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    #41
    Re: Cheap meters.

    bit pointless,
    most people choose a battery by the word "Alkaline" followed by the price.

    Comment


      #42
      Re: Cheap meters.

      Actually it's kind of weird for PP3 batteries, the mAh of PP3 per cost is a bit higher for alkaline for some reason... If Wikipedia is correct (and that multimeters are indeed low drain devices):

      Potassium hydroxide electrolyte = 550mAh
      Ammonium chloride electrolyte = 400mAh

      Now finding alkaline for less than $2 a pop is tough, and these NH4Cl for $0.50 a piece?

      This is probably moot anyway as PP3 is probably going to be as hard to find as A23 some day...

      Comment


        #43
        Re: Cheap meters.

        the chinese will make adapters that look like a pp3 with space for 3 lithium coincells in it!

        Comment


          #44
          Re: Cheap meters.

          Actually three lithium coin cells will cost more than manganese and zinc, wouldn't it?
          A CR2032, probably cheapest because of mass production, only holds 240mAh or so, but assembling it into a PP3 case will require some effort.

          However you might be on to something, if I can get six CR2032s into a PP3 case for less than $1, that might be a good long term solution for finding PP3s. I have a few PP3 shells ready

          Comment


            #45
            Re: Cheap meters.

            This is a little more than most in this thread but it looks like fluke has models for chinese market not sold other places that are under $100.

            Here are some vids on the 12+e model
            www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDm5BfRrAsg

            www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJm9iCha-jM

            www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUmbsBYVTQ0

            There is a few vids online of the different models and yall know more than I do but figured i'd post in case no one else knew.

            Testing the 17b version.
            www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiiii0gdcbM

            Comment


              #46
              Re: Cheap meters.

              I bought a couple Uni-T UT890D meters from Gearbest.com, about $20 each, work great, and I got an HY-19 (whatever that is) for $15.00 from gearbest on sale. It's actually a decent meter, fully fused with HRC fuses. Glad I got it on sale cause they aren't that cheap now.
              file:///G:/ELECTRONICS/HY-19%20Digit...Amazon.com.htm

              Comment


                #47
                Re: Cheap meters.

                There used to be a chain electronics store here in Australia called Dick Smiths, after the guy who created the electronic stores

                I have a cheap Dick Smith, not sure its probably a rebranded model of a known brand, but checking it on 1.5v batteries it seems spot on. I just wished it had ESR and Capacitance measuring capabilities

                Comment


                  #48
                  Re: Cheap meters.

                  Horror Fright "updated" the cheap multimeter you can sometimes get for free with a coupon.

                  Here are some of the things they changed.

                  The probes are now 24 inches long instead of 32 inches long probes the older units had but they're also using 18 gauge CCA wire (Copper Coated Aluminum?)(It's what the box says at least) unlike the older units with their wire size being somewhere around 24 gauge or thinner.

                  They lowered the max voltage and current specs, the new max AC and DC voltages are now 250v, unlike the old units where the max AC voltage was 750v and the max DC voltage was 1Kv. The max number of amps this thing says it can do is now 5A, unlike the old units which were all rated for 10A max. (My only guess as to why they did this is liability reasons)

                  They changed the design a tiny bit, they also removed the Cen-Tech name so now it's just a '7 function digital multimeter'. The manual is also way smaller. (They also put Diisononyl Phthalate into the plastic to make it more flexible, the only reason i know this is because of the Prop 65 warning on the back of the box (thanks, California lol))

                  And those are the most notable changes to this thing, i also posted some photos of a side by side comparison of the older (left) and newer (right) units.
                  Attached Files
                  I'm not a expert, I'm just doing my best.

                  Comment


                    #49
                    Re: Cheap meters.

                    does the new manual say "centec" on it??
                    it may have been moded to order by the seller.

                    btw, i just ordered a similar one to hack up for a project idea:
                    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/DT83...798720621.html

                    be interesting to compare against these.

                    Comment


                      #50
                      Re: Cheap meters.

                      Originally posted by stj View Post
                      does the new manual say "centec" on it??
                      it may have been moded to order by the seller.
                      The manual does not have the Cen-Tech name anywhere in it.
                      I'm not a expert, I'm just doing my best.

                      Comment


                        #51
                        Re: Cheap meters.

                        Nice... gosh hazard fraught tools should just remove the transistor tester if they want to cheap out further. I don't see a person going to HFT to buy a meter to test transistors...

                        Comment


                          #52
                          Re: Cheap meters.

                          ... also a good excuse to get another one when one screws up and blows that soldered on board 0.5A fuse...

                          On another note, I just had one of hazard fraught tools' "better" multimeters die on me. Once again the annoying dual sided board with tracks running underneath components and the contact-on-board selector switch... ugh! Symptom is that there's no power going to the COB I think, need to see what happens if I force power to it and see if it at least still lives...

