Recommend a multimeter....

Need to get one to test my alternator.  Are the Harbor Freight ones any good?  I've been getting bombarded by their emails this weekend. 

If not, what's a good one I can get from Home Depot/Lowe's/Ace Hardware?

TIA!

My super cheap HF multimeter is my go-do device for troubleshooting basic voltage issues. I have a couple of multimeters and that one is on the top of the pile in the drawer. 

The cheap or free with coupon HF ones today are useable, and would work for your purpose.  I have several of those laying around.  I also have HF's top of the line one with a clamp-on DC ammeter.  It's really nice.  In general, $20 gets you a decent one.  And yeah, I earned a living with a multimeter for a decade or so.

Cheap HF ones work, but not well. The 3$ or sometimes free one will do ok for voltage, ohms and low amps. I use fluke at work but im not the one paying 300$ for a meter. For sub 40$ you can do pretty dern good. Ive found 20-30$ meters good but usually the leads need upgraded to fluke ones. 

I have a a Fluke and they're great, but Harbor Freight or any other cheap multimeter will be good enough for most uses around the home or garage.

Thanks guys.  I'll go to Harbor Freight today and check out what they have. 

I have a couple of Fluke meters. They are the best. It's what I use every day. You can find them at any pawn shop for reasonable prices. 

That said, I carry a HF meter in my mobile tool kit. It will do 99. 9% of what you will ever need to do. 

TJL said:

Cheap HF ones work, but not well. The 3$ or sometimes free one will do ok for voltage, ohms and low amps. I use fluke at work but im not the one paying 300$ for a meter. For sub 40$ you can do pretty dern good. Ive found 20-30$ meters good but usually the leads need upgraded to fluke ones. 

You can get a lower end Fluke like my 115 for well under $300.  I think I paid $150-180ish.  I don't remember, it was like ten or twelve years ago.  I think they were $99ish in the latest tool catalog.

I bought a HF meter once.  It was not terribly accurate, the leads sucked, and it broke a month later.  It was only $3 and I still felt like I got taken.

Somewhere in the middle is the goal...  something that is decently accurate and can be counted on to work, but inexpensive.  I'd want one with standard type leads, that way WHEN you need to replace the leads, you can get a $20-30 leads kit that will also get you alligator ends, backprobing ends, wire piercing probes, etc.

The type of leads used would seem to be a good indicator... I haven't seen a crappy meter yet that used the good kind of leads, and I wish I knew the name of the standard.

If you rely on it every day, get a Fluke. 

Fluke meter here. Had it for more than 10 years and its been rock steady. The little memory battery goes out every 2 years but its like $5 to replace.

I got one of these just to check it out. Its small and works well. Good leads too. Feels like pretty good quality. Think i paid 25 for it from ebay or amazon. Cheaper here but ive never ordered from them. Computer guy co-worker buys from them regularly. 

https://m.banggood.com/ANENG-AN8008-True-RMS-Digital-Multimeter-AC-DC-Current-Voltage-Resistance-Frequency-Capacitance-Test-p-1157985.html

I grabbed one from Harbor Freight and it worked great to confirm that the alternator in my GX470 is dying.  Although I would've prefered to find out that the alternator was fine...

Late to the party...

I've had a couple of the el cheapo HF multimeters. None of which lasted that long, as mentioned above. When the last one died I went to their more expensive choice (the Cen-Tech one) and I'm pretty happy with it so far. Considerably less flimsy.

Mind you, if that one croaks I'll get a Fluke assuming I don't need an immediate replacement.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I got one of their ~$35 ones, it has really good reviews.  Hopefully it lasts awhile.

For work I use a fieldpiece that is made for hvac techs so it has a temp probe too, which is excellent.

I got 2 free HF ones, the leads fell apart immediately.  Basically take out the batteries and trash the meter quality.  Even a $30 greenlee or similar bottom end from derpot is about a million times better.  

In reply to TJL :

I order from Banggood all the time. Good experiences if you can deal with some slow shipping.