Reddit mentions: The best multi testers

Get a pi 3, because integrated wifi + bluetooth.

I would suggest that you buy a good quality power supply (Canakit is good, else the official rpi one). Just don't use chinese crap or a phone charger.

Also, get a good SD card. I strongly suggest a Samsung Evo+ 16GB bought from a reputable seller.

A breakout board of this type can be useful (albeit not essential at all)
https://www.adafruit.com/product/914

I personally bought a kit from Canakit including the previously mentionned stuff. It's a good kit, but not necessarily a great value. The SD card they include is good but not great, and I didn't like the case.

Then for everything electronics, Aliexpress and Ebay are your new best friends. You'll find the same stuff on Amazon, but you'll end up paying 2-3x the price. I cannot suggest a kit of electronic components, because it is a bit ridiculous to just buy 30 resistors. Get 600 of them for 5$ instead.

Edit: here is a copy of a previous answer I've given to a similar question.

Basic Power supply. You probably already have a 5v wall wart, check if it can supply 2.5A. If it came with a product you bought, it's decent quality. If you need to buy one, get it from Element 14 or an other reputable store. You can find cheaper ones, but I strongly advise against getting a random Chinese psu. Doing so would be asking for trouble.

Numerical signal doesn't require high quality cables. This would will do just fine. 3.72 CAD http://www.ebay.ca/itm/6FT-HDMI-1-4-3D-Cable-HDTV-High-Speed-Ethernet-ps3-bluray-1080p-FREE-SHIPPING-/131144973049?hash=item1e88d97af9:g:2gcAAOxyJX1TAj3K

I don't think this is essential at all, but the kit you linked contained one. I bought this one and I'm happy with it. If you want to save some money, I would skip this guy.
$4.10 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Raspberry-Pi-model-B-plus-T-cobbler-expansion-DIY-kit-GPIO-cable-breadboard-GPIO-T-adapter/2046473508.html

$2.04 830 points decent cheapo breadboard. Maybe get more than one. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/181227589427?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Aligator clips. I think 50cm is too long, maybe get 2 sets and shorten the cables of one.
$1.55 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-10pcs-Alligator-Clips-Electrical-DIY-Test-Leads-Alligator-Double-ended-Crocodile-Clips-Roach-Clip-Test/32580823346.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.11.Q66gPn&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_0,searchweb201602_2_10017_10005_10006_10034_10021_507_10022_10020_10018_10019,searchweb201603_6&btsid=9259cb1d-c2e2-42ff-a599-3f468f6ecc6e

The kit you linked contains 5 resistors. That is a joke. Get this assortment and have fun sorting them.
$2.68 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/30-Kinds-1-4w-Resistance-1-Accuracy-Metal-Film-Resistor-Bag-600pcs-in-1-Set-Passive/1752861568.html

$1.10 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100PC-Lot-3MM-5MM-Led-Kit-Mixed-Color-Red-Green-Yellow-Blue-White-Light-Emitting-Diode/32376627762.html You can also get RGB if you want, but they are a bit more expansive. LEDS sure are fun to play around with.

Jumpers. Essential to connect stuff to the pi. $2.84 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dupont-line-120pcs-20cm-male-to-male-male-to-female-and-female-to-female-jumper-wire/1490773403.html
More jumpers. Those are for connecting stuff on a breadboard. I don't really like those as your board will get messy quickly, but at least this kit contains shorter jumpers than the previous one, so it's a nice addition. I would suggest you get 6 colors x 25m of 22 AWG SOLID CORE wire. You can cut it to length and make your own jumpers. I got a kit from Elenco for about 20$ on Amazon. If you want to do some breadboarding, I consider than as an essential. $1.38 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-Sale-65pcs-lot-Jump-Wire-Cable-Male-to-Male-Flexible-Jumper-Wires-for-Arduino-Breadboard/32437796067.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.10.PzcAVY&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_0,searchweb201602_2_10017_10005_10006_10034_10021_507_10022_10020_10018_10019,searchweb201603_6&btsid=ad849cd3-deff-4e0b-92ae-e3d15373fd4a

Cheapo potentiometer kit. $3.30 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-10pcs-Linear-Potentiometer-1K-Ohm-5K-Ohm-20K-Ohm-100K-Ohm-220K-Ohm-Assortment/533133005.html
Those with 4 leads are a pain in the breadboard. They keep jumping out and stuff. Plus you won't find any use for the extra pair of leads.

$1.99 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-100PCS-2-pins-6-6-5-mm-Switch-Tactile-Push-Button-Switches-6x6x5mm/1523104421.html

Not essential, but cheap and fun!
$0.99 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-LOT-0-56-inch-1-Bit-7-Segment-Red-LED-Display-Digital-Tube-Plastic-Metal/32335395078.html

You will need those sooner than you think to make a a circuit you'll find on instructables. For one pezo, you can't go wrong.
$0.95 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-20PCS-LOT-New-NE555-NE555P-NE555N-555-Timers-DIP-8-TEXAS/32328453891.html

Because you won't do breadboarding with your pi all the time. Get a battery connector (next item) to power the board. I suggest you bookmark this shop! Robotdyn is the BEST SHOP on Aliexpress by far. Few items, but very high quality (like, amazing quality and the best packaging I've seen so far). Why not get an arduino nano or uno for a few dollars? Sometimes an arduino is better suited for a project, and they are so cheap.
$1.19 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Breadboard-Power-Supply-5V-3-3V-1A/32581547480.html

$0.51 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-2pcs-90-DC-9V-Battery-button-power-plug-for-Arduino-Mega-2560-1280-UNO/32236294183.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.2.vdMJ0V&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_0,searchweb201602_2_10017_10005_10006_10034_10021_507_10022_10020_10018_10019,searchweb201603_6&btsid=5c916f06-2c87-48bf-9075-e191078d3d89

Cheap cutters, but they cut very well! The only cutters you'll need for a while. $2.14 Wire cutters http://www.ebay.ca/itm/322001218703?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
You'll also need some long nose pliers. Again, no need to get anything fancy.

But if you want to make a gift to yourself, I am absolutely in love with those pliers (make in Italy) http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-PN-2007-Long-Nose-Outside-Serrated/dp/B00FZPHEW2/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1460924870&sr=8-1&keywords=hakko+pliers

I don't consider a case as an essential. But I love cases. And this one is one of my favorites. It's compatible with the pi3 and because it allows a good airflow, you won't need to add a fan. Just get a "heatsink for rpi" (1$ on Aliexpress) if it doesn't come with your pi.
$3.15 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Raspberry-Pi-2-model-B-Acrylic-Clear-Case-with-logo-Compatible-with-Raspberry-Pi-B-plus/32334774743.html

Nice and cheap kit, but by no mean essential for a beginner.
$3.84 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-set-RM065-Trimming-Potentiometer-Variable-Resistors-Assorted-Kit-10-Values-Each-10pcs/32596638037.html

If you get in the hobby of electronics, you'll need some caps. This kit has most values you'll ever need.
$6.50 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/15-value-120pcs-50V-Electrolytic-Capacitor-Assortment-Kit-Set-/131155968234?hash=item1e898140ea:g:w0QAAOxykmZTOlin

Finally, I strongly suggest you get a multimeter. Either get the cheapest one you can find like this one : http://www.amazon.com/General-Hand-held-Multimeter-Transistor-Function/dp/B00066ZZO4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1460925081&sr=8-6&keywords=multimeter (it will do everything you need just fine) or get a Unity UT-61E for about $50. The absolute best meter for the electronic hobbyist, but by no mean required for a beginner. Just don't go in the middle. Don't.

Here are some of my personal supplies and tool recommendations.

An anti-corrosive spray, doesn’t hurt paint but I’d be careful about yours anyway.
www.amazon.com/dp/B000P1C8UO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_5v0NDb496VPF6

A good tire pressure gauge. www.amazon.com/dp/B01J8DLGU2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_dy0NDb58BP0WX

A basic multimeter. www.amazon.com/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=cm_sw_r_em_tai_c_VZPFDbGK9FQ5V

A great battery tender, a lifetime purchase. www.amazon.com/dp/B000CITKCE/ref=cm_sw_r_em_tai_c_ACFQCb40H0E0K

A very good spray on bike cleaner. www.amazon.com/dp/B0036GK83Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_XB0NDbJZZC76W

A good explanation about testing your battery and charging system, goes well with the multimeter and tender.

https://www.louis.eu/rund-ums-motorrad/schraubertipps/elektronik

These screwdrivers or ones like it are a must. www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7WAHTU/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_c_kBB7AbGCN238A

A winter storage checklist, very detailed, and can probably pare it down a little but...

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/winter-storage.html

The best (IMO) winter gas treatment. www.amazon.com/dp/B001CAW2DK/ref=cm_sw_r_em_tai_c_ryNKDb9RRE8KF

One of many easy to use lift, works for both front or rear, may have a model for a smaller bike, this is for my Yamaha Raider www.amazon.com/dp/B016Z01QYW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_UH0NDbVMTEC9K

A great totally enclosed cover, find the size for your bike. I attach the battery tender, the cord comes out where the zipper meets.
www.amazon.com/dp/B001I7XYZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_sJ0NDbTJAPEEB

For maintenance questions, a great sub is r/Fixxit.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, welcome to the Club and Happy Trails!

Dave from EEVblog recommends building power supplies. They're pretty simple, and it doesn't hurt to have a bunch of them. You can find kits, which will teach you how to solder parts onto a PCB, but it's not too hard to design a supply around an LM317 regulator, the data sheet will have the circuit you need right on it. This will also be a good chance to learn the non-electronics skills you'll need; instead of buying a plastic box, make one out of plywood and paint it up.

Once you have a power supply or three, start playing around with simple analog circuits. You should have a breadboard and jumper wires and at least one good multimeter, though the aforementioned EEVblog recommends two, and not cheaping out on them. He did a $50 multimeter shootout , if you don't want to watch an hourlong video this was the winner, but it's worth watching to see why it won. Anyhow, you can find kits and project ideas online, get some random parts and start playing around until you have a good feel for old school analog circuits. Try to make up your own project and build it, even if it's completely useless.

At some point, preferably after you have a good grasp of analog circuits, you're going to have to move up to digital. Arduinos are a good start, they're popular enough that you can't look at a single page of Instructables without tripping over an Arduino project. You're going to have to learn some programming to make it go, but there's a million tutorials online. To make the pinball machine go, you're going to have to learn how to use the Arduino (or something like it) to control analog components, probably while giving them their own external power source. You'll also need to know how to drive a display for the scoreboard, and of course you'll have to program the logic for keeping track of the number of balls left, current score, and what inputs translate to what increase in score. The programming alone is a big undertaking, so if you go forward on this, be prepared to spend years on it.

A good project to do would also be to make a MAME cabinet. It's much simpler on the electronics side, you either hack the buttons and joysticks into a USB keyboard controller, or buy one of these which does the same thing, and then use an old PC and monitor. The hard part is building an arcade cabinet, which is still a lot simpler than building a pinball table. You'd be looking at a couple hundred dollars in parts, but that's not too bad compared to what you want to end up doing.

Not sure on /u/Steammonkey restock times, you can always pm him. There are other vendors who carry it (shouldn't be hard to find) as well.

[This is my multimeter] (http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA), I'm sure many are similarly laid out. (I had this before I started building; not sure if there's a "recommended" multimeter out there.) You can see the little "OHM" on the dial, set it there :) The battery voltage meter settings on the side are under "battery load test", you put the pos to the pos end of your batt, neg to neg :) There are some youtube videos specifically for multimeters + vaping that are helpful and will also show you where to position the leads for checking ohms, etc. On the vids, pay attention to how to check your meter's internal resistance, esp. with lower ohm builds. Be sure to buy a digital multimeter, not the analog kind w/ the bouncy arm for readouts.

I use Panasonic CGR18650s, AW 18490s, and MNKEs mainly for vaping so I don't know those (I had to search for mine, not printed on batts most of the time); it may be easier to search for the "c" rating of your battery so you can calculate its amp limits. (Again, sm's monkey u has a nice walkthru; it's not hard, just math.) Off the bat I'd say you likely don't want to use your "mystery" blue batt unless you can verify mfr/c rating... most batts packaged with kits are okay for vv/vw devices, not really super for mechs esp. when you're cloud chasing/low ohms. Is the ncr panny protected? (I don't know.) You don't want to use protected batts.

The 2c for safety fuse ... is a nice idea, but I think it has a 8 or 10 watt limit? (Don't quote me, I'm pulling numbers from you-know-where.) It'll be tripped pretty fast with low ohms... I don't think you can use them effectively with anything over 1.5 ohms or so. They make resettable ones (along w/ ones that are one time use, and that would stink), but again, they'll just stop your batt from firing when you want it to put out the watts you'll be pulling w/ lower ohms.

Honestly, I'd start high-ish and work your way down. Totally honest again, I'm kind of loving higher ohm (1.5-2.0) on my vv device (Provari), using one right now as I type. You can push much higher volts with the amplification of vv than you can reach with mechs, won't come near amp limits (you'll hit your device's amp limit before your battery's), and will still get a super vape. I have [a post on some higher (than sub) ohm builds + vv here] (http://www.reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette/comments/1g9c87/fun_with_contact_coils_higher_ohm_rbas_and/) to give you an idea of what I mean. Not saying don't go mech, I'm running 0.8 right now on my GV Sentinel and it's super, but ... I'm a ninny, "true" cloud chasing/sub 0.5 ohms freak me the f out ;) and some people have written off vv devices + RBAs when they really shouldn't. It may be harder to build/test on a PWM (pbusardo has a vid if you don't know about PWM) vv device, but firing is lovely once you get it on point :)

Happy reading, watching, building :)

Has he applied for any jobs yet? I was given one of those leather pads with paper inside and a holder for resumes (something like this) except it was from my undergrad university with their emblem. Definitely gives you some confidence for interviews and recruiting sessions. Also you can get him some nice resume paper to go with it. That lasted me for years.

