Please recommend a multimeter

[Big_Spark]

BAS, you took my "head examined comment" too literally..I should have put a smiley there..apologies.

If you look on ebay or in the right shops you can get brand new Model 70's for £70..I have seen them in tools shops for anything from £70 to £105..

 

[crichtons]

I'm a high voltage electrical engineer and I suggest you stick with a fluke or even better a Metrahit. The metrahit is the safest I think, it has safety shutters on the lead inputs so you can't turn it to measure volts if your leads are still in the AMPS range!

Don't buy the cheap rubbish, you will regret it.

 

[kevplumb]

just bought a fluke 179 meter brand fire new soft case, instructions ,temp probe etc

still has the plastic on the display

the idiot that sold it obviously wasnt much of a market trader





£ 5 nearly ripped how arm out of the socket

btw anybody know the price cant find it on the web

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm a high voltage electrical engineer

And ms2004 is a DIYer who needs a reasonably well made basic multimeter. His requirements are very different from yours.

BTW - when trawling the web for Fluke 70 prices I came across people selling the 7-300 (and 7-600), which look absolutely ideal.

http://uk.altavista.com/web/results...-300"+OR+7300+OR+"7-600"+OR+7600)&kgs=0&kls=1

7-300 now replaced with 7-600 ( http://www.fluke.co.uk/comx/show_product.aspx?locale=uken&product=HMA&pid=3393 ), but you might find people with old stock.

The only nagging doubt I have - is it a good idea for someone buying a multimeter to never develop the habit of selecting the right range...??

 

[plugwash]

also i wouldn't wan't such a meter because i'd be worried about it causing issues if it dropped into resistance mode when measuring a cuircuit and started upsetting the cuircuit that could get really confusing (not going to be a big issue with mains wiring but could well be with electronics)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

£ 5 nearly ripped how arm out of the socket

Did he have more than one? (Meter, I mean, not arm..)

btw anybody know the price cant find it on the web

About £180+

http://uk.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q="fluke+179"&kgs=0&kls=1

 

[kevplumb]

cheers BAS

i think i got a good deal

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I would like to purchase a good quality multimeter, can anyone recommend a good brand that is not too expensive but will last me??

Thanks very much.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41499&item=7522796718&rd=1

 

[Agile]

There are basically two types of multimeter, very cheap ones around £10 with most functions and then more expensive ones.

The more expensive ones usually have one very good feature found lacking on some cheaper ones and that is overload protection to 600 v or so.

In between the Flukes and the Cheapos is a very useful little gem for light work and that is the autoranging Robin about £70 or the Iso badged version at about £50. It does not have ac current ranges but for general use is a good compromise.

A novice is very likely to risk measuring the "current" in the mains and the protection in a meter on the current ranges is normally an internal fuse which is not expected to be a DIY replacement.

Tony Glazier

 

[plugwash]

A novice is very likely to risk measuring the "current" in the mains and the protection in a meter on the current ranges is normally an internal fuse which is not expected to be a DIY replacement.

the fuse in my meter is internal but so is the battery and iirc the manual gave instructions for replacing both.

 

[Agile]

I have a friend who I tried to train and he calls me up in his current job with his problems.

He just cannot get his head round which range to select on his simple multimeter. An autoranging model would be ideal for him!

Tony Glazier

 

[HDRW]

I have a friend who I tried to train and he calls me up in his current job with his problems.

He just cannot get his head round which range to select on his simple multimeter. An autoranging model would be ideal for him!

But would he successfully choose between V, A and Ohms?

And would he then be able to read what it's telling him?

Cheers,

Howard

 

[plugwash]

i sometimes use my dads multimeter which is autoranging and i really don't like it

the problem is that whenever you probe something it takes a few seconds to shift off the millivolts range and onto a range thats sane for what you are measuring. this is especailly annoying when its hard to maintain good contact with what you are probing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Also, like I said above, it doesn't train you properly. It's like hill descent control in an off-road vehicle - no substitute for learning how to do it properly in a vehicle with a low range box.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I've just come across this set - http://www.beha.com/files_d/sets/1333.pdf

Looks ideal for a DIYer to equip himself - multimeter, voltage indicator and dedicated continuity tester, all in a handy case. 104 Euros.

Couldn't find details of the set in English, but all 3 individual instruments are listed.

http://www.beha.com/files_uk/multimeter/93549.pdf

http://www.beha.com/files_uk/voltagetesters/6741.pdf

http://www.beha.com/files_uk/continuitytesters/9023.pdf

 

[olly_k]

I just want to say I bought a Maplin 'White Gold' meter when they first came out (about '92??) bought holster with it in all about £80 the best money I EVER spent I later treated myself to a Fluke 85 III 'true RMS' jobby and have to honestly say the fluke only really impressed me with the speed of auto-ranging, and some of the non standard hidden features like conductance measurment (not used yet suprised?) etc - That is it! The maplin meter took a hell of a lot of battering being carried in toolbox measuring voltage in resistance mode etc etc had worryingly similar specs to the fluke and all measurments spot on (low impeadance volts) when you consider the money spent!
They have changed the design since so not sure what they are like now at the end of the day goto maplins you can see and try them all I say get an autoranger for about ~ £40 if you are serious about learning then consider manual ranger but they can be more confusing when taking 'diy' casual measurments!

EDIT they are now called 'precision gold' this is the one I had (looks the same apart from colour!) http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=4395&doy=11m8 and for £50 if same as my old one a true bargin

PS Just thought I would add I measured about 1500 volts on my WG022 without any ill effects or HV probe! not sure about accuracy and wouldn't risk doing that with my Fluke!