MJLorton Solar Power and Electronic Measurement Equipment Forum
Competitions and Giveaways => Competitions and Giveaways => Topic started by: Administrator on May 18, 2012, 04:45:28 PM
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I will be giving away the Major Tech MT1887 / Extech EX530:
The Major Tech MT1887 / Extech EX530 is a 40 000 count multimeter with IP67 dustproof / waterproof rating.
The video review can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZCU_9_xesU
To enter this giveaway (25 July 2012) just post a reply here with:
* Your name:
* The country and city you live in:
* Note one of the issues that I found annoying with the MT1887.
* Upload a picture of your lab...or of yourself and your favorite multimeter...or your backyard or neighborhood.
You can enter all the competitions and giveaways...but you can't win more than once every three months.
Cheers,
Martin.
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Does promoting your video back in Jan 2012 count? ;)
See
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/choices-choices-(multimeters-again)/msg82027/#msg82027
From Alberta, Canada. Photo to follow when it is daylight and not raining.
PS. The answer is also in the above post.
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One of the issues you found annoying with this multimeter was that the digital screen's update rate is slow, only twice second to be precise. The same applies to the analog bar graph.
Name: Róbert Biró
Country and city: Romania, Csíkszereda (officially Miercurea Ciuc).
Photo: I work for a small local NGO who's aim is to implement small scale developments in villages, so I would like to show you a photo (attached) of the area which I work in.
Cheers! :)
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Does promoting your video back in Jan 2012 count? ;)
See
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/choices-choices-(multimeters-again)/msg82027/#msg82027
From Alberta, Canada. Photo to follow when it is daylight and not raining.
PS. The answer is also in the above post.
LOL! Yes...that 59 minute video ;-)
Answer noted...look forward to the picture....good luck.
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One of the issues you found annoying with this multimeter was that the digital screen's update rate is slow, only twice second to be precise. The same applies to the analog bar graph.
Name: Róbert Biró
Country and city: Romania, Csíkszereda (officially Miercurea Ciuc).
Photo: I work for a small local NGO who's aim is to implement small scale developments in villages, so I would like to show you a photo (attached) of the area which I work in.
Cheers! :)
Hi Róbert,
Stunning picture....you are a lucky man. Thanks for entering...good luck.
Cheers,
Martin.
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Name: Jesper Ĺhman
From: Sweden, Ljungby
Annoying about DMM: In the Min-Max-feature it doesn't give any timestamp or duration where the value occured. Nor does it have average.
Latest pic of my lab when it's not a total mess:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9371469/DSC_0026.JPG)
As you can see I've got to few fairly good multimeters ;)
Cheers!
Edit: By the way, that old scanner to the right isn't a scanner any longer, it's my Sweeping LED-UV-box for PCB-making.
Also, I'm only 18 years old so far without any education in electronics. I'll start my engineer-studies this autumn though.
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Hello,
Name: Paulo Angélico
Londrina, PR - Brazil
The fragility of the selector is the biggest problem for me.
The low refresh rate of the bar graph is also a point to make.
My lab in Brazil. I am a physics teacher.
(http://pibiduel.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/angelicos_lab1.jpg)
I build low cost experiments to use in teaching physics.
I also build antennas for reception of shortwave and medium wave.
My blog: pibiduel.wordpress.com
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One of the issues that you found annoying with this multimeter is the slow response of the continuity buzzer.
Name: Ken Williams
Country and city: Merrimack, NH, USA
Photos: My backyard in winter and summer
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* Mirc Cinku
* Slovenia, Skofja Loka
* Display update
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Name: Roberto Pratti
country and city: Serra - ES / Brazil
Don’t have the option to change the duration of the back light, and the same button integrates “HOLD” and BACK LIGHT functions.
Photos: Future lab of my father and me (if my Mother don't change of idea).
(http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/kakizaki/newlab.jpg)
My multimeters and my new Rigol DS1052E Oscilloscope.
(http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm92/kakizaki/Multimeter.jpg)
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My Name Oliver King (ollyk22 on youtube)
I live in Stockport, UK
An annoying feature in the video was the fact that the grommets and test leads were difficult to manipulate.
My bench...
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Hi Martin,
Atis Kozulis
Latvia, Ikskile
You didn't seem to be annoyed ;), but if I have to choose (something that could) I'd bet on a general response time - slow (measurement display, bar graph, continuity); IP67 could be ignored and selector - as long as it works.
My favorite/everyday multimeter - UNI-T (R) MY-68 :D (I wish I could trust what's written on it, but ..., looking for something trustworthy)
Cheers!
