What Multimeter

Should I get, just something cheap for basic testing.

Danke

 

I'm no expert but believe you get what you pay for, depending on what you need it for and how accurate you need it to be and how much you have to spend will obviously dictate which unit you go for. I got one of these from maplins a few years ago and does everything i need and more, plus its got a big price drop at the mo so good value.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/precision-gold-pg017-digital-multimeter-gw24b

 

Cheers Lee, yeah just been looking on ebay and some seem too cheap to be true, don't mind spending a bit if it's gonna last me for years. Funny enough when I was looking on ebay I saw the price of flukes, when I had my transport company we had a stock of around 20 for the phone engineers, should have had one of them.

 

If you've got the money get yourself something like a fluke 87, You won't find better quality.

Maplins ones will do everything you need, but don't have the appropriate protection so will blow up if you make a mistake (Speaking from experience), You can also get the same ones online for cheaper.

The higher end Uni-T branded ones (Like what maplin sells) are supposed to be decent.

 

Ta Dave, I'll have a look.

 

My son is an electrician , so I normally get him to do all that kind of thing ( haven't a clue what make his meter is ) ................ but a few months back Lidl were selling them , so I bought one ........ will probably never come out of it's box before the warranty is up

£9 and a 3 year warranty



Baz

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, I got lucky and got a cheap Fluke (>£30) and got a micrometer thrown in as part of the deal, don't know what use a micrometer is to a retard like me but I suppose I'll be able to measure my brake discs and that might make sense to me.

 

I was going to say for most bike stuff as long as it reads 0-20v dc and 0-100v ac it should be OK for most voltage checks on bike electrics. Always good to have reasonable resistance readings to check on electrical / electronic problems. At least a 10amp, preferably 20+amp DC range for checking charging issues can be invaluable for charging issues too.
I've been quite satisfied with my £10-20 Maplin / Wilko meters over the years. I don't buy expensive as have managed to drop / run over a couple and don't want to trash decent kit like that!

 

Rob one from uni need something to show for my £9k per year!!

 

I got a cheapy back in the early 90s. Still going strong.

 

A Fluke will last you forever - They are top notch. I heard a story once about a rep from an electronic firm that sold them. He would walk into a customer's shop and say, "Have you seen the new Fluke?" He would then chuck it against the floor and pass it to the customer. Pretty much bullet proof

 

Either product onfident or quite a 'special' person.

 

My mate tried a similar trick. He was selling fibreglass car aerials. The big selling point was they were very flexible. He would walk into a shop and bend them double and announce "How about THAT then "
One very cold night he left them in the boot of his car and he tried his trick at his first call. The frozen aerial shattered into a thousand pieces and he said, "Best not buy these, they're crap."

 

now you've got a multimeter your need a power probe:thumbsup:

 

This is my current favourite multimeter, the moment, the only problem is you need two too use at the same time.

http://www.test4less.co.uk/details.asp?Productid=2341&gclid=CPDbu8b_ncICFScXwwodWmUAeQ

did a job in Birmingham the other week with them.

 

Never heard of them, just had a read up about what they do and I still don't know, sounds like it's something to do with electricity though.

 

Not quite sure I'm ready for one of these yet.