I Took two 260s off the shelf that I found years ago at my club's swap meet. Given all the negs I have heard about using WD-40 on vintage equipment, I was skeptical at first but with little invested in both meters, I decided to give it a try. They have been "stroked" back to life. Your videos have taught me much. No matter how much one knows, there is always something left to be learned from another. Thanks for sharing! Bill
88jolzenrocket Thanks Bill I've been using WD-40 since high school, I graduated in 1963. So I know that it works, but you don't want to overdo it, you only need a few drops. Obviously I have gotten some amazing comments saying that WD-40 will dissolve your radio, I think they must be global warming scientists. By the way I think global warming scientists is an oxymoron, because they never mention that the polar caps on Mars are melting. Must be due to the large number of SUVs on Mars.
I love these old meters. I'm a young one (23) and right after college when I got my first electronics gig, they had one of these sitting on the bench. Still at work in the field!
Simpson is making the 260 meter today. It's still a very useful and rugged meter. I bought one when I was in high school and still have it, and it's like new. I don't keep batteries in it because I want to keep it like new, so as a result I end up not using it. But now I have this one and it will be used. I'm sure some time later on you'll find a situation in a circuit that a digital meter has a problem with, or may even lies to you. That's because digital meters have to sample, so if the sample rate for a particular situation is just right the digital meter may not be able to read a value or much worse give you a wrong value. Don't get me wrong I like my digital meters also, but it's always a good idea to understand the limitations of any tool that you are using.
Hello Rick. Great to see another video from you. You made me a believer in WD40 a few years ago watching one of your videos. I have used it on all my radios from vintage to the more modern ones Never had any more trouble out of them. And a big money saver to boot. I hope you had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year
Thanks Bobby Tectalabyss I got tired of cleaning volume controls, and it work for a while, and then they'd be scratchy again. So many years ago, I think when I was in high school I tried a little WD-40. There's no telling how many volume controls I did not have to change out because of WD-40. Hope y'all have a Happy New Year. Rick
Rick, Good find. Believe it or not, there was a time when I calibrated and repaired Simpson 260 meters. Of course it was merely a matter of following the calibration procedure, not much of a troubleshooting and repair deal. Most calibrated just fine, but once in a while an out of spec resistor had to be replaced. Some came in that had been repeatedly dropped and the broken cases showed it. Even then, they still calibrated perfectly. They're tough little buggers. Regards, John
Hey John, I bet you did get some meters in that look in rough shape. But as you said there tough little buggers. And I'm so glad I found this one. Hope you all have a very happy and prosperous New Year. Rick
Rick, Congratulations on your find. I'm really glad it turned out so well. I once bought a well-used Simpson 260 for $10.00. It had not been used for a very long time and was full of battery corrosion from a leaking Duracell battery. It was a real mess. I ended up sending it to Duracell. They sent me a brand new Simpson 260-8! Tom
Really nice find, Rick. They've been around a long time, in various releases. In the Navy, in the mid to late 70's it was our standard issue multimeter. Great for quick and easy visual NP junction bias checking, as well as all it's other functions. If I ever run across one in that condition, I'll buy it. Thanks for showing it.
Nice meter. My first one fell from a roof scuttle and shattered into thousands of pieces. I used to carry it daily from job to job. I was so happy to get my first DMM. But, I still use my second Simpson (since the 70's). Thanks for the WD tips, I'll have to open 'er up for some preventive maintenance...thanks, Joe
Rick: Congrats! Great Series 7 260 meter. Performs wonderfully. I have a series 4, unfortunately no reflection glass though. What it does have is a rugged Bakelite thick outer shell with a handle that is built like a tank. PM me if you'd like to see it. I love mine as well. Happy New Year! Tom
Now I can keep my series 5, pristine. The new leads I ordered for the 7 should arrive any day now. Send some pictures of the series 4, inside and out if he can. I don't believe I've ever seen one. Happy New Year, Rick
I have a Simpson 260 5M that I obtained new way back in probably the 60's, It still works perfectly and looks mint. I take good care of it. No telling what it would sell for today. Thanks for your video.
I used one of those during the time I worked at WAFB Knob Noster, Mo for Motorola and Central Communications very very good meter ..... WD - 40 will take that tape glue off the case without scratching you can get schematic`s to show you how to calibrate it.
Nice meter. I have a series 7 which doesn't have the mirror. They were going to throw them out at work so I grabbed one. I use a Fluke 87 for real checks and I keep the Simpson put away. I always wanted one so it's sort of a special museum piece for me.
