dreilly
Chillin' in Geneva
- Local time
- 5:00 AM
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2004
- Messages
- 1,045
A bout of insomnia kept me up working on a project. Off of oboy, I won a lot of four weston meters in various states of disrepair. A III that worked (inaccurately) but with a wonky scale plate that didn't switch all the way, two IVs, neither of them working, and a Europomaster II that worked but only on the high scale.
It was a fascinating night. One tentative conclusion: they don't make them like they used to. Other than the needle tip, which is foil and very delicate, everything about the III is better built than the Euro-Master II. More solid solder, metal body, overall craftsmenship is higher. The IV is better built than the Euro-Master as well, but behind the III! This is all subjective, but when you have them all open and in front of you it's fairly evident. The III is also the simplest and that's pleasing, too. Those needle locks in the newer models are finicky.
Here's how the night of tinkering played out. I got one IV working but the cell is reading too low...probably needs a new cell. I'm thinking of getting one from Megatron and trying it out, it's not that hard to swap them out.
One IV was wounded when I hit and broke the tip off the needle. I pounced on it like wolves on a sick caribou for parts for the other two IVs I have (I have had a working IV for a while but the center screw was all gnarly so I replaced that and the scale disk which was scratched.)
The euromaster needed a solder repair which I did, but it still didn't work. iIt's a much more complicated beast including some kind of trim pot that didn't seem to affect anything but is obviously important, with no less than three wires intersecting there. The wolves came out for this one too, and I snagged the cell and...
...put it in the III, which now matches my QLM-adjusted IV and has already won my respect for being so darn well made.
So, if anyone needs parts for a Weston IV or a Euro-Master, I have two piles! I should have taken photos, and done what denishr did in the past. Okay, maybe if I get the new cell I'll put up a tutorial on swapping the cell, since denishr din't cover that particular surgery.
Now I just need a nice M3 to go along with the Weston Master III. (must resist)
It was a fascinating night. One tentative conclusion: they don't make them like they used to. Other than the needle tip, which is foil and very delicate, everything about the III is better built than the Euro-Master II. More solid solder, metal body, overall craftsmenship is higher. The IV is better built than the Euro-Master as well, but behind the III! This is all subjective, but when you have them all open and in front of you it's fairly evident. The III is also the simplest and that's pleasing, too. Those needle locks in the newer models are finicky.
Here's how the night of tinkering played out. I got one IV working but the cell is reading too low...probably needs a new cell. I'm thinking of getting one from Megatron and trying it out, it's not that hard to swap them out.
One IV was wounded when I hit and broke the tip off the needle. I pounced on it like wolves on a sick caribou for parts for the other two IVs I have (I have had a working IV for a while but the center screw was all gnarly so I replaced that and the scale disk which was scratched.)
The euromaster needed a solder repair which I did, but it still didn't work. iIt's a much more complicated beast including some kind of trim pot that didn't seem to affect anything but is obviously important, with no less than three wires intersecting there. The wolves came out for this one too, and I snagged the cell and...
...put it in the III, which now matches my QLM-adjusted IV and has already won my respect for being so darn well made.
So, if anyone needs parts for a Weston IV or a Euro-Master, I have two piles! I should have taken photos, and done what denishr did in the past. Okay, maybe if I get the new cell I'll put up a tutorial on swapping the cell, since denishr din't cover that particular surgery.
Now I just need a nice M3 to go along with the Weston Master III. (must resist)
