Instrument Meter Specialties

03/22/2023

We are clearing out some of our antique test equipment. If you are interested, send us an email or give us a call.
[email protected]
+1 800-926-3837

12/08/2021

Does anyone have any information about a Christie T-2 Battery Tester? We just repaired the panel meter portion for a customer. However, the customer wanted us to test the instrument before shipping 🚛 it back. This is understandable. That said, the meter is configured as a 0-3VDC meter (1mA @ 3kΩ) or 0-6VDC (1mA @ 6kΩ). Knowing this, and that the tester does not actually indicate anything resembling a voltage value, we are less than thrilled with the idea of putting a 3V/6V meter on a 12V battery, even if the load is about 0.03Ω. Below are the pictures of the customer's Christie T-2 battery tester as well as the schematic of its current configuration. As is, the tester seems to have three operating modes. From what I can tell, these are the modes of operation.

1. Battery Condition Test - Meter operates at FS=3VDC and would indicate a good battery with about 1V under load. Load of 0.03 Ω applied.
2. Battery Charge Test - Meter operates at FS=6VDC with the load switch depressed and would indicate a charge OK status with about 3VDC. Load of 0.05 Ω applied
3. Battery & Alternator Test - Meter operates at FS=3VDC and would indicate a safe alternator with about 2.5V under load. Load of 0.03 Ω applied.

05/01/2020

It is always nice to be mentioned.

"Unfortunately VU meters, really good VU meters are not cheap. The question about where to source comes up often on the web and besides eBay where you may not necessarily get exactly what you are looking for, https://www.metersales.com/ or Instrument Meter Specialties in the USA may be your answer."

https://analogian.co.za/2017/10/

04/23/2020

Another great article from Clive Maxfield.

Let's talk about the evolution of electronics display. From analog to digital display and also retro display and nixie tubes. Do you prefer the old fashion way?

01/29/2020

Another glowing review from our friend Max! Thanks for showing off some of the meters we made for you!

Why are analog meters better, and what do you do when they fail?

01/20/2020

A blast from the past! Max's prognostication engine has been coming along very nicely, and I hear that more is to come! If you want to check out any of Max's other projects or services, check out his website. http://www.clivemaxfield.com/coolbeans/

A while back, we helped Max implement his design for the meters. We look forward to more updates from Max!

05/02/2019

It is nice to get to see some of the faces behind the meters at Simpson Electric! Simpson Electric has been one of the largest brands we distribute by volume for decades.

You can often find Milt Novak at his workbench in a cluttered back office, but Wednesday morning Newswatch 12 was lucky to find him just sitting around.

01/14/2019

Job tasks include disassembly and/or assembly of electrical components including soldering. Printing analog meter dials as well as printer maintenance. Inspection, repair, and calibration of panel meters and analog multimeters (VOMs) which may include work under a microscope. Light drilling, cutting, sanding work is sometimes required. Shipping and receiving as needed. Many of the tasks are specialized to our industry segment and we are willing to train bright, fast-learning individuals. Computer proficiency required.

10/23/2018

A lot of times, we get asked, "Is my old meter something you guys can fix?" Unfortunately, we can't give much more assurance than, "Most likely.". What generally helps more is when we include stories of notable repairs we have made. The most notable was for a customer named Ed out of Canada. We never expected to see a panel meter from an Electric Horseless Carriage, let alone a second one. After we fixed Ed's meter, he introduced to us to David, another man in the process of restoring one of these fascinating relics from history.
David found himself in an even stickier situation than Ed, trying to put together an electric car from around 1903, without the electric meters. The City and Suburban brand, Victoria (Picture 2) or Alexandra Electric (Picture 3) Horseless Carriages most resemble what David has. Like Ed's carriage, David's would also need the Weston 2-in-1 Volts and Amperes meter. David found the meter (pictures 4-11, top meter) through Ed. When David contacted us, we told him that if anybody could restore his meter to working order, we could. We took a look at David's meter. Unfortunately, because of damage to the Ampere meter armature and hairspring (Picture 11), we could not guarantee that meter could be restored.
By some miracle, David found another meter for us to use for parts. Between the two meters, we had enough parts to complete the restoration. We could use meter movements out of the second meter (pictures 4-11, bottom meter). With a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, we were able to make one good meter (pictures 12-15) for David. We used everything else out of the first meter. We had to unwind and re-wind a new 12V series resistor (picture 14). Trimming that to the correct resistance was time-consuming, but the results were spectacular! The gloss on the Manganin resistance wire is from the wax dip after trimming to the proper resistance. This prevents the coil from unraveling and also protects the wire from moisture and oxidation.
As with Ed's meter, Davids had externally accessible voltage contacts. So if the volt meter wasn't reading off of the batteries already, test leads could be wired up to the meter for diagnosis. Having a 12V range meant that groups of battery cells, or individual cells, could be measured more accurately than on the 120V range. Testing for a failing cell was now simplified.
The other series resistor was for the ammeter (Picture 15). This one was so small that it was formed into a small coil and neatly tucked into a hole drilled into the side of a wooden block. In the case of Ed's meter, a cork was then placed in the hole, but no cork was to be found in David's meter. You can see the camera flash on the wax coating inside of the coiled up wire.
Fortunately we had enough braided wire (Picture 17) left over from Ed's meter to do David's as well. Rhode Island Wiring was a fantastic source for the braiding service. The Early Lucas Herringbone pattern is very attractive and easy to read.

