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Had a talk with a senior tech last week that changed how I look at test gear

I was working on a King KX 155 nav/com in the shop and an older guy named Pete walked by. He asked why I was using a $20 multimeter from the parts store instead of the shop's Fluke. I told him the cheap one worked fine for continuity checks and he just shook his head. Then he showed me how the cheap meter was giving me false readings on a capacitor discharge test by about 15 volts. He said he's seen guys chase ghost faults for days because their test equipment wasn't accurate enough for aviation work. Now I'm wondering how many times I've misdiagnosed a problem because of my gear. Anyone else had a cheap tool lead you down the wrong path?
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2 Comments
martinez.karen
martinez.karen13d agoMost Upvoted
@victor_perry90 curious, what kind of false readings have you caught with your own gear?
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victor_perry90
victor_perry9013d agoTop Commenter
Man I used to think cheap gear was fine too but you're probably right about missing a bunch of stuff.
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