I liked its simple design and potential ease of repair. The negative lead cable is soft, the clamp seems solid. The positive pin with the handle seems robust. The handle seems friendly to holding it, however, it seems to be made of brittle plastic. So unless you step or drop a sledge hammer on it, nothing in it I don't like or won't be able to repair. This means I can keep it, and it'll work for a long time. Hence, the rating.
Those more technically inclined, read on to learn about more detail.
First thing I noticed, the logic seemed wrong to me. Because its a car tester, the only voltage I'll be looking for in a modern car, is a 'positive' and I never should experience a 'negative'. If I ring a circuit and I found 'positive', its good, hence - show me 'green'. And if I reversed the polarity of tester leads, that's an error, show me 'red'.
In the unit I received, the logic was opposite of this. So I thought, is it easy to open the case and to correct this? Yes, extremely so. The case is held together by one screw and a wedge. I had to machine about ~0.5 mm off the wedge to make it slide in and out smoothly.
The internal circuit consists of two parallel branches with a red or green LED and a drop resistor in each. Drop resistor values are 150 and 220 Ohms, which allow the LED circuitry to function between ~2.2 VDC and 24 VDC and limit the current to 10 mA @14.4 V; 20 mA @24 V, which seems safe enough current for the LEDs.
Other than that, nothing else to add. So I reversed the polarity to the correct logic - 'green' for locating the active rail; 'red' for reverse polarity and I'm happy now.
One more thing - before closing the case, I put baking paper in the handle, in a pre-cut shape that fits the inside of the handle. Now, because the handle was made of transparent plastic, the paper makes LED light diffuse and all of the handle glows when the LEDs are on. Cool!!
Anyways, its a good product whether you use it out of the box or upgrade it. Its easy to work with and that's the main thing. Highly recommend it!.
| Manufacturer | Innova |
|---|---|
| Place of Business | CLARINDA, IA, 51632 US |
| Brand | Innova |
| Model | 3410 |
| Product Dimensions | 25.4 x 11.43 x 5.08 cm; 195.04 g |
| Item model number | 3410 |
| Is discontinued by manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer part number | 3410 |
| OEM part number | 3410 |
| Item Weight | 195 g |
| Country of origin | China |
