Meter on the wrong range when checking mains, should it really go bang?

I had a similar incident a couple of years back, though mine happened with a budget Fluence meter. I was checking a small appliance cord for continuity before taking it to the mechanic. The multimeter was on the AC voltage range, but I meant to switch it back to the ohms setting. I accidentally touched the probe to the live end of the internal wiring for a second before catching the mistake. It didn't even trip the house breaker becuase the load was tiny, but the display just melted and blew the internal fuse right through. It was like watching a little puff of smoke. It really hammered home the point that those meters are basially just small power supplies designed to shunt current safely through a highly resistive element. When you put a high voltage across the probes, the meter's internal protection isn't meant to handle a full line load current, even if the fuse blows. The surge that happens when the meter tries to draw the voltage through its components is what really cooks the socket and the circuit board itself. It's not just about the fuse popping.

I think the expectation that it shoud just fuse and stop is unrealistic, expecially with cheaper hardware. Those units are not built to withstand a sudden, uncontrolled current spike. They are designed to protect themselves somewhat, but when the selection is clearly wrong, the failure is violent. I ended up replacing it with a Fluke model which feels like a much more robust piece of gear for any serious DIY work.

I had a low-cost Fluke model do something similar when I was checking a shed circuit panel a while back. It wasn't a wall outlet, but I was testing the main line coming into the breaker. I had the meter dialed up to the 200V AC range and placed the probes across two seprate terminals for a split second before I could pull the lead away. The meter didn't just trip a fuse quietly like some people expect. Instead, the entire display went black and the plastic casing felt instantly hot enough to make me nervous. It was a violent failure. I think the core issue isn't just the cheap quality, but the inherent limitation of the meter's internal architecture. These meters are designed to fail catastrophically when pushed past thier rating, rather than gently self-limiting. If the internal fuse is blown, the surge often continues to the delicate measuring components before the circuit completly opens, causing that scorch marks scenario you described. It isn't necessarily a 'dud' unless the fuse wasn't there to begin with. If you are working with high voltage, regardless of how careful you are, you are always asking the meter to perform a function it wasn't built to handle safely, even if the probe leads are rated higher than the meter itself. It’s not just about the dial setting being correct; it's about the entire device being rated for the conditions you are subjecting it to.

Did the same dumb thing years ago with a cheap meter on the amps setting, except I didn't even get a bang. The fuse in mine was alredy blown from some earlier mistake I never noticed, so the probes just sat there while the outlet shorted and the tripper went. Crack open the dead meter and check if there's actually a fuse in there and what's left of it. If it's intact, the meter died doing its job badly. If it's blown or missing, well, mystery solved. Also yeah, I now hold the dial up to my face and physically read it every single time before probes go anywhere near a socket. Takes two seconds and I've never repeated the mistake.

I'm pretty new here but this thread has me second-guessing my own habits. I came close to the same thing last month, had the leads in the amp jacks from a battery drain check the night before and nearly went probing a dead socket in the garage. Caught it at the last second and now I jab the probes together real quick to sanity check the dial before anything else. That said, is there an easy way to tell if the protection fuse inside is still good without pulling the meter apart? I've got a second cheap meter I could test with but not sure if that's even a reliable way to check.