Digital Voltmeter at Lidl £9.99

[KennyPowers]

Hi all,

For info they got a Powerfix Profi Digital Multimeter for sale at Lidl at the moment.

Obviously no Fluke, but seems to be better quality than the usual ones for £10 and under. (Ok for the home DIY etc). Supposedly safety approved as well (unlike the Chinese eBay ones...)

I picked one up, will take to work to do some tests on it, see how if fares.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/MiddleofLidl.htm?articleId=19556

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What does this say? I can't make it out...

 

[KennyPowers]

It says Cat III 300V.

There are some video reviews on YouTube:

 

[333rocky333]

similar ones on ebay look like it may say max 300v catIII

 

[Keithmac]

Looks similar to the cheapy I bought from Screwfix to keep in the caravan.

Notice that has a continuity buzzer, very handy and mine doesn't!.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It says Cat III 300V.

https://assets.tequipment.net/assets/3/7/ABC-meter-safety.PDF
http://support.fluke.com/find-sales/Download/Asset/3185695_0000_ENG_B_W.PDF
https://www.ecmweb.com/content/does-your-meter-safety-measure

 

[ericmark]

That's less than I pay for a set of GS38 meter leads. If they are GS38 must be very small fuse! If not than meter may be OK for mains, but leads are not!

 

[securespark]

Obviously no Fluke

No, they put them on sale deliberately.

 

[mattylad]

I almost bought one today, while I was in there getting a replacement PBSA12CB battery screwdriver. (I have been waiting all (for a) year for this to return!).

I still have its predecessor though, sadly the buzzer on it is a tad poop.

 

[SUNRAY]

I took the second one back today, with both of them the resistance of the 2 test leads held firmly together was wandering all over the place and never below 20Ω.

 

[plugwash]

It says Cat III 300V.

Which afaict (assuming it actually passes the requirements) is fine for most things a DIYer would do, but probablly falls short for a proffessional electrician, who would probablly want CAT IV (to cover work on outdoor parts of installations) 600V (to cover 3-phase work).

 

[plugwash]

That's less than I pay for a set of GS38 meter leads. If they are GS38 must be very small fuse! If not than meter may be OK for mains, but leads are not!

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/gs38.pdf says

22
Test equipment conforming to the requirements of BS EN 61010 is protected
internally by high-breaking capacity fuses and clearances appropriate to the
measurement category and voltage rating of the equipment. Where equipment
is not designed to BS EN 61010, it is usually necessary to use leads which
incorporate high-breaking capacity (hbc) fuses even if it has an overload trip. A risk
assessment should be performed to establish if fused leads are necessary for the
work to be undertaken.

Using both fused leads and a multimeter with internal protection ( EN 61010, which the TUV test certficate says this meter has been tested agaist ) seems like a sensible "belt and braces" approach, but does not seem to be strictly required.

 

[JohnW2]

Which afaict (assuming it actually passes the requirements) is fine for most things a DIYer would do, but probablly falls short for a proffessional electrician, who would probablly want CAT IV (to cover work on outdoor parts of installations) 600V (to cover 3-phase work).

I personally agree (and would happily use it on 230V single-phase) - but I suspect that some would argue that a 300V rating is not adequate for that, because of the possibility of spikes/transients >300V.

Kind Regards, John

 

[plugwash]

My understanding (from secondary sources, I haven't read the original EN/IEC standard) is that the way the system works is that the voltage refers to the normal working voltage of the system and the category refers to the type of circuit. Based on the nominal voltage and category the standards specify what level of overvoltage transients the meter must be tested to, presumablly based on what the IEC thinks is likely to be encountered in such systems.

 

[JohnW2]

My understanding (from secondary sources, I haven't read the original EN/IEC standard) is that the way the system works is that the voltage refers to the normal working voltage of the system and the category refers to the type of circuit. Based on the nominal voltage and category the standards specify what level of overvoltage transients the meter must be tested to, presumablly based on what the IEC thinks is likely to be encountered in such systems.

If that is true, then I would obviously be even happier to use it for single-phase 230V - but, as I said, I would personally be happy to use it for that purpose even if 300V was the maximum actual voltage it was required/guaranteed to be able to tolerate.

It does seem that 300V is rather unusual - most Cat III labelling I've seen seems to be 600V or 1000V.

Kind Regards, John