I feel it's that time of life that I need to invest and play with my next DIY toy (now have two torque wrenches to tighten bolts 'just' right).
I'm looking for a mid priced multimeter to cover automotive work plus household DIY jobs.
I've never had my hands on one so it will be a learning curve on how to use it.
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We use flukes at work but I suspect they are a bit above mid price. I'd go for a draper, halfords sell alot of their stuff if I were looking at car/diy stuff.
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As sooty says, Fluke meters are the usual choice for professional use. They are very well made, very accurate and have good backup for service and calibration. Much too expensive for home use though.
I'm currently using a DMM that I bought for less than £20 from either Screwfix or Argos that does everything I want including temp measurement and I haven't found any significant inaccuracies.
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I bought a cheap multimeter from a Sunday market a few years ago (£3.50). Only wanted something to keep in the glovebox to check continuity of fuses, bulbs, etc.
I took it into work one day and compared the readings with that of one of our expensive Fluke's. I measured some resistors, voltages, both AC & DC. Readings were pretty much like for like on both meters. The only thing that let the cheap meter down was the flimsy leads. I don't think I'd be too happy measuring mains voltages on a day to day basis with it. For the car though, it's perfect.
In short, you don't have to spend big to get something half decent.
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>> In short, you don't have to spend big to get something half decent.
Totally agree. I've something identical to this that's served me well for years: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCURY-MTB02-DIGITAL-MULTITESTER-OFFERS-19-TESTING-RANGES-AND-6-FUNCTIONS/292425462003?hash=item4415ea70f3:g:1e8AAOSwRLZaa6W8:rk:8:pf:0
Just don't take it apart, I did when one of the connections needed re-soldering to the PCB. Tiny ball bearings and little copper wipers that took ages to re-assemble!
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>> >> In short, you don't have to spend big to get something half decent.
>>
>> Totally agree. I've something identical to this that's served me well for years: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCURY-MTB02-DIGITAL-MULTITESTER-OFFERS-19-TESTING-RANGES-AND-6-FUNCTIONS/292425462003?hash=item4415ea70f3:g:1e8AAOSwRLZaa6W8:rk:8:pf:0
How do they do all that for £2.49?
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You can get a basic Fluke DMM on Amazon for £45.
I have a Sealey MM20 that now costs about £12 (Amazon again). It was fine until yesterday when I wanted to test some batteries and it decided not to work!
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Many thanks, by the looks of things there seems to be a very wide choice out there.
As a new person to multimeters I guess that there must be a set of 'essential' functions and ranges that I should look out for.
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>As a new person to multimeters I guess that there must be a set of 'essential' functions and ranges that I should
>look out for.
Most DMMs have the basic functions you will need for auto and diy stuff but the really cheap ones often omit AC Ampere measurement and have limited AC Voltage ranges. Buy something in the £10 to £20 range and you should get something that will do everything you're likely to need.
Googling for images of the DMM I have (a Hilka 90030064) brings up links to Youtube clips showing what you need to look for in a DMM and how to use them.
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I use a meter for;
Circuit continuity/resistance
Presence of current
Rough measurement of voltage
So for me as long as it doesn't fall apart it's good enough for me. My current one was about a tenner 5 years ago.
I guess you need to assess what you might use yours for and then assess how good your meter needs to be.
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>> I use a meter for;
>>
>> Circuit continuity/resistance
>> Presence of current
>> Rough measurement of voltage
That's pretty much what I need one for. Voltage I'm working with is unlikely to be significantly greater than 12 - anything at mains voltage is continuity related so doesn't need mains pressure. I've an old and cheap analogue one Mrs B bought 30 years ago when doing some Physics training and a digital one from Maplin. TBH the analogue does most things.
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One advantage of an analogue over digital is you can check a capacitor for 'kick'. Although this recently let me down when checking a condenser which had a 'kick', but still turned out to be faulty.
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I've ordered another Sealey. It closely resembles some on ebay for half the price but at £11.45 delivered, if it lasts a few years like the last one I don't mind.
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Not sure that you should take advice from anybody who can write this,
" - anything at mains voltage is continuity related so doesn't need mains pressure. "
:)
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The cheap ones on eBay etc don't have the proper glass fuses to protect you from high current loads - there are a few teardowns showing where they've cut corners.
Buy one of the Chinese-market Flukes from eBay (Google it, loads of advice telling you which one to get).
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My original Sealey MM20 which must be 10 years old or more and had been in the boot of my car for the last year or so, is now working again after cleaning up the rotary switch by clicking it round for a couple of minutes! I've cancelled the replacement.
It does current which the Fluke 101 doesn't although to be honest I've never used that in anger. It also comes with a thermocouple which I use to calibrate the Rayburn! I could only find the Chinese Fluke 101 at £37 with full instructions in Chinese, one with English instructions can be had for £45.
I'd suggest that unless you need real accuracy, a throwaway one like the Sealey is OK. Of course some would say that a meter is not a meter unless it's accurate.
If you want a multi-ranger that looks like a Fluke (but clearly isn't) and does current, you could try this Aneng AN8002 from ebay for £15
www.ebay.co.uk/itm//163270009840
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I need one to check the wiring in my son's Polo, the rear high brake light is not working and I'm not convinced that it's the unit, it's the older type with individual bulbs rather than LEDs so I would have expected maybe one or two to still be alight, I think there's an issue with the wiring, probably at the boot hinge, but it could have just been disconnected.
Never used one before so I guess for this job I would make the multimeter effectively the 'lamp' and have someone activate the brake with the ignition on to check for an open circuit?
Could I also check the light unit to see if it's functional using the meter?
I saw the very cheap looking Fluke meters on Ebay, I thought they were all copies but maybe not?
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Sorry to ask one more question.
I've found a meter in the £40 price range that I like but there seems to be two functions missing which are on the next higher priced meter and I don't know in reality how useful they are.
Temperature - I can see maybe that could be useful.
TRUE RMS - not sure what this does but the next level meters seem to have it.
If I'm likely to never use these extra functions I'll stick with the £40 one I've bookmarked (Voltcraft VC175).
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True RMS refers to the method of measuring AC voltage.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdRW0XgYQs
Some meters, including cheap ones, come with a plug-in thermocouple. Mine has only been used to 'calibrate' the oven of the Rayburn (the dial on the door just has simmer-bake-roast on it). You could also check your aircon with it I suppose.
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Late to the multimedia party on here. I still have my company fluke, issued to me when I was still an engineer, in the 80s when digital multimeters were just appearing. It cost I seem to recall a few quid short of a grand. Still going strong and still in use.
You dont need anything fancy, dont need to worry about true RMS, diode checkers, transistor checkers, capacitor measurement, or thermocouples.
For general and domestic use, Volts (ac/dc to 500), Ohms (with a continuity bleep), and amps (to 10) +/- 5% accuracy is all you need, with good quality test cables.
Edit, forgot to add, the most useful feature is a well designed meter holder, that you can hook onto things, stand the meter at an angle, and coil/clip your leads and probes into when not in use.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 16 Feb 19 at 13:16
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I like that the Voltcraft has a non-contact AC detector. Might come in handy for cable finding!
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Thanks for the feedback, think I've made my mind up and save myself a few £ by not over speccing.
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>> I like that the Voltcraft has a non-contact AC detector. Might come in handy for
>> cable finding!
For cable and stud finding this appears to be the dogs testicles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=og-SAs_8xro
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Multimeter recomendation - sooty123
