Multimeters

M

Mark Daniel Olsen

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Jun 12, 2017
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18
Im looking for a multimeter that fits my needs. currently i just want to read voltages from batteries, but as i venture further into my wall journey i proberly want to make some circuits to manege everything.

So what would you recommend?
is a cheap 20$ good enough, at least for now. or should i go all in? i am on a tight budget currently so i need to know if i should spare money and wait for a fluke or similar or if i can get by with a cheap multimeter for now. the cheap one i have looked on for now is this (beware, link is in danish) https://www.harald-nyborg.dk/p7364/digital-multimeter-ms8321d
 
Well, you have some options, but as you are on a tight budget some, especially all in, will probably not be viable.

You can go all in and buy something like a Fluke. Definitely recommended, all of their stuff is pretty good, but never cheap.
You can go a bit less all in :)D) and get one of the Flukes for the chinese market. These are the ones that Fluke would love to keep secret to Europeans and Americans. They are significantly cheaper and basically just as good.

But no matter for which market a Fluke has been made, it probably won't fit into a tight budget either way.
Instead you should probably look at the meters from Uni-T and Mastech. I have a Fluke 115 (~150 EUR) and a Uni-T UT139C (~40 EUR) and the Uni-T meter is not nearly as well built as the Fluke, but it produces very accurate results close to the Fluke, which is accurate enough to serve as a reference, so that is very good.
The cheap meters, like 20 EUR and below, haven't quite worked for me. Some of them are off by up to 0.1V when measuring 4.2V which I consider totally inaccurate and not usable at all.

The one you've found looks like a Mastech unit, the color and model number suggest that, but it isn't labeled as a Mastech and it is pretty cheap, I would avoid that one. Probably an OEM job by Mastech for Branford, whatever Branford is.
 
I use the DMM from Harbor Freight. They have same board in them as the $25+ DMM's you find at Lowe's/HomeDepot. And I mean the exact same board. The only difference I think between them is that the DMM that's at HF is because it's not 100% accurate. Maybe the current sensor isn't as accurate or something. But I think 90+% accurate is good enough for what we do. And they are easily calibrated by using the POT that's on the board. Just takes a little bit of work, that's all.

The one oderus linked to looks pretty good, and cheap. Ya just gotta wait >6weeks to get it.

@Oderus420: The way you link urls is:
Code: 
[url=http://link.to.some.place/somepage.html]Some Place Inc.[/url]
 
Korishan said:
I use the DMM from Harbor Freight. They have same board in them as the $25+ DMM's you find at Lowe's/HomeDepot. And I mean the exact same board. The only difference I think between them is that the DMM that's at HF is because it's not 100% accurate. Maybe the current sensor isn't as accurate or something. But I think 90+% accurate is good enough for what we do. And they are easily calibrated by using the POT that's on the board. Just takes a little bit of work, that's all.

The one oderus linked to looks pretty good, and cheap. Ya just gotta wait >6weeks to get it.

@Oderus420: The way you link urls is:
Code: 
[url=http://link.to.some.place/somepage.html]Some Place Inc.[/url]
Click to expand...

Thanks boss.
 
Oderus420 said:
Thanks boss.
Click to expand...

Nope, not me, that's Mike ;) And Peter is second in command :p But you're welcome none-the-less
 
Well, he also thinks I'm an expert of some sort, I hope his mental condition gets better very soon! :D
Still very kind though!
 
DarkRaven said:
Well, he also thinks I'm an expert of some sort, I hope his mental condition gets better very soon! :D
Still very kind though!
Click to expand...

When you're at the bottom, everyone above you is an expert. :)
 
I have these uni t models both excellent


image_neasti.jpg
 
That is the UT139C I was talking about. The other one is a UT210E, got this one as well. Obviously this is a clamp meter to measure current, but is has connectors on the bottom and is also a pretty accurate voltmeter.
 
Yeah, I've considered getting that one, too. Just haven't justified it, yet. I suppose I could use the 20% 25% off coupon to knock about $5 off of it.
 
The UT models i use alot too. I got 2 of them and 2 re branded so I got 4. I just recently tested another version that works really good. The first one I got was faulty but after 1 email i got all my money back. Got to keep the unit and at same time got a new working one!
Cost a little bit more but it did alot more stuff!

Check this one out:

So with that said I highly recommend it to the price. It does alot and comparing to the Unit T models its definitely not worse. Its actually better :)

There is also a USB version. Links to the unit is in description of the Video

and here is link to ebay and this one for amazon
I also have links to the Fluke version in the video
 
daromer said:
So with that said I highly recommend it to the price.
Click to expand...
well, for "your" price, of course it's great! You got two for free! :p
 
Thats though true :D But still for true RMS and inrush current. The later that I think many people should look a bit more at because its important when designing. For instance knowing what your refrigerator actually need during startup :D
 
@Daromer, currently it is at a price i can't afford, but i have had an eye out for it some time. wanted my boss to give me one so i could see why peoples stoves trips the fused breakers, but he doesnt think thats how we should check it...
 
I have multiple meters, but research the UNI-T UT61E... I consider it the poor mans Fluke 87IV

Its about as good as it gets for a electronics hobbyist on a budget. Not something I would use on AC mains, but for DC, awesome since its a 22,000 count meter, pretty accurate as it agrees with my Fluke an bench power supply, and had PC logging which is great for monitoring battery charge/discharge.

Solid continuity, ohms reading, and all in all a great meter for $50 ish.
 
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