A new kettle shouldn't need testing, or even inspection.
However a lot of people have some older appliances (some people even collect them) and extension leads etc.
Anyway, even a new Megger is cheaper than what the kink shops charge for electro-stim equipment ;-)
Buggered if I would use second hand rubbish. I would not feel too happy if my gear didn't come out of a box.
Anyway i'm just being practical. The spec on a Wickes meter is more than adequate for my work. I could destroy it, or a Fluke for that matter in an instant. Whats wrong with the cable on a Wickes meter incidentally? What was wrong with the insulation on a two for four quid Maplin DMM by the way. What is so critical about the rating of the cables and what do I look for when buying same?
The last Fluke I bought was totally useless BTW. I assumed a DMM costing £70-00 or thereabouts would have a current range... Wrong!
Just what as a "pro" meter incidentally. Apart from the price how would you define a meter as being suitable for a professional?
Personally I would deem any meter suitable for a professional if he knew when and how to use it, and got paid for using it. full stop!
On a final point, within reason I can have any meter I wish, but if its not over £100-00 or so I can just call into a trade counter or suchlike.
I think my Wickes meter was £19-00 or so, it does the job as well as a Fluke would. I didn't have to order the thing and wait for delivery and the fact that it does not get looked after, gets dropped, soaked and generally mistreated means that it has outlived my expectations by at least four years.
One other downside of an expensive meter incidentally is having to order a replacement less than a month after unboxing the last one. It has happened!!
AB
My Fluke is a delight to hold and use - quite unlike any other. Only sort of matters if you appreciate such things. I do.
:--)
It's whatever grabs yer! I have actually had a few Flukes, they are much like any other meter from a practical point of view. I would say their main advantage is the protection fuse though. It can be damned difficult wrapping a strand of wire round a 20mm fuse after measuring Volts on the mA range. The Fluke wins hands down on that score, the protection fuse is so big, it's a doddle to bypass it!
When I was a young apprentice, before we properly studied "Ohms per Volt" I bought an Avo 7. The meter lasted around two years before I pulled it to bits trying to cure an intermittent Ohms range. The Avo 7 was classed as totally unsuitable for my line of work, not only did I use it, but found it's characteristics very useful for biasing on transistors and suchlike. The meter served me almost as well as the Avo 8 that came later.
It isn't what youve got, it's what you do with it!
AB
indeed not, but I did buy 4 theatre lights from CPC and found that on one the earth lead was insulated from the metal body by a layer of paint.
yes - often with the plug top no longer gripping the cable sheath.
Oh dear!, that shows your lack of knowledge of good test equipment. Most all of that is built very well indeed and has a very long service life. There is a healthy market in used equipment ands it gets there for all manner of reasons.
Well we need a meter for field use that can handle measurement of very small currents and voltages and at the same time can check the incoming mains supplies which are very "stiff" and I wouldn't like to trust a 10 quid or otherwise device across that sort of power!. Its quite easy to forget to take the leads of the amps measurement range when your checking three phase supplies;!.
So it didn't measure current at all, which model was that then?..
One that can be calibrated for a start. One that has a good build quality and one that can cope with accidental connection to rather more powerful supplies then what you might in a transistor radio for a start..
I suppose then your version of "professional" differs from mine...
Why?..
In article , Archibald scribeth thus
Well least we know where we stand on this..
You can work here
I'll go over there ->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)<
Yes .. nuff said I reckon...
Saw a line of DMMs that had a simple mechanical device, a disc attached to the range knob, that blocks off the amps and volts lead holes, depending. You either can't stick the leads in on the wrong setting, or the plugged leads block turning the knob to an unsuitable position. One still can set it amps and probe for volts, but not hook up to volts and then set to amps...
Simple and useful idea, wish I'd thought of it.
Thomas Prufer
The fuses fitted to Flukes are HRC fuses capable of interrupting fault currents of up to 10kA. (the reason they are so 'kin expensive!)
