Which multimeter from home depot?

[kb0jjn]

No offense, but Radio Shack meters have always been total CRAP. They were CRAP back in the day when Radio Shack was serious about electronics and not just consumer junk. And now all that they carry is low-end consumer junk I would trust their meters even less!!

Yes, but it looks like one is needed right now and at a low price. I did not see the Home Depo requirement either. I want to make certain the audio alert and auto ranging functions are there.
I know all about Radio Shack also. I had to buy a solder sucker to start on my Galaga Renue kits. After about 3 boards, 2cpu and 1 video, it would not lock down. I went to trade it for another and they didn't have any but the web site said it was in stock. I was in a hurry so I took the ╒u thing apart, turned the push button 180 and filed down the catch.
I only did this till my other 4 from e-bay comes in.
I liked my Fluke but I don't think he wants to spend that kind of money. I like my extech that I use now.

 

[roothorick]

If you plan on using this on arcade games this will not work. You need a digital multi meter, that link you posted is not a multi meter its just a voltage reader and nothing more, you cant measure resistance or get exact voltages or anything of that matter.

This is what you would need and isnt a bad multi meter at all for the price. Very rugged also and works great.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Since it must be Home Depot, get this one, if your local store has it.

Audible continuity tester is a MUST. Autoranging will save you a lot of time and dial-twirling. Backlight helps a lot in this hobby, especially when troubleshooting cabinet wiring. This one delivers, the others don't.

 

[machfelon]

Ok so the Klein one or the Ryobi one?

 

[sblair]

Ok so the Klein one or the Ryobi one?

Klein. Klien specializes in tools for Electricians. Ryobi makes tools more geared for Carpenters.

If you go to a proper electrical house, Klein are the products you'll see.

 

[thebman80]

I got mine from Sears its a Craftsman really nice unit. Mine was an 82170 model multimeter.

Mine looks different from this one though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CRAFTSMAN-MODEL-82170-MANUAL-RANGING-MULTIMETER-/220758639560

If your going to get one buy it once don't buy a cheap O piece of crap. Make sure it has a decent amount of functions. I couldn't tell you how many times I used the connection testing setting for testing breaks in wires, circuits, ECT.

 

[sblair]

Yes, but it looks like one is needed right now and at a low price. I did not see the Home Depo requirement either. I want to make certain the audio alert and auto ranging functions are there.
I know all about Radio Shack also. I had to buy a solder sucker to start on my Galaga Renue kits. After about 3 boards, 2cpu and 1 video, it would not lock down. I went to trade it for another and they didn't have any but the web site said it was in stock. I was in a hurry so I took the ╒u thing apart, turned the push button 180 and filed down the catch.
I only did this till my other 4 from e-bay comes in.
I liked my Fluke but I don't think he wants to spend that kind of money. I like my extech that I use now.

You can get used Fluke meters for the same prices as the new meters at Home Depot. Choosing between the two, I would always go for the used Fluke.

 

[modessitt]

If you barely know how to use a meter and only have a couple games that you'll "mess with" every once in a while, no sense buying a $50+ meter now. Get the $20 one I linked and enjoy. If you get 30+ games, 200+ boards, and do a ton of repair for other people (like me), then you can buy a more expensive one if you choose...

 

[sblair]

If you barely know how to use a meter and only have a couple games that you'll "mess with" every once in a while, no sense buying a $50+ meter now. Get the $20 one I linked and enjoy. If you get 30+ games, 200+ boards, and do a ton of repair for other people (like me), then you can buy a more expensive one if you choose...

The one you selected doesn't have auto-ranging for one, which is something I would consider a critical feature....especially for a novice user.

You should also be purchasing a meter that is rated "Cat III" at a minimum as ones that aren't rated can be very dangerous and have been known to blowup in people's hands. In at least one case I of someone being killed as a result.

 

[Finch]

minor HIJACK:

I have a non-autoranging meter at the moment and quite honestly the thing drives me insane, as I'm a pretty big noob with electronics and trying to figure out what the right range is for things I have no idea what their value is, its not really helping my learning process. I can get a Fluke 115 for $75 from someone I know, should I spring for something nice like this? or just grab another cheapo meter that at least has autoranging.

The Fluke interests me as it has a capacitance measuring function, which most of the lower end meters dont.

 

[machfelon]

How is the Fluke 113? Found it at Lowes (also have account)

 

[sblair]

minor HIJACK:

I have a non-autoranging meter at the moment and quite honestly the thing drives me insane, as I'm a pretty big noob with electronics and trying to figure out what the right range is for things I have no idea what their value is, its not really helping my learning process. I can get a Fluke 115 for $75 from someone I know, should I spring for something nice like this? or just grab another cheapo meter that at least has autoranging.

The Fluke interests me as it has a capacitance measuring function, which most of the lower end meters dont.

That is a really good price for a 115, over half off from what Allied sells it for. I'd buy it. I have one Fluke meter that is over 25 years old and still works great.

How is the Fluke 113? Found it at Lowes (also have account)

The Fluke 113 will do everything you want it to. Between the 115 and the 113, I prefer the 115 as it is a bit easier to use I think. The 113 tries to be a little too idiot proof for my personal tastes, but for a casual user it should be a very solid reliable meter that will do what you want.

