What's a good choice when buying a Multimeter?

[BungeeII]

Boy, this thread started and filled up quick. I had a couple things in mind when I read the title, and wanted to be sure they were mentioned. Lucky for me they were both covered in posts 2 and 4, because even as nerdy as I am I sure wasn't going to read 3 pages of posts on multimeters!

 

[bjr]

My vote is for Fluke. Having said that I've not kept up on the new stuff. What I'd like to know if the Flukes are back lit or not, that would be a feature that I'd want. I've used a 27 fluke for years and am glad to have the fuse protection. I use to work on factory trawlers in the Bearing Sea and that was ugly work and I had to use the good stuff. I think the Flukes have a Mil spec. also which I like. bjr

 

[Treemonkey1000]

The Fluke 87 series does have the backlights on them. The series IV Fluke 87 is one of the best for handhelds I think. I have tested and repaired hundreds of DMM's. The company that I work for builds the worlds best jets so we use mainly Fluke. The fact that Fluke is located here in the Seattle area helps. There are other meters that will perform just as well for most applications that don't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Soundguy]

Fair enough. You can stand by your recommendation. Ill stand by mine. A fried meter doesnt care if your home or work. I wont recommend that anybody on here uses something that i consider a risk, home or work. If you look on craigs or ebay you can get a good meter for a much lower price if cost is a issue.

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

 

[john_bud]

Wow, who woulda thought that meters have something in common with gear/HST ?

 

[Scooby074]

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.

 

[Soundguy]

I see with your 'geek' comment you are resorting to red herrings vs actual reasonable arguments. I take it then you feel that anyone using meters for non industrial applications.. and or precision equipment like lab grade equipment are geeks. Good job.. nothing like an insult to really make your argument go across!

I already covered damaged leads... you got damaged leads.. you got a problem.. fix or replace. That's not a meter fault.. it's a user fault. ( As with any tool.. equipment INSPECTION is mandatory.. if you don't inspect your equipment.. how do you know it's safe.. IE.. the leads.. and ends.. etc.. again.. this is a user issue!)

Unsafe uses of a meter.. don't matter whether you got a 9$ or 290$ meter in your hand.. you touch the wrong stuff while holding the wrong stuff.. you're gonna have problems.. again.. not a meter fault.. it's a user fault.

People need to take some personal responsibility here... How many car accidents happen in the US every day?? What SMALL percentage of those are actually attributable to equipment failures ( other than maintenance/neglect issues ).. and how many of these accidents are USER ERROR. Applies accros the board to most every application of human interface with a machine. If the human makes an error... why blame the machine?

Give an idiot a 290$ menter and point him towards a 'hot' panel and tell him to start checkin'... Probably won't need long before something emits smoke, sparks or a scream... and it won't be the fault of the meter.

As i said..

Find a unit with a UL tag.

Don't use damaged leads.

Stay within the insulation voltage rating of the leads.. I havn't owned a set in the last 15years that didn't have the range printed right on the insulation.

Stay within the VOM's rated capacity with respect to the scale you are using when making current checks. If you are exceeding the rating, and don't expect a problem.. that's a user error not a machine error!.. Remember.. this includes the test leads!

If you do all this and you have a unit flame out in your hands.. then it's a meter error.

If you are already practicing a level electrical safety equal to the votlage ranges you are working with ( and don't forget frequency! ) you will likely be ok with respect to shock hazard. IE.. around high voltage and get them correct gloves, and or gloves and liners!.. non conductive boots and all the other things you should and shouldn't be doing.

In the end.. an idiot with the best equipment inthe world WILL find a way to circumvenbt the best of safety features and find a way to have a problem.. just the same.. a SAFE reasonable person using correctly rated, cheaper' equipment should be quite safe.

soundguy

 

[Bird]

I'd like to kick in a recomendation for extech

From everything I've heard, Fluke would be hard to beat, but my Extech AC/DC Digital Clamp Meter with temperature probe, has been quite satisfactory for me. I gave $165 for it on 4/21/1990. It fell off the tractor once and popped the case open when it hit the ground, but no damage; just closed it back up and it was good as new. I did replace the temperature lead a few years ago. I'm afraid the original got folded and unfolded until it broke the wire inside the insulation.

And Chris, you would have loved it when one of my neighbors tried to check the voltage on an air-conditioner and made lots of sparks and smoke. It turned out he had an "engine analyzer" for automobile use; 12 volt DC. 230 volts of AC got interesting results.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep... those extechs are tough. That's my 'usual' meter I use... tough removable rubber outter molding on the abs case.. lotsa functions..

I hear ya on the engine anylizer... I bet it killed the unit for sure... a good example of user error though..

Can I assume the neighbor didn't get hurt? when his 'cheap' meter flamed out?

soundguy

 

[Ridgewalker]

Here's another vote for Fluke! I have had one for years and it still works great.