Good quality multimeter??

[Mjfan12]

When I was in autoshop we had the "Fluke" brand units and they were made for automotive useage. They were great but they cost like $150 to $200.

I have bought 3 cheap units from Radioshack and they all get ruined easily. I mainly use them to check the battery and the charging system and after like 5 uses the readings are not normal anymore.

When I took it back the guy said that it is not built for all the amps the car batteries have.

So whats a reasonably priced unit which is heavy duty? Like around $50.

[ChIoVnIdCa]

When I was in autoshop we had the "Fluke" brand units and they were made for automotive useage. They were great but they cost like $150 to $200.

I have bought 3 cheap units from Radioshack and they all get ruined easily. I mainly use them to check the battery and the charging system and after like 5 uses the readings are not normal anymore.

When I took it back the guy said that it is not built for all the amps the car batteries have.

So whats a reasonably priced unit which is heavy duty? Like around $50.

I use a dmm for work everyday for what you are doing just go cheap. I don't want to think of how many I have left in customers cars so I just stay cheap (they rarely bring anything back). I just use the $20 meters from sears. Don't get the craftsman meter with auto ranging. It pissed me off after a while and throw it away. I haven't had one of these die on me yet. But I say they die before the year warranty is up to get a new one.


http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...26+Accessories

[jcoleman_11]

now im in canada so you guys definetly don't have this department store, but this is the one i got, 25 bucks and hasnt let me down yet

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

[Mjfan12]

I use a dmm for work everyday for what you are doing just go cheap. I don't want to think of how many I have left in customers cars so I just stay cheap (they rarely bring anything back). I just use the $20 meters from sears. Don't get the craftsman meter with auto ranging. It pissed me off after a while and throw it away. I haven't had one of these die on me yet. But I say they die before the year warranty is up to get a new one.


http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...26+Accessories

seems like a good deal, I like craftsman products, I think' i'll go pick it up on my way home right now.

and the reviews say they have used in in cars so it should handle basic automotive uses

[wed3k]

i find some of the craftsman products that arent hand tools are so-so. but for twenty bucks, ill give that multimeter a shot. i need one for my auto tech school as well.

[Leung]

i found my dad's old Sunpro, the things ancient but works fine.


does Sunpro even make Digital Engine Analyzers anymore? i've got the same one that is pictured in the Haynes manuals.

[Mjfan12]

i bought that craftsman one but I dont know if it will be resiliant. It can handle 600 volts but only 10 amps, but car and bike batteries have like hundreds of amps? Please correct me if im wrong.

Also I dont know if it will be fine checking the charging system when the car is on and the alt is charging it.

but its 22 bux and has a 1 year replacement warranty so I will exchange it if this thing is a pos.

[ChIoVnIdCa]

i bought that craftsman one but I dont know if it will be resiliant. It can handle 600 volts but only 10 amps, but car and bike batteries have like hundreds of amps? Please correct me if im wrong.

Also I dont know if it will be fine checking the charging system when the car is on and the alt is charging it.

but its 22 bux and has a 1 year replacement warranty so I will exchange it if this thing is a pos.

The amps mean nothing when you are testing voltage. Thats only if you are inline with a circuit.

[totaldoughnut]

The amps mean nothing when you are testing voltage. Thats only if you are inline with a circuit.

Correct. When you are checking charging system voltage you will be fine. If you were to use it to check something like starter draw you would cook it. The starter is probably the only electrical componant that would draw enough amperage to totally fry a cheapo meter. I use an OTC DMM for work, its great, lots of functions, about a $500 meter. Even it can only handle 20a through it direct. Anything higher I use an inductive pick up parralel. A $20 meter will work fine for checking charging and battery voltage. Also, youll use the ohm meter function if you get into wiring issues and need to check continuity through harness wires.

[OnBBS17s]

Im a fan of Fluke. Been using one for 5 or 6 years now and is great.

[JaK FRoSTWhiTE]

FLUKE . Its what i use.

lol that sounded like a damn commercial.

[Mjfan12]

Correct. When you are checking charging system voltage you will be fine. If you were to use it to check something like starter draw you would cook it. The starter is probably the only electrical componant that would draw enough amperage to totally fry a cheapo meter. I use an OTC DMM for work, its great, lots of functions, about a $500 meter. Even it can only handle 20a through it direct. Anything higher I use an inductive pick up parralel. A $20 meter will work fine for checking charging and battery voltage. Also, youll use the ohm meter function if you get into wiring issues and need to check continuity through harness wires.

Not that I'll ever need to do it, but what's an inductive parralell? and how does it work?


This cheap meter is pretty good but the thing I don't like is you need to crack the case open and expose the circuit boards just to change the battery, the radio shack ones had a seperate compartment to change it and not expose the delicate innards.


Also I found my old radio shack meter and it has some dullness on its leads like some corrosion slightly. This interferes with the readings, so I used some baking soda on them and it fixed the issue.

[batever]

Not that I'll ever need to do it, but what's an inductive parralell? and how does it work?


This cheap meter is pretty good but the thing I don't like is you need to crack the case open and expose the circuit boards just to change the battery, the radio shack ones had a seperate compartment to change it and not expose the delicate innards.


Also I found my old radio shack meter and it has some dullness on its leads like some corrosion slightly. This interferes with the readings, so how can I clean them without damaging them?

just use some fine sandpaper, like 1200 grit or whatever. you'd have to sand the leads completely off to damage them.

Also, regarding the inaccuracy issue, I suspect that that's a battery problem, not a problem with the meter itself. Try changing the battery. With the occasional usage by the average home user, you probably have to change the battery every couple of times you use the meter, just because of battery age issues.

personally, I don't have a digital multimeter, I have the analog style, but when the battery goes down the readings go off. I don't know how reduced batt. voltage would affect the digital multimeter, but I'd say check and see before buying another one.

I second those who say that the amperage issue is a nonissue unless you are running it inline with a circuit. The reason is that amperage draw is determined by the needs of the device on the circuit. When you are normally testing stuff on the car, you are essentially making a separate circuit that runs through the multimeter, and the multimeter only needs milliamps to run so it only draws that.

IF you took off the negative battery cable and hooked it to the multimeter's positive lead, then took the multimeter's negative lead and hooked it the negative battery pole, then started the engine, the multimeter would be in-line on all of the amperage running thru the starter and would fry. Actually it would probably melt. The diff there is that the car's starter is demanding a a RIVER of elecltricity and trying to run it thru a tiny streambed (the multimeter) on the negative side of the circuit.

Usually using the MM you are just "dipping" the multimeter's into the river of current and taking only what the multimeter can handle.

another analogy would be, usually it's like "spying" on the current rather than standing in the middle of the current.

for whatever analogies are worth.

[jcoleman_11]

batever, that anlogy was worth gold, well done!

[batever]

Thanks, jcoleman 11!