Multimeter questions

Im about to go buy a nice multimeter (Max Price about 100 bucks)

any suggestions?

[Matt Reiland]

Fluke are the best but you won't get it at that price, I bought a craftsman professional model that will also interface to a PC for measurements, pretty slick, under 100 bucks

http://www.sears.com/sr/product/deta...&bidsite=CRAFT

[Katie Reynolds]

Our team uses this multimeter --> Fluke 77, Series III. It's a good multimeter, but it will cost you around $150. This --> Fluke 16 is also an OK multimeter (I have this one at home) - It's available from Newark for $130... I think it's worth the extra $20, though, for the first one!

- Katie

Eh forgot to mention....I work at sears...so it wont be the list price for me...

[David Kelso]

2 years ago I asked this question here. A reader suggested a Craftsman digital clamp-on meter that will do DC Amperage. We got one at Sears #82014 . This meter has helped us trouble shoot many problems over the two years. You can hook it on your robot, drive around and see the current draw as you go.

This meter could be bought then for $100

By the way, we got this meter through a donation from a parent..thanks Dr. Paras....and the recommendation came from a person who was only a screen name back then to me. Now, I consider Matt Leese to be a friend, not just a screen name.

[mtaman02]

Fluke is an great brand. Don't know how the meters work though. I've used them but have not personally owned. Craftsman another brand if im not mistaken anything happens to craftsman tools break and such. you can bring it back to sears as long as it was purchased in sears and they will replace it at no charge. I know that rule applies to like tools and stuff don't know about electronic equipment. FLUKE or Craftsman either or. Fluke you gotta buy through their web site I think. Don't know if there any retail stores that sell Fluke Equipment

[Andrew Rudolph]

I have a fluke hand me down that i got that is pretty old and i have seen people with older ones and they work great. They are worth the money because from what i have seen they last forever.

[SlamminSammy]

I worked the summer repairing TVs, VCRs, DVD players, etc. and my Fluke never failed me.

P.S. You can always buy off E-Bay

Originally posted by Andrew Rudolph
They are worth the money because from what i have seen they last forever.

Aren't craftsman tools supposed to last forever too?

[Jason Rudolph]

Flukes are great meters. I use a model 87 series III here at work. As a note on their service, a coworker of mine had a meter that was reading things incorrectly, so we sent it to fluke to be repaired. Well, it came back and it was still doing the same thing. So we called them back, and they gave us a free uprgade to a much more expensive model! Great service. Also a note on craftsmen products. NOT all of their products are guaranteed forever. This is especially the case for some of their power tools and such, so make sure you check on the warranty of an item before you buy it.

[Matt Reiland]

Fluke are used by most profesionals they are built well and work excellent, BUT you always pay more for them. Trust me there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Craftsman meters either. In general even most cheap digital multimeters will do the job for troubleshooting: checking voltage, continuity, current. It doesn't take a $400 meter to do this.

One other reason not to buy the expensive meters: They tend to walk off on you pretty fast, I have lost 3 so far at the plants.

[ChrisH]

I use a cheap Radio Shack digital multimeter. I'm not sure how long I've had it, but I know it's more than 13 years. It runs off of two AA batteries. In the time I've had it, I think I've replaced the batteries once. No, I don't store it with the batteries in it, but I do keep them in the box so I always know where to find them. I think I paid about $15-20 for it brand new.

As a mechanical, it does about everything I need. Though a clamp-on ammeter would have been nice. I don't need it very often, but when I do, I NEED it. The only time it ever failed me was the one time when the original batteries finally died. It was so unexpected, it took me a while to figure out what the problem was. (Gee, how do you check the continuity of a switch on your continuity checker?)

I figure the second set of batteries are due to be replaced anytime now...

[Jon Lawton]

I use cheap no-name $10 meters. If you look around at surplus stores, Hamfests (electronics swap meets), and other various arcane places, you can find a lot of useful / neat stuff for very low prices.

If you need more features than those offer, you really ought to work with a boat achor analog meter. That will give you an appreciation for that LCD you stare at.

[Adam Y.]

Originally posted by D.J. Fluck


Aren't craftsman tools supposed to last forever too?

yup a lifetime warranty I think on all their tools if i remeber correctly

[FotoPlasma]

Originally posted by wysiswyg
yup a lifetime warranty I think on all their tools if i remeber correctly

A while back, a friend of my dad's found a box of Craftsman tools, in a junkyard, which had been practically destroyed in a rock-crusher. If I recall correctly, he took them to his local Sears, and had them all replaced, brand new, under that warranty.