I also enjoyed having one or two of these demotivational posters in my room. Depends on his humor and if he has barren walls like I did.

If you know more details about which raspberry pi he has, you could get some shield extensions. These are boards that expand its capabilities. There are also newer boards with better specs. Also with two boards you can of course make them talk to each other ;)

Depends on his area of interest and your budget, but you could get him some kind of [introductory FPGA kit] (http://store.digilentinc.com/fpga-programmable-logic/) or DE0-Nano.

Tools... so many tools he might be interested in. USB logic analyzers are so cheap these days and go well with hobby boards. Again not sure your budget, so you can go all sorts of ranges here (Open Workbench Logic Sniffer or scanaplus or Saleae Logic 8 or a china clone of Saleae Logic 8). Saleae or the knockoff I think are the better options for the software compatibility. He may be in need of a soldering iron or a multimeter.

Something else unique, you could get him a "gift card" (they don't really sell them) or an IOU to a PCB printing service. Ask him to design his own board and you'll pay $X of the service. You'll want to make sure he knows the price structure on the website because they charge per square inch and it depends on his design how many layers he may need. He makes the schematic and they will print some circuit boards for him. They won't mount the parts, just do the schematic and he would have to hand solder the components.

If he likes old videogames you could get him some old school USB controllers and tell him to install lakka on his rasberry pi, or just get him a new Raspberry Pi3 to dedicate it as an old-school console emulator. It is quite impressive how many consoles they have emulated.

And back to more tools... more micro screwdriver bits than you would actually need. You can get him a starter pack of resistors, capacitors, and other assorted electronics sparkfun. There are also so many buttons, switches, LED screen displays, etc. that he probably wouldn't want to buy on his own. Maybe you could get a container with an assortment of circuit components (resistors, capacitors, transistors, and other sensors). Careful! This can add up real quick. All types of sensors exist... ultrasonic rangefinder, stress, photocell, temperature, etc. etc. endless!.

Running like shit isn't normal, running lean and not being fun is.

Before starting on making sure it runs right watch this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70jokjTaGT4

Next never go back to the crappy dealer you went to, find a good mechanic you trust if you can't or don't want to work on your bike.

Pressure wash your bike, a clean bike is a much more enjoyable bike to deal with.

Grab a copy of the service manual here : Grab it soon I don't know how long the link will stay live

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23536619/Honda-XR650L%20Service%20Manual.pdf

Carb's are easy to work on, they just seem scary, get some good screw drivers, the phillips looking ones are JIS ( google it ) and get flat ground straight blades, take a picture of every step, work slow and lay it all out where the cat won't walk through the work area.

Confirm you have a good tank of fuel, you would be amazed what duping the fuel and replacing it with ethanol free premium would do, on an XL you don't really need premium as it is like 9 to 1 compression ratio won't make a difference, but the no ethanol is nice if you can get it. I suggest adding Startron (fuel stabilizer) to every tank in case the bike sits at all.

Before you go spending money, do confirm that the plug wire is in good condition, the plug cap is in good condition, your stator is putting out good voltage and the regulator / rectifier is working. With a reasonable set of skills, a digital multi meter and a couple of beers this should take an hour. If you don't have a multimeter this one is a great little unit for cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/ELIKE-T-92-Self-Recovery-Capacitance-Identification/dp/B01B9P49B0/ref=pd_lpo_263_lp_t_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XRHTJ2KEEXVZHGTVFTFW

You should also confirm that your valves are in spec, not hard again and if you have the tank off it is all right there. The other half of the 6 pack and another hour at most.

That said all is pretty easily fixed, unless the motor in general is toast, so yes, dump the smog crap, open up the airbox, jet the bike properly, Dave's mods are good, even better fit an FCR carb jetted properly depending on budget, and grab at least a slip on muffler to lose a bit of weight and add performance and make the bike sound better.

Once you get it dialed in, spend money on suspension and brakes.

Go ride that beast.

It does not look like the switches are the problem... I have not done a minidox, but from this build guide it looks like you might have soldered the jumpers for the left and right side, SJ1 and SJ2 wrong. Your photo is too blurry to tell for sure but it looks like all three pads are soldered together? This is how it should look. Also, do you have a multimeter to test your reset switch and the diode orientation? Did you take any shots of your diode side before you soldered the switches and switch plate on?

Take a look at SJ1 & SJ2 and see if you can clean that up and test that they are jumpered correctly and lets go from there.

I am far from perfect, but here is how I solder my switches and components... Contra, and close up... Clean and Smooth :) This is a good shot of the PM, switches and diodes from my Gherkin See how the solder curves up the sides of the switch? Like cones and not globs or balls.

It is a dance... apply iron to hole and component, add the solder, remove solder then remove the iron in just the right time to not get a cold solder and not too long to warp the switch so it either doesn't work on give double presses and then it has to be removed and replaced.

The solder will flow to the heat... it like heat... I try to keep most of the contact with the pcb and less to the switch cause then the solder flows it will add heat to the switch... hope that makes sense. Once you get the groove, it feels so good.

Hope you can get your minidox working. looks like a cool board!

I'm nowhere near pro, but I do have a couple of electronics tools I absolutely love. A large benchtop multimeter is nice, but it is sometimes very useful to have a pocket unit you can carry around in a shirt pocket. I love my AMprobe PM51A. For $30, you get a lot of functionality. As jotux said, a Panavise is very nice to have. I have a Panavise Jr that has been very useful. One thing I don't have that I have been eyeing to a while is a pocket sized Digital Storage Oscilloscope. Worth checking out.

You'd be surprised a) how easy it is to use Arduino, and b) how helpful the online community is. The nice thing about Arduino is that the complexity remains the same, regardless of how many sensors you add, provided you have enough expansion breakout board.

For a first step, I would buy a starter kit and a cheap soldering iron and a half-decent multimeter and just start making little projects, like light sensors and temperature sensors and making those projects both wireless and online.

After that, it's just a matter of interfacing the larger, higher-voltage components (like pumps and valves) with the lower-voltage Arduino. This is easily accomplished with a relay, which is also useful for electrical isolation between the two subsystems.

Start small. I would recommend making an Arduino into a timer, and then using the timer to control a pump. Then add an online API that allows you to adjust the on/off time of the pump. Then add water level sensors, then temperature sensors, etc.

Also, make sure you prototype everything on a small scale first, like the guy in the video was doing on his desk. It will save you a lot of money if you mess anything up.

Once you develop the skills necessary to build your smart-system, I cannot stress how important a good, detailed electrical diagram is. It doesn't matter if it's professional-quality, or done with pencil and a ruler. It will save you so much time.

Ok let me start at the beginning.

I now own my RadRover eBike for almost 7 months. Great bike, I'm closing in at 4000km on it. The bike is great but comes standard with a 48v battery and while it's decent, it doesn't compare to the Luna Dolphin 52v I run through it mostly.

I bought my 52v dolphin pack from luna cycle, as well as the advance 300 watt charger, their top model.

I always leave all my chargers plugged in even when not charging. None of my chargers have a problem except this advance charger I bought from luna.

After just 4 weeks the LCD stopped working that gave out the voltage read out, I had it warrantied, they send me a new LCD. And the weird thing is they had me manually open up the charger and do the replacement myself, rather then sending in the unit for exchange.

4 Weeks later the same LCD blew. I kept using the charger for another 2 months, and then the charger stopped working all together. I contacted support again, and they told me that the chargers are not very durable and should not be moved around, I told them it was in the same spot in my garage but they refused to replace it. They send me a 2Amp 52v charger instead, ($35)

I got pretty fed up.

I went to youtube to look for other options and I came across this a video of a Swedish guy who build his own charger.

Components looked solid and I have my own printer so I can customize it so I thought why not.

The whole reason this and many other chargers like this are failing is due to poor cooling, they have a 1x1" fan to cool as 12" box thats loaded with crap, this is why I wanted to do my own design that would focus around cooling.

Here is what I ordered

$12 - 2 of Bgears b-Blaster 90mm 2 Ball Bearing High Speed Extreme Airflow Fan

• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0043GQJ5M/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  getting returned * $45 - LETOUR Power Supply 12V 40A 500W AC 110V/220V Voltage Converter
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01HRLNJ0M/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $22 - DROK® Digital Multimeter DC 6.5-100V 20A Voltage Amperage Power Energy Meter
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B017FSED9I/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $45 - Yeeco Numerical Control DC DC Boost Voltage Converter, 6-60V to 6-90V 10A 600W
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06ZXYL8PK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $36 - DROK DC-DC Numerical Control Step Down Voltage Converter, 6-65V to 0-60V 8A 400W
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01MSJQAKY/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $13 - Yeeco DC Motor Speed Control Driver Board 3V-35V 5A PWM Controller
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00XJH2978/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $11 - DIGITEN DC 12V LED Digital Thermometer -50-220F Fahrenheit Temperature + Temp Probe Red
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00VJ8JS14/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $7 - Switch I had one already but something like this will work
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/SODIAL-Light-Illuminated-Rocker-Switch/dp/B00ZE9T0XK/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1509649542&sr=8-7&keywords=on+off+switch
  
  $10 - Screws I also had to mount the controllers + power supply to the PLA
  
  $3 - LED Lights
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/ZHUOTOP-Flexible-Strip-Waterproof-Popular/dp/B01DVYMP9K/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1509649670&sr=1-5&keywords=12v+led+strip
  
  $8 - Header Set of raisers x 2
  
• https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B012C598XU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  $25 - PLA Wasted about 1 roll
  
  total 212 CAD or $165 US
  
  I've been printing for a couple months now so still a noob, and learning how to create in fusion 360, but for a first project it turned out pretty good.
  
  I first tried this with a 500 watt 12V 40AMP power supply, which i though would work great with the step up converter to bring it up to 58.8v for my 52v battery, but it didn't, it's actually kinda bullshit advertising.
  
  the 600 Watt step up converter I bought can only step up to 600 watts at 60v, at 12v it can only output 120 watts, 10a x 12v. Basically this charger could only charge at 120 watts / 58.8v, roughly 2 amps, or what a basic shitty charger that comes with the bike can do. No point of going through all this to make a 2 amp charger.
  
  So I opted to switch to a 48v power supply, so i can get close to 480 watts out of the charger.
  
  The new power supply came in and I got it up and running, but for the hell of me could not charge at more then 4 amps, I tested with bigger wires, and I didn't know why it was dropping to 30v under load. Then as i was putting it away for return, I saw the stupid small side switch that was set on 220v instead of 110v. I swapped it over to 110v, and viola the charger was flying at just over 7 amps, 7 x 53v or almost 400 watts.
  
  Now it was time to build a case for this thing.
  
  I designed the case in fusion 360 with cooling in mind, so I put 2 high cfm fans in, one at the top blowing air out, and the one on the bottom sucking air in.
  
  Since the power supply is almost the size of my 300mm print bed, I knew I had to print it in 2 pieces and assemble it after.
  
  Final assembly is still in progress, I have everything mounted in, cables hidden as much as I could, waiting on more black PLA, so i can reprint the top and make the bottom translucent with the LEDs behind.
  
  I'm also waiting on more raisers to come, so I can bring the adjustable LCD for the Step up converter above the front cover. This way I can switch between the pre-sets I programed in, 48V Slow / Fast / Preserve ( 85% ) & 52V Slow / Fast / Preserve ( 85% )
  
  I have a temp gauge in and it's showing a good 10 degrees cooler with the fans on. The whole idea of the fans is just to make a wind tunnel through the whole case. The step up and step down converter fans have been removed as they are not needed anymore. I also added a variable DC-DC knob thingy so I can adjust the fan speed, depending how fast I charge.
  
  Before you say You shouldn't charge at such high amps, I actually charge around 6 amps on my 52v which has the upgraded high discharge rate cells and can handle alot more then 6 amps. And for the 48v stock battery I just run it at 3 Amps all day and it's pretty happy.
  
  Questions ?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  video of Nexi and his project
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGrBT_P9Xfc
  
  

Not worth $60 IMO. I have one of these guys and highly recommend it -
https://www.amazon.com/Mastech-MS8268-MS8261-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000JQ4O2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474646922&sr=8-1&keywords=mastech+8268

Looking through the reviews it seems like they send out the occasional lemon unit, but I've had mine for 3 years now on the same battery and it's awesome, especially for a $25 multimeter. I've tested it alongside a friend's $400 Fluke meter and it's very accurate. It also includes an attachment for reading transistor gains, which is especially helpful if you get into using germanium transistors. It's rated for 1000VDC so I use it when working on tube amps as well.

If you get into building pedals these are also worth picking up -
https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multifunction-Transistor-Resistance-Inductance/dp/B00NKY3M1W/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1474647579&sr=8-13

It will measure inductance & and it's invaluable for getting quick gains and pinouts for transistors. It's not a substitute for a meter but it makes stuff like identifying a mystery transistor or matching FETs a breeze.

Here are some useful links: Link; Link; Link. The Marantz cost about $58 using good quality replacements. I did a H/K 330B for $9.58. The Marantz 2285 I am working on cost about $90 for parts.

 

You will need a decent soldering iron; solder sucker; desoldering braid; lead solder; flux; and most importantly a multimeter. Here is another gear thread. Most of the manuals are available on Hifiengine. What you can't find there you can check the forums or Sams. Manuals on Fleabay should be an absolute last resort.

 

I would recommend going to a local thrift store and getting some practice junker units. It will take you some time to good at it and you certainly don't want to screw up your good unit. I still don't know anywhere near enough to do more than replace the parts and do basic troubleshooting. Fortunately for people like us, there are a lot of very helpful and knowledgeable persons on the forums who are always willing to lend a hand. Edit: Forgot about the Dim Bulb Tester.

Step 1: Buy a multimeter. I prefer the Fluke 87v http://amzn.com/B0002YFD1K Sure it's $387, but it'll pay for itself eventually.