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Hello Martin,
* Norman Yeung
* Concord, California USA
* Note one of the issues that I found annoying with the MT1887.
Since one of the advantages of this meter is weather proof, the condition of the O ring seals are definitley critical to the meter.
My opinion:
The location of the fuses can be better. The O ring seals are subjected to the risk of being not tight seal again after separation, especially when closing the case by applying improper or uneven torque (mostly likely not to the manufacturer specification) to the self tapping screws. This also will accelerate the deterioration of the seals if not handle properly.
My suggestion:
At least relocate the 0.5A fuse next to the battery compartment with easy access or upgrade the 0.5A ceramic fuse to a resettable fuse to avoid opening the case and tamapering the factory seals.
* Upload a picture of my lab:
Thanks for sharng.
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Hey Martin, your videos are quite nice to watch actually, that's what i like about your videos, no not that, it's that you can speak in a engaging manner but makes me think twice about hitting 'close tab'
Name : Dave Seether
Country Of Residence : Singapore
Generally your biggest bugbear with the Extech is that you do not like the slow update rate and the "analog" bargraph is painfully slow.
My opinion? :
Well , they could have used the same chipset as Uni-T but obviously they can't so they are out of luck
the self tappers and the O-rings make a "darwinian" moment because soon enough the self tappers will chew the case for dinner
My suggestion ! :
Machined brass inserts and normal metal threaded screws is best
They need to find a faster chipset, the UT61E is claimed to be around 1-2 updates per second in the datasheet but it looks like it is pretty fast, so yes, same for the "analog" bargraph
Still a nice meter anyway, just a little weird design as with all extech's but it's okay in my eyes ( of the beholder )
Here's a picture of my lab and my favourite meter of course the UT61E alongside a minipa ET-845 and oddly a wavetek DM5XL but ah well will get a used APPA 96 and most possibly a YH-187 and another UT61E plus a VC99 and also a U1252 down the road, and also a Tek DMM830 if i can find one at a steal
But heck, still a good meter
In my town, it would be impossible to find a good extech or a good meter like the UT61E and not expect it to be outrageously overpriced
(i found a UT10A but it was like 18USD so figure it out, and the most decent meter easily found is the UT33A the other brands are shit, and so move up to either fluke, agilent, or other ancient meters)
(http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr283/DarkShadower/IMAG0014.jpg)
Indecent exposure ... talking about phone cameras
(http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr283/DarkShadower/IMAG0013-1.jpg)
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Hi,
Omar Hussein. From London, UK. You found the fact that it did not time stamp the Min / Max values annoying and it does not have an average value.
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Hey Martin, your videos are quite nice to watch actually, that's what i like about your videos, no not that, it's that you can speak in a engaging manner but makes me think twice about hitting 'close tab'
Name : Dave Seether
Country Of Residence : Singapore
Generally your biggest bugbear with the Extech is that you do not like the slow update rate and the "analog" bargraph is painfully slow.
My opinion? :
Well , they could have used the same chipset as Uni-T but obviously they can't so they are out of luck
the self tappers and the O-rings make a "darwinian" moment because soon enough the self tappers will chew the case for dinner
My suggestion ! :
Machined brass inserts and normal metal threaded screws is best
They need to find a faster chipset, the UT61E is claimed to be around 1-2 updates per second in the datasheet but it looks like it is pretty fast, so yes, same for the "analog" bargraph
Still a nice meter anyway, just a little weird design as with all extech's but it's okay in my eyes ( of the beholder )
Here's a picture of my lab and my favourite meter of course the UT61E alongside a minipa ET-845 and oddly a wavetek DM5XL but ah well will get a used APPA 96 and most possibly a YH-187 and another UT61E plus a VC99 and also a U1252 down the road, and also a Tek DMM830 if i can find one at a steal
But heck, still a good meter
In my town, it would be impossible to find a good extech or a good meter like the UT61E and not expect it to be outrageously overpriced
(i found a UT10A but it was like 18USD so figure it out, and the most decent meter easily found is the UT33A the other brands are shit, and so move up to either fluke, agilent, or other ancient meters)
Hi Dave,
Thanks very much for the post and feedback, I certainly appreciate it.
Good luck with the giveaway.
Cheers,
Martin.
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My name's Alex Maclean, and I live in Liskeard, England.
One of the issues you noted with the meter, which is probably the one which would annoy me the most, is the incredibly stiff input jacks. I tend to swap cables around like a lunatic.
Another one which would bother me is the limited backlight duration. Personally I think a temporary backlight on a multimeter is next to useless. They're not watches.
