PSA: My old Fluke 87V gave me a bad reading on a 28V bus last week

I was checking a nav light circuit on a Cessna 172 and the meter showed 28.5V, but the light was still dead. After an hour of chasing wires, I grabbed a spare meter and it read 0.2V. What's your go-to method for checking your meter is still good before you trust it on a job?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina_sullivan612mo ago

Always whack it against a known voltage first... learned that lesson the hard way too.

adam_anderson62mo ago

Man, that 87V story hits close to home, I had a similar scare last month. I just keep a fresh 9V battery on the bench now for a quick sanity check.