Step 2: You'll need to take apart the charger. A good set of screwdrivers would definitely help. http://amzn.com/B000NZ5QG0 It's only $40. Wiha maybe isn't the best, but I like them and they do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Step 3: Once you open it up, you can start testing it with the multimeter. Inevitably, however, you'll probably have to solder something. Hakko is a popular brand for good reason. This one is under $100 AND it comes with wire cutters: http://amzn.com/B00AWUFVY8

Step 4: After you put it back together and find out that it's still not working, buy a replacement charger.

Start here. I'm a soon to be IT guy and love using my mech as well as the tinkering, so I am sure you will too.

As far as beginner setup a tobh RDA is easy to build on and a Nemesis mech is usually considered a good starter. The mech isn't as necessary to get a "starter" because it is kind of hard to mess up. You would be fine with a Stingray, 4nine, Vanilla, Penny, or Caravela. I have a 'Vela now and wish I had it as a beginner mech. Either way you go make sure you get copper or silver plated brass contacts.

Nitecore charger from Amazon is what you want and I would get either Sony vtc4/vtc5 or Samsung 25r batteries. 26 or 28 awg from Amazon. The rest you should have around the house. I started wrapping coils around wooden toothpicks, but since your IT I'm sure you have a precision screwdriver set. Just plain old cotton balls are fine for wicking(I have never boiled cotton and have never had problems).

Feel free to ask any questions. I hope this puts you all in the right direction.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I got a multimeter off of Amazon too. Here it is. Also, I added some links of where to get a few things.

You are going to want to balance tools and parts.

TOOLS (must haves)

• Multimeters (At least two, I suggest starting with one cheapo ($5-$10) and one in the $30-$50 range)
  
• Variable regulated power supply with current limiting (Skip the cheap/dangerous chinese crap and get a used HP/Agilent/Keysight one off ebay like this or this.)
  
• Breadboards (several)
  
• Jumper wires
  
• Wire strippers and cutters
  
• Decent soldering Iron ($50-$100) (DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THIS)
  
• Desoldering pump and/or wick (The ctrl-z of the soldering world)
  
• Heat shrink tubing for sealing connections (Especially if you are going to be doing outdoor stuff)
  
• Microcontrollers (I suggest starting with an Arudino Uno since it has the largest amount of online support material, you could get an Uno kit, any of them will be fine)
  .
  .
  TOOLS (eventually)
  
• Logic Analyzer (Let's you see the logic signals in your circuit which is super helpful for debugging, I have a bitscope micro which is decent, but the software kinda sucks and is more than just a logic analyzer)
  
• A function generator (variable voltage and frequency for sine, square and triangle waves) (Again I suggest used off ebay, something like this.)
  
• Oscilloscope (a really amazing tool for actally seeing what is going on in your circuit)
  .
  .
  PARTS (vaguely in order of usefullness)
  
• Elenco Resistor Kit
  
• Elenco Capacitor Kit
  
• Elenco Transistor Kit
  
• Elenco Diode Kit
  
• Elenco LED Kit
  (Of couse you don't have to get the Elenco kits, those are just the ones I use and really like)
  
• Voltage regulator ICs (Great for providing regulated power to things that need more than what your arduino can provide)
  
• Trimmer Potentiometer Kit (really useful to have around for many projects)
  
• Old electronic equipment to scavenge parts out of (Many of my parts have come from old equipment or broken ATX computer power supplies. Tearing stuff apart is both fun and yields great parts.)
  .
  .
  .
  I think that's all for now...

the buy it for life crowd will always argue for superior quality and buying a good tool. However another random redditor once summarized a different pragmatic:
"Buy a cheap tool, if it does the job you win. If you use it enough to break it you now are justified on buying the good version that might last you a lifetime."
I love harbor freight for economy cheap hand tools.

My exception is buy a good drill/driver. My current house might be close to 50% held together by work from my Milwaukee at this point.

Other tools no one mentioned that will come in handy: Outlet tester/live circuit detector, A stud finder, a set of allen wrenches.

Mine's usually pretty good about it. It plays a little tune when it's done that's quite loud. She will at least pull them out and stick them in the basket to fold that day.

So I'm using this guy: https://smile.amazon.com/Aeotec-Energy-Z-Wave-electricity-monitor/dp/B00XD8WZX6/

It clamps around the main wires coming into the panel. It then connects via z-wave to my Vera hub which talks to HomeAssistant. HomeAssistant also pushes to Grafana for much nicer graphs.

There are tons of options though. I picked HomeAssistant since it was open-source and not Internet dependant. Their z-wave implementation sucked though so I got the Vera hub for that. And I picked z-wave since it operates at 900mhz so doesn't step all over bluetooth or wifi.

Any other questions happy to answer them if I can. :) I'm still pretty new to the home automation stuff though. Started ~9 months ago with bits and pieces.

EDIT: Also feel free to join us over in /r/homeautomation if you want to go down the rabbit hole. :D

:) good to hear you have been doing research. Reasonably new batteries together should be fine.

Given the price of the batteries I think buying a decent multimeter is a reasonable suggestion. That way you can make sure all the batteries are at the same voltage before connecting them up.

If you're willing to pay, the EevBlog one is worth it (and that YouTube channel possibly way too technical but possibly worth while), their forum has a chart: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/multimeter-spreadsheet/ The "VC97" is one of the better generic multimeters and much cheaper (~$30 on ebay). I have both, the EevBlog one is slightly more accurate and a lot more capable, but it you're just measuring voltage and not building electronics it's overkill. Just remember that the cheap meter really is "12.05V, plus or minus 0.05V" where the EevBlog one adds a decimal place. And the $5 junk meters are "12V, give or take a volt or so, probably". Also buy some leads with proper clips on them, because you will end up wanting to have the meter connected while you do something. You just will.

I would still buy a pack of 10, 10 ohm 5W resistors and use those to connect the batteries. If the resistor blows up because there's too much current you've lost less than a dollar, and learned that 0.1V difference is too much :) Once those are happy (ie, there's zero volts across them), put in your proper wiring.

• Get an arduino starter kit and start building projects.
  
• This is a good one for a good price.(it's twice that or more on amazon)
  
• and this is a good price for a batch of sensors(no arduino included)
  
• if you want to move stuff a batch of servos is fun
  
• a soldering iron is good
  
• this one is good for the price. I don't like the ones that adjust at the handle. I prefer a base station.
  
• need solder as well
  
• and a solder sucker
  
• flush cut wirecutters are good to have
  
• a good pair of wire strippers is a life saver
  
• Good idea to have a multimeter around for verifying resistance values and voltages
  
• this is a decent one for the price
  
• Need some breadboard for prototyping. I'd suggest at least 3
  
• and some protoboards to finalize your circuit(until you start getting pcb's made)
  
• some solid conductor wire
  
• I like these storage cases for keeping my mess semi-under control.
  
  That's about all I can think of for now.
  

I'm still pretty new to this myself, but like you I have some electronics experience in the past. I just got this Weller 40w iron station with a desolder braid/sucker and a solder tip cleaner. Oh and a more precise tip for the solder iron

I'm really happy with it all so far, and couln't imagine needing more for a while. A heat gun would be nice for de-soldering and reflowing premade boards (like modding Boss pedals), but that can also be done with a regular solder iron as far as I know. You can get the above for about $60 total, so it's a nice way to get your feet wet without a huge investment. Then you gotta add on components/enclosures/pots/switches etc. Maybe get a helping hands and/or circuit holder if you need

Oh and get a good multimeter. I went a step up from the $20 ones and got this one which I'm also really happy with.

The uno is going to be the most compatible with just about anything you encounter.

For components, get leds, caps, transitors, resistors, diodes, buttons, switches, breaboards, jumper wires, hook up wire, and other odds and ends from aliexpress, deal extreme or ebay. The shipping times can be a bit lengthy, but you'll get the best selection and prices this way.

For tools, check out dave's amazon list or ladyada's tool list. You should at least get a multimeter and a wire cutter. Don't skimp on tools.

After that, check out sparkfun, adafruit, seeedstudio, hackaday, the eevblog, and this subreddit to get some ideas flowing. By the way, in addition to the eevblog, Sparkfun and adafruit have youtube channels that are really good. To get started, try out some simply shields: anything with audio or video is always fun; also anything with motors can be cool, but robotics can get expensive. Or, perhaps go shield-less and try doing stuff with just the arduino. You can do a lot with just LEDs, a speaker, some resistors and the uno.

>Current will flow from the battery to power the device when it is on.
>

This I understand. Would the current be dropping because the device doesn't have the battery life to keep itself on to charge?

>Not totally sure, but it sounds like your multimeter has some function to measure how much energy has been put into the battery during charging? So if you measure this from a fully discharged battery to a full charge, it would give you the energy capacity of the battery.
>
It's one of these if you have any experience with them.

So as I thought, it's only measuring what should be going in. The only way to measure what's actually in the battery would be to use it to charge something else until it dies?

>I guess this might depend on what defines a "dead" battery. Its possible your battery can still hold some sort of a charge, but can no longer provide the voltage required to power your device.
>
>One thing you could do to determine if the issue is the battery or the device is to disconnect the battery. Then get a DC power supply to provide the nominal voltage of the battery to the device directly.

That is a good idea but I am not sure how to do that without a lot of temporary wiring. I believe at some point the ios was corrupted (or lost) and is causing the startup loop. A computer doesn't generate enough voltage to charge the iPad and the charging and connection port are shared. I guess I'll find out replacing the battery. Though I'm 99% certain that's the problem I'm more so interested in learning how to interpret what I'm seeing.

Thank you for all your help!

Soldering iron: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M

Edit: most people recommend getting a chisel tip for the soldering iron. Big tips for big jobs, small tips for small jobs. Just having the pencil tip and one chisel will get you by for a long time.

Desoldering braid: https://www.amazon.com/Aven-17542-Desoldering-2-5mm-Length/dp/B003E48ERU/

Desoldering pump: https://www.amazon.com/WEmake-WM-SP4-Solder-Sucker-desoldering/dp/B0002KRAAG

You want both the pump and the braid. Get thin solder for electronics. You should probably use lead-free, but I like good old 60/40.

There are a ton of suggestions on multimeters. The exact right one for you depends on what you eventually want to do. Dave Jone's EEVBlog has some good suggestions. As does Adafruit. Anything Adafruit recommends isn't too far off the mark. If you just want a suggestion: Extech EX330 for $45 https://www.amazon.com/Extech-EX330-Autoranging-Multimeter-Thermometer/dp/B000EX0AE4 Cheaper ones will do the job, but this is a better one. The next step up are True RMS meters for about $100.

I bought an Extech EX330 for the exact same purpose as you. Eventually I will upgrade to a higher end model, but this one is a good balance of price, size, and durability to keep in a toolbox or have banging around in my backpack. I expect it to last for many years, so I plan to keep it as a backup when I upgrade. Right now, looks like Amazon is running a discount on them, as well. http://amzn.com/B000EX0AE4. Also, the EX430, which adds RMS capability, is about the same price right now: http://amzn.com/B0000WU1AC.

Good luck!

hey, the relay won't work very well if you're using RGB LEDs. One of the coolest features of RGB is the ability to mix colours by pulsing each in sequence for different amounts of time. The relay may not be able to switch fast enough, and you'd need of for each 'colour'.

Personally I don't find the Reddit format to be the best for asking these types of questions, as often the 'popular vote' goes to the answers that are short and easy to understand, which may not be the 'best' answer. I prefer http://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php and the related electronics vblogs, and https://electronics.stackexchange.com/.

For a great mid-range multimeter I love the Extech EX330 (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000EX0AE4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1), especially with its built-in non-contact voltage detection for working on household wiring (not related, but it's so handy!). The Fluke 87-V is, in my opinion, the cream of the crop and priced accordingly. There are cheap multimeters for $5 that will get the job done, and I do keep these in my vehicles -- eBay and a month of shipping time works well here. Searching eevblog.com for "shootout" (search Google for "site:eevblog.com shootout") reveals great comparisons, too many to read through but indulge the a bit to get a feel for what to look for.

Oboy, I'm probably the wrong person to ask. However, /u/BriThePiGuy recommends Joe Knows Electronics boxes, and /u/NeoMarxismIsEvil recommends the following:

> I would order some cheap assortment kits from people on aliexpress. These are the sort that come with like 10 of most common values of resistor, capacitor, etc.

> Other stuff:

> - WeMos d1 mini or mini pro
> - small i2c OLED displays
> - small LCD display
> - tacswitches (buttons)
> - SPDT switches
> - 74HC595 and 74HC165 shift registers
> - either bidirectional logic level shifter modules or mosfets and resistors needed to make them
> - 7 segment led displays (individual)
> - 8x8 led matrices
> - various environmental and physics sensors (often come as a kit of 20+ different modules)
> - extra breadboards
> - jumper wires
> - male and female header strips (for modules that lack pins)
> - cheap breadboard power supplies
> - voltage regulators (both LDO ICs and buck converter)
> - possibly some 4xAA or 4xAAA battery holders
> - trim pot assortment

> Those are just ideas. Some things like 7 seg led digits are pretty cheap and worth having a few of but not terribly important if you have a real display of some sort.

I personally like the assortment of bits I got in my Sparkfun Inventor's Kit, but found that I wanted more of the following:

• Jumpers, though it's since been recommended to me that I just use solid-core 22 AWG wire so I bought this wire kit and these automatic strippers
  
• Breadboards, both self-adhesive and solderable, and maybe some mini ones of each type.
  
• LEDs (RGB and single-color)
  
• A good selection of potentiometers and trimpots, both slide and radial, plus knobs for them if applicable
  
• More buttons of varying types, both clicky and quiet momentary ones (here's a quiet button that's nice)
  
• A good multimeter and maybe some extra probes
  
• Some power supplies, both 12v and 5v. Here's one that's supposed to do both simultaneously, but you'll need a molex plug (which Sparkfun inexplicably doesn't carry) unless you want to strip the end. You might also want some barrel jacks, and this cheap extension cable provides the male end.
  
• A variable power supply would probably also be very useful, but I haven't yet invested in one of those so I can't make a recommendation at this time.
  
