WHAT METER TO BUY ?

little diesel · Mar 1, 2011

I NEED TO BUY A METER FOR MY SHOP. I DONT KNOW A LOT ABOUT THEM SO AGAIN I FIND MYSELF COMING TO MY UNKNOWN FRIENDS ON HERE. ONE THAT I CAN BUY USED IS A "FLUKE 77 III MULTIMETER METER DIGITAL VOLTAGE CURRENT E". IS THIS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR ? MY PROJECT RIGHT NOW IS A MASSEY 1020 . I NEED TO TEST THE VOLTS AT THE GLOW PLUGS. IF THIS ISN'T WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR COULD SOMEBODY HELP ME OUT AND POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION . THANKS IN ADVANCE !

PILOON · Mar 1, 2011

For shure a Fluke will do the job however generally it is considered a top rated lab unit at 'lab' prices.
For automotive trouble shooting I'd consider it kinda overkill.
Most any multimeter offered by automotive type stores will do what you want.
In fact no need to pay any more than $20-30 for a good unit.

As to your plugs, your fingers will actually tell U if they work OK.
Jumper straight to the battery and touch each one to see if they warm up.

To test with a meter you temporarily remouve the connecter strip and measure each one to ground and it should read very low resistance (like in the 5-15 ohm range each).
No resistance reading=open (aka shot).
Check all contacts for corrosion or bad contacts and clean as required.

Good luck.

CurlyDave · Mar 1, 2011

The Harbor Freight multimeter, which can frequently be found on sale for about $3, is adequate for this task and many others.

I haven't found a job where it isn't "good enough".

kf4uda · Mar 2, 2011

The Fluke 77 is a good meter and will do anything you need around the shop. Fluke meters are top of the line in my opinion but they are not cheap. If you are looking at a used one, inspect it carefully. Look at the leads for any breaks or cracks.

If you are just wanting to check 12VDC around the shop you could do with a much cheaper meter or even a simple test light.

If you are going to use this meter to check AC voltages such as 120 or 240VAC I would suggest buying a decent meter. My life is worth more to me than a $10 meter. You can find some good meters at electrical supply houses. Just tell them what you want to do with it and they can recommend one.

crazyal · Mar 2, 2011

I have two Flukes and while they are great and very durable and accurate, for 99% of my uses a simple Radio Shack special will get the job done. Things to look for are a back lit display, large LCD numbers, and a tone feature (gives a simple tone when testing conductivity). Most multimeters current (amps) ranges will not go high enough to measure common issues that need to be measured on a car, say the output of an alternator so I would rate it as low on the list of useful features. The best thing about a sub $20 meter is if you drop it or drive over it you can just buy another.

Argosy · Mar 2, 2011

Extreme accuracy isn' important so get something cheap. The changes you're looking for in automotive are volts or tenths of a volt. A cheap meter will read that and won't make you cringe if something happens to it like a $200 Fluke.

I do kinda look for ones with rubber cases. They are usually a few bucks more but it seems to be a good investment.

JMynes · Mar 2, 2011

Get one with a clamp-around ammeter. Make sure it measure DC amps, many are only AC. Although you might not need it often, when you want to measure amp draw, it is very comvenient.

Scrambler82 · Mar 2, 2011

Does not sound like you will need too much of a multimeter, volts/amps/resistance and continuity.
Sears has great meters with the Craftsman name on it, it has auto ranging which is nice when sometimes you forget to set the proper range of voltage or current,
Check out the complete line of meters and they also have some great add on probes and test devices.

I can not remember the model I use but it is a small compact unit that does everything I need and more that I will never use.

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

This one has one button ranging and it has a Continuity in with the Diode Test Point, it looks like a speaker with a sound wave.
$32 and if you watch for a sale you may get it for less.
They have plenty but the Meters and Electronic Probes I have service me well.

little diesel · Mar 2, 2011

JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT ME ADVICE ON MULTIMETER S. I HAVE TO GO OUT THIS MORNING AND GET ONE AND NOW I WONT BE SO BLIND TO WHAT I NEED. THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

heehaw · Mar 2, 2011

i know its too late, but worked in electronics for over 30 years, used meters that cost thousands of dollars to $3 each: unless your measuring frequency, capacitance, inductance or some of them other things i am trying to forget about: get a cheap digital meter: the best one i have found was $13 in the auto section of WalMart: but i only found it at one WM store..so i bought a couple extras, for when i drop it..or run over it, or forget where i left it!!!
heehaw