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Multimeter

V

Vinny

pfm Member
Recommendations please for a cheap (maybe £20?) multimeter - I have not checked the going rate but suspect that £10 is a common starting point???? One that someone has and regards as reliable?

I have a 20+++ year-old Maplins M-776 (still findable using Google), which is absolutely fine for resistance and volts, or easily good enough for my needs anyway, but trying to check something today, it is obviously rubbish for current and I have no way to check accuracy mV, and would very seldom need it anyway.

Or is there something that I should check/adjust on the Maplins meter to get sensible current readings?
 
No specific recommendations but current is often least well catered for on cheap meters, especially AC current, and current ranges are easily damaged by people connecting meter to a Voltage source.... there is usually a fuse inside for current ranges which is often found to be blown... shunt resistors are also often open circuit or charred...

Obviously second hand meters from good makes such as Fluke are available and can be very cheap... some bench meters (larger, often mains powered or mains/battery) can be particularly good quality and value. Check out things such as Fluke 8050A and Solartron 7050 ( a couple I can see on my bench...)
 
Good point about the fuse - cheers - I had not even thought to check it as there is a reading, but obviously nonsense.
I regularly use V and R scales, so it is anyone's guess about I, as I so seldom use it.

I am just trying to check a simple mA current to a LV circuit.

I have looked as s/h flukes in the dim and distant past, back then you would not have called them cheap...…….…………….. I shall investigate.
 
If current is getting through the meter to power the circuit under test then the fuse is OK. Daft question but you do have the red lead plugged into the current socket? Almost always a separate socket for current range.
 
On the Maplins meter there is no right or wrong red lead connector, one is nominally A, one nominally mA.

I have had dodgy readings with meters in the past that I have put down to there being some kind of floating voltage on one lead, maybe even due to something like thermocouple effect at junctions. It seems to be a random number generator that drifts, both A and mA scales.

To the naked eye, the fuse looks OK (I have no continuity checker.....), X10 shows it blown. All I have to do now is find a replacement - 200mA, 20mm, miracles do happen...…..
 
RESULT - pack of 8 in the box of bits...………………………………….

Maybe the meter may work now???????
 
Vinny said:
On the Maplins meter there is no right or wrong red lead connector, one is nominally A, one nominally mA.

I have had dodgy readings with meters in the past that I have put down to there being some kind of floating voltage on one lead, maybe even due to something like thermocouple effect at junctions. It seems to be a random number generator that drifts, both A and mA scales.

To the naked eye, the fuse looks OK (I have no continuity checker.....), X10 shows it blown. All I have to do now is find a replacement - 200mA, 20mm, miracles do happen...…..
Click to expand...

Yep that's what I mean and that's normal... usually the mA is the same socket as everything else (not always) and A is a separate socket. The common mistake (yes I've done it!) is to be using the A range and then think "I'll just check the voltage is OK" so you select Volts on the range switch but forget to swap the red lead back.... instant blown internal fuse and/or knackered current range...
 
Still nonsense - shorting the leads gives nonsense A and mA, DC and AC.

I'll have a look for a used professional meter...…

Thanks
 
OK, "cheap" Fluke hand-helds have obvious faults on FleaBay (at the moment at least) and Jez's bench-top suggestions are only available either as spares/repairs or from US only, at an associated premium price.

So.....................any other suggestions?
 
Vinny said:
OK, "cheap" Fluke hand-helds have obvious faults on FleaBay (at the moment at least) and Jez's bench-top suggestions are only available either as spares/repairs or from US only, at an associated premium price.

So.....................any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Ah could be too late... they were readily available for maybe £35 from all sorts of second hand instrument dealers not that long ago... and these would have been say £400 new back in 1985 ish.

It could be worth ringing the likes of Stewarts of Reading, or M&B Radio and ask what they have in stock.... not just the models I named but many other good ones should be around...
 
Vinny said:
OK, "cheap" Fluke hand-helds have obvious faults on FleaBay (at the moment at least)
Click to expand...

In what way? I’ve got a 17B which is the one for the Chinese and Indian markets. Far cheaper than most Flukes, I think I paid about £70 about four or five years ago. The current version, the 17B+ is very similar and can be had for £20 more (eBay). I’d like more resolution on the capacitance setting (i.e. down to low pF), but other than that it is excellent IMO. Really well made, very well reviewed and seems reliable and accurate. I’d have a good watch of Dave Jones’ EEVBlog on YouTube before deciding a really cheap multimeter is an option, especially if you plan to put it anywhere near high voltage. Some of the really cheap Chinese crap can potentially blow your hand off! Get something from a good brand with a proper CAT rating.

PS I also have a couple of vintage Avometers, as everyone should have!
 
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I mentioned £20, but a bit more would be fine, and a bench-top would be fine. Bench-tops are cheap enough in the US, but shipping and duty...….

Thanks Jez - I will check with your suggestions - I will have used equivalents, usually HP, often enough in the dim past...…………. they aren't massively less convenient to use than hand-helds, they just occupy more space.

The real cheapies on PayBay at the moment are, not surprisingly, used, and have cracked glass on the display or are missing LCD elements (might be OK for 5 minutes or 50 years).
 
Cheers - I did search - perhaps I gave up before going that far back...……………………….
 
The Aneng 8008 is a great little meter for the money, about £16 on ebay now.
 
Thanks all.
I bit the bullet and bought a cheap Tenma (the brand also got a thumbs-up here for bench-top power supplies recently...…)

Farnell users - always check CPC (they are the "retail" arm of Farnell) as they often do the same items, usually cheaper then Farnell, for whatever insane reason.
 
The aneng 8008/8009 is very good indeed, 9999 count and will measure sub-millivolt - it has a decent discreet voltage reference on board.

NB if you add a larger decoupling cap to this reference - there are pads available for this purpose - the meter readings settles much faster. I can demonstrate if any one is interested...
 
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