• A good selection of resistors
  
• Alligator test clips, plus some with pigtails for prototyping on a breadboard with components that won't fit in those little holes
  
• Some heat shrink tubing and a heat gun that you should only use on the lowest setting for this purpose. When selecting heat shrink tubing, pay attention to it's shrink ratio and what size it'll end up being when you're done.
  
• A soldering kit and some solder. Note that all solders aren't created equal but the one I linked is supposed to be decent.
  
• If you get into larger gauge soldering (for home or automotive wiring), a propane torch will be handy, but you can get something like that for $20 with a propane tank at your local hardware store
  
• Some project boxes

Nice - you'll be glad to have that variety of tips, depending on what you are working on! If you have any spare Christmas money, I'd recommend picking up one of these self-adjusting wire strippers - it sort of matches your color scheme too! And if you do a lot of de-soldering (anything with lots of headers or through-hole IC sockets), a desoldering iron can save a ton of time compared to your solder wick and desoldering pump.

A few other things that I've found useful (mostly repairing electronic keyboards / synthesizers, although I'm hoping to get more into Arduino / Pi soon):

Hakko wire cutter

Helping hand

Hemostat / Forceps

Digital multimeter with audible continuity tester

To add to this:

Do *NOT* under any circumstances rely on a no-contact tester to tell you that a wire is safe to touch. They are good for helping you make a determination between two wires as described above, but they can and do give false readings in both directions.


The voltage reading off a good multimeter (with contact probes) should be used to be certain that a circuit is indeed turned off. Make sure you get one with a separate current lead socket (usually this means they have 3 holes at the bottom of the meter) this will save you from blowing up your meter if you accidentally switch to current sensing while connected to high voltage (been there, done that, its not pleasant avoid the headache)


There are a wide variety of multimeters available in all price ranges, but here's a very inexpensive one on Amazon that should work OK for this use case. It might not be 100% accurate, but I'm sure it'll be able to tell you if there's 120v or not :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ISAMUA6

Flukes are definitely the best, but for automotive use, you're not really going to be super demanding. Less expensive + disposable may be a better way to start off your career on this specific item.. i'm sure you have other expensive tools to buy ;-) You can always upgrade later.

I have one of these guys, and it does what I need it to, personally: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EX0AE4

> but I'd ideally like to do whatever that guy in the video did, because whatever he did it works.

He probably had the parts on hand. To replicate what he did, you'll need 4 C-sized NiMH batteries at $18 plus a charger for $20.

It's difficult to estimate your power requirements because on top of the Pi/modem/i2c sensor, you'll have high-power IR leds, a camera, etc.

I recommend you build a prototype first, running from DC power, then get something like this USB meter, and let the prototype run for 12 hours or so at night. That will tell you the power usage, and in turn what kind of batteries or battery packs you need.

It looks like you have damaged contacts, may have caused bridges, and who knows what all else. If you want to attempt to fix it, I'd say you need to be prepared to spend a lot of quality time with at least a cheap multimeter or other circuit continuity tool in order to determine where circuits are failing when they should succeed and where they are succeeding when they should fail. And you should definitely be prepared to discover in so doing that the damage is indeed too extensive to make a repair worthwhile.

Given that, it may well be more prudent to accept that pcb as a write-off and begin disassembling and desoldering everything and buying a relatively inexpensive replacement pcb.

Mostly it comes down to how you want to spend your time.

If you want to hone your circuit troubleshooting skills, this is an excellent opportunity to get more hands on experience with digital electronics and learn quite a bit.

If you just want a working Ergodox as quickly as possible, then I'd say accept the loss and begin rebuilding now.

I started with LEDgardeners builds and upsized it a bit to be 150 watts using 16 strips total at about 9 watts each, with 4 vertical as side lights on the posts of my 2'x2' tent. I'm glad I upgraded to 150 watts, I'm not to flower yet and I'm already running them at 115-120 watts. I think the big light spread helps to let me put more watts in without overpowering the middle.

1' Q strip from digikey, mouser for the HLG 150H-48 B driver, heatsinkusa.com for the heat sinks, and I found [this on amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017FSED9I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to display the power, current, and voltage. It's been working great for a month now, and turns off when the power is cut so the light wont mess up flower.

I went with the 1' strips, but made my light 2 strips wide so it really fills up the entire tent. If I wasn't also making the pepper lights and wanted to have all the lights the same I would probably go with the 2' strips. It's annoying to have to build the center support in the light to hold the 1' strips.

I don't have a good cost estimate because I was building a few other lights so I got some bulk discounts and ordered some spares and other things. Digikey pricing really goes down as quantities go up.

In my tent right now at 115 watts and tops of plant 10" from the lights, I have an even 25,000-30,000 lux, which isn't an exact measurement, but a good idea of the brightness for white lights. I'm still a couple weeks from flower for a few reasons, but the plant is thriving so far.

I'd recommend that you put in the extra money and get a nice second tier DMM. You can get away with a cheapy $25 one, but when it's your eyes and ears, I've found spending a little extra is worth it.

I love this multimeter, and Dave from the EEV Blog liked it as well. He did a whole teardown on a bunch of $50-$100 meters.

The box you're looking at is called 2-gang, which is twice as wide as a single gang standard outlet box you're seeing everywhere else. Pull the plate off (looks like just one screw in there) and you'll see two different outlets. You can replace them both, but it's a good idea to figure out why the right one is different. Does the plug type look different? Are they on different breakers? Is the right one upside down (standard convention for an outlet connected to a light switch)?

If there's no difference you can replace both with the same two plug outlets. Having two plugs doesn't require different wiring, they're already tied together (though you can break the connection if one needs to be connected to a switch).

Before you touch anything make sure to flip all breakers that bring power to the box. Typically there's only one but there could be more than one. For example, there could be a a connection between two wires on a different circuit in the same box, unrelated to your plugs. I'd recommend a set of voltages testers like this: Sperry Instruments STK001 Non-Contact Voltage Tester (VD6504) & GFCI Outlet / Receptacle Tester (GFI6302) Kit, Electrical AC Voltage Detector, Yellow & Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JGQAQ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Zi9wDbA8G76M5

Test the outlets with the plug tester to ensure they're off. Use the non-contact tester for any other wires you see in the box.

No idea about the cost, but if you have a level of confidence and have some idea what you're doing, you could pop the cover off that electric panel and see what type of wires run into the circuit breakers and what they feed. If modern wires run into breaker #1, and you turn that off and the wall fixtures turn off.. well there you go.

K&T should be easier to spot inside the box, no ground, probably dusty, and wrapped in cloth. Mapping the breakers, figuring out what controls what room/wall/fixture is a good idea. Flip them off one at a time and have someone upstairs plugging something in an checking them..

Also, I highly recommend one of these guys to quikcly test and tell you if the wiring is correct:

http://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Outlet-Tester/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=pd_cp_hi_0

https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-40508-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B00066ZZO4/ref=asc_df_B00066ZZO4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309722091285&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18374242808627692046&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1018127&hvtargid=pla-436226440025&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60439548223&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=309722091285&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18374242808627692046&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1018127&hvtargid=pla-436226440025

$8 will give you peace of mind my friend! I wish you good luck!

I bought one of these in 2010 and another in 2017; the first one is still working fine. It's worked great for basic troubleshooting and measurements. I've used it for power consumption measuring and it seemed accurate enough. I've used them a lot, but none of it requires super accurate readings and I haven't had a single issue. If you buy one I can't guarantee the same experience, but they've been great for me.

Currently $18.80 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVYGZA/

OK, that makes what you can do somewhat more limited. Can you get your hands on a multimeter -- at worst, you should probably be able to acquire yourself a cheap one?

That would allow you to, for example, measure current as a function of voltage, and compare ohmic materials (resistors, etc.) with things that don't have a linear response curve -- light bulbs, diodes (LEDs), and so on. Also many other things, but that was an example that occurred to me as a pretty classic E&M demo lab that is still pretty open to creativity.

E: It would appear that /u/journeymanpedant had the same idea, although specifically focused on diodes.

You can use nay 12v battery you'd like to that can supply the cca (cold cranking amps) to the motor to get it started, I have a designated large car battery to do this.

I wouls strongly suggest that you invest in a multimeter of some sort. I do not own the one linked but based on the reviews it can't be that bad for the price. and see what the voltage of the battery is, if it is above 11v I would consider the battery to be salvageable and try to recharge it. if not, yes I would get a new battery. Just know that while you are troubleshooting the bike that you should have a way to charge the battery. I used to just hook up leads from my car battery to my bike to do the testing; relying on the alternator of the ca to get the battery charged as I drove it.

Yes, a good place to start would be the battery, next I would test for spark: take the spark plug cap off, unbolt the plug, put the cap backon and ground the plug to the engine by holding threads up to the engine case (bare metal). and then try turning on the bike looking for small spark jumping at the tip. That should be good if he said it was running sporadically. then, again I would assume the carb is the main problem.

This looks like the one I have.. dirt cheap. If your lab doesn't have a thermocouple, a lot of the entry level extech meter's come with a cheap one and builtin circuitry to read it.

I've had success with this toaster and those stencils on 0.5mm pitch QFNs, 0402 passives, and low pin count LGAs.. but be prepared to do rework. It helps to have a steady hand, high quality tweezers, and ideally a microscope.

Funny that everyone is admonishing your misfortune without answering your question.

I have one of these little amprobe guys:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001L4E9Z6

The size is great, I keep it in my laptop bag. Have used to to rewire 220 mains, work on 12v cars, and 3v3 circuits.

The size and portability make this the most used multimeter I've ever owned. It's great, the coin cell lasts a long time, and it's not given me different readings than any other meter within a couple of %.

Because it's always with me in my laptop bag, there have been a few occasions where I've been able to bust it out to save a day here and there.

Sorry lots of electronics technical stuff I just spat out there... this video might help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWA9WqSEjg8

The issue is it's a bit of "chicken and egg" problem, you need a powerful enough supply (high enough amp output) to make sure the load has as many amps as it will draw if the power supply can't supply enough current then your current you measure will be that limit instead of what the device actually wants to draw. If the power supply isn't able to supply enough amps for a given load (a device drawing current like the raspi) then it may overheat or shut off to protect itself or switch on and off depending on the power supply design.

Regarding a bench power supply this video shows how to DIY and compares with bought version and shows how they work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI-KYRdmx-E

Basically any multi-meter can measure voltage and amperage:
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeter-MSR-R500-Electronic-Multimeters/dp/B01N9QW620/

For higher current stuff or measuring AC current without hooking the meter physically into the circuit can use a clamp meter like this instead:
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeter-MSR-C600-Auto-Ranging-Multimeters/dp/B00NWGZ4XC/

^^ second one also does auto-ranging so it works out what the right unit is to show you is based on the power going through it (shows mV or V or A and mA or milli-ohms, ohms, kilo-ohms, and mega-ohms depending on what you're measuring)

A simpler video just covering the whole concept of "load" and current here too (youtube suggestions did a good job)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxkVxi9P0EA

Coding can be done in python. Rasperry pi has by default a RPi.GPIO package that gives you very very easy interfacing with the GPIO pins on the board. You will need some resistors, and some leds, and a breadboard (board that lets you put wires into it so you don't need solder). Assuming you have a pi and that is working I would get these:

breadboard

jumpers

resistors and leds starter kit

DMM, not necessary but nice to have.

Here is a nice guide to the pinout on the pi and the numbering system

This is a nice guide to using rasperry pi GPIO python package

This is the generic python tutorial assuming you do not know python.

edit:

while we are at it here are some other fun things you can do with a pi:

Make it move with these ICs and DC motors. Not pi can not hook up dc motors directly, thus the chips. There are also rover kits with dc motors and wheels already.

There are sonic range sensors.

GPS receivers

temperature sensors

uv light sensors

There are a lot of projects you can do with relatively cheap sensors with the pi.

I will also say the Anker 21W is very good at what it does, but on the heavier side of trying to keep weight down. Another option i've been testing is this:

Renogy E.Flex 5W Portable Solar Panel with USB Port https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K8NTKHM/

I was able to get output up to 700mAh in direct sunlight. substantially lighter than Anker, and a good option to clip/hang from pack over the course of a day.

I will also recommend this multimeter:

Eversame USB Digital Power Meter Tester Multimeter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D9Y6ZFW/

i had to modify the Renogy solar panel with a small cut out in order to fit the multimeter in the USB port. this will give you a good measurement of how much juice you've gotten from the sun over the course of a day. I am going to bed and will post pics of my setup later.

Couple thoughts. Is there maybe a problem with wiring? I would get one of these and try all the plugs to see if you have an issue like a bad ground. There are others that look like this one, but most will not give you as good of a test. Sperry Receptacle Tester ($8) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_hg-rDb7HMV8WX

For a good whole house protection from a unit like the Square D HEPD80, its common to run into issues with placement. I like using the EATON CHSPT2ULTRA, but similar specs. Its a little more difficult, but I have run them outside directly through the back of the breaker panel to a small metal wall box on the outside. Little more work, but this keeps the leads short (important) and even lets me check on the surge protector LEDs very easily). They normally have something like this at HD/Lowes - here is something similar: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T5BRO4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_tr-rDbAYB73ZJ

As little as possible. The more crap you have, the more it weighs you down.
That said, every home needs some necessities to get by. For me those generally involve cooking, sleeping, and repairs. I just finished watching Parks & Rec and am in a bit of a Ron Swanson mood.

For the kitchen (all recommended by America's Test Kitchen):

Victorinox 8" Chef's Knife

Victorinox Paring knife

CDN Instant Read Thermometer

Lodge 12" skillet - cheap and will last you forever

Crockpot, 6qt - the one kitchen appliance I'd cheat with. Easy delicious meals. Toss in a cheap cut of meat (chuck roast, etc), salt, pepper, garlic, onions, carrots, whatever. Let it sit for 6-8 hours. Dinner for 3 meals.

