It's finally time for me to buy a good digital multimeter. I've got a dozen of the free ones from Harbor Freight. My needs are simple: AC volts, DC volts and Resistance.
Suggestions?
It's finally time for me to buy a good digital multimeter. I've got a dozen of the free ones from Harbor Freight. My needs are simple: AC volts, DC volts and Resistance.
Suggestions?
Fluke. Bang for buck.
I have a Fluke that I have had for 20 years and I love that (I think it is a model 81?). Last year I bought a south wire unit from Lowe's that includes a clamp on amp meter. I like that unit a lot. It also has a thermocouple attachment and it was less than $50.
edit: I grabbed a pic
I have a couple southwires. They're more brown than flukes out of the box. A clamp meter, particularly one that'll do AC & DC is more useful than you'd think.
Fluke T5-600. The best simple meter on the market. Volts, resistance, and amps. Auto ranging. Indestructible.
I have two of them and bought one for every employee.
I like Fluke. I bought a high end one almost 25 years ago and it has always been good. Obviously you don't need high end, but I would buy another Fluke in a heartbeat.
Fluke is probably the best I have ever used , but in the service van, going in and out of customers sites. I have a Craftsman that I've used for close to ten years. I've had a Fluke stolen but nobody messes with the Craftsman. You can pickup Craftsman at Lowes or Ace Hardware.
Fluke 101 is what I, and the other traveling engineers, used for years. Small, everything you need and less than $50. No amp clamp though.
I have southwire wiring tools that I really like but no experience with their meters.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HE6MIJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_rWCTFbYJ6MR94
Yet another upvote for Fluke. It's so nice when there's an obvious choice.
In reply to Nofive_0 :
That is nice. $42 basic Fluke.
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:Fluke T5-600. The best simple meter on the market. Volts, resistance, and amps. Auto ranging. Indestructible.
I have two of them and bought one for every employee.
Does that forked end work the same as a clamp?
And what does "
The cert just means the meter comes with paperwork showing that it was tested for accuracy and passed. NIST traceable just means that the test was a real test, done by real professionals, and actually means something.
It is like having paperwork with a torque wrench telling what the actual torque values were as compared to a known standard. For basic stuff, you don't care.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Yes. Slide the wire in the fork, the meter will tell you how many amps it is carrying.
NIST-Traceable Calibration Certificate with Data will mean nothing to you. It is a National Institute of Standards and Technology calibration standard. I doubt you need a calibrated meter. It was a big deal when analog meters were the only thing you could get. I had a analog Simpson when I was doing electrical work and had to get it calibrated annually. It would come back with a sticker and a printout showing what the scale read at certain voltages. A digital meter is going to be pretty accurate and won't get knocked out of calibration when you drop it.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
Cool.
So...This then?
That's the one I and everyone that works for me uses.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
Thank you. I will be placing that order.
In reply to Nofive_0 :
That fluke 101 is a nice small meter. I have a Greenlee version, as well as the Southwire version. I cant remember which one I Like better, but they are virtually the same, and less $$ that the Fluke. Fluke is the best for heavy industry use, but the Southwire, Greenlee (one is Home Depot, other Lowes) or craftsman is fine for light industrial or heavy home use. And Mathiewmch makes a good point 'bout theft!
I like having a small meter for most stuff, and then a clamp meter that doesn't have to go everywhere, but can if I need it. AC and DC clamp is nice. I also prefer manual ranging meters. Auto ranging meters are really not supposed to be used for "live-dead-live checks. Everyone does, but...
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
Thats a nice price for that T5 600 also.
I've had a Fluke T5 since I completed my electrical apprenticeship and it has been great but it is a meter that is good for quick checks and basic stuff. Being compact it went in the tool bag easily and is what I used for a lot of AC troubleshooting on industrial controls knowing that if I had the dial in the wrong position it would just beep funny and continue functioning (and not blow up in your hand like a cheap meter). We're talking basic voltage checks (is there power and is it close to what it should be?), AC motor amps, continuity, control power etc. Once I was looking at sensors or needed more accurate measurements my Fluke 179 would come out. I would have never bought a T5 as the integrated leads scared me but 15 years on it is still fine though (I was given it for being top of my class in trade school).
Having said all that, for automotive work I would go with something more featured with the ability to manual range, I've had my Fluke 179 even longer than the T5 and it still travels with me everywhere I go (while the T5 sits at home as I don't do the basic stuff a lot anymore and have another clamp meter that has more features). If you are going to use this on the car checking sensors, resistance values etc. then a proper multimeter is the way to go.
The more featured clamp meter I ended up with is a Uni-T UT204, it does AC and DC amps up to 400A with the clamp and has most of the reading capabilities of the Fluke, it is also True RMS which is important if you ever work with variable frequency drives or ever deal with E36 M3ty power (harmonics). This meter almost does it all but it does have one annoying thing that bugs me and keeps the Fluke 179 close by, if you select AC volts and it thinks it is DC volts it will automatically switch back and vice versa. This isn't great, if you are looking at a dirty DC signal and it decides it is AC, now you have a totally different reading than what you want. The quality of the meter is nice but not quite as good as Fluke, the leads don't come close to Fluke but you can always replace them with Fluke leads down the road. I wanted another Fluke and probably should have spent the money ($400 CAD + for something similar from Fluke like a 325) but just couldn't justify it at the time, that was a few years ago at this point and it is still going strong, not bad for $60 CAD.
Edit - dealing with Electricians remotely to do troubleshooting over the phone on our controls it blows my mind how many only have a simple meter like a T5 and have no idea how to use anything beyond that!
I needed one for work. They don't pay for tools. I don't make Fluke money. I found this on Amazon:
Beep tone could be louder is the only complaint that I have. So far three other techs have swapped their old junk for one.
This is my "good?" meter.
Got it about 5 years ago maybe more, black Friday special, at sears. 10 bucks. They did this deal for several years, and I always ment to get a back up.
I do also have about 3 or 4 of the hf free ones. They seem break after a couple usages. On off switch, the connectors where the leads plug in, the leads them self.
The craftsman is 78.4 times the quality.
I mentioned it in one of the other vmeter threads but make sure and look at the extended lead sets on amazon. You can get a set of longer leads with all sorts of useful, swappable ends for cheap. Using a meter in weird contortionist automotive repairs I've found them very useful.
This is really all you need for automotive diagnosis, voltage, resistance w/ continuity beep, and its a Fluke!
I have one of these NAPA units that does everything I ever need, electricity and I never really got along anyway.
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