Here's a photo of my 'lab', such as it is, where I'm presently attempting to repair an oscilloscope which is rather older than I am:
(http://monkeh.net/pics/Scope%20under%20repair.jpg)
I apologise for the phone cameraness. I really couldn't be bothered to go get my decent camera :) Since taking that photo, I've found and repaired the fault!
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Hi Martin,
My name is Sjoerd Beukers, I live in the Netherlands in Spijkenisse just under Rotterdam.
My favorite multimeter is the uni-t 71E despite all it's problems.
One of the issues of the multimeter was the slow update speed of the bar graph.
This is my lab and the multimeter.
Sorry for the poor quality. You only allow uploads of max 300kb
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Hello MJ,
Name: Elvis
Country: Austria (EU)
What I found about this multimeter as you said in your videos:
The turning central knob for range settings is not robust, you could easily take it off, and the small hindges underneeth it are not high enough to stop motion of rotating outside the range, beside that you are disapointed for slow continuity and graph update rate.
Here is my "corner" it's not a lab for now, and sadly my two multimeters, one is from Conrad for 5€ :/ and other one is Analog one preety complicated to use.
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Hi Martin!
I'm Jakub from Pabianice in Poland.
One of the annoying things you found in the Major Tech was outrageously slow continuity tester (0,25-0,5s response)
As you can see my lab is not superbly equipped, so I could certainly use a nice meter like the Major Tech. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures...
And I know you enjoy watches, Martin. That there is the Casio G-Shock G3111 ;)
I love your videos btw!
Greetings from Poland
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Hey, thanks for mentioning my blog in the T4D Video!
Elia Ritterbusch
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Something you found annoying: The bargraph update rate is as slow as the update rate of the digits
A photo of my bench is attached.
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i hope you continue your arduino tutorials..
* Cesar Santos
* Saudi Arabia
* i cannot see any logic to sell Cat III Meter with a Cat II only probe??? but i think MT1887 is a good buy for its price.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_hHWm-3sX8U/T8-8j6BRCkI/AAAAAAAAAHw/uG8KQpkAz24/s640/P6060065.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H-lLc_9Jtzk/T8-8j7hW0FI/AAAAAAAAAH0/TOIoOv3tO8E/s640/P6060064.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-FmJYvyncnGY/T8-8jQVnkmI/AAAAAAAAAHs/WPA6qOPZZWU/s640/P6060063.jpg)
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Hi Martin,
My name is Henry Ellingsen. I live in the US, south of Seattle, Washington, in the city of Edgewood.
Your issue of the slow update rate for viewing the analog scale would be the same as mine. My old Fluke 77 that I purchased new in 1977, was my first and only digital multimeter, and would never have seen its way to my tool bag without a decent analog presentation needed to tune RF circuits.
Enjoy the picture of my backyard that has become the playground for my RC boat hobby.
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i hope you continue your arduino tutorials..
* Cesar Santos
* Saudi Arabia
* i cannot see any logic to sell Cat III Meter with a Cat II only probe??? but i think MT1887 is a good buy for its price.
Classic...great post!
I certainly do want to get the Arduino series off the ground. It means I need to invest a fair amount of time playing with it myself...and time is in short supply for me at the moment...but it will happen.
Good luck with the giveaway!
Cheers,
Martin.
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Hi Martin,
My name is Henry Ellingsen. I live in the US, south of Seattle, Washington, in the city of Edgewood.
Your issue of the slow update rate for viewing the analog scale would be the same as mine. My old Fluke 77 that I purchased new in 1977, was my first and only digital multimeter, and would never have seen its way to my tool bag without a decent analog presentation needed to tune RF circuits.
Enjoy the picture of my backyard that has become the playground for my RC boat hobby.
Stunning backyard Henry.
Thanks for the post and good luck with the giveaway.
Cheers,
Martin.
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Hi Martin,
My name is Kris, Just moved from Princetown In Devon, to Salisbury in Wiltshire both in the UK! ;D
One of the annoying quirks you found was the slow auto ranging on the volts compared to your other meters. Also the cheap golden power battery could have been changed for a decent brand!
Having trouble downloading images from my phone to my PC so only have one image I can post, Two Bridges in Dartmoor a stones throw away from where I used to live! Will post something more meaningful when the phone is working again!
Cheers
Kris.
Edit: Got the phone working again so updated with a pic of the bench!
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Hi,
Issues with the Major Tech multimeter is it is slow to the response of the continuity buzzer.
Cheers Barry
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My name is Warwick
I am currently living in London. Originally from Zimbabwe.
