Are any alligator clips made to fit over or somehow attach to the probes that come with multimeters so they can be used hands-free, as when attaching the clips to rails? I gathered that was the purpose of alligator clips. Even my local Ace Hardware was at a loss. Or, must the clips be soldered to the probes?
If so, who sells them?
Thanks!
Kerry
That's the Tip of the Week
Edit: I thought they were cheaper on Ebay. I looked at 20 some pages of alligator clips and if they don't have a connector that you can see, they are just plastic covered alligator clips that you have to solder a wire to.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
here is what i use
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ELECTRONIC-SPECIALTIES-138-54-Magnetic-Test-Lead-System-with-Alligator-Clip/302907364740?hash=item4686af9584:g:uj8AAOSwW9xa9syS:rk:30:pf:0
only i got mine through snap on.
doctorin' up your link
https://tinyurl.com/y8235b22
thanks BD don,y know why it don,t work.
I got a set of probes and a set of alligator clips with my inexpensive Canadian Tire meter.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I bought a set of different sizes some years ago from Harbor Freight where I bought my multimeters. Cheap enough.
Over the years, these small clips have been very valuable when working on small electonic projects.
I started using them when working for NASA in 1972. First time I saw them with TTL IC's. Never knew what the name was until recently. We called them flea clips.
https://www.amazon.com/Feeko-Multifunction-Electrical-Multimeter-Electronic/dp/B07L9X5FT8/ref=asc_df_B07L9X5FT8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309768150198&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5138002684860983586&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001656&hvtargid=pla-604928661543&psc=1
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Those small clips are invaluable for working with ICs, it's far too easy to short adjecent pins with regular probes, which can be a disaster. I also have a set of them that have female dupont connectors on one end to use with my logic analyzer.
For test leasd I bought a complete set like thise (actually several - I have 3 'real' handheld DMMs, once an old Fluke 8060A which didn;t come with test leasts, and I have 3 bench meters, all of which came with a single set of leads, but 2 of them have the capability for 4 wire resistor measurements as well as dual display of volts and amps at the same time, so I needed more probes anyway):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012VWUI6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The GOOD ones are by Pomona, but they also cost more - but probably worth it, much better made, silicon insulation, etc:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JFL8PC/?coliid=I1KHSGD1FT5LCZ&colid=2MHT6J6IZS3HA&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Mel,
Perhaps, but getting close. The ratings on Amazon are not very favorable.
The tips of my probes are 1/16" (.062") wide; the plastic base in which they're embedded is 1/4" wide. The clips are advertised as slipping onto tips of .080" width. Think these will fit snuggly enough on what I have?
Pricey little fellas too.
What meter do you have? If the probes plug in to the meter with standard banana plugs, the Elenco set I linked will give you everything you need (and probably better overall probes in addition to workign alligator clips)
rrinker What meter do you have? If the probes plug in to the meter with standard banana plugs, the Elenco set I linked will give you everything you need (and probably better overall probes in addition to workign alligator clips) --Randy
Randy,
Elenco? One link shows Extech TL809, the other Pomona 6343. I have a Cen-Tech digital multimeter.
What are banana plugs? ICs?
Sorry, Extech are the ones I have. I have other stuff from Elenco and I'm old and easily confused.
They won't fit the Centech meters. They don't use standard size banana plugs on their probe leads. So you'll have to work with the kind that the existing probes slip over. Or make up your own. Or just get a pack of the leads with alligator clis on both ends, clip one to the probe tip and clip the other end to the circuit you are trying to test.
Something like this
https://www.amazon.com/WGGE-WG-026-Pieces-Colors-Alligator/dp/B06XX25HFX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549035746&sr=8-3&keywords=alligator+clip+test+leads
rrinker Sorry, Extech are the ones I have. I have other stuff from Elenco and I'm old and easily confused. They won't fit the Centech meters. They don't use standard size banana plugs on their probe leads. So you'll have to work with the kind that the existing probes slip over. Or make up your own. Or just get a pack of the leads with alligator clis on both ends, clip one to the probe tip and clip the other end to the circuit you are trying to test. --Randy
rrinker Something like this https://www.amazon.com/WGGE-WG-026-Pieces-Colors-Alligator/dp/B06XX25HFX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549035746&sr=8-3&keywords=alligator+clip+test+leads --Randy
Now that's an option I can live with! Only nine pairs too many for my needs, though. Any takers for the extras?!
They also come with a 97% high approval rating on Amazon as well!
And thanks for the lead to a new supplier.
You can always use them for many things. I probably have a coupel dozen pairs of those.
Like onnecting a spare piece of flex track to a DC power pack to test a loco on DC - just turn out the screws a bit on the power pack and clip the croc clips (that's Aussie for alligator clips) (no I'm not aussie) on the the screws and to the rails. Bingo, instant power.
