Pocket Current Meter #chrisboden #engineering #science #comedy #educational #electricity #antique

Key Takeaways

Want to see something cool? How about a nifty piece of nerd EDC from a century ago? This is a pocket current meter from somewhere around 1920. It says it's good for about 30 amps, but I don't see how you'd use it. I believe it's missing a test lead that would possibly attach here, which would mean the case is ground. Really? What could possibly go wrong with having a handheld current meter with an unpainted metal housing? Let's poke it with some pixies and see if she smokes. Since we're measuring amps, voltage really shouldn't be an issue, so we'll slip it in gently and focus on the current situation. Like your mom, if I tickle it just right down here on the bottom, she gets twitchy. It barely moves and it's certainly not accurate, but it lives. The current pulls the vane from the meter as the field increases. Coil, vane, pivot, spring, doesn't get much simpler than this. It won't be useful for measuring current, she's just too gummed up and requires a level of restoration that's way past my skill level, but it could look pretty badass with the right outfit swinging on an old pocket watch chain. And that's pretty cool.