On an earlier post about low voltage between hot and ground, I mentioned that I was seeing variously 83 to 103 volts with my inexpensive meter.
I brought in an electrician who found a 3 volt drop (hot-to-ground compared to hot-to-neutral) and 2000 ohm reading on the problem stretch of grounding wire. He said his old Fluke digital meter (which he said is no longer available) simulates a wiggy so it is not subject to spurious and fluctuating readings such as I was getting.
What meter would you electricians recommend for a handyman like me who may need to test voltage, resistance, continuity and maybe amperage (to see if a branch circuit can have an outlet added). I won’t ever need to measure more than 220V in residential use.
Is there something decent for around $150 or less?
Replies
my personal meters include a Fluke 179 , and a T5 .
I have mixed feelings about the T5, but it will check Amperage... Fluke also makes a T+Pro
together those two may do the trick and will probably cost you about $180 for both of them.
just be careful, troubleshooting is part tools and part instinct.. sometimes just dumb luck.... and knowing the difference
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, wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
Well, if it works it's a Fluke (or is it the other way around?) Anyway, good brand.
I have an old RS clamp-on mechanical volt/ammeter that works well, but probably no longer available.
I'd just get the low-end Fluke clamp-on, or something similar. Buy at the local electrical supply outfit, to get a selection of electrician-friendly models. Or I've seen a good selection at Sears in the past.
is this the one you did ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_voltage
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., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
I might have had a thumb in that.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
I used to have a good memory, or I think I did !.
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., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
Read this.
http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=Fluke-volt-affects.htm&ID=292
You can spend $300 on a Fluke DVM with all the bells and whistles, or just drive through the Harbor Freight or Pep Boys parking lot and they'll throw one of the Chinese units in your car window.
For home use, there probably is little difference between the utility of a $5 unit and a $300 unit. Electricians and gear heads can flame away, but that's how I see it.
You can do fine with a $5DMM if you know what you're doing and don't want amp functions. You have to get somewhere north of $50 (probably closer to $100) to get clamp-on ammeter capability, and to have a meter that won't be too sensitive to phantom voltage.What you really need is, of course, a question we never ask here. It's how much niftiness in tool A can you afford vs spending the money for tool B instead.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
It's how much niftiness in tool A can you afford vs spending the money for tool B instead.
you know darn well that's it all desire and not $$$$$
since when is $$$$ and issue???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
> since when is $$$$ and issue???When your credit card is refused at HD.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
no CC and I try to really hard stay away from HD...
more value and less residual outta pocket expenses...
for that it got me my fluke 87...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
The problem with phantom voltage has nothing to do with the cost.
An until they had the $2 chips that would do the basic DVM function it was more common that the more expensive ones would have problems with phantom voltage.It is more for what purpose the voltmeter was designed.An phantom voltage is not that much of a problem when one realizes (and rembmers) what it is. In fact it can quickly indicate if there is a open wire.Lowes, online, shows a $10 analog meter that won't have phantom voltage problem. But no clamp on amp meter and those types are easy to burn out if you have them on the wrong range.They have wiggly style starting at $12.And a Greenly clamp on DVM/Ampmeter for $70. But it does not have an DC voltage scales.Note this website has lots of equipment and good place to compare units, but I think that you can often find items cheaper.Fluke makes a very interesting amp/DVM/continuity meter. The wire goes into a notch for current reading and it is in a nice small package.http://www.professionalequipment.com/fluke-t5-600-voltage-continuity-current-tester-t5-600/voltage-testers/
http://www.professionalequipment.com/fluke-1000v-voltage-continuity-current-tester-w-holster-kit/voltage-testers/
http://www.professionalequipment.com/fluke-1000v-voltage-continuity-current-tester-t5-1000/voltage-testers/IIRC I looked up the full specs at Fluke and it would be prone to phantom voltage. But it also has DC scales.These appear to be electronic wiggle style units. That is they have an LED or Neon bar graph. And my guess is that the impedance is low enoug that they would not show phantom voltage, but need to read the manual for sure.But they do have continuity testing, which the soliond testers don't have.http://www.professionalequipment.com/extech-multifunction-voltage-tester-vt10/voltage-testers/
http://www.professionalequipment.com/amprobe-voltage-continuity-tester-vpc-10/voltage-testers/How this is an intering one. A non-contact voltage and current tester.http://www.professionalequipment.com/kwik-i-e-non-contact-ac-volt-amp-probe-k-1/voltage-testers/Without playing with it it seems like it would be the worse of both worlds.This has a non-contact for voltage and lead for continuity. It might be a good basic tester, but would need to read the manual. If you could use it as a non-contact voltage present tester, and the probes for absolutle voltage (within the bar graph) then it would be a good universal tester.http://www.professionalequipment.com/voltage-continuity-tester-sperry-vc61000/voltage-testers/Here is a good basic clampon amp/voltmeter for $50.http://www.professionalequipment.com/mini-clamp-meter-calibrated-to-nist-standards-220/clamp-meters/.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
all of those links are taking me to a search window for some reason !.
