Posted: 4/26/2009 12:11:38 PM EDT
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Ok, I have high end meters (Fluke, etc) at my parents house, but I need to diagnose a couple electrical problems on 12v systems and just want a cheap meter ($40 or less thereabouts) to check ohms/amps/volts in different ranges anything else is a bonus. What is the best bang for my buck cheap multi-meter that I can have around to throw in a toolbox, take on a trail, not be afraid to loan out? I have Radio Shack, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart close by.
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I've had great luck with the "Cen-Tech" DMM that Harbor Freight sells for under 5 bucks (and goes on sale just about every other week for $2.99). I buy 'em for the occasional customer who needs to trouble-shoot the wiring on a battery charger I sell, and just give 'em away as a courtesy. So far, the dozen or so I've checked against my Fluke 73 were spot-on for accuracy. I keep one in the glove compartment, another one in the toolbox, and have 3 or 4 of 'em just laying around.
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Quoted:
I've had great luck with the "Cen-Tech" DMM that Harbor Freight sells for under 5 bucks (and goes on sale just about every other week for $2.99). I buy 'em for the occasional customer who needs to trouble-shoot the wiring on a battery charger I sell, and just give 'em away as a courtesy. So far, the dozen or so I've checked against my Fluke 73 were spot-on for accuracy. I keep one in the glove compartment, another one in the toolbox, and have 3 or 4 of 'em just laying around. http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/30/harborfreightdmmwa5.gif Yep, that's the one I posted about. I have about 8 or 9, I stock up when on sale, I use some as dedicated voltage meters on some solar stuff I play around with. |
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I have flukes that I use for loop calibration and simulation, freq. counting and temp/press control signals. They are great.
If you are working on cars and aorund the house stuff (house wiring, not rebuilding your HF), I would get anything cheap at wal-mart. Let's face it, for car stuff it is either on or off and any cheap meter will tell you that. Of course the exception would be if you are needing to read mV or something like that directly from an O2 sensor, but nothing cheap will do that. I go through a lot of the cheap ones ($10 or so). Drop it in the oil pan, no big deal, drop it down the steps, no big deal, leave it on the bumper, no big deal... I have found two things 1) they are more durable than you could imagine... 2) You cry a lot less about droping a $10 meter down an elevator shaft than a $1400 meter.... |
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I have a Velleman with the rubber jacket that has been nearly bulletproof and accurate. No need to mess up the quality instruments for normal car work where temperature sensors are variresistors and voltage to 0.01 V is all that is needed. The ONLY thing that breaks on these is the leads. But that is a normal consumable. |
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Quoted:
I have flukes that I use for loop calibration and simulation, freq. counting and temp/press control signals. They are great. If you are working on cars and aorund the house stuff (house wiring, not rebuilding your HF), I would get anything cheap at wal-mart. Let's face it, for car stuff it is either on or off and any cheap meter will tell you that. Of course the exception would be if you are needing to read mV or something like that directly from an O2 sensor, but nothing cheap will do that. I go through a lot of the cheap ones ($10 or so). Drop it in the oil pan, no big deal, drop it down the steps, no big deal, leave it on the bumper, no big deal... I have found two things 1) they are more durable than you could imagine... 2) You cry a lot less about droping a $10 meter down an elevator shaft than a $1400 meter.... My little brother handed me one of those HF cheap meters when I was wiring a 240V plug for my dad. The cheap meter shorted internally the instant I stuck the probes in the socket..never again. For a car no problem, anything higher than 12VDC use a good meter. |
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Quoted:
I have a Velleman with the rubber jacket that has been nearly bulletproof and accurate. No need to mess up the quality instruments for normal car work where temperature sensors are variresistors and voltage to 0.01 V is all that is needed. The ONLY thing that breaks on these is the leads. But that is a normal consumable.
