I need some electrical help

[tpcollins]

Hopefully someone here can help me. I'm trying to get a LaCrosse rain fall gauge to work and I've followed the instructions a dozen times and can't get that last item to work.

My batteries register 1.6 volts each on my Fluke voltmeter. End to end they measure 3.2 volts. When I insert them into the rain fall gauge, with the + and - touching the bottom bridge connector, the voltage drops to 2.56 volts when touching the voltmeter probes to the tops. Is the drop due to working on a load or is there a short somewhere? Thanks.

 

[RCM]

That's the voltage under load. Some cells (alkaline and heavy duty) will drop a lot more then others such as a lithium or NiMH.

 

[inetdog]

Hopefully someone here can help me. I'm trying to get a LaCrosse rain fall gauge to work and I've followed the instructions a dozen times and can't get that last item to work.

My batteries register 1.6 volts each on my Fluke voltmeter. End to end they measure 3.2 volts. When I insert them into the rain fall gauge, with the + and - touching the bottom bridge connector, the voltage drops to 2.56 volts when touching the voltmeter probes to the tops. Is the drop due to working on a load or is there a short somewhere? Thanks.

2.56 volts is pretty low and implies a high current drain or bad batteries.
What kind of batteries are these? 1.6 volts does not seem common, although you could be rounding from 1.54 for carbon-zinc, etc.
You can use your meter to measure the current drain.
Are the batteries inserted with the right polarity?

 

[SemiMan]

Hopefully someone here can help me. I'm trying to get a LaCrosse rain fall gauge to work and I've followed the instructions a dozen times and can't get that last item to work.

My batteries register 1.6 volts each on my Fluke voltmeter. End to end they measure 3.2 volts. When I insert them into the rain fall gauge, with the + and - touching the bottom bridge connector, the voltage drops to 2.56 volts when touching the voltmeter probes to the tops. Is the drop due to working on a load or is there a short somewhere? Thanks.

1.6 seems not out of line for brand new never used alkaline allowing for some error. Dropping immediately to 2.56 suggests that there is a high load which I absolutely would not expect with a rain gauge. I would lean towards polarity issue but maybe the gauge is toast.

Semiman