Thread: Valve Testers
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 2:15 pm   #36
TonyDuell
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,190
Default Re: Valve Testers

Do you ever use a continuity tester? Surely that's a pass/fail indicator. Yes there are times when the resistance of a switch contact, fuse, or cable is worth measuring (in ohms). Most of the time you just need to know if it's conducting (below a certain resistance) or not. Idiot lights have their uses. Yes an oil pressure gauge on an engine is useful. But a light that catches your eye and warns you there's almost no oil pressure and you'd better stop NOW to prevent bearing or piston damage is also useful.

Ever done a quick test on a transistor by checking the 2 junctions are still good as diodes? Sure it doesn't tell you if the transistor has signficant gain, but it weeds out the real duds with opens or shorts.

The valve tester I (occasionally) use (AVO VCM IV) has a pass/fail scale on the meter. But you can also use it to measure the mutal conductance of a valve in mA/V. And most of time I use it in the latter way actually.
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