Multimeter recommendations

I've been happy witth my PEAKMETER PM18C Digital Handheld Intelligent Multimeter from Amazon, its around £25. Much prefer it to my dads old Avometer or my homebuilt Heathkit Multimeter, both like bricks!

Yes, EEVBLOG
They have a list of meters that don't meet their safety specifications. Often because of cheap fuses .

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/a-list-of-multimeters-that-do-not-appear-to-meet-their-claimed-safety-specs/msg157700/#msg157700

Everything I have used by Fluke has been well designed and robust. My multimeter is still in good working order although a calibration may reveal it to be not as accurate as specified. Test gear with rechargeable batteries that is not in regular use can be a nuisance as the batteries tend to fail. I prefer replaceable batteries as long as you remember to remove them before returning to the test gear cupboard.

Mike

Oh no, John has unleashed my hobby horse! I submit the word 'quality' has no place in engineering.

Engineers should start by identifying requirements and then select equipment to meet the requirement. The criteria are Fitness for Purpose and Value for Money, not 'quality'.

Spending money without justification is an engineering sin. You have to engage brain to define exactly what's meant by fit for purpose; for a one off, the answer might be the cheapest available. The very best might be essential in a professional setting.

Lasting a lifetime, whatever that means, is rarely a engineering requirement in the way Capacity, Frequency or Induction ranges might be. Does one really want to pay for expensive calibration, multiple channels and high accuracy?

For ordinary workshop purposes a cheap multimeter is more than good enough, and easily replaced if the worst happens. And the money saved could be spent on something useful like an oscilloscope.

Sky's the limit If quality is the only requirement. A £3636 Keithly isn't bad but you can spend more!

Dave

Spending money on 'quality'

Unfortunatly a cheap multimeter may not be safe. Anything new costing under £10 is unlikely to be properly designed and constructed to the standards required for safe use on mains.

Hi,you’ve just recommend one “72-13440” which is only £7.84 sold by CPC.

Maurice

Interesting, and a bargain, not a normal price. Farnell sell it for £21.55 and they own CPC!

https://uk.farnell.com/tenma/72-13440/dmm-handheld-manual-2000-count/dp/2854404

I did say "unlikely to be" there are always exceptions

I like your confidence that a Fluke won't explode. I was on board ship in 2015 working on a bit of kit close to the 415v switchboard. The electrician was doing something on the switchboard on a low step up platform stood on the switchboard matting. I am unsure exactly what he was up too but he was checking something on the main bus mounted in the top of the switchboard using a brand new fluke just out of the box that day, supplied with a calibration cert - purchased from the US Fluke dealer in the locality. Long story short there was a massive flash and a bang and leccie was on the floor still holding the two undamaged leads, from each was dangling part of the meter, the remainder was spread all around the space! I don't know what he was up too but he was a certificated ETO of many years experience, he didn't get a an electric shock but he certainly got a surprise shock, as did I! He repeated the task he was up to after he changed his trousers with the old meter that was out of cert and it went fine (identical model - I had purchased the new one as we couldn't get the old one calibrated quickly enough). There wasn't enough left of the meter to be able to tell with certainty what range or function it was set too! I guess there is always an exception to the rule but certainly they can be blown up!

Paul.

Here are a couple which I have. These are 2 of around 10 different types I have. Ex Electrical contractor so had to have many different ones inc for full Inspection & testing to IEE regs. The ones below are a expensive Fluke, a superb meter. Downside is they are very expensive. The other is from memory a £8.99 item from Screwfix. A great little meter. A no no is the ones that Lidl occasionaly sell. They are rubbish. Maybe Aldi too. None of mine have transistor or capacitor testers though. Although if you know how to use a multimeter these tests are easy to do just using the Resistance settings.

Steve.

Get the new hall effect c clamp type meter. it can measure DC Amps just by clipping on a wire and NOT breaking the cct. Its a godsend and quite accurate

UNI-T UT210E about £65 worth every penny

Dont knock the old analog Avo type. you see things on the needle sweep you d never pick up on a digit display.

cheapo ok for LV

If doing serious mains work get proper kit for the job.

IMHO get cheapo digit one for auto work cos you are bound to blow one up with current range wrong.