01/20/2018

As I watched this, I became less interested in the watch and more interested in the mad scientist selling the watch. We still have some of the old laboratory grade ammeters like the microammeter used in this commercial. Our oldest dates from 1941.

01/16/2018

A lot of times, we get asked, "Is my old meter something you guys can fix?" Unfortunately, we can't give much more assurance than, "Most likely.", until we have seen it. What generally helps more is when we include stories of notable repairs we have made. The most notable was for a customer named Ed out of Canada. He found himself in a sticky situation with a very unique meter from his 1903 City and Suburban brand, D.B. (Dual Battery) Special Touring Phaeton model, Electric Horseless Carriage.

The carriage had a Weston 2-in-1 Volts and Amperes meter. We told Ed that we would take a look, and that if anybody could restore his meter to working order, we could. What we found when we got the meter was truly amazing. We had never seen this type of construction or crafting before and we haven't seen anything like it since.

First, we noticed how Weston had put two meters into one case, with a very unique hourglass-shaped viewing area. We noticed that there were three externa terminals, and just a few remaining remnants of wire leads coming out of a potted compound. We had found that these meter inputs were all leaking to ground. Next, we opened the meter, and got even more surprises!

These weren't two meters in one case. This was one meter with two mechanisms! The mechanisms shared common magnets! There were two large wooden sewing machine bobbins for the high voltage resistors! On the other side of the meter was a smaller wooden 3 Volt resistor bobbin, and a mystery piece of wood with a cork in it. We found out, after removing the cork, that there was a small coil of resistance wire tucked inside! It was the series resistor to calibrate the Ammeter! I should note that all of the internal pictures are from after we had performed all of the necessary work.

No, there was no blue shrink tubing in 1903. We had to re-wind the small 3 Volt bobbin, which involved dipping it it wax to maintain the windings. The small coil series resistor for the Ammeter, behind the cork, similarly had to be replaced. We had to remove the potting compound at the back of the meter, take apart the wiring terminals, and fabricate new insulators. Likewise, we sourced some MTW (Machine Tool Wire) and had it braided according to the Red=Volts, Green=Amperes, Red=Plus, White=Minus color scheme. Rhode Island Wiring were able to replicate this using the same "Early Lucas Herringbone" pattern. We also had to replace much of the original wire inside the meter. When we were done, the meter worked like new!

We were very curious during this process and we had some questions for Ed on the operation of the carriage. We thought it odd that the meter had three external contacts for Common, 300V, and 3V. However, this may have been a means of diagnosing the vehicle. Each battery cell is 2.2V, so with the proper procedure, the meter could be used to diagnose each individual 2.2V cell. We also found out that this carriage could charge and run on either 110VDC or 220VDC, selected by a knife switch under the front bench seat. Power was applied to the motors by an electric tram controller operated by a lever at the left of the driver.

Ed is still working on his carriage. We will provide more updates on Ed's carriage in another post.

08/07/2017

"Wouldn't it be nice if that meter was illuminated? It sure would make it easier to read." Have you ever heard this from engineers, employees or others? We have spent several years to perfect the art of illumination in meters that otherwise have not been "glowing." Do you want your meter illuminated? Give us a call 800-926-3837 let's see if we can bring you a bit more light.