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I choose not to insulate and heat my pole barns.

Geo-TH,In

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
My 2 car garage easily stays at 55 using a
1500 want baseboard heater
cvphoto143751.jpg

This year I decided to go through my
Collection of
cvphoto143752.jpg

Free HF meters. Repaired, replaced
battery. calibrated meters, made some new
leads, repaired a few leads and pitch the
bad meters.

Last winter I moved all my wood tools and
made sawdust in my 2 car garage.

I think a well ventilated pole barn works
for me.
I can park a snow covered Kubota inside
the barn.
Snow melts and I have zero condensation
issues on my bare metal roof.

If I have a major repair. I'll put the
tools in my truck. Park the truck in one
stall and work in the other stall.

I have no need to heat my 2 pole barns.

I'm not condemning others who do heat and
work in their barn.

Do what works for you. I'll do the same.

I'm done with voltmeters for awhile.

Does anyone need a voltmeter?
 
I don't heat my pole barns either and have no intention of doing so.

Like you, I have had literally dozens of free HF DMMs. Still giving them away at Christmas, etc.
 
You must live in a warm climate. Last week the lowest temp I saw in my workshop was about +2F which was at least 20 degrees better than outside temps. I have a little insulation in some of the walls and ceiling but have not run the furnace for weeks as I have not felt like doing anything extra.
 
Instead of replacing the batteries I would remove the dead battery and open a new one meter..
I'm amazed how accurate the voltmeter is.
The ohmmeters are crap.
Step-son is a Union electrician.
He has a Klein meter. I may someday calibrate his and compare it to my Freebies.
 
I live in central Indiana. We go to -8.

I built my house and 2 car garage. I Over insulated the garage
the same as the house.

Easy for my garage to stay at 55. Costs very little.
I use the same andersen windows and garage doors are insulated.
Window in garage are thermopane. The north wall is against the
house. So I'm only heating 3 walls and 24x24 ceiling.

No need to heat the pole barn.
 
Still hoping to find a good Simpson analog VOM but none have fallen into my lap.

Probably because I have made no real efforts to find one.

Kinda like making no real efforts to find a new wife after divorcing in 1978....

Life is good.
 
Planning to relocate to Montana soon to be near my son.

Expect to procure small 1-5 acre parcel outside of incorporated areas and build ultra-efficient 'dream' house consisting of small living area with 4-5 attached bays, at least 1 with 14' ceiling to accomodate lift and another with sufficient depth to store son's surf boat/trailer in off season.

Trolls, herein, will love this: Plan on ground situated solar panels, geo-thermal climate control, 400+ Amp electrical service for 2 ev charging stations in 2 bays, etc. (No, not planning upon buying any evs but future owners of house may well be forced to do so.) Will also have NG or propane powered 24 KW+ whole-house, 1,800 RPM, liquid cooled genset, perhaps with supplemental LI pack for short-term outages. Researched thoroughly for coal-fired back-up back-up units but could not find such. More likely to find in another decade or two. LOL!

Told son, that house will have charging stations for both mandated EV boat and EV tow truck. He's on his own for mandated EV quad.
 
Dean,
The simpson has limited use. To me the simpson is more legendary than useful, like a model T. Very easly broken. More of a bench model than a meter I want to carry in my truck.
I had to use my cheapie HF meters to work on the electronic throttle plate settings on my 4010 Kaw mule.
I tried using an old school analog and it took too much current from the computer to make the meter movement work.
 
You dont really know what cold is. :)

Thats cool.

Fortunately harbor freight is a good drive away from me. Or I would have similar collections of stuff! Ha! Nice. Like it.

Paul
 
A good analog VOM is quite useful for many purposes vis-a-vis a modern DVM.

For years I had a Radio Shack analog VOM but it failed 25-30 years ago due to corrosion. Should have replaced it at the time before analog VOMs became NLS, but did not.

Never owned a Simpson, but have long wanted one and would buy a good one now at the right price.
 
Too bad you couldnt find a coal fired unit,especially in Montana. Hows about a small nuclear reactor?

Whats next- raising dental floss??
 
Perhaps. Would likely pay for such if commercially available within lifetime.

Long a design engineer, considering designing such....

Powder River not such a long drive and might buy a Tesla tractor to haul coal to such if US taxpayers pay for tractor, charging, etc.

