Comments on this DMM?

demogo

Well-known member

Donor 14 years: 2012-2025
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
14,951
Reaction score
2,102
Location
Texas
OK, been using a crappy el-cheapo DMM for a while and it's getting on my nerves.

The rotary dial is irritating; if you don't get it EXACTLY in the correct spot you get weird readings and have to wiggle it to get it to read correctly. This is the 3rd product I've had (including sprinkler system controllers) that have this screwy issue with the rotary controls.

Anyway, no continuity buzzer, sleep mode, auto-off mode, low battery indicator, etc on my current DMM.

What do folks think about this one? Main use will be for arcade game repair plus a variety of minor electronic type repair. (Amazing what other items I've been able to diagnose with my current DMM including landscape lighting, light bulb testing, battery testing, power supply testing for items, etc).

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/72-7720

On sale for $25 plus shipping. Plus I'd like to add leads that are not only the standard leads, but small alligator clips, plus something appropriate for chip legs. I think the other leads can be ordered separately.

Thoughts? Opinions?
 
I'm going to echo the others and say to spend a little more for something better. You'll find very quickly, if you keep diving into repairs, that you'll keep needing other functions or better sensitivity.

If you don't mind spending more you can pick up the Extech EX530 (a normally $250-$300 Meter) at Frys for $150.

http://www.frys.com/product/5160876

It's what I use at work (over my work-provided Fluke 73M3 and 179) and at home, great product.
 
+1 spend a little more, +1 autoranging

Work won't buy me anything decent so I'm stuck with three Harbor Freight Specials that each have a different issue with them, but at home I have a Gardner-Bender GDT-3200 I got for Christmas one year and I like it a lot. I see it for like $40 online.
 
for $25 you will ALWAYS get shit! Buy a cheap Fluke for $100 and you will have an accurate instrument that you can trust for 10 years.
I didn't know flukes were going for that cheap but after a quick search on Ebay there were New flukes for around 100. I still like my old fluke 77 even if cost me way more than 100 at that time. It has made me a lot of money
 
I have that meter and wish it had the auto ranging feature, other than that I can't complain it's always gotten the job done.
 
OK, looking at the Fluke's although I have to say it seems like incredible overkill for as light a duty as my new DMM will have to serve.

So realistically there's the 115, 114, and 113 models.

115 provides ac/dc current which would be interesting but I'm not sure especially useful to me. Thoughts?

It also provides frequency which I really don't think would be useful for me.

It also provides capacitance which might be interesting except the caps would have to be out of circuit and probably of a limited range. Useful or not?

The 115 does NOT provide low input impedance, whatever that means.

Ahh, I see the 115 provides a diode check and the others do not. I assume this would be useful and a have-to-have feature?

Thoughts? Comments? Do I really need to drop an atomic bomb on my problem? I could literally buy 5-6 of the Tenma DMMs for the same price.
 
115 provides ac/dc current which would be interesting but I'm not sure especially useful to me. Thoughts?

Current measurement can be useful for guessing fuse values, or finding an appropriate power supply... you can also use it to tell whether a power supply is dropping out due to overload or just because it's failed.

It also provides frequency which I really don't think would be useful for me.

Well, if you have a board with a dead Z80C and you have a spare Z80A, and don't know the frequency the board drives the processor at... I'm assuming it can detect frequencies in the 1Mhz-10Mhz range though, that may not be true. Yeah, it has fairly limited application.

It also provides capacitance which might be interesting except the caps would have to be out of circuit and probably of a limited range. Useful or not?

Bad caps usually have a capacitance reading within tolerance but a high ESR. Probably not that useful.

Ahh, I see the 115 provides a diode check and the others do not. I assume this would be useful and a have-to-have feature?

You will ABSOLUTELY need that diode check, it's used for so many things in this hobby...
 
I'm going to have to vote against the 115. At one point, my company bought a bunch of 115's to supplement our old 73 III's as we hired on more Tech's then we had meters for. In nearly 3 years of using them, I've found that the continuity buzzer is super quiet, and the meter's accuracy has left a lot to be desired, and it seems to get worse as the battery drops under about 75%.
 
I'm going to have to vote against the 115. At one point, my company bought a bunch of 115's to supplement our old 73 III's as we hired on more Tech's then we had meters for. In nearly 3 years of using them, I've found that the continuity buzzer is super quiet, and the meter's accuracy has left a lot to be desired, and it seems to get worse as the battery drops under about 75%.

Ouch.

That's not really even tolerable for a cheapo meter but for a high $ premium brand that's absolutely unacceptable. This thing is literally 5x the cost of the Tenma -- nothing less than spectacular operation is good enough for that kind of premium.
 
I'm going to have to vote against the 115. At one point, my company bought a bunch of 115's to supplement our old 73 III's as we hired on more Tech's then we had meters for. In nearly 3 years of using them, I've found that the continuity buzzer is super quiet, and the meter's accuracy has left a lot to be desired, and it seems to get worse as the battery drops under about 75%.

I'd love to get Fluke's comments on this. I could almost see paying this much for an extraordinarily designed product but am flabbergasted that they would let this continue.

Did your company ever raise the issue with Fluke?
 
I started with a $4 harbor freight special, then moved up to a ~$40 radio shack auto ranging. Then I bought a Fluke 179, and the other two haven't been used since. The quality difference is considerable, and it is just a really nice tool to use.
 
my $12 chinese made DMM works fine

the last one i left outside by accident and it got rained on
:(

just went and got another, no sweat
soldered on some cut off capacitor legs to the ends of the old probes and now i can get into connectors easy as pie...
 
I'd love to get Fluke's comments on this. I could almost see paying this much for an extraordinarily designed product but am flabbergasted that they would let this continue.

Did your company ever raise the issue with Fluke?

Yeah, we did. And got promptly told to Fly a Kite.

I started with a $4 harbor freight special, then moved up to a ~$40 radio shack auto ranging. Then I bought a Fluke 179, and the other two haven't been used since. The quality difference is considerable, and it is just a really nice tool to use.

+1 for the Fluke 179. That's what I used until my Extech. Great meter.
 
Yeah, we did. And got promptly told to Fly a Kite.



+1 for the Fluke 179. That's what I used until my Extech. Great meter.

Well, the Fluke 179 is well outside my price range, unfortunately.

> Yeah, we did. And got promptly told to Fly a Kite.

And that seals the fate of me buying the Fluke 115 -- I'll go elsewhere.

Horrific customer service by Fluke -- as the high dollar premium brand that response is just pathetic.
 
I know the 115 is ~$130. For ~$20 more, you can pick up the Extech 530 (my current meter) at Frys.

Product Info: http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=48&prodid=268
Frys Link: http://www.frys.com/product/5160876

I hate to plug something twice in one thread, but I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this thing both at work and at home. Plus, it's from the folks at FLIR, and the warranty is good.

I do have one issue with the Ex530, however. The LCD's straight-on viewing angle is bad, and you really have to look at it from a slight angle in order to see the display. Granted, you're going to be doing that anyways 99.9% of the time, but for the sake of full disclosure, I figured I'd mention that.
 
Back
Top Bottom