Almost certainly had it set on DC current, been there done that. Many years ago I went to measure a 730V DC bus with my mid-range Maplin multimeter. Unfortunately I had it set on the 10A range. Despite the range being fuse protected the multimeter literally exploded. The range selector knob was found on the other side of the room.

Andrew

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 08/09/2021 04:09:12

All the meters I have used have separate inputs for current, so must be a real lapse in focus to measure volts with the meter set so..

I think the 'cheap' meters are still pretty good value for money, if the intended use is around the house, shop and car.

WRT safety, even the cheapies don't appear too bad - certainly the high current ranges - 10amps plus etc, may be a bit suspect - pcb tracks are in some cases a little narrow for prolonged use at higher currents. Voltage separation of tracks in the cheapies I have seems quite adequate - nothing less than 6mm gaps that I found.

If the use is more professional, then accuracy may be more important, and very specific needs would then dictate a better instrument.

The two left meters are MusTool left was $9.00, 2nd from left was $18.00

Both work very well, I use them in the workshop, on 4x4 trips, etc. third from left is the venerable FLuke 87, this one now 26 years old and working as new. Next was my gift to me to replace the Fluke 87, a Keysight 5-1/2 digit meter - Very good at measuring, can record to a PC, etc - was $604.00 (!).

However, this was a bad buy -the Keysight display is crappy, not clear, hard to read in day without the backlight on(!!), the knob has a very uncomfortable rotational backlash which results in one not being sure if the required selection in made or not.. I use it for the more exacting tasks - measuring and computing ampere-hours for very low power wildlife tracking collars and so on. The Fluke and the Keysight unit are in the electronics lab all the time, and nine out of ten times I'll go for the Fluke. I could not physically view the Keysight unit when I purchased, went on reviews and made a mistake in purchasing it. I should have gone for the later Flukes (s). So price is not all - The only downside I found to the two cheapies shown here is the display update time is long - maybe 1 to 2 sec, and autorange time is irritatingly long - up to 4 seconds...The Fluke is less than 1 sec, the Keysight not noticeable.

Measuring +12V on each unit showed ( left to right) 11.88v , 11.9v, 12.01v, 12,002v

Current measurements showed:

0.5amps: left to right - 0.25A , 0.48A, 0.511A, 0.505, 0.5007A

1Amps : 0.98A , 0.97A, 0.99A, 1.0008A

10Amps : 9.77A, 9.89A, 9.98A, 9.9997A

So I think The Cheapies are just fine, except for the sub 0.5A anomaly of the left meter..

Fuse setup of the cheapest versus the costly meter..

Given the lesson, and what Fluke has done for me over the last 1/3 of a lifetime, I would try find a FLuke...

Joe

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 08/09/2021 07:58:57

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 08/09/2021 08:00:19

We can't all be perfect.

Andrew

The cheap meters do have their place for me, for example when I drove classic cars a small cheap meter fits nicely in the glovebox to help when you are roadside trying to diagnose the fault of the day. I kept the Fluke for everything else. However the place even the best made cheap meter seemed to let me down was the quality of the leads and probes, which seemed very flimsy and fragile. That being said I'm sure things have improved.

Moving away from the OPs question, while I have a number of meters (quality, AVO and yellow cheapies) I recently bought an inexpensive Chinese made digital meter with bluetooth that talks to my phone which then speaks the reading aloud.

So when you are struggling to take the reading and unfortunately have forgotten your extra hand and extra pair of eyes to hold and look at the reading you can just put it somewhere nearby, out of sight if necessary and hear what it says.

Originally bought for blind students to hear what was being measured I have found the facility useful in awkward positions (and FAR less dangerous than an assistant to take the readings for you!)

Good point, which is why I own digital AND analogue meters. I recommend buying one of each!

Digital meters are hard to misread but need time to settle, so best for measuring steady volts and amps accurately. For a bit more money the meter can do frequency, capacitance, and inductance, plus reasonably useful transistor testing.

Analogue meters are easy to misread, but are good for many common situations where a quick check is good enough: continuity ; does a power rail have roughly the right volts on it, etc. They're especially useful for detecting changes like capacitors discharging, batteries and power rails fading under load or motor boating. My analogue meters also detect RF oscillation by going full scale on all ranges by detecting on the movements protective diodes.

