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Post by wightdiag on Feb 7, 2022 16:11:16 GMT 1
Thanks TD, I looked at the Phil's probe - about the same price as my Pomona's but double by the time they get here. Also seem a bit delicate from the paid VSP review and even Phil's AES wave description does not fill me with confidence.
I back probe for non-functioning stuff but front connect or Pomona pierce for intermittent , else you are always guessing if it was a drop out or a loose connection - also if it is a pin issue you can inadvertently fix it by back-probing.
Yep after the first 20 times spent looking for a tiny hole with a smelly brush of LET in hand I figured out to mark it ! Love the Pomona's but looking for something longer and thinner - ie like the PP ones that were useless.
Looking forward to what Santa Clause Remmington is sending me
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Post by valhalla on Feb 7, 2022 17:54:33 GMT 1
I have had to stop using piercing probes for a while; not because I don't like them, but because my Liquid Electrical Tape has gone solid in the tin (again......) and I just cannot justify buying any more right now!
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remmington
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Posts: 4,971
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Post by remmington on Feb 7, 2022 18:56:24 GMT 1
Thanks TD, I looked at the Phil's probe - about the same price as my Pomona's but double by the time they get here. Also seem a bit delicate from the paid VSP review and even Phil's AES wave description does not fill me with confidence.
I back probe for non-functioning stuff but front connect or Pomona pierce for intermittent , else you are always guessing if it was a drop out or a loose connection - also if it is a pin issue you can inadvertently fix it by back-probing. Yep after the first 20 times spent looking for a tiny hole with a smelly brush of LET in hand I figured out to mark it ! Love the Pomona's but looking for something longer and thinner - ie like the PP ones that were useless.
Looking forward to what Santa Clause Remmington is sending me It is in the post - PM me your email address?
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remmington
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Owns Spark Eroder
Posts: 4,971
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Post by remmington on Feb 7, 2022 19:08:29 GMT 1
I have had to stop using piercing probes for a while; not because I don't like them, but because my Liquid Electrical Tape has gone solid in the tin (again......) and I just cannot justify buying any more right now! I don't see piercing wires to be much of a solution in practice. I am gonna get thrown to the lions here I think? For the following. Be gentle lads... Piercing wires and power probes are my pet hate. ------------------- If you are working from wiring diagrams and every diagram you work from you are never sure if it is correct (sad but true fact). When you are piercing wires - you are going from wire colour. When in fact you should be going pin to pin - the whole circuit - you should know which wire goes to which pin to check and test a circuit in question (or a circuit output to earth). Stripping multi plugs and using "break out adapters" is where it is at... (it is thou painfully time consuming - but absolutely accurate).
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Post by wightdiag on Feb 7, 2022 23:09:13 GMT 1
I have had to stop using piercing probes for a while; not because I don't like them, but because my Liquid Electrical Tape has gone solid in the tin (again......) and I just cannot justify buying any more right now! Yea, £15 a bottle is a bit steep. - Also a bit useless as it comes with a massive great brush when I really want a pipette!
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Post by valhalla on Feb 7, 2022 23:59:47 GMT 1
Yea, £15 a bottle is a bit steep. - Also a bit useless as it comes with a massive great brush when I really want a pipette! In the words of Sir Lancelot Spratt (surgeon in the Richard Gordon "Doctor About ....." series) : "For goodness sake man, we're not into keyhole surgery!!" as he scribes a cross on the patient's chest that transcends his girth
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Post by trickydicky on Feb 8, 2022 5:01:51 GMT 1
I have had to stop using piercing probes for a while; not because I don't like them, but because my Liquid Electrical Tape has gone solid in the tin (again......) and I just cannot justify buying any more right now! I've got a tip for that too,simply store the jar upside down. I think it stops air getting past the screw on top!! I have a little model makers paint brush for doing the actual deed as I got fed up with the mess 🤣
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Post by trickydicky on Feb 8, 2022 5:15:29 GMT 1
Thanks TD, I looked at the Phil's probe - about the same price as my Pomona's but double by the time they get here. Also seem a bit delicate from the paid VSP review and even Phil's AES wave description does not fill me with confidence.
I back probe for non-functioning stuff but front connect or Pomona pierce for intermittent , else you are always guessing if it was a drop out or a loose connection - also if it is a pin issue you can inadvertently fix it by back-probing. Yep after the first 20 times spent looking for a tiny hole with a smelly brush of LET in hand I figured out to mark it ! Love the Pomona's but looking for something longer and thinner - ie like the PP ones that were useless.
Looking forward to what Santa Clause Remmington is sending me I believe Phil the guy who designed the probe keeps making improvements, the tiny spikes are no longer soldered as they found the heat cycle weakened them and they are now a press fit. There is also a longer 15" version and the handle has been updated. The other techniques I have used is the "hairline tap" where you place a single strand of wire into the open connector and then reconnect it trapping the strand between the terminals leaving the strand to clip onto for testing.
