Author Topic: Need a multi-meter reccomendation (Read 4758 times)

subsonic · « **on:** November 19, 2007, 11:51:40 am »

I need to buy a multimeter for various testing of parts on the car. I went down to home depot and they had ones from 15 bucks up to 140 bucks. What do I need for a good test unit?

Can anyone make any reccomendations?

Jim

jimfoo · « **Reply #1 on:** November 19, 2007, 12:05:01 pm »

What exactly do you plan on testing? If it's just checking for battery voltage and resistance of things that aren't terribly critical, I'd just get a cheap digital one. It should be accurate enough. But if you plan on doing more electronic related testing and want a good meter for a decent price, try http://www.ueitest.com/ as they have very good quality equipment and good customer service. I bought a clamp meter from them for a previous job, and it was more accurate than a more expensive but less featured Fluke.

subsonic · « **Reply #2 on:** November 20, 2007, 09:43:13 am »

I don't know jack about the multimeters, never used one. It just seems that in all my auto manuals the first thing they always say is check the draw, check the resistance, how may amps, etc.... Case in point, The blower fan crapped out in my toyota pickup. Replaced the motor, it worked great for a day and died. Now its either a 70 dollar resistor or the switch. Do I shotgun it or test components?

I would like to get a multimeter that I can use on the cars and for general WTF? why is this not working situations around the house. Light home electrical stuff. I just do not know what features I need.

MikkiJayne · « **Reply #3 on:** November 20, 2007, 12:41:02 pm »

They'll all do AC / DC voltage, and resistance, but a 20V DC range and 20A DC range are useful as they nicely cover automotive use.

A 3.5-digit display will be fine, but 4 is nicer. You will usually find a 1888 display on cheaper meters, and 8888 on better quality meters. This can usually be seen from the ranges on the meter. Something that has ranges of 10, 100, 1000 etc will be a 1888 display whereas something that has ranges of 20, 200, 2000 will likely have an 8888 display. Since automotive is 10-15V obviously the 2xxx ranges are more useful and more accurate.

Also a continuity buzzer, either on the lowest resistance range, or a separate setting is very handy for both automotive and domestic use.

Hth! Mikki x

Quantum TD · « **Reply #4 on:** November 20, 2007, 01:27:07 pm »

I bought 2 cheap-o Cen-Tech multimeters from Harbor Freight tools for $5 (for the pair!). For my purposes (checking DC, Ohms, etc), it's fine. For $2.50 how can you go wrong? I've already used it to test the glow plugs on my GFs car.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2007, 09:46:16 pm »

Where the cheap-o multimeters usually fall down is current... the real cheap ones will do 2 amps, the better ones 20. For diesels something closer to 75 is better... but this is usually a whole class of multimeter better.

So, I supplement my multimeter with a 60A automotive dial-type gauge from Autozone or Napa with a couple of thick leads and heavy duty alligator clips. Great for testing glow plugs, blower fans, headlights, heated seats....

Not very accurate, but you quickly get a feel for what your new glow plugs read, and cheap cheap cheap.

blkboostedtruck · « **Reply #6 on:** November 20, 2007, 09:52:48 pm »

radio shack! I have one of thiers and it does more than i need and it was cheap 25bucks!
thanks Duane

BlackTieTD · « **Reply #7 on:** November 21, 2007, 11:51:20 am »

buy the one on sale at canadian tire. its the one that is often sold in various forms for around $40, but if you catch it on sale there its often $10 or 15. i've never needed anything more than that. has all the functionality of other multimeters i've used at schools or other facilities. cheers.