New Multimeter Purchase

"Okkim Atnarivik" <Okkim.atnarivik_at_twentyfour.fi.invalid> wrote in message
news:hmijr1$bb$1_at_epityr.hut.fi...
In sci.electronics.design amdx <amdx_at_knology.net> wrote:
: It's time, I need to purchase a new multimeter, home benchwork only.
: I could work with a autorangeing meter as long as it's not slow.
: AC, DC, volts, ohms, amps, capacitance ok but I have a cap meter.
: I generally use a 0.1 ohm or 0.01 ohm resistor as a shunt to measure
: current.
: I'm looking at the Fluke meters, I want it to last 15 years, the one
after
: that will last my lifetime! I figure on spending around $200.
: Any suggestions about another quality brand or Fluke Models?

Well, this is not a known quality brand, but I was very happy
with my TENMA, I think the equivalent current model is the 72-7732.
181e in Farnell. Mine had a 80mV range with 10uV lowest count, which
might come handy with your low value shunts. That range was very useful
in SQUID work. The 72-7732 seems to have a 40mV range with same reso.
My unit had a robust and solid feel and served me well for 3 or 4 years,
and felt like it would serve much longer. Unfortunately British Airways
lost my luggage last year and down that drain went the DMM, too.

Yea, have a Tenma now, it's worked for me at least 15 years, but has
connector problems. I like that low volt range. I'll look into the price.
Mike

"amdx" <amdx_at_knology.net> wrote in message
news:87ca0$4b8c2ff3$d8baf3ed$1212_at_KNOLOGY.NET...
It's time, I need to purchase a new multimeter, home benchwork only.
I could work with a autorangeing meter as long as it's not slow.
AC, DC, volts, ohms, amps, capacitance ok but I have a cap meter.
I generally use a 0.1 ohm or 0.01 ohm resistor as a shunt to measure
current.
I'm looking at the Fluke meters, I want it to last 15 years, the one
after that will last my lifetime! I figure on spending around $200.
Any suggestions about another quality brand or Fluke Models?

Mike





Hard to beat a Fluke 87 series V. There is a new 28 series II which is
almost identical function, and uses AA cells instead of a 9V battery,
but it's brand new, not discounted yet, costs 50.00 more than the 87,
and here's the kicker for me:

The 800 hour rated battery life is great, yes? Except for the battery
corrosion problems we are inevitably going to see resulting from this.
People are simply going to forget to change their batteries in time.
Hopefully Fluke will have the appropriate replacement parts
available...
A 9V battery in a 87V should last about 1 year of normal use, and 9V
models are double encased, therefore less prone to leakage. Current
consumption in auto-power off mode is vastly improved over the III
series, about 25uA. My 85III ia useless in this respect, drawing very
nearly as much in "power-save" mode as in actual operation.

Contrary to popular belief however, Fluke's vaunted lifetime warranty
is only to the original purchaser. On the bright side, they are all
over eBay for less than 250.00 used.

The 28II is waterproof though! And 10 foot drop resistant! How cool!

On Mar 1, 1:21 pm, "amdx" <a...@knology.net> wrote:

It's time, I need to purchase a new multimeter, home benchwork only.
 I could work with a autorangeing meter as long as it's not slow.
AC, DC, volts, ohms, amps, capacitance ok but I have a cap meter.
  I generally use a 0.1 ohm or 0.01 ohm resistor as a shunt to measure
current.
 I'm looking at the Fluke meters, I want it to last 15 years, the one after
that will last my lifetime! I figure on spending around $200.
 Any suggestions about another quality brand or Fluke Models?

                                       Mike

I have a Fluke 75 and a 77 from new [25+ years] and they both are
working perfectly. Autoranging is fast enough that it is usually
unnoticed. 9V batteries last for years in my usage. I also have a pair
of Fluke 8000 bench DVMs, one with the Monsanto 'pin-point' LED
display, the other with the later 'light pipe' display and both with
internal NiCd battery pack. The still both work accurately but one has
a somewhat flakey switch.
I bought a cheap 'Canadian Tire' DVM I could take were I needed a
simple troubleshooting tester and there was a risk of loss or
destruction. It cost about $9 and is better than 1% on all ranges.

Neil S.

On Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:49:08 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl_at_cruzio.com
wrote:

On Tue, 2 Mar 2010 09:03:35 -0600, "amdx" <amdx_at_knology.net> wrote:

Hows the low ohms range, the problem I have with my meter is on
low ohm range. When I short the leads it might read 15 ohms, pull
the leads, twist, yell at them and it may go down to 0.5 ohms.

That's not the leads. It's the bananna jack connector where it
enters the meter. It might also be a broken wire.

I have that problem with every meter I own and use the same fix. Spin
the bananna jack. I just noticed I have a Extech 22-816 True RMS
Multi-meter on my desk. No idea who left it here or where I stole it
from. Works nicely on low ohm. About 0.5 ohms without spinning the
bananna jacks. About 0.3 after.

I have used Cremolin on them but this is a problem that is getting old!

Clean out the residual oil and grease. Start over.

The other day I had an odd reading and had to rotate the function switch
to get a normal reading. This is a Tenma.

Sorry, no experience with Tenma.

I have a Beckman HD 110 that
went flakey many years ago

I bought one of those at a club meeting. Most of the attenuator
section was blown. I gave it to a friend for parts.

and a Fluke 77 that a battery leaked in.

Nice work. I wrap my 9v batteries in cellophane foil.

Meters
I should have tossed them 15 yrs ago, but ya know "someday" I might fix
them. ;-)

I had my pile also. However, I use them often enough that I recycled
all my $5 Harbor Freight DVM's and got something better (Extech).

I have an Extech DVM/thermocouple thing and it's pretty nice. I
haven't blown it up yet.

The Extech stuff is generally pretty good. FLIR recently bought them
(probably to sandbag their IR imager project) so I don't know if they
can stay pretty good.

On Mar 1, 1:21 pm, "amdx" <a...@knology.net> wrote:
It's time, I need to purchase a new multimeter, home benchwork only.
 I could work with a autorangeing meter as long as it's not slow.
AC, DC, volts, ohms, amps, capacitance ok but I have a cap meter.
  I generally use a 0.1 ohm or 0.01 ohm resistor as a shunt to measure
current.
 I'm looking at the Fluke meters, I want it to last 15 years, the one after
that will last my lifetime! I figure on spending around $200.
 Any suggestions about another quality brand or Fluke Models?

                                       Mike

I have a Fluke 75 and a 77 from new [25+ years] and they both are
working perfectly. Autoranging is fast enough that it is usually
unnoticed. 9V batteries last for years in my usage. I also have a pair
of Fluke 8000 bench DVMs, one with the Monsanto 'pin-point' LED
display, the other with the later 'light pipe' display and both with
internal NiCd battery pack. The still both work accurately but one has
a somewhat flakey switch.

I bought a cheap 'Canadian Tire' DVM I could take were I needed a
simple troubleshooting tester and there was a risk of loss or
destruction. It cost about $9 and is better than 1% on all ranges.