Tools:

I'd probably just pick up a cheap set of craftsman stuff (screwdrivers, hammer, sockets, pliers). Splurge on the ratchet and any power tools you need:

Bahco 3/8" ratchet - same as snapon F80 at 1/2 the price

Other misc. tools that are quite handy:

Magnetic stud finder - in a new place you're going to be hanging pictures, installing shelving, and mounting curtain rods. These are dirt cheap and super convenient.

Multimeter - Flukes will last you for life. If you need to do any electrical work, these are great. If you don't want to splurge up front just borrow them or buy a cheap $15 one at home depot.

Bedroom:

Get comfortable pillows and nice sheets. Don't get all caught up in the 1000 thread count crap, it's a hoax. Just get at least 400tc or so, and preferably egyptian or pima cotton. My favorite sheets are actually a super cheapo brand that are 60% cotton 40% polyester. I prefer them because they feel more "smooth and cool" rather than "soft and warm".

Obviously get real furniture: dresser, bed with headboard, etc.

Electronics

I won't go into too much detail here, but consider cutting the cord (/r/cordcutters).

A cheap Roku3 + netflix + an OTA antenna can go a long way.

If you have a lot of pictures/media/etc, don't forget about backups. I'd look into an inexpensive NAS, or at least a USB harddrive. They are dirt cheap and worth the insurance.

Insurance

Lastly, don't forget renters or homeowners insurance. If you are renting, you can get rather good coverage for quite cheap. I just paid around $50 for 12 months of coverage on my apartment ($15k coverage, $1k deductible). I shopped around at 5 different places and Amica came out the cheapest by FAR.

Other than that, you don't need much. Buy less crap. Don't buy some $50 automatic electronic wine opener when a $1 wine key will do the job. Same for a can opener.

Digital multimeter... here's a couple decent looking ones that should do most of what you want.

Of course Fluke makes the best, but they certainly charge for it.

I have a Craftsman Professional myself and it's perfectly fine.

So it sounds like the thing to do would be to fix the broken speaker wire. There's a number of ways to do that. I'll list them in decreasing difficulty, and also decreasing quality of fix.

You could:

• Run entirely new wire from the factory wiring harness to the speaker in the door.
  
• Find the break and run new wire from the break to the speaker.
  
• Find the break and just splice in a new bit of wire.
  
  The DMM will come in handy for a lot of things (checking grounds, seeing if your RTO is working, checking fuses, verifying continuity of wires - which you're doing here). If you get a good one now, it'll last you years (I've had mine for more than 10 years and I use it at least a couple times a month for all sorts of automotive and household things!).

Yeah. I use this one because it is a lot nicer than the even cheaper ones while still being pretty cheap. And its auto-ranging which is a big plus in my book. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVYGZA/

And https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014ERIFU6 those for drivers. I too was fed up with the cheap ones stripping. Again, not the best in the world but a lot better than the harbor freight special. They bite well and I haven't stripped anything with them yet.

You might want to check the output of your controller just to make sure that the problem isn't deeper. Idk what anything is supposed to measure, but if you compare the z outputs to the x or y outputs it should be pretty easy to figure out if something is wrong. If you don't have a multi meter you can get a pretty basic one for ~$10. Or if you have good neighbors you can probably borrow one -- it is standard kit in most middle-aged men's toolboxes.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeter-MSR-R500-Electronic-Multimeters/dp/B01N9QW620?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_15707471_1&pf_rd_p=2bd56caf-41c7-5afe-a16b-f91d83e8f5ca&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=15707471&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=RWEXC9AQXED7VJG8FQE0&pf_rd_r=RWEXC9AQXED7VJG8FQE0&pf_rd_p=2bd56caf-41c7-5afe-a16b-f91d83e8f5ca

For the multimeter, I have this one and it works perfectly fine. That module you linked won't work, though. That mudole's module's minimum input is 4V, and the Pocket runs on 3V with fresh batteries. Something more like this module would work. I could be wrong though, as I've never done this mod; I just shoved a lithium-ion battery into my Pocket and it works great.

Also, going down the rabbit hole is really fun! I started with the backoight backlight mod, then I did a prosound, then a USB rechargeable battery, then a bass boost, then an amplifier, and I'm debating doing a bivert, though with how little space is left after the preceding mess, I probably can't. :P

EDIT: Wow I butchered the spelling of "module"

EDIT2: And the spelling of "backlight"

This sounds similar to what I wanted to accomplish, and I'm getting closed to finish putting this together (I've been taking my sweet time on it... procrastinating in other words. I could have had it finished super fast). I wanted to have a solar setup to run a backup sump pump in case I lose power and I'm out of town. Here's what I have:

Solar panel kit. Comes with the controller (the little box that your panel plugs into that regulates the juice so your battery charges but doesn't overcharge).

Mounting Bracket for panel. There are a hundred different ways to mount a panel on a house or anything else. This is what I used. In hindsight, it was sort of a pain and I should have gotten a better one that attaches with two arms on either side, not just the one in the middle.

Pole that attaches to house for the mounting bracket.

Brace to go between that pole and the roof, because it turned out there's too much off-center weight and the pole wanted to pivot downward.

Deep cycle marine battery (I didn't get this online, but you can get them at all sorts of stores).

That's really all you need. Then you connect whatever 12v thing to the battery. You can wire up something like this to the battery to have convenient spots to plug stuff in. I'm actually building a whole "control panel" just because I like to go overkill. I'm including one of these multimeters so I can easily monitor the system at a quick glance.

I'll probably also incorporate a small inverter at some point so I can plug in lower-wattage A/C devices should the need arise. I'm also putting everything together in a way that I could expand it relatively easily (more panels, more batteries, even a small wind turbine).

So all that stuff I bought already came to about 190.00 plus battery (I don't remember.... let's say $130 for that). So once I include all the stuff I bought for the backup pump, pipes, conduit, extra wire, I'm still only at $500 or less.

flukes are the best, but you don't need that. a cheap one at lowes should work fine if you want something a bit better, i recommend this one:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JQ4O2U/ref=pe_175190_21431760_cs_sce_dp_2

Yep, just start with the basics before you get more complicated. Make sure you have power, then follow power along until it's not there, and figure out why. If power is going everywhere and the HU still won't work, it's busted or has a blown fuse.

A test light is cheap and easy to use, just make sure it'll work with 12 volt DC. A multimeter is much more versatile and not too expensive. I have this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066ZZO4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and it works OK for a cheap thing. For basic testing, at least.

Fluke makes great equipment, of course, but I would also consider Extech. While they don't cater to the professional market as much as Fluke, they make great meters and you can find a full featured one new for well under $100. Extech also manufactures Sears Craftsman branded meters. The one I use is similar to this one

Remember you get what you pay for, but since you're just trying this out I found some cheap options on amazon:
Volt meter
3 position switch Keep in mind you need to make sure you match your inputs and outputs to the voltage the PLC I/O wants (120v AV or 24v DC)
Indicator light you can use as an output to turn on/off
Looks like the PLC wants 24vDC power so you'll need something like this to switch your 120 power from the wall.

I actually just bought one of these multimeters that arrived today and I'm loving it, so much. It's only $30 and works amazingly well. It's full-featured and includes a helpful little socket with holes that you can put an electronic component (i.e a resistor) into so you don't have to wrestle with the test leads. I'd highly recommend it.

I recommend the Fluke 87 V. I have owned one for ten years or more - it will last and last and deliver consistently good performance if you take reasonable care of it. Fluke have tougher models if you are really going to kick your tools around. I recommend them unreservedly as far as their multimeter products.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-FLUKE-87-V-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B0002YFD1K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375305568&sr=8-1&keywords=fluke+87+v

How much per kWh does your electricity cost? 19 Cents per Kilowatthour?

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a



It really does not sound like the PC is causing this..

You said you purchased an electricity usage monitor?

What did it read? what is it currently reading? You should keep it hooked up so you can get an over time look at your power usage..

Your PC should not cost more than about $15 -$20 a month to run MAX..

It can not even imagine a faulty PSU causing this.. and if it was a power strip it should have blown up by now and burned your house down..

You could get a outlet tester: like this
https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511526107&sr=8-3&keywords=outlet+tester&tag=gamersnexus01-20

To make sure you do not have a faulty outlet..

What you can do is hook up the Kill-A-Watt meter and put your PC to sleep see if the Power Supply is still drawing that god awful amount of power.. and Check your monitor make sure the power brick is not faulty..

That kind of power would generate a LOT of heat your room should be a sauna if it is the PC

If you check your PC parts Picker it is showing your Power draw at
36W to 146W max..

https://www.pcmag.com/article/343177/how-to-measure-home-power-usage

Watts / 1000 * Hours used x (Cost per Kilowatt-hour)= Total Cost..

Your PC Max should be about 146W + 30W for the monitor MAX

Intel - Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor 8W - 65W

MSI - H110M Gaming Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 15W - 60W

Avexir - Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory 11W - 11W

Crucial - MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 2W - 10W

Monitor is 30W

So do the math 176W

176/1000 = .176 of a Kilowatt

• say $.19 (cost per kWh) so $.033 per hour
  
• say 16 hours a day thats about 54 cents a day..
  
• 30 days is about $16
  
  Say your PC uses 350 watts, including monitor, while playing a graphically-intensive game, and your kWh cost is $0.19. If you were to play for one hour straight, it would cost you:
  
  350 / 1000 * 0.19 = $0.07 per hour
  
  Lets say for arguments sake you used all 550W of your Power supply + Monitor 30W that would be 580W 10 cents per hour or $1.76 per day or about $53 a month.. MAX and your PC should be pumping out enough heat to make you sweat. ( Not to mention your Power Supply would not last very long )
  
  This still does NOT account for the increase in your bill... It is NOT the PC it can NOT be the PC
  
  Hook a Kill-A-Watt meter to the PC and give us the numbers..
  
  If it is over 100 Watts while your doing nothing there is a problem..
  
  If it is over 350 Watts while your working there is a problem..
  
  
  

You laugh but I was super excited to get my cheap Chinese multimeter in the mail today. I will deffo use it for completing my lab work tonight.

Sure, and they are an excellent troubleshooting tool to have around. One example, on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=multimeter&qid=1559002606&s=gateway&sr=8-3

If there's a Harbor Freight near you, they frequently have coupons for their cheap multimeter for free, or close to it, if you buy something else.

So it sounds like the outlets weren't grounded as someone already stated. The surge protector had nowhere to shunt any excess current to so it just went to your equipment. It's strange that your mother board was blown and not your power supply.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't plug a computer into any outlet unless I new it was grounded. If you do run an extension cord, there's three things to remember. Firstly, make sure the extension cord is a grounded one. Secondly, make sure the outlet is properly wired. Thirdly, make sure to make the cord as short as possible and don't cover it up with anything (rugs, carpet, etc.)

How do you check an outlet? The simplest method is to use a circuit tester. It's pretty cut and dry and it's a non-invasive way to make sure every wire is in the right place.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000RUL2UU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1451367300&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX220_SY330_FMwebp_QL65

You don't need a super expensive multimeter to work on bikes. The $6 one from Harbor freight will work fine, but the lead are short and the wire inside is thin.

I often use the AstoAI one from Amazon that runs about $11. I picked this one because I didn't need a crazy meter and It had a decent clamshell case for it.

I combine the meter with this kit . . . super sharp / low profile meter leads are a GOD send.

As for your connectors. I've never used those personally, but the waterproof bullet insert type that have a male/female end are often found on bikes from the factory.

Swapping out switches really isn't that difficult, the only tool you need is a screwdriver. It's not a bad idea to have a non-contact voltage detector as well.

Step 1: Locate your breaker box

Step 2: Turn off the breaker supplying power to the switch you want to replace

Step 3: Check that there is no voltage at the switch with your new handy-dandy voltage sensor

Step 4: Take off the switch faceplate, then unscrew the existing switch from the box. Pull it out gently and inspect, take a photo so you can put it back the way it was if you need to.

Step 5: There are two wires connected to the switch, one comes from the breaker you just turned off, the other goes on to the light/outlet/whatever the switch controls. The switch's job is just to connect and disconnect those two together. Unscrew the wires from the old, screw them into the new.

Step 6: Carefully push the new switch into the box and screw it back in. Replace the faceplate.

Step 7: Flip the breaker back on

Step 8: Test your new switch

Step 9: Crack open a beer, you haven't shocked or killed yourself, time to celebrate.

I have heard good things about the Extech EX330 and its thermocouple-less cousin the EX320. They are $60 and $40 on Amazon, respecively.

If you plan on measuring AC signals that aren't perfect sine waves, you probably want a True RMS multimeter (see why in this pdf). I use a BK 2707 ($95) that has stood up excellently compared to $200+ Fluke meters I've tried.

I'd recommend getting an inexpensive outlet/receptacle tester and testing any outlet that you will be plugging equipment into. If it doesn't test correctly, notify the staff at the building and don't use it. It's not the complete solution, but it is a great start.....

Something like this...... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RUL2UU/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_bxldN_c_x_1_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=HWWEYSS763CCFCJ6GS1R&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=e32b96c7-50a4-5f19-ae33-9408ab96b97e&pf_rd_i=14244461

Note to self: look into a multimeter.

Edit: Would this be sufficient for around-the-house use?

So here's a question... in the future, with a wiring setup like this, would it have accomplished the same thing (if I only had one switch controlling both the light and fan to nut the fan's black and blue to the ceilings black and then nut off the extra blue from the ceiling? Would that accomplish the same thing?

Electrical outlet tester - Use on each outlet in the home to make sure all is working properly and not needing work done. I used Sperry Tester
Test the sinks, toilets and showers. Run both cold water and hot water through each sink/shower and flush the toilets a couple of times.
Ask about pest control, how often, who does it.
How do you contact maintenance for any requests? How quickly can they come out to assist?
Check the windows and make sure they can open, or are securely locked.
Who has keys to your location? Did the last tenant turn in all keys? Can you get the location re-keyed for a small fee?
Hope this helps!

Precision. $30 meters tend to not have it.