HOmainlineAre any alligator clips made to fit over or somehow attach to the probes that come with multimeters so they can be used hands-free, as when attaching the clips to rails?
.
Fluke makes exactly what you are asking for.
They also make special probes that are threaded and a special set of aliigator clips threads onto them.
I use this set. It is fully CAT IV compliant, and it works wonderfully. It is also by Fluke. The ends slide onto insulated banana clips on the test leads. The leads are super flexible.
That set is around $100.00, and worth it.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
While those are the kind of leads I would want for my good meters (and two of my Flukes do have genuine Fluke test leads), now that we know the OP has Centech meter, $100 probes for a $5 meter are kind of nuts.
Cat IV rating - well, despite the scale being present on the Centech to read house current, the last thing I would ever use for checking house wiring would be one of those. I have at least a half dozen of them laying around. They're plenty for model railroad use, if that's all you do there is no point in buying a more expensive meter. I've seen people selling the Centech ones at train shows for as much as $20 - but it's the exact same meter you get a Harbor Freight for $5, $1 or even free if you watch the coupons. They do work. They are more accurate with DC track voltage than most of the fancier True RMS types (my old Fluke 8060 is probably the one exception - it does True RMS up past 20KHz. Most top off at 100Hz or maybe 1KHz if you're lucky). But the internals of those inexpensive ones are just not designed for safe use of high voltage. The only fuse they have is for the DC milliamp range, anything else, they are hoping the board fries or the reather thin leads they supply act as a 'fuse' if something goes wrong. There is nothing remotely dangerous about using it to check track power and otherwise troubleshoot low voltage layout wiring, so don't get the wrong idea, but don't go poking in your breaker box with it. Train layouts, checking 12V circuits in your car, basic testing if you get into using Arduinos - it's a fine tool for those kind of jobs.
Amen. After all, it was a rather basic question for a rather basic need. I just bought the set made by W&G that you recommended. Any takers for those nine extraneous pairs?
What is RMS?
Root Mean Square.
richg1998 Root Mean Square. Rich
I guess I should have been more clear. All I did is answer the question exactly as it was asked. The answer now is completely clear to anyone.
That must be why my girlfriend would get mad at me if she asked me if I knew what time it was and only said yes.
OK, I guess all my fancy meters and test leads are not appropriate for this forum. I will not ever tell you guys what else is in all those tool boxes in my garage.
I worked with 480 3 phase for decades, I would NEVER use a cheap meter, or test leads, for anything, ever.
The OP asked if there were any type of leads he could use in his multimeter with aligator clips on the end instead of the probes.
Randy told him about buying the leads with clips on both ends, clip one end to the multimeter probe, and the other end to what you want to test, or measure, or whatever.
I've been doing this since the beginning, since my first multimeter.
Real simple.
I don't know what your getting upset about?
He asked a simple question, and eventually got a simple answer.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiI don't know what your getting upset about?
I am not the least bit upset. Sorry if it came off that way.
My post shows EXACTLY what he asked for, Fluke clips that are desgined to go over probe tips.
Then I showed what I use, because I am not a fan of add-on clips.
If everyone is comfortable with using alligator jumper wires, well OK.
This has happened to me before, in a thread where someone asked what everyone's favorite tweezers are. I prefer this $60.00 pair of Snap-On miniature needle nose pliers to tweezers. That was not a welcomed answer either.
HOmainlineused hands-free, as when attaching the clips to rails?
For checking voltage, hands-free, I use this little test light I rigged together using an 1157 tail light bulb.
The sockets on the front fit the Fluke test leads, so I can use all my meter attachment that best matches for the condition I am checking.
I can also easily wire it into series with one of my Fluke DVOMs to verify amperage.
Who said fancy meters aren;t welcome to be mentioned here? Considering I mentioned mine. All I said was that a $100 set of test leasd which are fully safety rated for high volrage are probably not an appropriate accessory for a $5 meter that shouldn't be connected to high voltage no matter how safe the probes are.
And most model railroaders should have a meter, but they have no use to use it for all the fancy electronic stuff or high voltage AC, so buying a severl hundred dollar meter doesn't make sense, when those $5 ones are perfectly adequate.
I'm a bit of collector when it comes to test equipment, but I use it all at some point. Besides a bunch of the HF ones, I have the old FLuke 8060 I refurbished, and I have a Bryman BM235 and a custom model, the EEVBlog 121GW. Both of those have electrical field detection and are CAT IV rated, using proper HRC fuses. On my bench I have an old FLuke 8012, a not quite as old FLuke 45, and a newish GW Instek. Both of the latter are dusal display, the GW Instek also does 4 wire sense. SO yes, I have fancy meters. But none of them are required for model railroading, the el cheapo ones are perfectly fine - it's a HF Centech that is in my model railroad toolbox.