Ideal Solution to Fluke Problem
May 7th, 2009Buy the Best & Suffer Anyway
One wonderful thing about my VFD dying an ignominious death is that it taught me that my barely-used Fluke 16 multimeter was also dead. When I checked the garage voltage, the figure I got was 500. In the house, it was 250. I checked a 9-volt battery: 18.5 volts. See a pattern?
You could say it works, because all I have to do is divide the voltages by two. But who knows what else is wrong with it? And it did this once before and then returned to normal, which suggests I can’t rely on the double figures.
I called Fluke. They’ll give me a new Fluke 116…for $110. No warranty. Isn’t that lovely? They don’t repair these things.
Since I get charged either way, I’m considering going to Home Depot and getting an Ideal meter. I don’t know anything about Ideal meters, but they make great wire strippers. And they seem considerably cheaper than Fluke. If Flukes are this crappy, I see no reason to pay a premium. I got an Ideal for my dad’s boat, and it seemed just as nice as a Fluke.
Ebay has an Ideal 61-314 for $66. It can’t be any worse than this thing.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:16 PM
I just buy disposable Harbor Freight cheap ones. Under $5, check them againts a known source before I use it for something critcal. Last for years, then toss it.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:42 PM
If you just want a low-cost DMM ($6.95), take a look at:
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8747
.
A descent Auto-Ranging DMM is only $29.95:
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8366
.
I’ve also used the Wavetek’s with no complaints:
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/2697
(This is all the DMM’s that CircuitSpecialist carries.)
.
I’ve had pretty good customer service from this outfit..they even called me once to inform me that they had a better/lower-cost unit than the one I just ordered online and “would I like them to substitiute it on the order?” (and it really WAS a better unit.)
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Or you could go “whole-hog” and get a ScopeMeter…
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7644
(guess I’m still enabling…sorry…missed the enabling-recovery class this week).
May 7th, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I do what Steve_in_CA does.
For critical measurements, might not be so good. But for working with line voltage or measuring voltage in your car, they’re perfectly acceptable, and surprisingly durable.
And that way, when you drop it and break it, you don’t get all sad.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Huh. Always thought Fluke did better than that. Glad I haven’t shelled out the dough for one.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:54 PM
I’ve heard decent things about Tenma: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/search.aspx?C=3830503
But yeah, any of the cheap ones except Craftsman and Radio Shack (the latter aren’t terrible, but they don’t seem very durable).
May 7th, 2009 at 1:26 PM
I’m still using an RS digital lcd mm that I bought more than 25 years ago. And every time I do, I’m still ticked that I pulled the ears out of the red probe (a few weeks after I bought it), and I have to futz with it …but now I’m last-laughing (everyone told me to buy a Fluke back then): hey, it still works, and decently.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:35 PM
I have several Radio Shack DMMs, the most-used ones are auto-ranging. Over the years, I’ve experienced very little trouble with RS meters except when I pull the common bone-headed stunt of putting the probes across voltage when the instrument is set on “Ohms”.
Like Steve in CA, I also have 2 or 3 of the Harbor Freight DMMs, and they seem to work fine for my purposes. They’re cheap enough that I can have one in the travel trailer, the truck, etc. And, I can give ’em away to friends so I have something to work with when I’m at their house and electrical problems crop up.
May 7th, 2009 at 7:10 PM
I have a few Flukes. Home, work, truck. I bought one i really thought would be handy: auto ac/dc, and a built-in ammeter fork. Of all things, if you read continuity with it and it’s over 1k ohm it reads as an open. Imagine checking windings to ground with that!
Very disappointing, and I’ve seen a few in use whose owners hadn’t been informed of that flaw, either.
I think, if I showed up at work with a HF meter, I’d be taken a little less seriously. Other than that I’d put one in the garage.
I have a little RS dmm (pocket size) in a tool bag. Problem is, I use it so infrequently, that its watch battery is always dead when I reach for it.
What I find frustrating are “True RMS” meters. I had a Tenma like that. I’m not used to reading “True RMS” so it always looks off to me.
May 7th, 2009 at 11:59 PM
I got a little pouch made by Greenlee at Home Depot or Lowes that has a solid little 300 Volt to ground meter and a couple of voltage sensors for less than 50 bucks.
I have other Ohm meters and stuff like Oscilloscopes my Father left me which can do the job but simple cheep stuff in this category of tools works as well as the expensive devices if you know how to use them.
ZZZzzzzzzzaaaaaappppppppppppppppp!!! Ouch…
May 8th, 2009 at 5:45 AM
Just opened my “Craftsman Club” circular in the mail. Decent Craftsman DMM (where in China was it made?) for 23.99 to club members, 29 to everyone else. I’ve borrowed this meter at work and it’s not shabby. And it says Craftsman, not Harbor Freight, if that’s important.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:29 PM
“if you read continuity with it and it’s over 1k ohm it reads as an open”
That’s really common for a lot of meters (some have a lower threshold, too).
My pocket RS meter has been fairly good to me considering the cost, but it has picked up some little tics as time has gone on, such as occasionally not noticing that I switched from voltage to resistance. That plus a bigger RS meter my dad gave me that has some issues with the probe contacts led me to believe they have some quality issues. I’ve never had any measurement problems with them unless the batteries were low. So I freely admit I could be unlucky in the
And I should have been more specific: the cheapest Craftsman DMM you can buy is the one I received as a stocking stuffer, and it isn’t even worth a spot as a backup in the garage.