Get a Fluke DMM

[anatech]

Hi astouffer,
They don't do well. A CAT rating is what prevents most brands from having that range these days. You can get a high voltage probe, and this would be safer at any rate. That's for the meter and you.

-Chris

[Conrad Hoffman]

We used to use the old Beckmans at work, where our power supplies were in the 1200V region. It wasn't that we were probing the HV supplies all the time, but HV sometimes appears in unexpected places. The supplies were fairly low current, so a big HV probe was sort of overkill. The survivability of the meters was much better than any others. They were reasonably accurate, but the selector switches wore out in commercial use. What really annoys me are meters with HV protection devices across the voltage input that short out the thing you're measuring, if you over voltage it. For handhelds, I want a Fluke if at all possible. Also, don't forget the bench meters. Fluke, Keithley, and HP have all made nice ones. The Keithley 175 or similar, the Fluke 8010 or 8050, and the little HP I mentioned above, are all decent for assembly and test on the bench, and can be had cheaply. BTW, I'm curious, how many people really believe they need true RMS? Examples?

[Juergen Knoop]

I don't have a true rms meter.
But if I had one, I would fit preamps and filters to it for noise readings!
regards

[radtech]

I've got a Tektronix DMM916. Seems to be a pretty good meter, but then I haven't used it for anything really really critical.

I mainly got it because of the extra functions it has, capacitance, frequency, dBm, AC+DC volts, low voltage ohms, temperature, duty factor, handy little thing.

Pity they stopped making them in 2000. Mine gets used at work just about every day, and goes home in my toolbag at night, been holding up well for quite a few years.

Also, it will read two things at once, such as in this picture it's reading AC volts, and up in the corner is the freq reading of 60 Hz.

http://www.tek.com/Measurement/App_N...mm916-full.gif

[anatech]

Hi Conad,
The over voltage devices where there both for protection of the thick film divider and the operator in a Fluke.

An HV probe isn't overkill. Normal attenuators will heat up at that voltage and throw the reading off. Even HV probes, but at least they will not heat excessively at 1200 volts or so when they are rated for 30 KV. You could cal it with a Datron or some other calibrator and expect accurate readings from that - in that range.

They are cheap as well, so I can't understand why you wouldn't use one. Less expensive than the service to fix a meter.

BTW, I'm curious, how many people really believe they need true RMS? Examples?

HP 34401A. One of the best bench meters for service ever made in my view. The true RMS section is critical when you are measuring a distorted waveform. That means almost any rectifier circuits or switching regulator supplies. Then there is the design work I do.

-Chris

[jleaman]

These are what i use, I got the fluke meter in a pawn shop 3 years ago, my dad had one and i loved it, so i was in the right place at the right time, paid 30$ for it, all it needed was a cleaning as the lcd was only half lit up. The other meter my dad gave me as a gift, i went out and bought a nice radio shack meter for $50 and he took it from me and threw it right in the garbage and handed me a real meter

[BWRX]

Originally posted by jleaman
i went out and bought a nice radio shack meter for $50 and he took it from me and threw it right in the garbage and handed me a real meter

Why would you throw away a perfectly good multimeter? You can never have too many multimeters around, even if they are cheap.

[mpmarino]

Originally posted by BWRX


Why would you throw away a perfectly good multimeter? You can never have too many multimeters around, even if they are cheap.

Yeah! - or get it out of the trash and return it!

[Salas]

Originally posted by jleaman
These are what i use, I got the fluke meter in a pawn shop 3 years ago, my dad had one and i loved it, so i was in the right place at the right time, paid 30$ for it, all it needed was a cleaning as the lcd was only half lit up. The other meter my dad gave me as a gift, i went out and bought a nice radio shack meter for $50 and he took it from me and threw it right in the garbage and handed me a real meter

I have a good DMM but its LCD lost much light. How do you restore it by cleaning up?

[anatech]

Hi Salas,

I have a good DMM but its LCD lost much light. How do you restore it by cleaning up?

Take the LCD out and the conductive elastomers. Clean teh PCB contacts, the LCD contacts and both sides (lightly) with 99% alcohol. Reassemble without touching those surfaces.

This is assuming a Fluke meter or a similar meter. This is also assuming you are talking about display contrast.

Why would you throw away a perfectly good multimeter? You can never have too many multimeters around, even if they are cheap.

True, but I think Dad was making an emphatic point. Once the point has been made the value of the cheaper meters is understood. Then you can use the cheaper ones in their proper context.

-Chris