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Post by wightdiag on Feb 9, 2022 20:21:42 GMT 1
Thanks to @remmingon for the pressie this afternoon!
Bit agricultural but just the job for bigger wires.
trickydicky that's a good idea with the hairline tap, not tried that.
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remmington
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Post by remmington on Feb 9, 2022 20:38:28 GMT 1
Thanks to @remmingon for the pressie this afternoon!
Bit agricultural but just the job for bigger wires. trickydicky that's a good idea with the hairline tap, not tried that. Do not do it on a VAG or newish Merc ECU multiplugs. The sockets on the multi plugs are so easy to loose the tension in the spring closure - and then they never make contact again. The simple act of putting a probe pin in the front of the plug will wreck them. Let alone jamming a foreign object in one of them. By bitter personal experience - you will be getting new sockets on yellow wire tails from TPS and spending hours of your life repining the plugs. Stripping the back of the plug and back probing is the way... I often strip the plugs and put a male to female tail in - for testing purposes.
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Post by valhalla on Feb 9, 2022 23:40:03 GMT 1
<abbr class="o-timestamp time" data-timestamp="1644435508000" title="Feb 9, 2022 19:38:28 GMT">Feb 9, 2022 19:38:28 GMT</abbr> remmington said: Do not do it on a VAG or newish Merc ECU multiplugs.The sockets on the multi plugs are so easy to loose the tension in the spring closure - and then they never make contact again. The simple act of putting a probe pin in the front of the plug will wreck them. Let alone jamming a foreign object in one of them. By bitter personal experience - you will be getting new sockets on yellow wire tails from TPS and spending hours of your life repining the plugs. Stripping the back of the plug and back probing is the way... I often strip the plugs and put a male to female tail in - for testing purposes. Another application to be careful-of, again lots of bitter experience, Landrover TD5 cam-cover connectors on the injector-harness. These are a nightmare when the tension is gone - you wouldn't believe a 95v circuit could have so many issues - as you get intermittent problems on various injector drive-stage diagnostics.
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remmington
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Owns Spark Eroder
Posts: 4,971
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Post by remmington on Feb 10, 2022 0:58:48 GMT 1
<abbr class="o-timestamp time" data-timestamp="1644435508000" title="Feb 9, 2022 19:38:28 GMT">Feb 9, 2022 19:38:28 GMT</abbr> remmington said: Do not do it on a VAG or newish Merc ECU multiplugs.The sockets on the multi plugs are so easy to loose the tension in the spring closure - and then they never make contact again. The simple act of putting a probe pin in the front of the plug will wreck them. Let alone jamming a foreign object in one of them. By bitter personal experience - you will be getting new sockets on yellow wire tails from TPS and spending hours of your life repining the plugs. Stripping the back of the plug and back probing is the way... I often strip the plugs and put a male to female tail in - for testing purposes. Another application to be careful-of, again lots of bitter experience, Landrover TD5 cam-cover connectors on the injector-harness. These are a nightmare when the tension is gone - you wouldn't believe a 95v circuit could have so many issues - as you get intermittent problems on various injector drive-stage diagnostics. What is the saying? "careless probing equals intermittent faults"
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Post by trickydicky on Feb 11, 2022 3:05:24 GMT 1
Thanks to @remmingon for the pressie this afternoon!
Bit agricultural but just the job for bigger wires. trickydicky that's a good idea with the hairline tap, not tried that. Do not do it on a VAG or newish Merc ECU multiplugs. The sockets on the multi plugs are so easy to loose the tension in the spring closure - and then they never make contact again. The simple act of putting a probe pin in the front of the plug will wreck them. Let alone jamming a foreign object in one of them. By bitter personal experience - you will be getting new sockets on yellow wire tails from TPS and spending hours of your life repining the plugs. Stripping the back of the plug and back probing is the way... I often strip the plugs and put a male to female tail in - for testing purposes. I think the investment in a set of the Warwick Test supplies breakout harnesses could be a good investment for the VAGs?? Those connectors are total junk, I have temporarily fixed many faults in those connectors just by bending the pins on the component (I don't mess with the harness plug unless absolutely necessary)
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Post by wightdiag on Feb 11, 2022 12:17:23 GMT 1
I have a set of breakout leads that I use all the time for drag test and front connection.
When they wear out I'll spend the £115 for a new set from WTS!
And I know this is a posed picture (Jagrepair.com) but it gave me the shivers
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Post by valhalla on Feb 11, 2022 13:58:57 GMT 1
I have a set of breakout leads that I use all the time for drag test and front connection.
My "genuine Pico" sets of these leads have been invaluable, but I'm a bit dismayed by the tarnishing on the blades. I don't know if the WTS leads are any better, but that experience has put me off these things a little.
So far, it doesn't seem to have affected anything I have been measuring with them, but I'm always a bit wary of intercepting anything that might not like a "buzzing" at the connector pins.
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