Digital Multimeter Which One?

[crofty]

I`ve narrowed it down to these four multimeters for testing battery voltage.

http://www.henrys.co.uk/TEST/600038digitalmultester.html
http://www.henrys.co.uk/TEST/600228digitalmultester.html
http://www.henrys.co.uk/TEST/600219digitalmultester.html
http://www.henrys.co.uk/TEST/y124adigitalmultester.html

Is it take your pick or would one be better than the rest?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cheesy]

If you're sure that all you want it to do is measure voltage, you might as well get the cheapest they have, about £5.

I'm intrigued as to the narrowing down process that arrived at those four?


Kev.

 

[crofty]

I wouldn`t have a clue what else to use it for but those four are the only one`s on that site which are in stock and have a temp. censor which would be a bonus.

So if their all going to be equally as accurate I should just go for the cheapest as the extra features on the other one`s wouldn`t get used?

Thanks

 

[Cheesy]

I can't say for certain what use you would get from any extras. From the limited information available to me, I would say not much.

I don't know how much £15 represents to you but in multimeter terms it's very little, practically disposable when the battery runs flat.


Kev.

 

[crofty]

So you think I should spend more for an accurate meter, suggestions?

£15 is quite a lot to just read volts but not overly expensive if it`s going to do the job well.

I just want it to read battery voltage accurately.

Thanks

 

[steve6690]

http://www.henrys.co.uk/TEST/600219digitalmultester.html

that's the one I have and I like it. Can't say much more than that really. It's only 15 quid....

 

[Tomcat!]

Crofty, from what you mentioned they would all meet your needs. They are fairly basic units, which in this case is a good thing, but don't expect super accuracy for those prices.

A multimeter is a useful thing to have around the house. Even the most basic units will help you measure voltages from batteries. You can also test faulty DC adaptors (which are notoriously fragile), standard light bulbs, fuses and cable breaks for example. Such testing doesn't require you to understand what the read outs actually mean, just that you actually get a reading at all, though for detailed diagnosis it does help. You can also test mains voltages, but if you don't know what you are doing then don't. Spending big on a piece of test equipment you will not use to its full potential is pointless so these cheap ones should be just fine. Better to get comfortable with using one of these and find out if you need something better later.

Two extra points to add. One - get a small pouch or other storage bag to put your meter and accessories in to stop damage. Maplins do a range of meter pouches or you could even make do with an appropriately sized box lined with bubble wrap. The meters with the yellow rubber holster only protect the unit itself, not the test leads. Damaged leads are just going to make testing harder if you cannot tell whether your test equipment itself is faulty. Two - if you don't use your meter regularly or store it for long periods, take the battery out. A leaking cell will make a real mess of the meter and drive you to distraction if the meter doesn't work when you need it in a hurry. (Nothing ever breaks down when you don't need it!)
Oh and never use rechargeable batteries to power any measuring device as their voltages are too variable. Primaries only.

Hope this helps.

 

[crofty]

How accurate is it, or do these things just work and that`s it? In which case I`d go for the cheaper one.

EDIT: Just seen your reply Tomcat! reading..

 

[crofty]

That`s a big help Tomcat thanks, will start of with the cheap one and look into a better one if needed :thumbsup:

 

[Tomcat!]

How accurate is it, or do these things just work and that`s it? In which case I`d go for the cheaper one.

EDIT: Just seen your reply Tomcat! reading..

More money buys more accuracy, usually. The question is, do you need that accuracy? You can pay hundreds for the best quality meters and pay again to have them manufacturer calibrated every year. Unless you are an electrician, test engineer or some sort of scientist then probably not. Most people will be happy with a read out of two or three decimal places and an accuracy of a percentage point or two.

When looking at the accuracy of a meter, look at the spec details. Where the ranges are listed you will see a figure in brackets which gives the manufacturers stated accuracy. Example: The 600.038 meter you listed shows a DC voltage range of 200 millivolts to 1000 volts with an accuracy of ±0.5%. This ± figure is what you should look for when comparing one meter against another, across all the measurable ranges listed. Obviously because the ± bit is basically saying 'give or take', you want a lower number so that the variation in accuracy is smaller. If we take a further example using the same meter and compare it against a more expensive 600.527 model and look at the DC current range, one meter is accurate to ±10% whereas the other is ±0.8% which is a huge difference if that accuracy is important to you. I say 'if' as a warning not to get too hung up on accuracy in the event that you don't need it or wouldn't appreciate it. Spending more for something you won't notice isn't necessary. Besides, you could be putting that money towards...ooh I dunno... more torches perhaps!:thumbsup:

 

[HKJ]

Oh and never use rechargeable batteries to power any measuring device as their voltages are too variable. Primaries only.

That is not true, NiMH has a much more stable output voltage than alkaline batteries, but most NiMH has a high self discharge rate, i.e. the battery will be empty in 1/2 year, even if the meter is not used.

And that leads to the serious problem with many cheap meters, they do not warn that the battery is low, they will just show a wrong result!

It might be a good idea to get a meter with a 10/20A range, then your can check the current consumption of your flashlights and estimate run time on batteries.
I.e. if your measure a light is using 0.3A and your are using batteries with 600mAH (0.6AH), your can expect about (0.6AH/0.3A) two hours run time.

 

[Tomcat!]

That is not true, NiMH has a much more stable output voltage than alkaline batteries, but most NiMH has a high self discharge rate, i.e. the battery will be empty in 1/2 year, even if the meter is not used.

What I should have said is that NiMH run at lower voltages than primaries and most measuring devices are designed to operate at a specific voltage. I would never run a photographic light meter for example on rechargeables because of inaccurate readings. As you point out, the self-discharge rate is a very important factor for an item that may not get used often, so for simplicity and reliability sake I wouldn't use rechargeables for a meter.

