I don’t need a Fluke, but don’t want absolute garbage. I misplaced my trusty Craftsman DMM and the AmazonBasics one I bought to replace it was dead barely a year after I bought it. What’s a good, inexpensive DMM? I’ll be using it for basic diagnostics - voltage, resistance and continuity. Duty cycle is a nice to have. I can order off Amazon or hit up Harbor Fright.
Inexpensive, fairly good DMMs?
- Thread starter nthach
- Start date
I think I have one of these for a few years, works great:
I've been eyeballing a few Klein models in the $50-100 range. My HF freebee unit has been doing so well for 10+ years now, but the most I have ever needed to do is voltage drops or battery testing. Once I move onto my Matrix project i'm anticipating electrical issues so may pull the trigger in a few months. I may also dip my tow in heavy diesel equipment so might need a more complicated unit. idk.
This one in particular has accessories I like, such as the outlet testers, clamp design, carrying case, but I would add on some alligator leads.
This one in particular has accessories I like, such as the outlet testers, clamp design, carrying case, but I would add on some alligator leads.
On the lower end, this has received good reviews from several independent reviewers:
Hmm, it looks a bit weird for automotive use, but I like the idea of the ammeter clamp to diagnose charging issues. This is tempting…
That Klein clamp meter posted above can only do AC current. For automotive stuff, you would want DC current as well. This Uni-T UT210E does both:
I have this one as well as the other Uni-T I posted earlier. They both work well.
Last edited:
I purchased an Ideal brand meter at Lowes, as my older Fluke meters do not read capacitance. The meter has turned out to be superb for the price. About $69 at Lowes in NY. I can't say if it will last 25 years like my Fluke meters have, but it is every bit as accurate as my calibrated meters, looks to be well made, and has a nicer display.
I had a meter from HF a few years back. It failed right away. Never again.
Available on Amazon for a bit less.
I had a meter from HF a few years back. It failed right away. Never again.
Available on Amazon for a bit less.
Last edited:
I picked up the same Ideal meter, last December at Lowes on clearance for $27, when they were switching ovet to Klein brand. I've been happy with it.
The one flaw I found is that the Non-Contact Voltage tester doesn't work well, but that's okay, because I would never trust my life to it anyway. They actually say in one their videos that it doesn't work like you would expect, then stick a single probe into an outlet to check for voltage. Not only is that not what one would expect, it is also not how the manual say to use it.
Ideal or Klein are ok. Nothing wrong with my Klein MM600 for general use.
Klein MM720 is a good general use meter with the correct CAT ratings and with duty cycle and temp useful for automotive use.
When I want an analog meter (it's more responsive to changing values than a digital instrument), I haul out this tank: https://simpson260.com/260-7/simpson_260-7.htm (site is slow to load, so I attached a picture)
I have a couple of Ideal meters. One has the amp clamp. They both seem to work pretty good. I also have an Innova automotive meter which also works pretty good.
Those meters were quite useful in their day. I had 2 of them from the 1980's kicking around for many years. But they got to the point where the difficulty in keeping them running with some accuracy was excessive. The calibration shop would kick them back for repairs.
Like many of us that started out using analog stuff, I still really like them!
Amazingly, they are still available new, for about $800.
I have a Tacklife CM01A (not even sure if made anymore, good value)
A UEI DM 383 (which is sort of a cheap Fluke knock off, and has been bullet proof for 20+ years)
And oddly a Crenova (nice and compact, yet still inexpensive and good features) like the one in D60's post.
A UEI DM 383 (which is sort of a cheap Fluke knock off, and has been bullet proof for 20+ years)
And oddly a Crenova (nice and compact, yet still inexpensive and good features) like the one in D60's post.
The best cheap meter I have used is the Uni-T UT139C which is about $60 at Amazon. It is not totally unsafe like many cheap meters also. I am an engineer and we have about 30 different DMMs at my office. We buy these as our "disposables" that don't get calibrated and can get abused. Keysight, Keithley, and Fluke are all we use for anything critical.
Last edited:
Clearly you know very little about what you are talking about. As a qualified tradsman I use Fluke and Klein meters. Klein meters are not junk.
Similar threads
