Selecting a multimeter...

[lokki]

Hi,
Looks like I will need to buy a multimeter... I was wondering what features I should be looking out for. Any recommended brands? (or brands I should stay away from)

The last multimeter I bought I choose entirely on price (cheapest I could find). But I think I can afford a little better than that.

Thanks

[Shifty]

Decent multimeters are hundreds of dollars (like Fluke). You probably don't need something that good. I bought mine at Canadian Tire, I don't even know the brand, probably the store brand. Unless you need super precision and reliability, a cheap one should be sufficient.

I had a cheapo one, it was $20. It broke after a year. I bought another one, slightly more expensive at $30 on sale, and it has been great. All features are going to be similar, measure AC and DC, voltage, current, resistance. I think my new one has a thermocouple attachment.

The best feature IMHO is autoranging, it saves you a lot of time switching the dials to find the correct range. My first one didn't have it, the second did -- try and get one with it. The device is a lot less cluttered with autoranging as well, not as many dials and knobs.

[dabone]

I got a Fluke 77 for my 17th Birthday, I'll be 34 next feb and I'm still using that meter every week. It's been thru many sets of leads but never any trouble from the meter.

You will spend a couple of hundred dollars on a good meter but it will last you years and years.

They still make a revised version of that meter.


http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/FLU-77-3.html

http://store.autotoolexpress.com/fluk773mul.html

http://www.action-electronics.com/fluke.htm#70


Later,
dabone

[MonitorGuru]

Harbor Freight Tools.   $2.99 (sometimes $3.99) near-constant sale price for their yellow one.

Tests diodes, transistors (NPN, PNP) resistors, DC and AC voltage.

Excellent buy. Identical components as the $15-$30 ones at Radio Shack, Sears, Home Depot/Lowes/Menards (their "GC" brands in black cases)

Unless you're getting a top of the line one that can test capacitors and a few more ranges and back lit, it's not worth spending more than $3-$4 on one, and they last as long as the others I've tried.

[lokki]

Harbor Freight Tools.   $2.99 (sometimes $3.99) near-constant sale price for their yellow one.

Tests diodes, transistors (NPN, PNP) resistors, DC and AC voltage.

Excellent buy. Identical components as the $15-$30 ones at Radio Shack, Sears, Home Depot/Lowes/Menards (their "GC" brands in black cases)

Unless you're getting a top of the line one that can test capacitors and a few more ranges and back lit, it's not worth spending more than $3-$4 on one, and they last as long as the others I've tried.

Been looking at this one...

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4076692?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Seems to do everything I need it to.... (other than test caps).

I could not find the $2.00 at Harbor Freight.

[MonitorGuru]

They almost always have it on sale for $2.99 or $3.99 at the local store. About every other month I get an email with it that price online as well. Check your local store if you have one.

This is the model that always goes on sale:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=30756

They also have this model number that is almost the same:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=90899


Again check your local store or their paper ads and it rarely is at $9.99--almost always half or less than half that price at the store.

[missioncontrol]

Fluke is definately top of the line, I would love to have one, but I settled for a cheap one they had at Home Depot....Sperry DM-350A it has all the standard functions and has lasted a few years. It was around $10.00

[brained]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37772

check this one, it can even read capacitors!!

[JustMichael]

If you are buying the meter just for this hobby, do NOT spend hundreds of dollars on a meter.  Sure the expensive one will last you many years but so will a cheap one that isn't used that often.  Make sure the meter is digital and not analog (needle reading).  Auto-ranging is nice but don't spend twice as much on a meter just to get that.  It isn't hard to turn a dial and even with auto-ranging you still have to turn a dial to tell the meter what it will be measuring.  One thing I would recommend is that the meter have a continuity checker.  This simply means when there is a connection, the meter makes noise.  This feature is especially good if you are trying to track down a bad wiring connection.  Do NOT use this feature while your cabinet is on though.

[Darkstalker]

If you are buying the meter just for this hobby, do NOT spend hundreds of dollars on a meter.  Sure the expensive one will last you many years but so will a cheap one that isn't used that often.  Make sure the meter is digital and not analog (needle reading).  Auto-ranging is nice but don't spend twice as much on a meter just to get that.  It isn't hard to turn a dial and even with auto-ranging you still have to turn a dial to tell the meter what it will be measuring.  One thing I would recommend is that the meter have a continuity checker.  This simply means when there is a connection, the meter makes noise.  This feature is especially good if you are trying to track down a bad wiring connection.  Do NOT use this feature while your cabinet is on though.

And don't leave it on continuity for long periods of time either, it will kill the batteries in your multimeter.  I agree it is an essential setting, there's no easier way to test if a switch is bad.

[MonitorGuru]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37772

check this one, it can even read capacitors!!

Problem is reading capacitance alone is not very useful, at least for most caps--the ones that die--Electrolytics.  For them, you need to measure ESR and those meters are around $200 for good ones.  They help you diagnose which ones are bad without having to replace them all. A capacitance meter will only help identify if there are no markings but not test if they're good or bad.

(Check the Monitor/Video fourm for a recent post by Ken L about the best meters to check ESR if you ever need that)