One of the things that would annoy me about the MT is the slow bar graph, kind of defeats the point of a bar graph display.
Electronics desk, pictured with my new favourite meter, the Fluke 8840A. It's in pieces at the moment, but that's another story for another thread.
(http://www.kirbyw.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Images/Me/IMG_2088.JPG)
Computer desk
(http://www.kirbyw.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Images/Me/IMG_2090.JPG)
The Trek USPS is my favourite bicycle. Very old now, but when I do ride it, I love it! The Specialized is not mine, it belongs to my house mate.
My off road bike is a 2002 Rockhopper with Hope Mini disk upgrade and Marzocchi Bomber fork. No photo I'm afraid.
(http://www.kirbyw.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Images/Me/IMG_2092.JPG)
My favourite jersey. I look odd wearing this jersey whilst riding a USPS bike, but Rominger and Armstrong were among my heroes back in the day, so I don't care.
(http://www.kirbyw.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Images/Me/IMG_2093.JPG)
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My name is Warwick
I am currently living in London. Originally from Zimbabwe.
One of the things that would annoy me about the MT is the slow bar graph, kind of defeats the point of a bar graph display.
Electronics desk, pictured with my new favourite meter, the Fluke 8840A. It's in pieces at the moment, but that's another story for another thread.
The Trek USPS is my favourite bicycle. Very old now, but when I do ride it, I love it! The Specialized is not mine, it belongs to my house mate.
My off road bike is a 2002 Rockhopper with Hope Mini disk upgrade and Marzocchi Bomber fork. No photo I'm afraid.
My favourite jersey. I look odd wearing this jersey whilst riding a USPS bike, but Rominger and Armstrong were among my heroes back in the day, so I don't care.
Warwick! What happened to the Fluke....?? Keen to hear what the story is...will let you post in another board when ready..... :-(
Love the bike! And...Marzocchi Bombers are perhaps the best forks I have owned!
Good luck with the giveaway.
Martin.
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My name is Thijs Sillen , I live in The Netherlands in a small town called Sweikhuizen .
The bar graph has such slow update speed so it is kinda useless.
Picture after building the desk's in my garage:
(http://i42.tinypic.com/11w4y1d.jpg)
(http://i39.tinypic.com/2dmb9qa.jpg)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/30k57gn.jpg)
Thats kinda it :P
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Hey Martin,
Ming here from Alberta, Canada (someone that is entering is too!)
You didn't like the quality of the leads and they do look pretty cheesy.
Here's a pic of my *ahem* lab. It's small, i know. I do mainly arduino stuff. You can see my multimeter, though it doesn't even measure current or resistance properly :(
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Hello Martin,
Greetings from Romania.
I am Szabi.
First I'm gonna mention the smaller issues that you have found on the MT1887:
-the meter is only waterpfroof, (and meets IP67) when the small rubber caps, and the original leads are plugged in.
-fuses cannot be accessed without opening up the unit. (this may lead to deterioration of waterproofness eventually)
-lack of metal threaded screws
-the power ON/OFF switch is in the middle position, so you always have to double check if it's switched off or not.
-in min/max mode there is no stamping, no average and no duration indication
-no touchhold function (altough you can use the min-max trick)
-there is no separate backlight buttton, and bl. duration can not be set
-I didn't particularly like the fact, that your first meter was out of spec
-slow autorange in Volts measurements
And now the more serious issues:
-very slow screen update rate, and pretty much useless bargraph
-extremely slow buzzer reaction = useless
I only own some el-cheapo multimeters, like a couple of small DT830B's, a pocket Voltcraft VC555, a DT93A, and a Maxwell MX-25312
The Fluke 87V is my dream meter, but don't think I'm ever gonna be able to afford to buy one.
(http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/09a2/u6wcdorcn428ft15g.jpg)
I enjoy watching your videos, keep up the good work.
Kind regards, Szabi. (my webpage: http://users.atw.hu/ktulu/index.html (http://users.atw.hu/ktulu/index.html) )
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Well, here is my grumble, poor continuity beeper. that is very annoying when trying to check a cable that is intermittent.
Sean Beukes
Durban
My tabletop. Hopefully soon I will upgrade it a little.
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Hi All!
Chad from Sioux City, Iowa in the US.
I don't know for sure what would be bad with the multimeter.... maybe the yellow color... the slowness could get annoying.
Here is a photo of my lab (messy corner)... and one of my multimeters... the radio shack one was the more expensive of the two :)
The bench one is an old fluke 8520a.
(http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg547/lepomismacrochirus/mjlorton1.jpg)
(http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg547/lepomismacrochirus/mjlorton2.jpg)
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First I like to mention: your doing a great job.
