Defective Multimeter?

[briand]

Re: Defective Multimeter?

...agree with the others here, regarding cheap meters. I have an $11 meter I picked up from Wally World that I throw in the truck.

At home on the bench, I have a Fluke 8100B -- gotta love those nixies!

[kaboom]

Re: Defective Multimeter?

A few years ago, someone PAID FOR one of those arc blast initiators and asked me to fix it.

After plugging GOOD test leads into it, I found that the range switch was too flimsy to maintain contact pressure and for some ranges, some parts were bad. So I decided to play spot the violations.

Here's what I found:

10A range unfused

Leads on both front and back of PCB were WAY to long, nonexistent clearances

'Clips' for .25A fuse were the same cheese, I mean metal, that chinese copies of chinese copies of things are made from- no way they'd even hold

That stupid '3 hole' board for the jacks- it's about 3/8" wide and 1.25" tall and holds the three jacks. The current shunts are on the 'main' board and this little board is connected by NOTHING but three little solder drops. They'll melt while carrying current, either while measuring OR during an 'accident.' You will then have a nice series arc inside the meter case.

Metal battery case practically in contact with 10A shunt

I did the guy a favor and destroyed it.

I just LOVE how these 'meters' are 'IEC1010' rated, 5x20mm low-interrupting fuse and all. If that thing were put across voltage while set for resistance or current, the circuit board would 'protect' the fuse. On the 10A range, you'd blow the meter and leads apart.

Look at that label! It says you can float the meter common 500V above ground! I'll just set it on a panel can and put the black lead on an ungrounded phase of a 480V corner grounded delta system- nice knowing you...

Seriously now, just get a Fluke, Amprobe, Wavetek, Greenlee. You'll appreciate it each time you use it. You'll also be less 'accident-prone'

-Paul

[Agent24]

Re: Defective Multimeter?

"Happy" owner of a Mastech M-830B here... The meter is ~6 yrs old, bought from a department store. Didn't get a manual in Finnish, clearly a violation of regulations. Current measurement stopped working 4 yrs ago, fuse's good.

I had the same problem, fuse looked good, but the wire had separated from one of the end caps, back behind the metal where you couldn't see it.