I paid ~$400 for a 6.5 digit meter recently, and it's been worth every penny. Not everyone needs that precision, though, and that's fine. :)

Anyways, if you want a meter in that price range, at least get one with standard detachable probes. That's generally a sign of higher quality. This Extech meter is an excellent choice, for instance.

The ohm/volt meter I have from MyVaporStore is nice. I'm sure you can find it cheaper but I like their customer service and reliability.

However, if you're wanting a good multimeter, this one from Amazon is cheaper than most ohm/volt meters.

Gotcha.

Go pick up an arduino kit, a few boards, an iron and solder.

The arduino kit will help with the physical electrical aspect, resistors, leds, servos, positive and negative, and it help with the theory/text book stuff such as amps, ohms, voltages etc.

Pick up a multimeter and look up how to test resistance , voltages, conductivity.

You can practice the soldering by putting led and resistors on a board. The arduino has tons of material for simple projects that include the code. So if the coding part doesn’t interest you, just copy the example
Code and build the circuit on the included breadboard. Then move the circuit into a blank soldering board

And make sure to research any questions instead of just asking someone who knows the answer. The reason I suggest research on your own first is there’s a lot to learn in the tech industry. The more you read the more you’ll familiarize yourself with key words, go to forums, and terminology.

Don't forget about tools. I keep my kit with me and travel globally. I got this multimeter and it works pretty well. I replaced my regular-sized one. This thing is tiny (can't tell by the pictures) but it does the job. I'm considering cutting the built-on leads and putting some kind of connector there instead.

I have a couple of project boxes I found on Ebay and they're stuffed full of capacitors, resistors, and various sensors and parts from ebay and china. dx.com actually has some very tempting looking hardware right now. I've also got a $2 soldering iron and a few other miscellaneous tools.

Also, for something super portable and practical, you can go to your local textile store and get some cloth and zipper and make your own bags for things like soldering iron and strippers. Wire strippers.

All I carry with me is a carry-on sized roller and a 40l backpack. All the stuff that looks like it could make a bomb goes in the roller and it gets checked when I fly.

Also carry several breadboards and a few adapters, and a separate programmer for the ATTiny's and other IC's. I use the Arduino to prototype, but anything final goes onto an ATTiny or similar.

My Extech EX330 just survived a pit bull, so I'm impressed with it. It's a pretty good multimeter for the price. I bought mine at OSH for $49.95.

I wouldn't assume that three prong outlet is properly wired, Someone could have just thrown it in there even if there isn't a ground wire ran to the box. You could buy a plug tester like this and it will tell you if it's wired correctly. It is possible someone could have wired the outlet to trick a tester into thinking there was a ground by jumping from the neutral to the ground.

Ultimately i would recommend having an electrician inspect the wiring in your house. Your houses original wiring is old and may not have a means to ground available at every outlet. I would find someone you can trust to take a look at everything, You don't know how many people, qualified or not, have worked in your home.

Thanks for the thorough answer! I really appreciate the help! I don't have any tools unfortunately but I can get them. Would this be a good voltmeter? (Innova 3320)
So to confirm, I would connect the voltmeter to the crankshaft sensor and test whether there is any output? I can also rent a fuel gauge and try your second suggestion. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much again!

There's a couple handy tools you'll want.

A receptacle tester: https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU makes it easy to see if your GFCI outlet is A. wired correctly and B. trips properly. A perk here, is you can also use this tester to see if your normal outlet is chained to a GFCI outlet or on a GFCI breaker, as they'll trip just as well if you use the test button on this tool.

Actually, you can get both in one: https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-STK001-Non-Contact-Receptacle/dp/B002JGQAQ6 but you want something handy to check if a wire is live. After I believe I've turned off a circuit, I test it a couple times, usually going to a live circuit too to make sure the tester is also working. I want to be super confident before I touch it.

And yeah, I usually never do electrical work without a friend present, just in case I do something dumb. Never work with electrical alone if you can avoid it.

That's a great one too, cheap, reliable, moderately fast auto ranging. I wouldn't use it for measuring high current/voltage but for hobbyist purposes it's great.

http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419118140&sr=8-1&keywords=multimeter

Extech EX330 Autoranging Mini Multimeter with Built In Thermometer with Type K Remote Probe by Extech http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EX0AE4/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_-TGntb18D6ZH8

I bought that one in 2011, so it may be a bit outdated, but it's still working fantastically if you're looking for a good meter for more than building coils. The auto ranging is pretty spiffy.

It sounds like some of the outlets might have a reversed hot/neutral. Get a cheap outlet tester to find out. And a pigtail adapter to test the 2-prong outlets. Fixing it is pretty simple if you are comfortable working with wiring.

Those kits are OK, but I might suggest getting yourself some boards like these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CGV6TZG

And a basic component kit such as this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EROKLBC

With those you can practice all you want and come up with your own configurations. Start with getting an LED to light up and go from there.

For a cheap multimeter I like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JQ4O2U

That kit looks pretty good. I would also grab a cheap multimeter like this
http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity%C2%AE-Digital-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Ohmmeter/dp/B00B7CS3UY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1394073996&sr=1-1&keywords=multimeter

If you want to shop around looks at some of the stuff adafruit and sparkfun have

You should be fine with a Harbor Freight tool box. To be honest you can also buy tools and other things from there as well with out much worry. Just don't buy anything from them that will get heavy use under stress. Small tools like screw drivers, allen/hex keys, and grip tools like pliers aren't too bad from them. Just remember that they do deal in cheap tools so don't be surprised when some of them break. The below tools are suggestions and the links are examples for reference only.

• gerber multitool Comes in handy more times than I can count.
  
• ratchet wrenches Great for tight spaces where a ratchet doesn't fit.
  
• mechanical fingers tool Drop something and can't get to it?
  
• flex magnet tool Drop something and can't get to it or see it?
  
• mirror tool Need to see the back of the engine from a different angle?
  
• rechargeable worklight
  
• multimeter For electrical testing purposes
  
• wire crimper For cutting/stipping/crimping connectors onto wires
  
• magnetic tray For holding nuts and bolts or anything metal you don't want to lose.
  
• air compressor For air tools and don't forget to get an air hose attachment.
  
• impact gun Air tool, great for taking nuts/bolts off quick such as wheel lug nuts.
  
• impact sockets For the impact gun.

Thanks, this was really helpful! Since with this blog I finally better understood the process of building pedals, I’ve made up my mind about getting into this and learning as much as possible. It’s a great blog.

I do have a follow up question thou. I’m now making a list of tools I’ll need to get for the job, I already have a few but I’m missing a multimeter. Would [this one](Innova 3320 Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EVYGZA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_A3m-AbTVDFTA0) be good enough?

do you think the higher soc voltage affects ram overclocking? with +0.00 SoC (1.15 with a multimeter), GFX SoC at 1.175 and DRAM at 1.38 I could get 3066mhz, c14 stable (haven’t tried lowering voltages).

have you tried measuring with a multimeter to make sure that HWINFO is accurate? the more results we have the better.

copied from another comment:

the only way to know the actual voltage is to go in and check it with a multimeter. something like this should work just fine for the job. you'll want to take off your case's back panel, put your PC on some gpu load like furmark or firestrike or something, and put one multimeter lead on one circled pin and one lead on the other (if it's negative just flip the leads around) if you've never used a multimeter before, it's easy---just put the red in the red, the black in the black, and set the dial to what's in green.
be careful not to short the two pins together, though.

Hmmmm, about all I can think of other than bad luck is either get a good surge protector if you don't have one or better yet a UPS as someone suggested. And while probably not super necessary having something like this isn't a bad idea to have on hand (this was just the first receptacle tester I found): https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_263_bs_lp_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EE0D91J1R8YBHMQEW8P5

Otherwise I think it is just bad luck or someone is coming into your home and randomly breaking your PS4.

uhhhhhhhh If you say so...

You wouldn't know of good how to for dummies / videos that would go over these?

Also does the quality of mulitmeters really matter if it's just for motorcycle diagnoses? was thinking of getting this, but some of the reviews say it's not that great, what distinguishes a great multimeter from an okay one?

http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426173691&sr=8-1&keywords=multimeter

Get a multimeter. If you buy from the following link, you support an excellent Youtube channel as well:

http://astore.amazon.com/afromods-20/detail/B000JQ4O2U/190-8350356-1062150

I'd highly recommend getting a halfway decent multimeter if you don't have one. Given that you'll have more electrical work to do (and test) after initial diagnosis, you'll get a LOT of value out of a decent multimeter.

Something like this won't break the bank, and all the major functionality you will need to troubleshoot:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVYGZA/

I use this, but there are probably slightly better ones at that price point if you go looking. I like this one because it's auto-ranging, but the whole "battery test" thing seems like nonsense. Hasn't failed me yet in my light usage.

Not possible for all three to be hot. You need to get a tester. They are about 10-25 bucks and can be purchased at any hardware store. Like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-VD6505-Adjustable-Sensor/dp/B000GLAC5G/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1414361365&sr=8-6&keywords=hot+wire+tester

With the power on wave this little unit beside each of the wires. One will be the hot one.

Then with the old switch you need to test the continuity between the different poles. This requires a different type of tool (a multimeter) which can also be purchased at any box hardware shop (lowes, home depot etc). Once you have figured out how the inside of the switch is connected then do the same with the new switch. Hook them up the same as when it worked before and there you go....

Alternatively, depending on the manufacturer of the switch, the common may be marked in the plastic backing of the switch. Quite often it is not and they just use the colors of the poles (brass, silver and black) to tell them apart. This isn't so convenient for people who aren't in the business of wiring switches all the time....

The other thing you should do is go open up the box for the other switch that controls this light and see how that one is hooked up. That can be very helpful as well.

In the picture, the red one is the common. It is not hot. I suspect the black one will be your hot.

I'd buy a fluke if I could justify it... but i can't so i bought this https://www.amazon.com/Mastech-MS8268-MS8261-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000JQ4O2U/ . Its a good balance of good, cheap, and tough.

You might also want to look at the fluke 12E. Its made for the chinese market but makes it way over here. here is a video from AvE talking about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJm9iCha-jM

I did. I searched this subreddit as I trust a group of redditors more than random google results.

I found this multimeter from a post from 2 years ago.

Is it still a good bargain?

Use an IEC splitter cable with a clip-on ferrite. The IEC splitter allows you to neatly wire up all of your power supplies from a single cable. You can fix it in place on your pedalboard, so you'll only need to plug in a single power cable to run all of your Pedal Power units. The ferrite will help dissipate RF interference coming from the mains wiring.

While you're at it, get yourself an outlet tester and a GFCI - it could save your life.

If you’re going to go with option 1, I would recommend buying the book first to see what parts you need. You also might want to consider just buying the parts you need from some place like mouser electronics or sparkfun.

This meter will probably suit your needs better:

https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6

reason78,
i'm no pro engineer and would use a meter just for small projects. So I guess a cheapo meter will be sufficient. On Amazon, I see $10 meters:

• ELIKE T-92 Self-Recovery Digital Multimeter Amp/Ohm/Volt with Diode,Continuity, Capacitance,hFE,IR Detector and Livewire Identification
  
• Topone LCD Digital Ohm VOLT Meter AC DC Voltmeter Multimeter
  
  
  Would love to hear from you all about these inexpensive meters. Which of the 2 is better?

It's a good sign they tested it and some battery places like that do indeed set them up properly. I'd call and tell them your situation and see if they can test the battery they sold you.


I'd pick up a cheap meter. They can be found for less than $15 and have many uses. For most things, a basic cheap one is fine.



https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1521913651&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=dmm&psc=1


edit: Make sure you aren't turning the key too far counter-clockwise and leaving the tail light on (parking light) Not sure if that model has that built in to the key switch and it is not uncommon to have that happen)

-Even metric sockets/wrenches from 8-14 mm
-#2 Phillips screwdriver
-flat blade screw driver
(All above are used for removal and disassembly of the battery)
-multi-meter (for testing battery voltage and checking to make sure you're not grabbing a hot lead) You can get one super cheap at Walmart. You don't need a $100 meter for most basic multi meter usage
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ISAMUA6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1502035847&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=multimeter+digital&dpPl=1&dpID=51BVqQYiV1L&ref=plSrch
-balance charger (for rebalancing the batteries)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017Y2G4Y2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502036066&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=imax+b6ac+v2&dpPl=1&dpID=51GvA3h-MNL&ref=plSrch
-18 gauge wire (I made my own wire harnesses)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LZRV0HV/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1502036364&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=18+gauge+wire&dpPl=1&dpID=51CpIxqIWbL&ref=plSrch
-wire strippers
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000OQ21CA/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502036896&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=wire+strippers&dpPl=1&dpID=415oINm8uRL&ref=plSrch
-spade connectors
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01B1753K2/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1502036854&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=red+spade+connector&dpPl=1&dpID=31HVegxklVL&ref=plSrch
-banana plugs
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00APVQZ8U/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1502036751&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=banana+plugs

Step one: disconnect the isolator cable from the starter battery.

Step 2: find or become a person who understands the electric system you want and has the tools to diagnose what you have. Note, the 12.9 volts on the isolator box or document doesn't make your starter battery have 12.9 volts.

If you get a meter, separate your 2 systems, post here the voltages of the two there will be help.
Harbor Freight has a meter like this one except red
I have a coupon for it free. It comes with enough instructions to measure your battry voltage.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00066ZZO4

Well it has to be something with the electricity in the house, and the chargers are smart enough to sense that and not work (I guess). There is a device you can plug into outlets that can detect issues (really long link below). This is a very useful, cheap, tool that you will use several times over the decades you live/own a home.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sxr_zg_dy_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3525596382&pd_rd_wg=OOxLD&pf_rd_r=25QHY3ETGE3FYBZQ6PF0&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B000RUL2UU&pd_rd_w=cmB9C&pf_rd_i=electrical+tester&pd_rd_r=c6e22401-47d8-437c-8bcf-4a91ca469380&ie=UTF8&qid=1523146792&sr=1

Get somethign like this http://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Outlet-Tester/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452385389&sr=8-1&keywords=outlet+tester make sure the outlet is wired correctly.