you need a DMM with at least 10 mega-ohms impedance to work on the computer systems of late model cars. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I have flukes that I use for loop calibration and simulation, freq. counting and temp/press control signals. They are great. If you are working on cars and aorund the house stuff (house wiring, not rebuilding your HF), I would get anything cheap at wal-mart. Let's face it, for car stuff it is either on or off and any cheap meter will tell you that. Of course the exception would be if you are needing to read mV or something like that directly from an O2 sensor, but nothing cheap will do that. I go through a lot of the cheap ones ($10 or so). Drop it in the oil pan, no big deal, drop it down the steps, no big deal, leave it on the bumper, no big deal... I have found two things 1) they are more durable than you could imagine... 2) You cry a lot less about droping a $10 meter down an elevator shaft than a $1400 meter.... My little brother handed me one of those HF cheap meters when I was wiring a 240V plug for my dad. The cheap meter shorted internally the instant I stuck the probes in the socket..never again. For a car no problem, anything higher than 12VDC use a good meter. I ended up with the $4 DMM from HF. Thanks guys. I almost smoked it just testing to make sure it worked. Checked 12V at the battery and the leads got HOT. LOL, realized I had the probe connected to the top port, not the middle.  Worked fine for what I needed, except the intermittant loss of power to my Jeep's fuel and temp gauges isn't acting up right now, so I don't have anything to check. That and i'm searching for 12V switched with either the ignition or the lights in my Silverado and am having a helluva time finding one that comes out down at the bottom of the dash, i'm only finding constant powered lines. Thanks again for the cheap-o recommendation.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have flukes that I use for loop calibration and simulation, freq. counting and temp/press control signals. They are great. If you are working on cars and aorund the house stuff (house wiring, not rebuilding your HF), I would get anything cheap at wal-mart. Let's face it, for car stuff it is either on or off and any cheap meter will tell you that. Of course the exception would be if you are needing to read mV or something like that directly from an O2 sensor, but nothing cheap will do that. I go through a lot of the cheap ones ($10 or so). Drop it in the oil pan, no big deal, drop it down the steps, no big deal, leave it on the bumper, no big deal... I have found two things 1) they are more durable than you could imagine... 2) You cry a lot less about droping a $10 meter down an elevator shaft than a $1400 meter.... My little brother handed me one of those HF cheap meters when I was wiring a 240V plug for my dad. The cheap meter shorted internally the instant I stuck the probes in the socket..never again. For a car no problem, anything higher than 12VDC use a good meter. Those cheap meters are great for low voltage troubleshooting. No way in hell I'd use a meter with less than a cat III rating on anything powered. You're lucky that shit meter didn't grenade in your face. |
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My little brother handed me one of those HF cheap meters when I was wiring a 240V plug for my dad. The cheap meter shorted internally the instant I stuck the probes in the socket..never again. That sounds like a CYA story to me... Come on, admit it - You accidentally set the meter to measure amps instead of volts, right? 
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Harbor Freight has digital ones for $3.99, if you can find one of their stores nearby. And they usually have it on sale for a buck ninety-nine. Unless you are measuring anything critical, works fine. (and I have a bunch all the way up to $$$$ impedance bridges) |
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Quoted: Quoted: Harbor Freight has digital ones for $3.99, if you can find one of their stores nearby. And they usually have it on sale for a buck ninety-nine. Unless you are measuring anything critical, works fine. (and I have a bunch all the way up to $$$$ impedance bridges) Yeah, I just use them for 12V stuff, work great for that. It is cheaper to buy a new one usually than replace the battery in it when it dies. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I have a Velleman with the rubber jacket that has been nearly bulletproof and accurate. No need to mess up the quality instruments for normal car work where temperature sensors are variresistors and voltage to 0.01 V is all that is needed. The ONLY thing that breaks on these is the leads. But that is a normal consumable. you need a DMM with at least 10 mega-ohms impedance to work on the computer systems of late model cars. I have yet to see any DVMs that wouldn't work in measuring the output of an oxygen sensor. Ever do a propane torch test of an oxygen sensor?  |