Digital multimeter

What should I look for in a digital multimeter for home use? I'd like to spend less than $50, if possible, but would be willing to spend more if it makes a big difference for home use.

Any recommendations?

Reply to
Jennifer Murphy
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I've got several of the free promos from Harbor Freight, which I use often at home. First, a person has to be familiar with electricity. What scales and ranges do you seek?

The only time I use my "good" meter is for capacitance, and I can get a rough go or no go with a swing meter VOM, about fifteen bucks worth of meter.

Look for meter with ranges that you know.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Radio Shack has several digital and analog multimeters for well under your price range . Tell the guy/gal there what you want to do with it , if you're lucky they might even be knowledgeable enough to help you select one . From my home repair experience I suggest you look for AC voltage ranges from ~20 volts to 600 , DC voltages the same and resistance ranges that include one that beeps if you have continuity .

Reply to
Snag

I'm boycotting RS after they sold me a cell phone, but refused the $40 rebate. Even after I wrote and reminded them several times.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I have several of the $10-15 units which I got from places like Electronic Goldmine and Marlin P. Jones Associates and they are pretty good. But I needed a better unit that I knew was accurate and that would read True RMS for AC voltage. I bought the Triplett 9045 for about $75 on Amazon about a year ago. It also comes with a thermocouple for reading temps and will read frequency and capacitance. It is now $85 on Amazon. The only dislike is that its auto ranging seems a bit slow at times.

Reply to
Art Todesco

I'd recommend a Fluke 114:

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Fluke makes the best most reliable meters, ever. You'll be able to pass it on to yer kids.

This one will meet yer price ceiling and generally gets good reviews for a meter in that price range, but is not as sturdy/rugged as a Fluke (nothing is!).

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From there on, it's a crap shoot. You can find a usable meter (how long????) on the $10 table at any auto parts/hardware store, but you get what you pay for.

nb

Reply to
notbob

The one I use most came from Sears when it was on sale many years back. Has a rubber case with a fold-out stand. I still see similar (if not identical) ones in the Sears fliers from time to time. I'm pretty sure they are less than $50.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

Hi, If you are not in a hurry, Look for used GOOD one like Fluke, Wavetek on eBay. It'll work long time without causing trouble like El Cheapo Chinese made one chip toy. At times analog ones like old work horse Simpson 260 is more suitable. I have both and even a old Tek 'scope.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

For home use I picked up a cheap Klein multimeter (MM100?). About $25. Se ems reasonably well built for the price. I can't speak to accuracy except to say that it has served my purposes well (mostly 120/240V AC and low volt age DC).

The one feature that I really appreciate is the probe holster on the back o f the multimeter. This allows easy 2-handed operation in situations where you can't use clip-on terminals (which is the case for most home electrical ). The unit only comes with solid probes, so depending on what you plan on using it for you might look for some clip-on cables as well.

FWIW, I use Fluke multimeters at work. A much better product but definitel y not worth the money for home use.

Reply to
dbonnell

IDK about that specific Fluke, but Fluke is the gold standard in that type of meter. I've had mine for 30 years now.

I have one of those that cost about $12 or so. I think it was from Sears, might have been Radio Shack. I kept it on my boat. It was fine for what I used it for and it's still working years later. I bought one of the $8 meters at Harbor Freight and it only lasted a year. It still kind of works, if you consider trying to read 120V it shows 160V......

Reply to
trader4

The biggest problem with really cheap meters is they come with cheap leads. If you are working around line voltage you want leads with good insulation on the wire and clips that are line voltage rated. The covering on most cheap meter lead clips is just rated for comfort, not insulation.

The wires often break and give bad readings too.

The weak point in cheap meters is the switches. Again they get flaky and you can't trust the reading. I agree Fluke and Wavtek make a pretty good meter

Reply to
gfretwell

Good point. The cheapo HF one that I bought, one of the probes cracked in half. From my prespective, there are two price points. Either the $10-15 range where you live with what you get, which could be OK. That's what I bought to keep on my boat. Or the $100 range where you can get a Fluke. I don't think I'd screw around in the 25-50 area.

Reply to
trader4

True enough. I needed a quick/cheap meter and picked up an Ideal 61-340 for around 30 bucks at Lowes. Thing works great and does have a lot of bells and whistles. The main thing is learning how to use a DMM, safely, and with the understanding that they usually have a bit of delay in contrast to analog meters. Getting one of those "voltage beepers" is also a handy tool. I have a pair of Ideal wire strippers that have one built into the handle.

for the price.

Reply to
Irreverent Maximus

One thing to consider is a lot of companies have a flat rate repare/replace policy. I got the HVAC oriented UEI clamp on meter at a garage sale for $5 but it was toast. They gave me a new one for about $40 on the repair deal.

