Multimeter

Nigel Goodwin said:

I would disagree with gophert, it all looks original, apart from the batteries - both of which have been replaced - you didn't get Alkaline batteries when this meter was made.

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So you think this was designed to have through-hole components soldered to the back-side of the board like they are SMD components? Designed to have a coil laying across multiple traces on the pcb?

I don't like working with sloppy people. I would throw it in the dust bin as soon as I discovered it was so poorly designed (if I believed it was poorly designed. Since I don't believe the designers were so sloppy but the person trying to modify/fix it were sloppy, I would throw it in the dust bin.


Solder lugs folded over onto a PCB to create an SMD device and poor soldering to PCB (is the wiper even bonded to the board?).



Resistor poorly soldered to existing solder pad on backside of PCB as if it is an SMD.


Coil laying across multiple pcb traces

gophert said:

So you think this was designed to have through-hole components soldered to the back-side of the board like they are SMD components? Designed to have a coil laying across multiple traces on the pcb?

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Yes.

It is just a cheap multimeter, probably made in the 1970s.
Just some of that "cheap crap from Japan".

Same as today we have that "cheap crap from China".

To paraphrase the man in the film:
"A man has to know a cheap multimeters limitations".

JimB

gophert said:

So you think this was designed to have through-hole components soldered to the back-side of the board like they are SMD components? Designed to have a coil laying across multiple traces on the pcb?

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Yes, that looks EXACTLY as I would expect from an Eagle meter from back in those days. I'm a bit bemused why you'd even bother re-posting the pictures?.

It's not even as if it hasn't happened since, even in the later CRT TV days top Japanese makes (like Sony) were very poorly designed, with masses of wires and leads everywhere, and it was common to have components added on either side of the PCB.

We once had a visit where I used to work, from a VERY high up official from Sony Japan, as part of the visit he came to see me in the service department, so I told him of my concerns over their design and construction practices. He asked for an example, so I removed the back of a current Sony TV, showed him multiple boards with masses of wires everywhere, and sundry components bodged on the rear of the board - I then took the back off a current Tatung TV (Tatung took over Decca, and the sets were designed by the old Decca people), showed him how this had a single PCB, hardly any wires at all, and no components bodged anywhere.

I then asked him which he thought was the cheapest to manufacturer? - he didn't comment, but he took LOT'S of pictures for comparison.

Thanks everyone for your response. I tried everything suggested but still no joy. All batteries are brand new. I will try changing some components that are getatable. Excuse the language.
Neal

neabd90 said:

Thanks everyone for your response. I tried everything suggested but still no joy. All batteries are brand new. I will try changing some components that are getatable. Excuse the language.
Neal

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That's not the way to repair anything - and in this case, as it's an EXTREMELY simple device, there's pretty well only one option, the meter movement.

But it's dead easy to test, and the connections to the movement are nice and easy to get to. Simply connect a 1.5V battery in series with a 150,000 ohm resistor, and apply to the meter movement terminals - this should give about 10uA, and produce a noticeable deflection on the meter. If it doesn't, then the movement is duff, you could always disconnect one of the wires to the meter movement, just in case there's something shorting it out - and removing awire would eliminate that possibility.