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Bird 43 wattmeter
- Thread starter Ben Hebert
- Start date
Should be a screw slot in front below the meter scale. This is the mechanical zero-set adjustment.
And if this one got dropped from too far up, the meter may have a mechanical fault.
73
And if this one got dropped from too far up, the meter may have a mechanical fault.
73
Only if you are not running any power thru it at the time. 
Sorry but it had to be said. Yes of course it should be at zero with no power applied to it. If it is not then you should be able to adjust it using the zero set adjustment on the meter face. It should look like a small plastic screw head on the bottom middle of the meter face.
I thought this posted earlier. Spending too much time on Facebook lately I guess. I think I may have just hit ENTER and thought it posted. LOL
Sorry but it had to be said. Yes of course it should be at zero with no power applied to it. If it is not then you should be able to adjust it using the zero set adjustment on the meter face. It should look like a small plastic screw head on the bottom middle of the meter face.I thought this posted earlier. Spending too much time on Facebook lately I guess. I think I may have just hit ENTER and thought it posted. LOL
Did you go hard one way to hard the other way? If you did and still no effect then there is something wrong with the meter adjustment. they are basically just a tiny plastic pin that moves the needle. That pin may be broken off inside the meter especially if it has been dropped. How far off zero is the needle?
If you rotate the meter, more or less around the axis if the meter's pointer pivot does the needle move at all?
Inertia should cause the needle to wave to one side, then the other as you rotate the thing back and forth.
If it won't move at all this way, the meter movement is mechanically damaged inside.
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Inertia should cause the needle to wave to one side, then the other as you rotate the thing back and forth.
If it won't move at all this way, the meter movement is mechanically damaged inside.
73
Hope you didn't pay a lot for it.
The replacement meter movement is sold at RF Parts, Davis RF, and various Ebay sellers. I have heard rumors of counterfeit low-quality replacement meter movements, but don't have any first-hand knowledge of this. If you see one listed at half the price of the other sources, that would be suspicious.
There are other types of meter used by Bird for other models. The one you want requires 30 microamps ("uA") to drive the pointer to full scale. If someone offers you a 100 microamp meter, it won't read correctly with the model 43 plug-in elements.
Nothing that fits a Bird meter is cheap, and the meter movement won't be either.
73
The replacement meter movement is sold at RF Parts, Davis RF, and various Ebay sellers. I have heard rumors of counterfeit low-quality replacement meter movements, but don't have any first-hand knowledge of this. If you see one listed at half the price of the other sources, that would be suspicious.
There are other types of meter used by Bird for other models. The one you want requires 30 microamps ("uA") to drive the pointer to full scale. If someone offers you a 100 microamp meter, it won't read correctly with the model 43 plug-in elements.
Nothing that fits a Bird meter is cheap, and the meter movement won't be either.
73
I paid 90.00 for it. https://m.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Bird...t-Meter-Face/232760899116?itemId=232760899116 This the meter that’s in my price range right now would this work
The meter in that listing is already sold, but appears to be the genuine item.
Appears used, too.
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Appears used, too.
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The knock offs do not say Thruline or bird electronics corp on the face. Most just say WATTS and the scale is slightly different. The cheap ones may be ok but I've never used one.