 

[R3LL1K]

minor HIJACK:

The Fluke interests me as it has a capacitance measuring function, which most of the lower end meters dont.

The capacitance feature is almost useless on these if you're trying to test bad caps, you need an ESR meter to properly test caps.

 

[R3LL1K]

The one you selected doesn't have auto-ranging for one, which is something I would consider a critical feature....especially for a novice user.

You should also be purchasing a meter that is rated "Cat III" at a minimum as ones that aren't rated can be very dangerous and have been known to blowup in people's hands. In at least one case I of someone being killed as a result.

First multimeter I bought was a manual ranging analog one, compared to those even the manual ranging DMM's are great. IMO I think a manual ranging meter is a good start for newbies, it helps them get their feet wet without putting a dent in the wallet, besides I've fixed games using my $2 DMM without a problem. I consider auto ranging to be a nice feature but hardly critical.

 

[modessitt]

The one you selected doesn't have auto-ranging for one, which is something I would consider a critical feature....especially for a novice user.

You should also be purchasing a meter that is rated "Cat III" at a minimum as ones that aren't rated can be very dangerous and have been known to blowup in people's hands. In at least one case I of someone being killed as a result.

Seriously? Auto-ranging? Perhaps we should get him an assistant to hold it for him and perhaps read off the numbers too?

If someone can't figure out that they need to move a dial to 200 to measure 120, then they probably shouldn't be messing inside a game.

And that meter I linked to will never kill the person using it if they stick with arcade games. They'd have to stick their head on the anode, and the meter won't help that kind of stupidity. Besides, I got zapped by 15kv the other day and didn't die - and wasn't using my meter either....

 

[kjeffery]

Seriously? Auto-ranging? Perhaps we should get him an assistant to hold it for him and perhaps read off the numbers too?

If someone can't figure out that they need to move a dial to 200 to measure 120, then they probably shouldn't be messing inside a game.

And that meter I linked to will never kill the person using it if they stick with arcade games. They'd have to stick their head on the anode, and the meter won't help that kind of stupidity. Besides, I got zapped by 15kv the other day and didn't die - and wasn't using my meter either....

Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cdjump]

imho, auto range just makes you lazy. If your reading resistance then you should read the resistor and figure out its value by the color codes. Once you know that, its not very hard to flip from 200 to 20k to 200k to 2 meg.
As far as voltages go, if your looking for game voltages, then set it to 20v and go.
As far as accuracy, we're not dealing with a thousandth of a volt making any difference. We're looking for 5v vs 2 or 3 volts with a blown power supply.
I'm not sure what you guys do, but for arcade stuff, a cheap meter is fine. My only requirement is that it have removable leads, continuity buzzer, and diode test, (well, voltage and resistance are requirements, too). Anything more is just not added features.
I bought one of these for my truck - (lowe's item number 205783) and i've used it lots for fixing arcade games in my garage (as my truck was there, too). Its perfectly acceptable, is cheap, and has a couple of other handy gizmos for ac work as well.

It boils down to how much you want to spend. If you think you've got to have a fluke, then go get one, but i can assure you that while they may be great meters, they're overkill for arcade work.

Oh, btw, the simpson 260 VOM is still one of the best meters ever made. They've been around forever and are still working today, even if they are analog. They're more than adequate as well.

 

[sblair]

I perfectly well know how to use a manual ranging meter. That doesn't mean it is worth my time or effort to do so. Auto-ranging makes us lazy in the same sense that the calculator made us too lazy to use the slide rule.

Autoranging is a very worthwhile feature for most people. Why bother using a tool that takes more effort when it is no better and almost the same price?

As far as the "cheap" meter discussion goes....read the following story. Even using measuring regular mains voltage (i.e. 120/208v) like what is in your arcade game can still get you killed given the right circumstances occuring.

http://ecmweb.com/ops_maintenance/defective-test-equipment-20100101/

It is a rare circumstance, but the fact remains there are a reason there are ratings such as CAT III and CAT IV for meters to prevent this kind of deadly incident that can result from a poorly designed cheap meter.

Just because you are buying the cheap meter to use in your arcade game today, doesn't mean you might not be using it somewhere else tomorrow where the risks are far greater of generating an arc flash.

 

[pmichelsen]

Klien specializes in tools for Electricians. Ryobi makes tools more geared for women

Fixed that for you.

 

[cdjump]

just because you know how to, doesn't mean that 90% of the people who we're dealing with here do, and nor do they do this on a daily basis in an industrial environment.
I read the article you posted. Umm, i've yet to see any 480v 3 phase running into an arcade cabinet.

 

[modessitt]

I perfectly well know how to use a manual ranging meter. That doesn't mean it is worth my time or effort to do so. Auto-ranging makes us lazy in the same sense that the calculator made us too lazy to use the slide rule.

I'm not saying it doesn't have its perks, but you sound like the guy telling someone just starting drivers ed that they're wasting their time using a Pontiac Grand Am when the brand new Lexus will parallel-park the car for you....