* Patrick Van Ginneken
* Belgium, Antwerp
* I agree with you the update rate is to low, specialy the analog bargraf by fluxuating voltage. (even enoying)!
* This my outside view (the harbor my playground)
Cheers, ;)
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Hello
* Your name: Ibrahima Diallo
* The country and city you live in: United States
* Note one of the issues that I found annoying with the MT1887: I have not played with high end DMM but compared to other reviews you have done, it seems as though this DMM is limited when it comes to Min/Max functions.
* Upload a picture of your neighborhood: Picture of my neighborhood as viewed from 2000FT through the lens of an iPhone. I just picked up electronics as a hobby and thus I do not have a lab yet but I am working on it.
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**** Please note...entries for this giveaway are now closed. The draw will take place tomorrow the 25th Of July and a video will be posted with the result ****
Cheers,
Martin.
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Howzit Martin, PLEASE! accept my late entery...
My name is Dean Goldbaum from Johannesburg, South Africa
Some issues were you can't adjust the backlight timer and the slow update speed.
The pics below are of my small sorar setup and my first arduino prject which displays the temp on a 7 segment display
Happy Birthday and thanks for excellent vids
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54447861/panel.jpg)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54447861/battery.jpg)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54447861/arduino.jpg)
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Howzit Martin, PLEASE! accept my late entery...
My name is Dean Goldbaum from Johannesburg, South Africa
Some issues were you can't adjust the backlight timer and the slow update speed.
The pics below are of my small sorar setup and my first arduino prject which displays the temp on a 7 segment display
Happy Birthday and thanks for excellent vids
Thanks for the wishes....you made it just in time!
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Happy Birthday Martin, and congratulation to your winner Patrick on his nice prize.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY Martin!!!
Congratulations to Barry.
Sorry Martin, I totally forgot to enter a picture. June was pretty much all rain. After seeing all the wonderful pictures, I thought I would do something different.
We didn't have much money growing up, so this is part of the reason why I have these tools. These are my real life tools that I started with almost 2 years ago and still mostly use today to fix lcd monitors.
Obviously, good tools makes the job much easier and last longer, but for a one time DIY fix, these will suffice as well.
1) The old butter knife. Yes, it might scratch, scar the plastic and break a few tabs, but it works.
2) Sewing kit (free from some hotel). I used the stainless steel bobby pin to clear the holes after removing the capacitor. I used to use a solder sucker, but the bobby pin works way better.
3) Dollar store wire cutter. I think I got this at the dollar store back when all items were actually $1 and not $1.25 or $1.50.
4) Sort by lowest ebay price 40W (around $4 USD) soldering iron. These irons work, but they come with a conical tip which has less thermal transfer area than a chisel tip. It is almost impossible to find a cheap 40W iron with a chisel tip and replacement tips are non existant so consider this a disposable iron after the tip dies.
5) Stainless steel scour pad. I used to use a wet sponge to clean off the solder iron tip, but I find the scour pad works just as well with no thermal shock. $2 for 3 at Wal-Mart or equivalent.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY Martin!!!
Congratulations to Barry.
Sorry Martin, I totally forgot to enter a picture. June was pretty much all rain. After seeing all the wonderful pictures, I thought I would do something different.
We didn't have much money growing up, so this is part of the reason why I have these tools. These are my real life tools that I started with almost 2 years ago and still mostly use today to fix lcd monitors.
Obviously, good tools makes the job much easier and last longer, but for a one time DIY fix, these will suffice as well.
1) The old butter knife. Yes, it might scratch, scar the plastic and break a few tabs, but it works.
2) Sewing kit (free from some hotel). I used the stainless steel bobby pin to clear the holes after removing the capacitor. I used to use a solder sucker, but the bobby pin works way better.
3) Dollar store wire cutter. I think I got this at the dollar store back when all items were actually $1 and not $1.25 or $1.50.
4) Sort by lowest ebay price 40W (around $4 USD) soldering iron. These irons work, but they come with a conical tip which has less thermal transfer area than a chisel tip. It is almost impossible to find a cheap 40W iron with a chisel tip and replacement tips are non existant so consider this a disposable iron after the tip dies.
5) Stainless steel scour pad. I used to use a wet sponge to clean off the solder iron tip, but I find the scour pad works just as well with no thermal shock. $2 for 3 at Wal-Mart or equivalent.
Thanks very much for the wishes and ALL your support and participation.
This is a brilliant post showing what can be done with some cheap simple bits and pieces.
Cheers,
Martin.