Still cannot fund enough solar/wind power to fund hauling coal with Tesla to coal-fired back-up unit in MT without massive taxpayer subsidies.

Where do I sign up for such subsidies?

Can't wait.
 
To your statement As a popular poster sez on here to each his own

Amen, Ditto and X2 It seems some prefer others do as they do lol

Best wishes and Happy New Year to everyone here

John T
 
This is my go to meter when I'm working on anything with 12v
cvphoto143766.jpg

Most digital meters have difficulty measuring charging and cranking voltage. That's where an old analog meter works a little better.
I'll never be without my midtronics. I clamp it to the battery, crank the engine over and measure the cranking voltage.
Rev up the engine and see if the voltage increases, 13.5 to 14+. volts.
 
A number of years ago I picked up an old Navy O-Scope. Don't know why I did so but I did. Still have not tried to use it but back when I was in the TV and also doing TV repair I used them a lot
 
Depends upon the sampling rate.

Most DVMs (all cheap DVMs) do not read RMS voltage and can lead to incomprehensible results when attempting to use such on switched DC wave forms, e.g., vibrating contact voltage regulators.
 
Thank you for not using energy in your shop it lets me keep the heat on in my shop 24/7 : )

I don't think I have been in a HF 10 times if they gave me a meter I would chunk it : )... Life's to short to put trust junk tools.
 

I closed in a 20x28 shop area in my tool shed for my tractor repair shop
Extra insulation in the walls but haven t finished the ceiling yet, can t keep it empty long enough to put the rest of the ceiling up

I ve got a Fluke 77 voltmeter I ve had for years, it does what I need for checking AC or DC voltage
 
(quoted from post at 21:36:57 12/27/22) Thank you for not using energy in your shop it lets me keep the heat on in my shop 24/7 : )

I don't think I have been in a HF 10 times if they gave me a meter I would chunk it : )... Life's to short to put trust junk tools.
Click to expand...

Don't be a tool snob. I have a dozen or so of the HF freebie meters and I've compared them to my Fluke 87 and found no issues and very close readings for pretty much anything but exotic distorted waveforms where you actually need a true RMS meter.

I put the HF freebies in every single toolbox and vehicle so there is always a basic meter handy without chasing after the Fluke.

I'm also a fan of the HF $12 or so mini clamp meters, they are great and having three for little cost is quite handy for three phase stuff. The CR2032 batteries were a bit of a concern at first, but they last a long time so not an issue. I do have a hall effect clamp probe which is great used with the Fluke to log peak DC currents on starters and such.

This post was edited by wp6529 on 12/28/2022 at 04:02 am.
 
I put the HF freebies in every single toolbox and vehicle so
there is always a basic meter. X2
Also in my junk drawer in the kitchen, garage, both pole barns.
Never have too many voltmeters.
Also have a cheapie HF clamp on amprobe.
 
(quoted from post at 18:00:43 12/28/22)
(quoted from post at 21:36:57 12/27/22) Thank you for not using energy in your shop it lets me keep the heat on in my shop 24/7 : )

I don't think I have been in a HF 10 times if they gave me a meter I would chunk it : )... Life's to short to put trust junk tools.
Click to expand...

Don't be a tool snob. I have a dozen or so of the HF freebie meters and I've compared them to my Fluke 87 and found no issues and very close readings for pretty much anything but exotic distorted waveforms where you actually need a true RMS meter.

I put the HF freebies in every single toolbox and vehicle so there is always a basic meter handy without chasing after the Fluke.

I'm also a fan of the HF $12 or so mini clamp meters, they are great and having three for little cost is quite handy for three phase stuff. The CR2032 batteries were a bit of a concern at first, but they last a long time so not an issue. I do have a hall effect clamp probe which is great used with the Fluke to log peak DC currents on starters and such.

This post was edited by wp6529 on 12/28/2022 at 04:02 am.
Click to expand...

In my line of work its an essential tool and not HF's best guess. YMMV. HF meters will always leave doubt do you doubt the Fluke. I am sure The answer is NO! as long as the battery is good.
 
Dean,
Send ma an e [email protected]..... your hunt for a Simpson voltmeter might happen. Long story butI have one that needs to go to someone who appreciates a good analog meter. I cannot find a way to PM you so perhaps this will work
Andy
 
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