Digital Multi-meters DMM - Upgrade Time - Suggestions?

Papa

Papa

10 kW
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Currently I have two. A Fluke 87v, and a handheld Tektronix DMM150. The Fluke (my 3rd) has been flaky lately and I traced it to the worn rotary switch. Cleaning the contacts cures the problem temporarily, but I view this issue as a warning - I'm tired of 9v battery replacements and v-e-r-y expensive fuses.
The Tektronix has been trouble free and continues to be a reliable backup. A long term keeper.

I'm in-the-hunt to replace the Fluke. Nothing overly fancy, just a nice backlit display, reasonably accurate and lithium powered (be peachy if was plug-in rechargeable too). Soliciting suggestions

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I can't speak to the accuracy or reliability of other DMMs. But as for always having to replace a 9v battery: you can rather easily rig up a small Li-ion pack, a TP4056 to charge it, and a small boost chip to bring it to 9v. I've done that on several different cheap devices I have lying around. In case you wanted to keep using your Fluke, but wanted it to be rechargable.
 
(y)I did just that on my portable RS scanner. 9v IIRC, seems fine on 2S cells. The Fluke's rotary switch will need replacing eventually, so I've decided to just shelve it before it dies completely.
 
Papa said:
Currently I have two. A Fluke 87v, and a handheld Tektronix DMM150. The Fluke (my 3rd) has been flaky lately and I traced it to the worn rotary switch. Cleaning the contacts cures the problem temporarily, but I view this issue as a warning - I'm tired of 9v battery replacements and v-e-r-y expensive fuses.
The Tektronix has been trouble free and continues to be a reliable backup. A long term keeper.

I'm in-the-hunt to replace the Fluke. Nothing overly fancy, just a nice backlit display, reasonably accurate and lithium powered (be peachy if was plug-in rechargeable too). Soliciting suggestions

View attachment 352910
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This by Kaiweets multimeter is certainly not of the caliber of your Fluke 87, but at ~$40. is a good value. This HT206D has been around for years and gets good reviews. Also, most importantly has a capable DC clamp meter.
 
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Forty bucks for a DMM with clamp-on DC amps is kinda unbelievable in my mind.
 
Don't get mad at me, but years ago after my Fluke took a shit I switched to the cheapest meters I could find as nothing I work on is critical. I got a few from Harbor Freight that they were giving away and they worked just fine until they broke. I now use whatever I can find for cheap and replace them when they crap out with other cheap ones. A new $10 meter every other year has been working fine for me since then.
 
nicobie said:
I got a few from Harbor Freight that they were giving away and they worked just fine until they broke
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Mad?... no reason to. :)
HF would give me one of those red bastards whenever I graced their front door. One fine day I was headed out of the shop for a service call, and in haste, reached over and grabbed one from the stack next to the door... The DC scale was off by almost .7V. Clearly,... not even remotely... suitable for Lithium, in my opinion. I should also add, that my beloved Tektronix, also, isn't suitable for lithium. But I appreciate the suggestion (y)
 
Listen to Doctorbass.

Best Volt meter​

endless-sphere.com

Best Volt meter

looking for a one-time buy voltmeter which one is the most accurate, high quality, all in one ? what do you guys use ?
endless-sphere.com endless-sphere.com
Jan 15, 2015

I would go with a FLUKE !!

Solid reputation
Accurate
Well built

That's a one-time buy!

Doc
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Jan 15, 2015

I am using the Fluke 337 for the DC clamp meter and this became my reference. but the voltmeter does not have the same resolution as the 187 does for exemple the 337 is more from a Clamp meter serie

As for the voltmeter the great 179, 187 or 189 work great

These are my next voltmeter. I have actually a Meterman 37XR since 1998 wich is a copy of fluke that I really like because it is still really accurate and does measure capacitor and inductance too!

Doc
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Multimeter accuracy​

endless-sphere.com

Multimeter accuracy

Hello All... I've got 4 multimeters and all 4 show different voltages when measuring the same 12 volt battery the difference can be of up to ~2/10's of a volt. These are the meters... 1 - Cheap $10. Walmart "Superex" multimeter stated accuracy .08% 2 - A $30. "Equus"multimeter stated accuracy...
endless-sphere.com endless-sphere.com

Oct 16, 2007

Buy a fluke and let you stop bordering you with innacurate cheap DMM 😉

I know alot about multimeter and i have 9 different in my home lab.

some of those will have different reading because:

some have an internal load (like mastercraft that have a load to test 1.5, 6, 9 and 12V battery) they dont test in floating mode).. they will read lower value and it's the load that make the voltage droping a bit...

-some have cheap DAC and op amp ic and resistors that have tolerence that drift with temperature...

-some are affected by the soc of the battery that power the multimeter!.. a lower 9V battery give often higher reading!!!

-buy a fluke...

buy a fluke...

but a fluke...

... ....

... ...

Zzzzz zzzz zzzz...


Doc 😉
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Papa said:
The Fluke (my 3rd) has been flaky lately
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Fluke Warranties and Care Plans

The Fluke Warranty Plans provide ultimate equipment protection. Protect your instrument with calibration, extended warranty, repair, upgrades, and other support services.
www.fluke.com www.fluke.com

Industrial products limited Lifetime Warranty​

Lifetime is defined as seven years after Fluke discontinues manufacturing the product, but the warranty period shall be at least ten years from date of purchase. *(Lifetime Warranty applies to products manufactured after October 1996).
Click to expand...

As I understand this. Lifetime is forever, till the end of time. As long as ya didn't do something stupid like let the dog eat it, or leave tool out in the rain? Fluke will repair or replace.

Contact:

Fluke USA Contact Us

How to contact Fluke distribution partners, local services and Fluke Corporation Headquarters in the United States.
www.fluke.com www.fluke.com
 
Flir Dm285 is my go to high resolution and excelled dc mv spec. up to 3000 A AC on datalog.

...thermal cam is just extra

Seaward Solar clamp ammeter and power harmonics analyzer is my second.... best out there.

...my THS TEKtronix 720P DMM 4 1/2 digit and isolated power analysis o scope is the third..... with the datalogging and rs232 xlx FFT graphing. Lol. it can datalog 99 days of records bahahaha.

Extech is good too.

Those might be a little out of your price range. .. but they are priceless to me.

Flukes suck.
 
We have a collection of Fluke 100 series meters, most are 115's but there are a couple of 117's kicking around. The 9V batteries last more than a year with daily (work) use and they are rugged AF!
 
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