If it is then get a really good spurge suppressor possibly one with filtering

Personal favorite cheap dmm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JQ4O2U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_scIuyb89GBR67

A bigger breadboard might be nice as well

Those are the smart sensors, They control the 3 exhaust fans per temp readings. They also act as motion sensors and turn the lights on in the room when I walk in. The white boxes on the right wall are 240v smart switches that control power on/off from my phone manually or triggered by scene i.e. temp to high, or ping failure reboot rig. Energy monitor installed inside breaker box also smart home (Z-Wave). All is controlled by a Vera smart home controller. Links below.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0151Z8ZQY?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MBIRF5W?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XD8WZX6?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01BX9P89Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519912082&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=vera+plus+controller&dpPl=1&dpID=31jWnlwJITL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007ZU69DU?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd

I have this set: Sperry Instruments STK001 Non-Contact Voltage Tester (VD6504) & GFCI Outlet / Receptacle Tester (GFI6302) Kit, Electrical AC Voltage Detector, 2 Pc. Pk., Yellow & Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JGQAQ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PR6GAb5KTG4Y6

Basically the plug tests to make sure the outlet is wired properly. You can also use it in a short GFCI run and it will ensure it's wired properly and let you trip the GFCI outlet for testing sake.

Or if you pull the outlet out of the wall you can check to see if it is truly wired properly.

Edit: just remember too, just because that outlet is wired properly doesn't mean the whole run is. This is in regard to physical inspection.

Try to buy cheap junk from Walmart or Amazon until you know exactly what you want. You don't need a $60 pair of pliers or a $300 drill when you're learning.

• Safety glasses
  
  
• Linesman pliers (high leverage pliers that can also cut wires)
  
  
• Diagonal cutting pliers (wire cutters)
  
  
• Long reach needle nose pliers
  
  
• Wire strippers.
  
  
• 25 foot tape measure
  
  
• Hammer
  
  
• Multimeter that can check voltage and resistance. It doesn't need to be accurate.
  
  
• Receptacle tester that looks like this
  
  
• No contact voltage tester like this
  
  
• A magnetic dish for holding screws. Seriously. Losing screws is not fun. A big magnet can also be useful if you drop a bunch of screws or nails on the floor.
  
  
• Ziplock bags. I always end up needing bags for things. A small bag full of clean napkins is a great thing to have.
  
  
• Knife with a sheepsfoot blade like this
  
  
• Tool box. Get one that is big and cheap. I paid $10 for mine and it holds everything listed above.

I generally go with Dave Jones' opinion on these matters. Lucky for you, there's an EEVblog $50 multimeter shootout video. Don't think you'll find a more qualified opinion or thorough comparison anywhere.

Spoiler: The Extech EX330 is the winner.

Start with a good meter. A Fluke 115 or a 117 is a good first choice for a entry-level avionics work.

I stayed strictly in avionics and never dumped money into a toolbox --- I bought a Snapon bag, and a good tackle / pin box for my contacts, terminals, splices, etc. I love that it's more portable, but big enough for everything I need.

Lol. Chuckle Butt has been in your same shoes before! Folks call it different things. https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeter-MSR-R500-Electronic-Multimeters/dp/B01N9QW620

And then can test it https://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/lessons/electronics/understanding-dc-power-supplies/

It's fairly common. Worth at least asking around.

I wouldn't rely on anything that cheap, it's just in my truck toolbox for quick charging system checks. Something I can run over and not care about.

Generally anything sub-$100 is considered "cheap" by multimeter standards, Fluke makes the most popular meters, really the industry workhorses. They have a new entry level model called the 101 for $70.

The Extech EX330 is a popular cheaper model, I've seen it as low as $40.

Edit: Check out this video, the EX330 was the favorite of the bunch.

I have an Extech EX330, the auto ranging is a little slow, but otherwise it's a great accurate budget minded meter.

Get one that can check continuity. Continuity is continuous flow electrons through wiring. I bought this one for $10.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9QW620

You want to test the connections to the RCA terminations. RED and WHITE wires are the center post on the RCA. GREEN is the barrel of the connection on the Red RCA. Blue is the barrel of the connection on the White RCA. Specifically, you are looking for see if there is a short. This would be indicative of continuity being crossed in the wires. Specifically, hum will occur if you get cross polarity. So you should as an example, only have continuity from the GREEN wire to the barrel of the Red Connector. If you also have continuity to the post, you likely have a broken solder joint in the RCA. Or you have a broken wire in the tonearm. You are doing diagnostics, you'll have to use your brain to actually figure out the proper fix. I will state that terminating a new RCA plug to a turntables wiring can be tough. There are very small wires. You'll need a really good wire stripper for the positive wires. There are very few strands of wire in a tonearm conductor, so you really can't afford to break any of them. I've done it and I'm better at mechanical than I am at electrical stuff. So, it can be done. But you have to be patient. If you don't thing you have the right tool, it's good chance you don't. The wire is generally something like 30AWG. So look for a pair with 20AWG - 30AWG. Typically, house hold wire strippers only go to 18AWG. Don't even try to use ones you have lying around. The one's I've linked might work.

20-30 gauge wire strippers

I can recommend this $25 Mastech for hobby usage. I picked one up five years ago and it's still going great.

i went with this Extech EX330, all the good features including non-contact voltage widowmaker, includes a temp probe too, good quality as evidenced by the eevblog shootout, moderately cheap. im not a mechanic though :/

Yes, you are just cutting out the inefficient wall-wart that (in a DC-AC-DC system) wastes your battery for no reason! That 4A is based on that AC conversion, so will most likely pull less than 4A under actual DC use. Also, don't forget that's the MAX the AC adapter will provide, so you should be good. As was said... watch your battery closely.

A good idea is to buy a simple DROK DC meter (I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017FSED9I). It'll tell you the battery voltage, and the power used by the end devices attached.

IMPRESSIVE!

We need to go deeper! But seriously, well done! so for a USB killawatt you could always use something like this. Do you have any plans to enclose it in some kind of a case?

My 92 e350 diesel struggled to start in the cold last weekend, and I thought it was the battery. I probed it and it was fully charged. So I just put it in 2nd gear and let it roll out of the driveway. The movement of the engine allowed it to turn over and I guess warmed it up, and then it started just fine.

So it may not be the battery, it may just be the cold. Diesels have a much harder time starting in the cold than gasoline engines. So, I'd recommend getting a voltmeter. When its not starting, check the voltage. If the voltage is 12.8, then its fully charged. If its down to 11.2, then its empty. I am not sure what voltage is required to start, probably around 12, maybe a little less.

This cheap one on amazon should do the trick: https://smile.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518214456&sr=8-3&keywords=voltmeter&dpID=51BVqQYiV1L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

If it is the battery, likely there is a power drain somewhere. Those can be very hard to track down, so the best option in that case is to disconnect the batteries. There are battery disconnect switches you can put in the engine compartment. Those are also super useful to not get your rig stolen, as you can make it hard to find / not obvious.

Or maybe its the battery. Look for a battery mechanic in your area. Often they will test your current battery for free, and my experience has been that they don't try to scam you.

If you don't have one, they're pretty cheap on Amazon: link
I use one of these on every electrical project on my jeep for sure

I used this one for 5+ years and it never let me down, good features and a nice big display while being cheap. Only downside is the amp mode doesnt have a fuse so be careful not to put it across a battery like that.

One tool you may not have that will make it a lot safer is a Non contact voltage meter basically you touch the outlet and it will beep if it detects a current. Just incase your breakers aren’t labeled correctly, etc, it’s cheap peace of mind.

Then it’s basically a Phillips head and flat head screw driver. The screws on the sides of the outlets are different colors, make sure they are connected to the correct wire, take pictures of the outlets before you unhook any wires so you’ll know how it goes.

Granted at work we have some pretty badass meters.

All we do is take it and measure the voltage across the DC load and switch the meter to measure AC. It will autoscale to the amount of AC noise in the circuit. The limits for noise in an acceptable power supply in our test consoles are like ±12mVAC in a 15VDC power supply. And these meters measure that low very accurately.

Edit for clarification: You don't need to show a sine waveform to show noise, you can just use the ac part of the meter.

I'd recommend buying a very small and cheap multi meter. You can measure the resistance of the wire without ever having to coil it so you can get a ballpark estimate, most of the time it'll be pretty close if the wire is cut to length.

Something like this

Oh, they are way cheaper than that in places. And also, you can get a simple LED test light for a few bucks. Only tells if there's power, but it's often enough to do the job.

EDIT: LOL this is the el cheapo beater I got: https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6 It's all you need!

I've heard good things about this one http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA as an entry-level unit. Unlike the HF one, it is auto-ranging so a little more beginner friendly.

If your budget allows, get yourself a Fluke. If you're only scraping by, a Harbor Freight one will get you started.

An auto ranging multi meter with A K type thermocouple provides a very good thermometer, or you could order a standalone K type thermocouple display.

The extech 330 is a good quality to price ratio:
http://www.amazon.com/Extech-EX330-Autoranging-Multimeter-Thermometer/dp/B000EX0AE4/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1375668730&sr=8-15&keywords=Multimeter

The fluke 116 HVAC is the "buy it for life" meter.
http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-116-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000NI69YA

If you are going to be carrying on for a while in this hobby (and I highly recommend it!), then adding a cheap multimeter to your toolkit (and learning a bit about how to use it) would be a good plan.

Lady Ada sums it up nicely: http://www.ladyada.net/learn/multimeter/ I will say I disagree with her/Bob Pease's comments on the usefulness of a temperature probe. I had an apartment once with an oven that lacked markings on the control knob. A sharpie and my multimeter with thermocouple fixed that problem. 8D

They are mostly a commodity item at this point, unless you got Fluke money (I got a used Fluke 89-IV for ~$175 on eBay a few years ago, score).

I'd think this one should work well: http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA/

Get an inexpensive AC non-contact voltage tester - I have this one and it works well. You can adjust the sensitivity so it beeps when near powered wires, or very close to find which wire is live. This will help give you confidence and help troubleshoot.

Old wiring is often not what you expect. Often, many outlets are in series from one wire, where the neutral wire is not available. Sometimes, they might have used a white/black pair for a switch, where neither is neutral. It's supposed to be marked but don't count on it.

Well then buy a 117 and be done with it. Happy day.

GFCI outlets on a GFCI circuit breaker? I think that's overkill unless there was some funny wiring going on.

Here is a tester that will show if the outlet is wired correctly and if it's GFCI protected. Might be worth the $5 for piece of mind:

Sperry Instruments GFI6302 GFCI Outlet / Receptacle Tester, Standard 120V AC Outlets, 7 Visual Indication / Wiring Legend, Home & Professional Use, Yellow & Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cUWeAbQG51J7V

ETA: There could also be another GFCI outlet on the circuit that you don't know about that is providing GFCI protection. The GFCI outlet that was protecting the other outlets in our bathroom was under the sink, tucked under a shelf that I did not notice for two years until the outlets stopped working and I needed to find out why.

It's a good investment, you can test batteries, check if an outlet is powered, and all kinds of useful stuff. Here's one for $11.99.

It wasn't the fuse, it was a short somewhere else. Removing the fuse just made it so that no electricity went through that circuit, therefore the battery wouldn't get drained. It is like turning a breaker off in your house - a whole bunch of systems will suddenly not be getting any electricity.

​

The idea is to figure out "Is power being drained out of the battery when nothing is happening?" I tested it with a very typical multimeter like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ISAMUA6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

I detached one side of the car battery terminals. My friend held the multimeter leads, one multimeter lead on the battery and the other on the loose wire that would normally attach to the battery terminal. When the element was off, about 0.2 amps registered as being used on the multimeter, meaning that it was using power when nothing should be happening.

There are two sets of fuses, one under the steering wheel by the pedals and one under the hood. There is a fuse puller inside one of the fuse boxes. Look in your car manual and it will show you a diagram of your fuses. While he watched the multimeter, I would detach fuses one-by-one. I would pull a fuse, yell "OUT" and he would yell "NO" if the amperage usage did not change after the fuse was pulled. Eventually I pulled as fuse called "Back Up" in the fuse diagram and that 0.2 amps went down to 0. That was our problem circuit. Luckily for me that circuit has things that are not necessary on it, so I just left the fuse out.

Id start with something line this starter set, a 3/8 breaker bar, 1/2 breaker bar, a Decent torque wrench, a plier set, vice grips, channel locks, adjustable wrench, screw driver set, a multimeter, decent scan tool, a jack, a funnell some drain pans from walmart, pb blaster, jack stands and make some wheel chocks. I'm sure I'm missing something pertinent, but remember you can rent some tools at your local parts store for free with a deposit so check to see what they rent before you buy. Also buy the remainder of the tools as you need them, its tough buying a lot of tools at once especially once you develop an affinity for some quality tools. A lot of the youtube guys have videos on what they use they most, but what I've listed should cover most maintenance tasks for your car.

I purchased a Mastech Multimeter about 6 years ago for about 25 dollars, and it's working just fine for me. Yes, it doesn't have the name as a Fluke, but it works just fine for everyday purposes. Unless you really need the accuracy, a Mastech meter will work fine, especially as a student. This is the model I purchased. 25 dollars, and has everything you will need.

I have an aeotec home energy monitor attached to the phases in my panel box and reports to an app

Aeotec by Aeon Labs ZW095 ZW095-A Home Energy Meter Gen5, Small, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XD8WZX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2eI4CbX4944QA
You could just as easily attach it to the wires going to the circuit the washing machine is on to monitor it

I use a gfci outlet tester. They are pretty cheap, and check that the wiring is as it should be (hot, neutral and ground in the right place). There is a button on it that will trip a gfci breaker to make sure it works as it should.

http://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Outlet-Tester/dp/B000RUL2UU

The location of the power supply doesn't have anything to do with it, the power supply still takes in 120V AC Power and converts it to 12V DC power. When you have a ground fault that circuit will feed back through the line in an attempt to get to earth. I would highly recommend checking your outlet/surge protector with something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU/

If your outlet is still good, I would return the printer if you can.