Very nice, Rick. I had one of these a long time ago. Can't remember what happened to it. You think that's bad? We had an apartment size piano once and neither of us can remember what happened to that...Yikes! Thanks for the neat video and for all the help you've given me over the last few years... Ron
Hi Rick, happy New Year to you and all of your subscribers. I do like a good old analogue meter. So tell me Rick, do you think if I was to squib some of that WD-40 in my ear it’d repair the tracks in my brain that’re drying out? All the very best for 2014 Kind Regards ... Andy
Andy, Happy New Year. I was surprised to see the meter at a flea market, I believe it's the only one I've seen at the flea market or antique store. It is going to be very useful. I think I would try some 15-year-old Scotch, single malt. Hope y'all have a happy and prosperous 2014. Rick
my meter dosnt read anything its brand new . I bought it online , they replaced it and let me keep the broken one. how can I fix it. All the fuses are good. The batteries are new. Nothing works, no readings ohms, volts, mv nothing
DEAR SIR, I just got one from eBay, that works except on AC, I measure 120 VAC, it reads 60VAC, but DC WORKS PERFECT, all resistors looks NEW, PLEASE let me know what could be the problem?
+ROBERTO ALVAREZ-RUIZ Before I contacted You, I suspect about the diodes (D1 & D2 1N100 ), I check them installed on the PC board and they looked OK. THANKS YOU! I pulled both diodes one side each, (and the resistors also) and with my other NEW 260-7 on RX100 I found a "LEAKY" diode. Hopefully I had a broken needle CHINESE Triplett 630 and I remove BOTH diodes from the Triplett and install both on the Simpson 260-7 and I calibrate R 22 using my NEW 260-7 as a reference to the 120VAC from the AC Plug and NOW both have the same reading. PROBLEM SOLVED, THANK YOU VERY MUCH & GOD BLESS YOU!!!
Olá, tenho um multímetro Simpson 260 com o galvanômetro queimado, você saberia me dizer se o galvanômetro do kamoden 22-150 serviria no lugar, ou outro modelo, obrigado , ótimo vídeo
Great old meter the #260"..at one time the "Gold Standard" VOM. Rugged and accurate. BTW about 4 years ago you made a RU-vid on a Nakamichi BX-1 and I have a question concerning the idler wheel...What exactly did you replace the idler wheel tire/band/belt with? Since you picked the band up at the hardware store I assume it was an ordinary "O" ring of the (nearly) correct diameter. Thank you for all of your professionally produced RU-vid videos and the great information. they convey.
I use both WD40 and Deoxit. I use Deoxit to remove corrosion, Deoxit is not a lubricant. WD40 is a lubricant, and I also use it for old volume controls. The material that hold the resister run in old volume controls shrinks over the year because the petroleum in that material evaporates. WD40 has kerosene and this puts back the missing petroleum, making the material restore to original size.
I learned on the Simpson 260. I have three of them two series 7 and one series 5. They are fantastic meters.Still made and sold but around 350 to 400 USD. If you do a search on line for 1,001 uses for the 260 volt-ohm-meter ther is a PDF with tons of knowldge I did not know about.It has simple circuits you can build to expand the capability of the 260 in it.Well worth looking for. simpson260.com/downloads/downloads.htm Also the Operator manual is available on line as a PDF. The only problem is these old meters are not CAT rated so some places frown on there use nowdays. Just like the good old Square D "wiggy".
Simpson is making the 260 meter today. It's still a very useful and rugged meter. I bought one when I was in high school (series 5) and still have it, and it's like new. I don't keep batteries in it because I want to keep it like new, so as a result I end up not using it. But now I have this one and it will be used. Thanks very much for the information, it is very useful.
I did find some examples of the T M K meter, I also found some Triplet meters that look similar to the Simpson 260. There are about the same thing but by a different manufacturer.
buenas tardes amigo muy bien el vídeo gracias por compartirlo yo tengo un problema con un simpson serie 7 mide bien voltaje ac dc y ohm xr100 pero por rx1 no llega acero ohm yrx10,000 si llega pero no como rx100 cualquier sulucion se lo agradesco pero en español no se ingles gracia ramón jhonny ta chira venezuela
I am very familiar with both electronics and small mechanical mechanisms and i cringed when you said you used WD-40 on the switches and that zeroing pot. While WD is mostly a solvent with very little lubricant in it, a simple cleaning solvent like alcohol would have been much better for the pot. There is nothing in that pot to dry up it only gets dirty over the years and if you wash that dirt out it will work like new. The very small amount of oil in the WD will only attract more dirt and hold it there. As for the switch contacts, again WD is not a good choice. It will clean them. Any corrosion on them would be better cleaned with an electronic contact cleaner which would probably have a proper lubricant for such electronic moving parts. In a 45+ year career in the maintenance of professional electronic equipment I mostly used WD to CLEAN mechanical parts and assemblies prior to properly lubricating them with actual oils and greases as recommended by the OEMs. I buy it by the gallon for my shop, but it is NOT at the electronic bench.
I have been using WD40 since High School, have not had any problems yet. You can add another twelve more years to this experiment and I'm still using this radio today. My WD-40 TEN YEAR Experiment ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lyjUDh7Djpo.html