 

[HKJ]

What I should have said is that NiMH run at lower voltages than primaries and most measuring devices are designed to operate at a specific voltage. I would never run a photographic light meter for example on rechargeables because of inaccurate readings. As you point out, the self-discharge rate is a very important factor for an item that may not get used often, so for simplicity and reliability sake I wouldn't use rechargeables for a meter.

Usual the specification for a alkaline battery specifies that is can be used down to 0.9 volt, before it is empty. A NiMH will be at 1.2 volt for most of its discharge. I.e. for most uses the NiMH has equal or higher voltage than alkaline for half the runtime, with high current devices it might be much more than that.

For equipment with very low current consumption (like multimeters) I would either use primary batteries or low discharge NiMH. But then I do not use meters without "low battery" warning (That is to dangerous)!

As long as equipment has a "low battery" warning, I will use either type of battery, depending on what kind of usage I expect and I might also look at the leak risk (Much higher for alkaline than NiMH, but for a cheap device it does not really matter).

 

[Tomcat!]

Usual the specification for a alkaline battery specifies that is can be used down to 0.9 volt, before it is empty. A NiMH will be at 1.2 volt for most of its discharge. I.e. for most uses the NiMH has equal or higher voltage than alkaline for half the runtime, with high current devices it might be much more than that.

For equipment with very low current consumption (like multimeters) I would either use primary batteries or low discharge NiMH. But then I do not use meters without "low battery" warning (That is to dangerous)!

As long as equipment has a "low battery" warning, I will use either type of battery, depending on what kind of usage I expect and I might also look at the leak risk (Much higher for alkaline than NiMH, but for a cheap device it does not really matter).

I would still recommend primaries for simplicity in this case. The meters the OP was looking at, and indeed all the meters I've owned or used are all 9v powered. As far as I know there aren't any NiMH LSDs available, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. For all non-metering applications I use LSDs and got rid of my high output NiMH. LSDs are wonderful around the home.

 

[HKJ]

I would still recommend primaries for simplicity in this case. The meters the OP was looking at, and indeed all the meters I've owned or used are all 9v powered. As far as I know there aren't any NiMH LSDs available, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. For all non-metering applications I use LSDs and got rid of my high output NiMH. LSDs are wonderful around the home.

For 9 volt I would also use alkaline.
But as I wrote above, I do not really care what the application is, I evaluate it more from how often I replace batteries.

 

[crofty]

This is the stuff thanks guys, I`ve learn`t a lot.

More money buys more accuracy, usually. The question is, do you need that accuracy?

That is the question now, imagine we know a battery is 3.7v. As long as the meter reads it as 3.7v and not 3.8 or 3.6 for example that`s the accuracy I`m looking for.

I`m thinking of giving this one a go but it doesn`t list accuracy. Is there a test that can be done with the meter to check it`s reading correctly?
Somethig like what you can do with scales, weigh a ten pence coin which you know weighs 6.50 grams.

Yeah AA LSD`s would be perfect because I have a few sopare but all the meters seem to use 9v, shame there are no PP3 LSD`s aswell. Saw a PDF somewhere yesterday showing NiMH LSD`s holding higher voltage than alkaline for all but the first bit of charge.

Thanks

 

[Cheesy]

If you click 'view full technical specification' you can see the accuracy is 0.5%. I remain unconvinced that you can actually believe the quoted specifications of a cheap meter but if you only want ±100mV at ~4V that is 2-3%.

I think you need to stop over analysing the issue and buy one.


Kev.

 

[crofty]

if you only want ±100mV at ~4V that is 2-3%.

What does that mean, it will only measure up to 4V? I need it to measure up to at least 4.2V

I think you need to stop over analysing the issue and buy one.

I`ve never owned and don`t know how to use a multimeter, simply trying to get something that will do the job to a reasonable standard without paying silly money.
Blindly buying something that I`m not sure will even do the job is stupid, IMO I`m not over analyzing anything but thanks for your opinion.

 

[Cheesy]

Yours for free.

As you can see, I've cleaned it up in the third and fifth pictures. The protective film is still in place (the bubbled effect).

The only defect is a broken black probe end, it can be epoxied or Rapid have replacements for ~£1.50.

PM me your address if you want it.

If you want, I'll take it to work and compare readings with a Fluke DMM with a valid calibration certificate.

EDIT: Incidentally, it's this one here and don't bother with Rapid for the leads as they'll want another £6 for delivery.


Kev.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

I have an MASTECH MS8209 it does everything

Display: 3999 counts
- Auto/Manual Range
- Relative, Data Hold, Backlight
- Auto Power Off
- DC Voltage: 0.4/4/40/400/600V ± 0.7%
- AC Voltage: 4/40/400/600V ± 0.8%
- Resistance: 400/4k/40k/400k/4M Ohm ± 1.2% 40M Ohm ± 2.0%
- Capacitance: 4n/40n/400n/4micro/200microF ± 3.0%
- Frequency: 10/100/1k/10k/100kHz ± 2.0%
- Duty Cycle: 0.1% - 99.9% ± 3.0%
- Temperature: -20°C - 400°C ± 3.0% (0.1°C)
.................... -20°C - 1000°C ± 3.0% (1°C)
- Humidity: 30% - 95%RH ± 5.0%RH
- Light: 4000Lux/40000Lux ± 5.0%
- Sound Level: 35 - 100dB ± 4dB
- Continuity Test
- Diode Test
- In Accordance with IEC1010 Standard


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007Z0TAY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

A review is below!

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Mobile-Devices/Mastech-5-in-1-Multimeter-Review/