Reply to
gfretwell

As gfretwell sez, it's the leads that go first. So, care for yer meter's leads like they're yer own fingers. Never leave 'em plugged into the meter and wrap 'em around the meter and toss all in yer toolbox.

nb

Reply to
notbob

I woudlnt' buy the cheapest digital meter, but one step up from that, which a couple years ago sold for about 19 dollars, at radio shack.

It will have autopolarity, don't have to connect black to negative.

Harbor Frieight has meters good enough for what you're going to do. and they are as low as $4 without being on sale Well maybe they are on sale but the sale seems to be on all the time. If there is no store in your town, the shipping charges might be high, I don't know. I ordered once or twice by mail before there was a store here, but I got several things each time and the shipping was a small fraction.

The only thing the $4 dollar meter is missing is an audible tone for checking continuity. Like to find out if one end of the extension cord is really connected to the other end. You can look at the meter and it should say 0 to 4 ohms, but it's easier if it just squeals, which many other meters do below 10 ohms or so. I have a couple meters that squeal, but I usually use use the 4 dollar HF meter and look at the number. Cheap is cheap and if I leave it on the engine of my car and drive away, I only lose 4 dollars.

I don't know why anyone would recommend you get a Fluke, for 105 no less. No one needs that kind of quality for home use, unless he fixes tvs at home.

The one known problem with digital meters is that they were sometimes show 20 or 30 VAC or maybe more on a wire that should be dead. And if it's live, it should have 117 VAC. So if you ever get a voltage in between 5 and 110, it's probably the fault of the meter, and the voltage is really zero. If you're not convinced it's really zero and it's important to you to know, you can get an analog meter, one with a needle that moves across and arc, for as little as $10 or 12 and that will NOT show the phantom voltage. But you dont' want to get that meter now and if an analog meter were to be your first and only meter, you'd want to spend about 25 not 12.

Remember to turn it off when you're not using it, though a feature of a few meters over 30 is tht they turn off themselves after a while.

If you're not sure the voltage, start with a high range like 200 volts, and then rotate the switch to lower voltages.

AND above all, never measure resistance until AFTER you have measured voltage, between the same two points. There should be zero voltage or you can't get a good resistance measurement, and if there is more than that, you might burn out part of your meter.

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just the first 3.

Estimated shipping for me for one meter was Standard Ground $6.99 Second Day $13.83 Next Day $26.66

That's 7 dollar more you can spend if you shop locally .

Reply to
micky

Also, you should make or buy some wires with alligator clips on both ends. RAdio shack has a bag of 10, in 5 colors, for 4 or 5 dollars. You use one to clip one test wires in place, and then you only have to worry about the other test lead. There are 100 uses for these things. Once when a wire in my car's wiring harness broke, I used a

3 foot jumper wire to get home. I didnt' bother replacing it, and used it until the car died 3 years later. Then I took it off.

I've never had a harbor frieight meter break or any probelm with insulation up to 117 vac house current. I havent' measured higher than that lately.

Some meters have a separate place to test batteries, which provides a load and is better than using the regular 20 volt scale but not that much better. All you need to know is that batteries retain most o ftheir voltage until they're almost dead. So if a 1.5 volt cell reads

1.3 volts, it's worthless, 1.4 almost worthless, 1.45 not worth much.
Reply to
micky

While the $ 105 Fluke is high, it will often withstand a few things such as a drop to the floor or maybe hooking it to a voltage when set for ohms or current.

For most that seldom use a meter, the ones in the $ 20 to $ 30 range seem to be good enough. Many of the HF meters are not that accurate and may not hold up very well. But for $ 4 it may be worth trying one.

Just as most home owners should have a hammer and a few screwdrivers they should have a meter and have a fair idea on how to do a few simple tests.

I have a couple of the $ 300 or so Flukes, and an old Simpson 260 analog meter. Another handy tester for the house is a Fluke T5. It is just over $ 100. While it will not check voltages to the decimal place , for house wiring it is great. The thing is almost indistructable in the voltages found in most homes. I have used one at work and have it on the ohms scale and put it across some 480 volt circuits on pupose to check fuses. I would not recommend that with any of the inexpensive meters. I have seen saftey films where that was done with inexpensive meters and the meter arced over and the leads went up in flames. It also allows you to check the current drawn on a wire as it has a long slot in one end to put the wire.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

You can do 90% or more of typical DIY work requiring a DM with the cheap ones available from Harbor Freight, often for free with a coupon and another purchase. Normal price is about $5 or so.

Reply to
Larry W

Yep. I've got a Fluke meter that's at least 30 yrs old. I gave a friend one that was 40 yrs old. Both work like new. Some ppl buy quality, others crap.

nb

Reply to
notbob

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