Getting a sunpower/enphase system installed in the next few months, will have the basic Envoy system installed so I can see production data. I want to also see data on my house consumption and export to grid. Installer recommended Sense.

Sense seems expensive and overkill (don't care about what appliance is drawing power, machine learning), would this device enable me to see consumption and export? Aeotec by Aeon Labs ZW095 ZW095-A Home Energy Meter Gen5, Small, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XD8WZX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fUYuDbGC2Q2T5

I have a home automation hub with Zwave (hass.io) that can read and crunch the inputs from both the aeotec meter and the Enphase Envoy. My hope is that I can use the aeotec to see what power coming and going out, and combine that data with the Envoy production to see production, consumption, and export..

This is concerning, the nominal voltage range for an 18650 is 3.6-3.7 and the maximum voltage on a full charge might hit closer to 4.3v. What charger are you using, and what volt meter.

I would still recommend picking up a true multi meter, it dosen't have to be a fluke or a klein, just something that gives an accurate reading.

It was pretty common in homes of a certain era to install a GFCI outlet and then daisy-chain a bunch of outlets, even in an entirely different room, off that one GFCI outlet.

It might not be obvious how the circuit is run, you can pick up a cheap test tool at the hardware store with a GFCI-test button on it, that will trigger the GFCI in the chain, if one exists.

People are hypersensitive about recommending DIY work on electrical on the internet. I get it, you have no idea who you're talking to and what they're going to do with the advice. But the same people have no problem giving advice for building structural elements, masonry work, or plumbing. Sure, you won't burn your house down, but it doesn't mean you can't destroy it.

Anyway, we're not talking about running wires, selecting gauges or making any significant wiring decisions. If the wiring is prepped properly this should be a straightforward exercise. Use your head, read the directions, turn off the breaker before hand, ask questions if you get stuck. I would recommend getting a cheap multimeter if you don't have one; always smart to double check the line is dead with a DMM before working. They're insanely cheap now, and every homeowner should have one. Here's one for $9.

I've used this one for many years.

It lacks capacitor- and transistor-testing modes, but it was designed mainly for automotive use, and for the price, it's very good.

If you are lucky, then the problem is with the power supply. Do you have a multimeter? You can get a cheap one on Amazon for $6:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00066ZZO4

If you open up the projector and post some pictures of the inside, I can give you some troubleshooting instructions that might help.

> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JQ4O2U/afromods-20 I hear this one is good.

Of the one's you posted, this is the only one which is both auto-ranging and has a fused high-current port. It also has an audible warning when the probes are in the wrong jacks. For $25 it looks like a good value.

Fluke 117
I have this one and love it.

Yes, this. You can use a [digital multimeter] (https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Volt-Diode/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1495404991&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=digital+multimeter&psc=1) to test the impedance. I'd recommend doing this if you are planning on using the speakers that this connector belongs to.

Nice to know!

A handy tool for debugging current issues are these small current meters for USB. They can be had for quite cheap on eBay as well.

You're going to need to buy an aftermarket radio, speakers, and some electrical tools like a multimeter, some wire cutters/strippers/crimpers. They're often sold as one big tool at places like Autozone and Walmart.

You can get as fancy as you want or stay as practical as you want. You can buy 4 speakers, one for each door, and that should cover any generic radio. But depending on the radio, you may have up to 8 or more speakers you could wire in.

The radio will come with a plug connector and a diagram. You're going to need to wire in ground, and switched 12 volt to power the thing. This can be accomplished by grounding your negative terminal to the chassis of the car, having the key off, and poking around, then turning the key to the accesory position (right before you actually crank the engine)

So, once you've found your ground and 12v, disconnect the battery, run some wires, and use butt connectors to connect the ground and 12v wires from your new radio to the car's electrical system.

Then, you just need to figure out a way to mount the radio in place, mount the speakers in the doors, and run wires to them. You'll probably have to pull the dash out, drill holes in your doors, and route the cables with some protective cover to keep them from getting pinched in the door.

The speakers also have a positive and a negative, so you'll need to run two wires for each speaker. Use your multimeter, and you can test the speakers before acutally crimping them by just putting the wires together. It won't shock you or anything. Crimp all your connections, and clean everything back up.

Then you're good to go!

It's pretty involved but if you know what you're doing it isn't hard. If you have no idea, I'd start with swapping out an older car's radio for an aftermarket one.

That is overkill for what you need. You can normally find them for under $10 bucks at harbor freight. Parts places would have some, but might bend you over for one. If you want a nice one for the money this is the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311290504&sr=8-2

Also, you do not need a test light if you have a multimeter, you can set it to audible continuity test and it will beep if you have power.

Truth! You don't need a Fluke or anything fancy. A $20 meter is more than adequate. Though I kinda wonder what al you get with a $200 multimeter now.

I have this one and it works great.

You should get this one if you don't need it immediately. I have it, it works great.

If the dishwasher is plugged into a outlet you can access, you can buy a cheap outlet tester like this one on Amazon
and see if your wiring is good. Sorry if this was already suggested somewhere. :P You can find the plug testers at any hardware store too.

$30?! I knew I shouldn’t have bought these:

Aeotec Home Energy Meter Gen5, Z-Wave Plus Smart Electricity Usage Monitor, Report Real Time Power Consumption, 2 Clamps, Each Detects up to 200 amps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XD8WZX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5WvRBbZ09D7XQ

Make sure they're Alkalines, I forget what the old style is called but you don't want your bass to die in the middle of the gig because you saved $1 on your battery. I get the Duracell Pro Cell packs from Amazon, they come out to $1.50 each. They're just normal Duracells but they're good quality and I like the labeling, it's easier to write the installation date on the side of the battery with a sharpie.

It's worth getting a basic multimeter or at least a tester, alkaline batteries don't die all at once, the voltage gradually sags, they read about 9.5V right out of the package and over time they'll droop to 8V, 7V, etc. I've had a lot of basses that are much punchier with full voltage and gradually lose punch and just sound kind of thin and weak until I put in a new battery again. I've had other basses that don't seem to care as much.

Yeah I used a nice fluke when I was doing high school robotics. Right now I've got my eyes on the Brymen BM235

Had the same problem,it was my rosewill green 600W PSU. You need to test that power supply with either a PSU tester like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005UZHB6G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T1_n9BnzbJWS4NY7 or a DVOM like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B7CS3UY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T1_a-BnzbAV7N36P

Do you have a multimeter?

Set it AC and check the R wire w/ the hot (red) lead and the C should be your negative/common (black) and the multimeter should show about 24V.

this is like an outlet where you have a positive and a neutral wire, these 2 wire are what the ecobee needs at minimum to turn on.

Some ceilings have cats. Be on the lookout for that.

I am assuming that you're already following the suggestions about vent size and shape...

In home electrical stuff, there are three wires for 110v circuits: Hot (usually black, though can be red or blue,) Neutral (white,) and ground (either green or uninsulated copper.)

Power flows through a completed circuit between the neutral and hot wired. Ground is there to catch any stray electrons that might leak, and divert them to a safe place (deep into the earth; note that ground is called "earth" in the UK.) Ground gets connected to metal casings, boxes, cabinets, chassis, etc. Anything conductive that a person could possibly touch should be connected to ground. (Neutral runs to ground at some point. If Hot gets grounded, or touches Neutral, that's a short circuit, and should pop a breaker.)

First, find the breaker switch (or fuse) that provides power to your ceiling fan's circuit. If your fan is busted and has no light in it, you may need to hook something else up to the white & black to find the right circuit. Note: If the circuit wasn't wired correctly (the most common problem is switching hot & neutral,) then you can get zapped from the fan wiring EVEN IF THE WALL SWITCH IS TURNED OFF! The HOT (black) wire must be the one that gets switched. Neutral should be a straight run to your breaker box.

You can check to see if a circuit is wired correctly using a small, cheap device like this circuit tester.

I am assuming that you're already following the suggestions about vent size and shape...

In home electrical stuff, there are three wires for 110v circuits: Hot (usually black, though can be red or blue,) Neutral (white,) and ground (either green or uninsulated copper.)

Power flows through a completed circuit between the neutral and hot wired. Ground is there to catch any stray electrons that might leak, and divert them to a safe place (deep into the earth; note that ground is called "earth" in the UK.) Ground gets connected to metal casings, boxes, cabinets, chassis, etc. Anything conductive that a person could possibly touch should be connected to ground. (Neutral runs to ground at some point. If Hot gets grounded, or touches Neutral, that's a short circuit, and should pop a breaker.)

First, find the breaker switch (or fuse) that provides power to your ceiling fan's circuit. If your fan is busted and has no light in it, you may need to hook something else up to the white & black to find the right circuit. Note: If the circuit wasn't wired correctly (the most common problem is switching hot & neutral,) then you can get zapped from the fan wiring EVEN IF THE WALL SWITCH IS TURNED OFF! The HOT (black) wire must be the one that gets switched. Neutral should be a straight run to your breaker box. You should shut off the breaker when doing any work on the wiring.

You can check to see if a circuit is wired correctly using a small, cheap device like this circuit tester. That type is designed for testing wall receptacles, but once you identify the hot prong (small prong, on appliances,) neutral (large prong, with "wings",) and ground (round one, bottom middle,) you're headed in the right direction.

Well so one additional detail is that (prior to USB C) the combination of charger and phone dictate whether the full ~2.4A is actually drawn. The requirements are a bit different for phones from different vendors, which is why many charger vendors advertise compatibility with different manufacturers' phones (e.g. Anker PowerIQ). So just because a charger can feed a phone 2.4A doesn't mean it'll actually hit that. You can measure the current flow using a USB power meter that sits between the phone and charger (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01D9Y6ZFW/ ).


But yes, if your old charger is actually able to feed its full rated power to the 950XL, then it's not much slower than the fastest the phone can take, which would come from a charger with 3A max output and a USB-C connector, plugged into the phone via a USB C-to-C cable.

I've got a older eFest LUC V4 that I use to charge my 18650's (had a Nitecore before that) that also does the USB out thing.

Do you have a USB voltage reader? Like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01D9Y6ZFW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493382857&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=usb+voltage+meter&psc=1

Depends if the Nitecore has a regulating chip for the USB output. If it is just straight output in series with 2 18650's you'd have 8.4v when they are fully charged and about 6.4v when the batteries are fully depleted. Theoretically the output would spend most of its time at 7.4v (3.7x times 2) (Edit:So there has to be a voltage regulator on board. )but since you have a vape I suppose you know how batteries perform.

Back when I got into vaping regulated boxes were not a thing and we had to know ohms law and all that. Hard to believe that was only 4 years ago, the tech has come a long way from flashlight batteries and a tube!

I don't have 2 fully charged batteries right now but if I get a chance I'll configure mine and see what the output is. Charging the 2nd 18650 now...

Wire strippers

• http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-Tools-2078309-Stripper/dp/B000JNNWQ2/ref=lp_553398_1_2?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1414522903&sr=1-2
  
  Cheap multimeter
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Digital-Voltmeter-Ohmmeter-Multimeter/dp/B00B7CS3UY/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1414522961&sr=1-1&keywords=multimeter
  
  Outlet tester w/GFCI
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Outlet-Tester/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1414522993&sr=1-1&keywords=outlet+tester
  
  Heat shrink tubing
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/b?node=700782011
  
  Cheap work light
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Bayco-SL-1002-Halogen-Project-Light/dp/B000FW7UH4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414523082&sr=8-1&keywords=work+light
  
  A massive supply of various writing tools -- sharpies, grease pencils, carpenter's pencils.
  
  Should be able to pick all that up for <$100 and it'll make your life easier.
  

Waterlox should be great for the bathroom. If you have one of those outlet testers you could double check but if the electrician did it, it's probably fine.

Buy a multimeter and start going through each connection. Check continuity throughout. You said you changed the ignition coils? Try putting the old ones back on and see if that works.
If it still doesn't then check to make sure the new spark plugs aren't the problem.

OP Please do not test this outlet this way. OP stated that the outlet works sometimes and does not other times. Sounds like a short and would not want to risk the short presenting itself at the wrong time and having OP try to work on a live circuit thinking it was off.

https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-STK001-Non-Contact-Receptacle/dp/B002JGQAQ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541862977&sr=8-4&keywords=line+voltage+tester

I would recommend using this combanation of tools to be safe when working on electrical devices. The one that is not a wall plug can be used to quickly tell if a wire is hot. Hold the button down, touch it to the wire and it will beep if its hot.

In this particular case DO NOT rely soley on if power is coming through items plugged into the switch, as this appears to be a problem.

You could use a device like this.

Eversame USB Digital Power Meter Tester Multimeter Current and Voltage Monitor, DC 5.1A 30V Amp Voltage Power Meter, Test Speed of Chargers, Cables, Capacity of Power Banks-Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D9Y6ZFW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_FKs2Bb5ENXJ69

I use these to test power banks quite often and it works well.

https://www.amazon.com/AstroAI-Digital-Multimeter-Voltage-Tester/dp/B01ISAMUA6/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540653655&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=digital+multimeter&dpPl=1&dpID=51dzG5HxUUL&ref=plSrch something like this. No need for something expensive. Most auto parts store sell them as well

Measure what? The input voltage and current that go inside the Pi? Or the output voltage and current that goes into the GPIO pins?

Normal computers don't constantly log these values because they don't need them. Basically they only measure the extremes. If the voltage is too low or too high they shut down.

But you can measure any value externally, using multimeters, oscilloscopes, and other devices. There are some USB power supplies that measure the voltage and current that flows through them, and in this way the user can know how much current the Pi is consuming.

https://www.amazon.com/PowerJive-Voltage-Multimeter-chargers-capacity/dp/B013FANC9W

http://raspi.tv/2016/raspberry-pi-zero-1-3-power-usage-with-camera