Ivan Copas' post got me to thinkin' about meters. Last year, I pulled my rarely used Simpson 260 out of the bottom of my tool box to check some caps. It was one of the nice ones with the roll-top hard case that I had picked up in a box full of radio parts at auction for $35. Well, when all the slats in the case fell out on my bench, I knew something foul was afoot. The batteries had leaked everywhere - alkaline gunk all over the board and even into the rotary switch and all those precision wound resistors. It was ruined. I was about to trash it when I noticed all the batteries were Eveready Industrial alkaline and they had a guarantee printed on the side that said they would repair or replace any instrument damaged. I called and they sent me a prepaid mailing label. To shorten this already long story, after several months and a few calls - I received a check for $250. Note - they were all Eveready and the meter is still available so there was a reference for value.

:Ivan Copas' post got me to thinkin' about meters. Last year, I pulled my rarely used Simpson 260 out of the bottom of my tool box to check some caps. It was one of the nice ones with the roll-top hard case that I had picked up in a box full of radio parts at auction for $35. Well, when all the slats in the case fell out on my bench, I knew something foul was afoot. The batteries had leaked everywhere - alkaline gunk all over the board and even into the rotary switch and all those precision wound resistors. It was ruined. I was about to trash it when I noticed all the batteries were Eveready Industrial alkaline and they had a guarantee printed on the side that said they would repair or replace any instrument damaged. I called and they sent me a prepaid mailing label. To shorten this already long story, after several months and a few calls - I received a check for $250. Note - they were all Eveready and the meter is still available so there was a reference for value.

I've never heard of anyone actually sending in a piece of equipment for repairs to Everyready, but I have been tempted in the past to do just that. I've had things ruined by their leaking batteries (also Duracell and Rayovac). Do they still print that guarantee on their batteries?

I looked at some newer batteries of all 3 major brands and could not find the guarantee (perhaps they are wising up) - but I did find the same guarantee on the Rayovac and Duracell websites. I did not find it on the Eveready (Energizer) site - but I'd think they still do. Apparently they get a lot of damaged stuff in - after a couple of months I called to check the status of my meter and was told that it was in the warehouse but not yet logged in. So, they have a warehouse full. The take-home would be to stick with a single major brand in a piece of equipment. Mixing batteries might be a problem.