should be in stock for a while.

[1anX]

Just as a heads up it looks like the 121 gw is back in stock in the store.

https://www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/

I believe Dave posted somewhere of getting a boat load of units so the 121 gw should be in stock for a while.

I wonder if the new batch of meters has the correct thickness PCB and no longer needs a shim under the switch to correct the switch wiper pressure?

It would be good to see some close ups of the PCB to see if any components have been updated or replaced. Anyone getting a new meter please supply some photos if at all possible!

[lowimpedance]

The correct fix would be to adjust the thickness of the switch rotor (the bit that holds the contacts  ), to add the required amount to take up the slack between the top case and the PCB mounted rotor,
The PCB is a fixed size (within usual tolerance limits.).

[1anX]

The correct fix would be to adjust the thickness of the switch rotor (the bit that holds the contacts  ), to add the required amount to take up the slack between the top case and the PCB mounted rotor,
The PCB is a fixed size (within usual tolerance limits.).

The problem was that the kickstarter meters were manufactured with an out of spec PCB, (too thin) as has been documented by Dave.
It dosen't really matter which course of action is taken, just so long as a shim is no longer required to make the meter work reliably!

[lowimpedance]

My 121GW PCB is 1.45mm and the supplied shim is 0.94mm , so with a 1.6mm standard PCB it still needs 0.79mm more to take it to the same mechanical spec as my kickstarter meter. So more than just changing PCB thickness, which BTW also would affect the input terminals depth behind the top cover as well.
 But still maybe the shim is still the best economical/engineering solution without costly injection mould redo's.

[Brumby]

Why is the shim a bad idea?  Just because it wasn't in the original design doesn't mean it should be exiled.

But still maybe the shim is still the best economical/engineering solution without costly injection mould redo's.

This.

If the shim provides and acceptable engineering result at a more economical cost than other alternatives, then it's a simple decision.

Such a solution also has a benefit: It allows manufacturing flexibility.  Two thicknesses of PCB can be used with the shim included or not, as the case may be.  I know this is a rather unlikely scenario, but it also avoids the alternate need for two different selector knobs.


This is, really, no different to "engineering changes" made to other products.  Something which happens all the time.

[1anX]

It has been found that the switch contact issues were ultimately caused by a slight PCB thickness difference between the pre-production and production boards.
Pre-production boards were on the high side of the tolerance allowance, and production boards on the low side. Actually, the production board thickness was actually slightly outside of UEi's board spec.
A 0.95mm shim (as has been found by others) is the fix for existing units and current stock boards (i.e. all Kickstarter ones and for sometime afterwards). Future volume production boards shouldn't need a shim however.
Shims are on the way to me now for cycle testing.

Does "the low side" mean that the board is too thin? Is the 0.95mm shim meant to be attached to the circuit board? Just confused a bit.

Yes, on the thin side.
The shim goes between the plastic range switch and the case, as per how others have done their own DIY solution.
For those that want to do it themselves, the shim thickness is 0.95mm.

I was referring to this post for my info!

Dave states "future volume production boards" when placed in meters wont need the shim.

[lowimpedance]

Good luck with that , guess time will tell.

[1anX]

The question is are the new batch of meters any better than the kickstarter meter?
Is the new meter still using the spacer?
Has the new meter any new components and specification?
Does the new meter still have the existing firmware bugs?

Dave is there any difference with the new over the old?