Multimeters

Buck91

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
1,760
Location
USA
Well looks like I fried the ammeter circuit on my old craftsman digital multimeter. Thought I was measuring voltage when I went to check my truck battery the other day... and I wasn't :(

Anyways, it wasn't a super fancy unit but always worked well for me. Any suggestions for a good but economical multimeter to use with car work as well as misc hobby and repair jobs?
 

Nokoff

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
355
Location
Cheers, USA 🇺🇸
I own a high end Fluke and a free one from Harbor Freight. The free one sees use almost daily while the Fluke sits in a drawer; always gave me trouble. If it's just for around the house, get a basic one, if you're an electrician and also need calibration get better.
 

louie

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
1,100
Location
Seattle
You may have just popped a fuse in the meter. I'd open it up and check. But for replacements, it's apparently cheap and easy to manufacture a decent DMM these days for little money. However, it may not last too long, and the common wisdom is that it may falsely state its safety ratings, so don't use a cheapie on high energy circuits (like mains power). That said, a current favorite seems to be the Aneng 8008 and its clones for about $25USD (Amazon) or cheaper on eBay or the direct Chinese sites. Also look at member HKJ's meter posts in the electronics subforum and his reviews on his site:
https://lygte-info.dk/info/DMMReviews.html
Remember he's in Denmark and not every model is available elsewhere.

Myself, I have an older Fluke and a Brymen/EEVBlog BM235 because I like safety ratings and better accuracy. I have toyed with getting an Aneng or the like for disposable fun, tho.
 

drexter

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 30, 2018
Messages
27
Location
Fl
I have my Klein MM2000 for 5 years now, and it is still holding up.
 
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