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I laughed at a guy who used a multimeter on a toaster until I tried it
Old timer named Bill came into my shop maybe 5 years ago. I was swapping out a heating element on a toaster that kept tripping the breaker. He said check the element with a meter first. I almost rolled my eyes. Told him I've been doing this long enough. He just shrugged. After I put the new element in and it still tripped, I ate my words. Turns out there was a tiny short in the wiring that the meter caught in 2 seconds. Now I meter everything before I touch it. Has anyone else had a 'learn the hard way' moment with something simple?
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grantmartinez21d ago
Yeah the "I've been doing this long enough" part really hit me because that was me too. Used to think meters were for guys who didn't trust their gut, now I feel dumb for not grabbing one sooner.
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uma_martinez21d ago
Tbh this hits home because I did the exact same thing with a space heater last winter. Spent an hour swapping parts before I thought to grab my meter and found a cracked wire in the cord in like 30 seconds.
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sullivan.spencer21d ago
Oh man, that sounds painfully familiar. You spend all that time chasing the wrong problem because you just assume the obvious stuff is fine. It's crazy how a tiny crack in a cord can shut everything down. I've started checking cords and plugs first on anything that's acting weird now, just to save myself the headache. Glad you finally found it though, even if the process was brutal.
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