throw 'em in the dryer machine...
FedEx it to yourself.
QuoteOne problem: He likes to quantify things and "slapping" is unscientific. I can't wait to see the machine he invents for this.I wonder how my wife would feel about setting up small environmental chamber with a vibration table in the living room.
A vibration table lets you accurately compare meters against other meters but it doesn't give you any feel for how easy it is to do the real world. For that you need to slap it around a bit.
The meter survived shipment to my house across the ocean. I would guess it saw some pretty big changes in temperature, pressure and vibration.
The problem is how do you quantify and reproduce it?
I'm not going to buy an $800 for a meter just to do that test but it might be interesting to get a couple of transparent-cased relays with similar G-ratings and tap them to get an idea of what the G-ratings translate to in tangible terms.
A one meter fall on a hard surface is likely to damage the relays, especially if the meter is dropped without its rubber boot.
Drop face first on concrete and feel the effect of 100g.
Yep, G force numbers look big on paper but a sharp tap can easily produce hundreds of Gs for an instant.
Real engineers carry their meters in huge foam padded cases and only take them out on site.
What would you do if you dropped your meter as you took it out of the case on site? Say 'sorry I can't use that' and come back next day?
You should not expect people to do something you are not willing to do yourself. It's fine to ask but don't expect it.
I know you're waiting for Brymen...
Gossen
The meter survived shipment to my house across the ocean. I would guess it saw some pretty big changes in temperature, pressure and vibration.
I already gave the example of driving across a farm with the meter loose in the back of a pickup truck. That's real world, it could happen.
You should not expect people to do something you are not willing to do yourself. It's fine to ask but don't expect it.
I don't have currently one of those meters on my table with the intention of doing bad things to it later. If I did I wouldn't be against a few more knock tests.
I know you're waiting for Brymen(*) to comment before opening it up, etc. Maybe you can do the bashing after all the electrical testing is over and the back is off. You could attach some wires to the relay and flash a LED when it changes position - it doesn't matter if the meter is dead or alive for that.
Is a test of the of the fancy input-jack-blocking mechanism's robustness also in the agenda? I believe there was interest shown earlier.
Edit: I meant Gossen, of course.
The meter survived shipment to my house across the ocean. I would guess it saw some pretty big changes in temperature, pressure and vibration.
I already gave the example of driving across a farm with the meter loose in the back of a pickup truck. That's real world, it could happen.
In your world maybe, not in mine.
The worst shock my meters get is when they flip over on the bench in my lab.
...
Safety is probably not as big thing for my job as for others. But I'm glad it is safe. As long as it survives stupid things like probing 350VDC in a smps still in diode or resistance mode I'm happy. I have 2 HV probes and for current I use shunts, clampmeters, current probes and a fluxgate probe.
The big 440mA fuse of my Agilent failed, I have no clue how, maybe when the charger or a battery failed. I never use it for current. So I rebuild the big 440mA fuse with parts of a panel-fuse holder and dropped a small glass-fuse in it. The only current it sees is from the charger.
After Joes videos I'm thinking about a Brymen 869s as a second handmeter. I'm not a Fluke fanboy, I could cuff up lot of money I probably bought a Keysight (one with the oled screen).
In your world maybe, not in mine.
What makes you think I have not given up on Gossen and that the meter is still together? Do you really feel that I have not already done bad things to it or that its not damaged beyond repair already?
In your world maybe, not in mine.Don't you have any curiosity about the physical limits of this meter?