Quote:
Originally Posted by Soundguy  How are you frying all these meters.
I've been working on electronics and using vom's over a couple decades... Everything from those original 9$ radioshack analog jobs that were about 2" x 3" with 24awg leads. to good expensive ones.. First meter I had was the old simpson in the leather case that looked like a tape recorder it was so big.
Had an old sperry.. seemed like a copy of a RS model.. have had the good ones too.. simpson and fluke plus still have some lab grade equipment I never use anymore.. have a box full of various build autorangers.. plus a micronta and an extech i use every day.
So far I've never smoked a meter. Closest I've come to having a problem with a meter is poping a fuse on a current check while using a fused scale, vs the unfused side.
I've also accidentally had a probe cross 2 wires and burnt a probe tip off.
I've repaired plenty of meters that others have broke.. 99.9% of them were from measuring the impeadance of a wall socket.. IE.. ohms scale and ac source.
I have yet to have had undamaged insulation on a set of stock leads from a UL listed meter ever present a shock hazard when using them within their limits.. which is usually printed right on the leads.
If a person is using non stock or damaged leads.. that's not a meter fault.. that's a user fault.. they are the kind of people you don't let near toasters when they have forks in their hands.
IMHO.. if a person is damaging a meter in a way that presents a shock hazard.. they are not using it correctly.. in that case.. they can get hurt no matter what tool they have in their hand... A person thet is 'trying' to get hurt will find a way.
soundguy |
Im an industrial electrician, not a electronics geek. Ive never mentioned "lab grade" anything. Ive never fried a meter. Any problems ive had with meters can be attributed to the wear and tear of carrying it everwhere i go. Nobody intends to smoke a meter but it does happen. Wouldnt you rather be safe in knowing that your meter wont blow in your hands? But if your perfect, then i guess youll never make a mistake? My point is the OP im guessing is a amateur and would be more likely to make a mistake then an experienced person therefore theyll need the most protection form that mistake if it happens.
Leads on cheap meters suck. If you say otherwise than youve never used a good meter with quality leads. Ive had the leads pull out of the tips on cheap leads thats really safe
Bottom line is most of these cheap,unfused meters are not safe. Sure, you might be ok for a while and may never have a problem, but why take a chance?I wont use them. I wont recommend them to anyone.