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Apparently they use somekind of dynamically generated pages.Go Here.http://www.professionalequipment.com/electrical/Most of what I posted was in the Voltage Tester section.But also one from the Clamp(on) meters.If you look at the extension of the URL you will see that it has the model and/or description of the item in the url.For example the one was;"fluke-t5-600-voltage-continuity-current-tester-t5-600/voltage-testers/"
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
yeah I just posted to whine about it........I got enough testers, meters and flashlights to open a store
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Edited 12/5/2007 3:30 pm by maddog3
nothing wrong with cheap little meters.if you know their limitations sometimes a simple analog works even better. but the OP is looking for an ammeter.
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., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
maybe he would want something like this?http://www.tequipment.net/AmprobeACD-14FX.htmlabout half what he was looking to spend, in a tidy little package.
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., wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
HF regularly runs a cheapie for $3 or $4. All I'm interested in is, "Is there voltage (Y/N)" or
"Is the circuit complete (Y/N)" this works fine for me. It would be different if I was an electrician, but I can throw one of these in the toolbox and if falls out or breaks, I don't care.
Either the Fluke T+ or the Ideal Vol-Con Elite; either measures voltage and continuity. Both are electrician's testers, meaning:
-- they have low impedance so (in effect) they put a load on the circuit under test, defeating ghost voltage;
-- they automatically switch on, and automatically go to either voltage or continuity measurement, depending on whether voltage is present or not;
-- the test leads are stout (the Fluke is better in this regard) and can be easily replaced; and,
--they're high quality, which translates into reliability and durability.
The Fluke T-5 is really good for for voltage, continuity/resistance and also measures AC current, but is high impedance and so can be fooled by ghost voltage. the Fluke 321 is a good basic amp-clamp with voltage and continuity and resistance, but it's high impedance so can have problems with ghost voltage. One simple way around this for a tester with high impedance or pretty much any DMM is to put a load in the circuit under test, like a 25 watt lamp in a socket with leads and clips.
The Fluke 117 is an electrician's DMM with a setting for low-impedance voltage measurement. It also has a non-contact tester built in.
Sure you could use a $5 DMM, but assuming you're going to use the tester to check for line voltage (120 VAC), spending the money for a reliable tool is cheap life insurance. Reliability ought to be important to anyone who's counting on a tester or meter to verify that voltage is off.
I was working with an apprentice who had a cheap little DMM and was spending quite a bit of time trying to troubleshoot a three-way switching set up. He finally asked me to help, we used my Ideal Vol-Con Elite (w/shaker) and we doped it out in a couple of minutes.
His meter had a problem, an intermittant open, probably in the permanently attached leads. I told him I'd take care of the meter, took it and and smashed it with a hammer. He was pretty upset, till I gave him my old ideal vol-con and explained that he could waste a lot of time or get himself or someone else killed with an unreliable tester.
I like Fluke and Ideal products because durability is important to me--I use 'em every day and use them hard. There are other good quality testers and DMMs available, at lower cost. I just don't have a lot of experience using them.
Cliff
Edited 12/5/2007 1:09 pm ET by CAP
What meter would you electricians recommend for a handyman like me who may need to test voltage, resistance, continuity and maybe amperage (to see if a branch circuit can have an outlet added). I won't ever need to measure more than 220V in residential use.
Is there something decent for around $150 or less?
Honestly, the only real benefits to higher priced meters are more features and greater precision. For this application, you don't really need high precision. Really, any of the meters will work. As others have noted, high impendance meters will be more likely to show phantom voltage, but in reality, that usually is not a problem.
Believe it or not, the Harbor Freight meters are actually pretty decent. For $20 you can get a clampon ammeter and a basic DVM that will be fine for these uses. I'd suggest using those for a while, then buying a better meter if you find you need features they don't have.
The only beef I have with HF meters is the leads are crappy and short. Of course you can't even buy a set of good leads for what the whole outfit costs, and they even give you a battery. The HF meters are as accurate as you can ask for, just limited in ranges. Often available for $3.99.
Household circuits? Not something electronic?
Ran into a lot of ghosting in the area lighting project I did last spring. Long runs underground. Best was 1067' of #12.
The solution (which I got from Breaktime) was to make up a clamp-on light tester with a 15w ice box light to supply a load.
I clamp that to the conductors then take a reading with the DMM. Have a VoltCon, but this gets a lot of use.
Crude, yet serviceable. However, those meter recommendations... I've printed out a few.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.