I'll go along with the cheap Harbor Fright ones if all you need is an indication. I bought 10 of them suckers at 2.99 apice..now when one of my buddies wants to borrow a meter (one of my Flukes or Simsons) I make a gift to them with the HF.. they happy as can be and my meters don't get beat up.

 

Ive had a ton of multimeters over the years but the one I still have that has always worked great is the Fluke 77. The cheapy stuff always breaks or goes bad-money wasted.

 

I have had many. I like the one I picked up about a year ago. It has a clamp for ac and dc amps very few have dc amps. Its yellow and can be gotten at electrical supply houses. I think it was priced well..About $60.00 but the clamp is great for many reasons. I'll go and get the name of it tomorrow..


Dick

 

Digitals are definitely the way to go (I prefer Fluke), but we also have a old PSM-37 analog meter for when the temps get down below -10 or so. At those temps, LCD readouts don't work well and can actually freeze and not work at all.

 

My neighbor has a couple of those cheap HF units and I don't like them. But then I have a good analog meter, digital, and clamp-on types plus an oscilloscope. I use them all.

 

OK guys. Go to -app notes- and click on "anatomy of a high quality meter".

If you buy a cheap meter, it can explode in your hand. This article will tell you how, and how to prevent it. Admittedly, at 12 volts, there is less danger than say, working at 120. And 120, less danger than working at 240. But I can't see electrons flow. Thats why I like to have a quality meter in my hand when voltage is being piped into the meter I'm holding from some outside source. Read the discussion in this article about Category 1, 2, 3, and 4 meters. It's an insulation standard that protects your hands.

I buy Fords because they are made right. I buy Flukes and other Category 1, 2 and 3 rated meters cause their made right. Need I say more?

 

By far Fluke is the only way to go, have a Fluke 87 for years that's certified for the FAA and always comes within spec during recertification. Should it fail I'll buy the same day but step up a model.
.....=o&o>.....

 

Sure, mo' money gets you a more rugged meter, more accurate, more settings... But, if all you're doing is making some basic 12v, 5v, etc. readings, taking some resistance checks on solenoids and wiring harnesses or back probing the O2 sensor on this one project, after which it might sit unused, any digital meter will do fine.

The el cheapo analog meters may not be able to read the small voltge of the O2 sensor or distinguish between 10 ohms and 1 ohm. You'll need an "Rx1" scale and perhaps 20,000 ohms per volt sensitivity as a basic standard here. I've paid under $30 for mine

Cheap digitals may not compensate for the added resistance of the leads themselves. Short the leads on the Rx1 scale and note the reading. On mine, it's .6 ohms, so I subtract that from any reading I might get that's only a few ohms. Better meters will auto-zero or have an adjustment. For most things, a half-ohm off won't matter. The light bulb's good or it's not. You're mainly looking for go/nogo.

To check your digital for voltage accuracy, take a reading and reverse the probes. The minus sign will appear, but the voltage reading shouldn't change much. If it does, your meter is off-calibration. Don' t try this with an analog meter, as it will slam the pointer the wrong direction.

Don't try to take a current or resistance reading directly across the battery or live circuit, unless you have one of the clamp current-reading meters mentioned earlier.

Set the meter to the highest range when the result is in doubt and work downwards.

Make sure of your settings and even the cheap meters will last for years.

-Smoky

 

I have a Fluke meter I got at Universal Tech, and yes, they did "demonstrate" mine, which means that mine got thrown against a cement wall. That was about five years ago, it still works fine, I think I replaced the battery once. The big thing to watch for is the fuse for the amps side, it's only good for ten amps, and is a pretty expensive and odd little ceramic fuse.

 

Ford_Six, what I did with my Fluke 87 was machine a couple of brass rings and saw cut them so thet are like a piston ring, they press on the end of automotive style fuses. This was alot cheaper than $5.00 a pop when the probes are faster than the brain.
Carl.....=o&o>.....

 

Does nobody use/recommend the venerable analog Simpson 260 ? I do. I'm not a electricion, but 260's are what most of the old-timers around here use ,and it seems like I can understand it better than I can digital. the 260 works on boats, cars, houses, electronics , etc. ;-) They are big, but they work great ; used ones are always available on ebay.
jeff

 

The Simpson 260 is a great test meter, never give up on one (I have a soft spot for 3 of 'em). They will not pick up on the low voltage of a O2 sensor or computer signal on new vehicles like a digital meter. Heck I still use a old VTVM at times.
.....=o&o>.....

 

Wow when I was in e school we had em way back when... they were new. Hmmm that makes me how old? yeeeek. A good dvm is all you need today. I wouldn't bother with a 260. I have a fluke and a new UEI I think it is with a dc clamp for amps. Great for finding current draws...I had a alt drawing 250 ma intermittenly it turned out to be a bad regulator on my aerostar van. Nice to be able to clamp on to the wire, there aren't too many dc clamp on meters mostly ac.

 

Can't beat a Fluke. The Auto shutoff and auto voltage sensor is a nice touch.

AFP

 

I have a Snap-on Digital Multimeter, about $70. well built, works great.... I have an older one that I got a lot cheaper than that, works perfect for auto and motorcycle work.