                          Comment


                            #53
                            Re: Cheap meters.

                            well the one i ordered is losing all that, i'm hard wiring it for 200vdc to make a new zener tester.

                            Comment


                              #54
                              Re: Cheap meters.

                              ^^ That is actually a good use for those.
                              Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                              Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                              A working TV? How boring!

                              Comment


                                #55
                                Re: Cheap meters.

                                I just need to find something to buy at hazard fraught tools so I can get my free PP3 battery and COB 7106...



                                else a flashlight with 3x AAA...



                                Abuse of coupons?

                                Comment


                                  #56
                                  Re: Cheap meters.

                                  Originally posted by stj View Post
                                  well the one i ordered is losing all that, i'm hard wiring it for 200vdc to make a new zener tester.
                                  I use a disposable camera strobe DC-DC and two-transistor current source, for checking zeners/TVS in my pile.
                                  The 328 Tester can measure up to 50V if you add a converter but I've never tried it out or found a 50V boost converter for it.

                                  Comment


                                    #57
                                    Re: Cheap meters.

                                    at the moment i use a 100% built circuit i posted the schems for here,
                                    but i'm wondering if i can use the invertor for those ccfl pc lights instead because it's more compact.

                                    Comment


                                      #58
                                      Re: Cheap meters.

                                      Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
                                      I just need to find something to buy at hazard fraught tools so I can get my free PP3 battery and COB 7106...

                                      else a flashlight with 3x AAA...

                                      Abuse of coupons?
                                      ^ This, lol

                                      I do the same too. Though, I have to say, their free 6-piece screwdriver set is probably the most worthwhile free thing I got from them that has also lasted a good time. The thing is, you only need so many screw drivers. Multimeters, on the other hand - one can never have enough of those. I use my two HF meters quite often for quick low voltage, low current, and sometimes also resistance measurements. With my hot-glue-modded stock probes (to prevent them to braking within 5 minutes of opening the package), these meters actually work OK..... that is, provided I rotate the dial a few times prior to use. Otherwise, the poor contacts in the dial cause all kinds of bogus readings. This happens on both meters. And yes, I've tried cleaning the contacts before. It works, but only for a few weeks at best.

                                      Originally posted by ruky con View Post
                                      Horror Fright "updated" the cheap multimeter you can sometimes get for free with a coupon.

                                      Here are some of the things they changed.

                                      The probes are now 24 inches long instead of 32 inches long probes the older units had but they're also using 18 gauge CCA wire (Copper Coated Aluminum?)(It's what the box says at least) unlike the older units with their wire size being somewhere around 24 gauge or thinner.

                                      They lowered the max voltage and current specs, the new max AC and DC voltages are now 250v, unlike the old units where the max AC voltage was 750v and the max DC voltage was 1Kv. The max number of amps this thing says it can do is now 5A, unlike the old units which were all rated for 10A max. (My only guess as to why they did this is liability reasons)

                                      They changed the design a tiny bit, they also removed the Cen-Tech name so now it's just a '7 function digital multimeter'. The manual is also way smaller. (They also put Diisononyl Phthalate into the plastic to make it more flexible, the only reason i know this is because of the Prop 65 warning on the back of the box (thanks, California lol))

                                      And those are the most notable changes to this thing, i also posted some photos of a side by side comparison of the older (left) and newer (right) units.
                                      Cool, thanks for sharing that.

                                      I guess HF had too many complaints about these meters not meeting their specs, so they finally changed a few things.

                                      Regarding the probes: good to hear they are using thicker wires now, even if the probes themselves are shorter. I'll take that over the old crappy thin noodles they pass as wires. On those old probes, pass anything more than 3 Amps, and they got warm real quick.

                                      Regarding the plastic improvement: yup, about time. One of my meters is literally held together by *sigh* more hot glue, because all of the internal screw posts were cracked from the factory. And it's not due to assembly error - the plastic of the older meters really is much more fragile.
                                      Last edited by momaka; 04-05-2018, 11:44 PM.

                                      Comment


                                        #59
                                        Re: Cheap meters.

                                        I found out a few days after making the post that the probe wires on the older meters are also 24" long even though the box said 32" probes.

                                        Also, the plugs on the new meter (the ones used for the connecting the probes to the meter) are much looser on the new meter versus the old meter.
                                        I'm not a expert, I'm just doing my best.

                                        Comment


                                          #60
                                          Re: Cheap meters.

                                          The free meters have six different models : 63604, 63758, 63759, 69096, 90899, and 98025. As far as I found, the 63xxx models are the ones with 250V limit and 5A.

                                          The 69096 has 29" leads, 90899 has 32" leads, but the 98025 has 24".

                                          I don't know the differences between the 63xxx meters.

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