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I thought I would just post how much a simple multi meter can do - the antique micronta saved my bacon.
I brought my Dometic CFX 75 to Mississippi with me, However it kept turning off do to a 12V power cord issue. I had a full Angus 7 rib standing roast in it for Christmas dinner. Fortunately the weather was cool enough it made it still frozen. I brought the cooler so I could take locally raised catfish and gulf shrimp back with me.
As I did not have the trailer I did not have my meter with me. That will change as I will add one to the truck tool box. Probably my old micronta that FIL gave me back in the 80's
I needed to test out the DC-DC power circuit and cords I was using. My FIL came to the rescue as he had his old analog meter and a cheep electronic one. the Electronic one was not giving correct readings so I switched to his 70+ year old Radio shack one (micronta). He used it in his engineering days a Catapiller. Looks something like this.
I was using my DC-DC power plug and made a Anderson to female power point plug, so there could have been issues anywhere. Everything checked out voltage wise to the power point socket, but the 12V cord proved faulty. I got no power to the cooler. So now I know my DC-DC set up is still working, and the adapter I mad to a power point 20A socket.
I discovered that the male plug Dometic used could be taken a part. First i the power point plug connected to the cord using a spade connector with locking ring. After undoing this end connection I checked out the cord and found it good. Used resistant readings, otherwise known as continuity check. The plug however had an open contact inside on one leg, so I popped it apart and lucky caught the spring that popped out. Spring is on the positive contact point. I found that one of the contact arms inside was bent back. Also the spade cord end had a bent spade (actually showed discoloration from the loose contact and the combined did not make contact on the negative side. BTW there is a fuse inside this plug I did not know about.
A little bending and I got good contact. Reassembled and all is good. So I now can haul back the bounty I wanted.
I sent an email to the seller and asked for a replacement 12V power cord. Dometic warranty form requests contacting the seller first. So even though I had an issue I found out Dometic actually uses good parts that could be serviced.
So the moral of this is just because the meter is an antique, does not mean throw it out. And a simple meter can be very handy to troubleshoot a problem.
Merry Christmas Everyone
Keith
I brought my Dometic CFX 75 to Mississippi with me, However it kept turning off do to a 12V power cord issue. I had a full Angus 7 rib standing roast in it for Christmas dinner. Fortunately the weather was cool enough it made it still frozen. I brought the cooler so I could take locally raised catfish and gulf shrimp back with me.
As I did not have the trailer I did not have my meter with me. That will change as I will add one to the truck tool box. Probably my old micronta that FIL gave me back in the 80's
I needed to test out the DC-DC power circuit and cords I was using. My FIL came to the rescue as he had his old analog meter and a cheep electronic one. the Electronic one was not giving correct readings so I switched to his 70+ year old Radio shack one (micronta). He used it in his engineering days a Catapiller. Looks something like this.
I was using my DC-DC power plug and made a Anderson to female power point plug, so there could have been issues anywhere. Everything checked out voltage wise to the power point socket, but the 12V cord proved faulty. I got no power to the cooler. So now I know my DC-DC set up is still working, and the adapter I mad to a power point 20A socket.
I discovered that the male plug Dometic used could be taken a part. First i the power point plug connected to the cord using a spade connector with locking ring. After undoing this end connection I checked out the cord and found it good. Used resistant readings, otherwise known as continuity check. The plug however had an open contact inside on one leg, so I popped it apart and lucky caught the spring that popped out. Spring is on the positive contact point. I found that one of the contact arms inside was bent back. Also the spade cord end had a bent spade (actually showed discoloration from the loose contact and the combined did not make contact on the negative side. BTW there is a fuse inside this plug I did not know about.
A little bending and I got good contact. Reassembled and all is good. So I now can haul back the bounty I wanted.
I sent an email to the seller and asked for a replacement 12V power cord. Dometic warranty form requests contacting the seller first. So even though I had an issue I found out Dometic actually uses good parts that could be serviced.
So the moral of this is just because the meter is an antique, does not mean throw it out. And a simple meter can be very handy to troubleshoot a problem.
Merry Christmas Everyone
Keith
The analog will be in the truck now.
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