I own a genuine AVO, same age as me but the meter is still in good working order. Don't use it much because it's heavy and inconveniently beefy. Mainly valued for it's 10A AC range. It's unusual 27V battery is a mild pain to source.

The analogue that gets most use is an inexpensive rather than cheap 20000 ohms per volt Japanese plastic hobby meter. Fully portable, and - unlike the AVO - can be propped up to ease reading the scale. 30 years old, takes ordinary batteries and accurate better than 3% on all ranges last time I checked.

Otherwise, I have a couple of Maplin digitals. The second was bought because I lost a lead and it was cheaper to buy a new meter than a set of new leads.

My Use Case is electronics, originally valves up to 1kV, but transistors and 240Vac mains only since 1995. These days, lots of 3.3V and 5V microcontroller stuff, all low risk. I would buy a safer meter if I did more than occasional mains work, and the kit I have is definitely unfit for 440V mains. Flimsy leads are the most obvious problem - they bring the operator too close to death - but the meters aren't built to resist internal arcing if the operator makes a mistake.

I suggest amateurs should never work on the sort of electrics needing a safe meter. The meter won't save an untrained bodger from the consequences of his ignorance. The meter is only part of the safety regime: important to know what you're doing, and to take all the other appropriate precautions, including PPE. The Fluke Website is worth reading, this section deals with hand-held meters. The information is relevant to professional electricians and over the top for me and my Arduino!

If safety is a requirement, buying second-hand online or from a mate probably isn't an option. Although my venerable AVO, is in good condition, I doubt it meets modern safety standards. The same doubt applies to all second-hand kit: brand names do not protect equipment from age, wear and tear, abuse, iffy repairs, or changes in best-practice. Second-hand equipment has to be tested: safety, calibration and functionality cannot be taken on trust.

There's much to be said for buying a modern Digital Storage Oscilloscope rather than a multimeter if electronics is the main requirement.

Dave

As Jon L suggests: It depends what you want to use a meter for. Any meter will tell you if your car battery is being charged or not. But when you want good quality and good design; to see trends or make more accurate measurements, or high current or mains voltage; you might need to spend a bit more.

Having said that, a big old Avo 8, for example, while lovely to use, is totally impractical in a garage or workshop. My (second-hand) Fluke is robust, with a digital display and an analogue strip, so I can see how a signal is varying in real time. It also has a touch hold facility so I can clip the meter to my belt and the meter will hold the reading without me needing to see the display while probing. Ditto a continuity beeper. Or I can clip one probe into the holster to convert the meter into a hand-held probe, meaning I only need two hands instead of three for those awkward places.

Fluke are high quality and well designed, but certainly not cheap brand new ! - a bit like Snap-On tools. I still want that quality of build and design though, so I look for good second-hand examples. Shame that army surplus place in Nottingham is no more, that was brilliant.

Agree with S.O.D.; don't work on - or even probe - electrics if you don't know what you're doing - particularly anything above 55V, which can be lethal. (My first profession was in electronics).

Edited By John Doe 2 on 08/09/2021 11:54:17

Edited By John Doe 2 on 08/09/2021 12:05:45

I think the fact it was new out of the box says it all. Presumably a manufacturing defect that was not picked up. Calibration is done with low energy sources for safety so may not pick up all faults. They cetainly don't test the fuse breaking current on every one or they would shi with blown fuses

What did Fluke say when you sent it back to them?

Robert G8RPI

No, if anything they have got worse.

I do have a couple of cheap meters there is one in my desk drawer and I used to cary one in the car, now replaced by an ex RAF Fluke 25 that were cheap on ebay recently. I have 10 Fluke meters so may be considered biased, but that includes the first one I bought (ex demo) back in 1980. It was also the first digital meter I bought. Cost a weeks wage.

Robert G8RPI

I was on a breakdown with an old school electrician, the only test gear we had was a test lamp and a tobacco tin continuity tester. I had to smile when he estimated we had about 50V from the dimly glowing lamp, it was a useful test as we would have been looking for 110V or 230V which it obviously was not. My trusty AVO would only have been taken out if I was expecting to need it and although the maintenance workshop would have an AVO it would mean a trek back to the workshop to fetch it. The pocket multimeter changed my world, our company workwear had voluminous poacher pockets so taking my Fluke everywhere was automatic.

Mike