You are obviously failing to comprehend the issue here. Yes any cheap meter will give you a measurement. It might be accurate enough, the meter might even last for years. No one is disputing that. What we are attempting to highlight is the way it responds when an event beyond your control subjects it to catastrophic over volt, may not be to your liking.
[snip]Do as you like. However my advice would be to only use a proper Cat III or IV rated meter, when carrying out tests on high energy sources. To do otherwise is foolish IMO.
You may doubt, but it it does not stop you being wrong.
That's odd, you still appear clue resistant.
Next time you probe a 3 phase supply, you may wish to reflect on this comment from the above: "Once the bus bars began to arc, the victims' fates were sealed, as there was no turning back at that point"
Yes
No its not, and that is the key.
Making measurements inside a mains appliance (while that has its own risks), does not usually expose you to a high energy source - you are nicely buffered by a reasonable length of domestic wiring with a few tenths of an ohm of loop impedance [1]. If things go pear shaped there are likely to only be few hundred amps of fault current available.
Taking readings at a consumer unit may expose you to a source of many thousands of amps of prospective short circuit currant.
Given a working knowledge of ohms law, you should be able to work that out for yourself.
Has it occurred to you, that the fusing in the meter may have more than one purpose? (or for that matter, why some meters have more than one fuse?)
[1] Usually, although you might want to ask Adam what the PSCC is in his house...
It can't be in any professional capacity, or if it is H&S has clearly gone out of the window.
No need to even buy secondhand at the moment, Fluke 113 £84 quid NEW (that is probably plus VAT)
CATIV 300V, CATIII 600V
Absolutely, although quite a few Flukes, including this 113 are made in China now.
Not 100% sure about a fuse as its so long since I've used one or had one apart but definitely agree on the cutout.
There is no way they would be permitted to be used for field measurements on any mains fed equipment in any establishment with even the slightest hint of a safety culture.
You can a fair bit from the Cat it claims to match - however I would only believe it if its also certified by a proper testing authority. (I have seen a number of cheap meters that claim CAT II or III for example, but obviously come nowhere close when you look at the internals).
I have a few 8 mk II here even have a manual, no 15V batteries though.
AVOCET house 92-96 Vauxhall bridge road SW1 but in teh model 9 manual they moved to Dover
We called them smiley meters at school because when upside down the scale looked like a clowns mouth the the main knobs looked like eyes.
probabley not now, butn in the early 80s they were still in use here for measring mains voltages.
I just ordered sixty of these fopr our students.
But we don't go above 60V DC, and most of the time under 30V. The above seem to be great little meters for the price and the use we & the students will put them to.
It's in the battery compartment - on all marks of the 8 as far as I know (I have a Mark 1, a Mark 3 and a Mark 7 here).
Why not?
I expect this will be fine for most DIY use.
next week.
Meggers are useful in the right hands but I would not recommend casual use in these days of solid state stuff. Back in my day we could whack them on almost any wiring, these days you would blow things up right left and centre.
Yup, great for testing new wiring before connecting to existing. But with existing stuff you need to take care. Connecting L to E of the de-energised circuit, and then testing between the pair and Earth, (and then only at 500V) is usually the safest bet if you are not sure what electronic gizmos are wired into the system.
Plenty good enough for most non mains work certainly.
For mains tests, it claims to be Cat II and does have a standards body stamp on the front. So for measurements in mains appliances that are connected at least 10m away from the CU it should be safe enough.
(Inadequate for anything in the CU or on a very stiff supply though obviously).
Until it goes on the blink. IME these cheapo meters don't last 5 minutes. I've decided to buy a seperate meter for domestic electricity and will cont inue to study what's on the market. In the mean time, to replace my old Whi te Gold meter from Maplin, I popped into my local Maplin store (better the devil you know) and bought one of these by UNI-T. They're a chinese outfit, but they make digital storage scopes so should know what they're doing:
I do hope it doesn't turn out to be a pile of shit.
You can measure voltages around the CU perfectly well with just a Cat 1 meter. Just wear thick rubber gloves. ;)
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