Fluke Meter Selection Help

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailah

This will do everything you ever really need to do on a boat and since it's a Fluke you know it's a quality tool. Under $100 shipped. This specific unit doesn't come with leads so I'd look for one that did. But they are all over ebay. An 87 or similar is way overkill for a boat.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fluke-77IV-...temCondition=4

Most everything mentioned is overkilll for a boat (for someone with electronics/electrical training) except the $10-$25 meter that can be bought at most any hardware store

[mvmojo]

Not a Fluke, but the best meter I've ever owned is an Extech 380941 200amp AC/DC mini Clamp meter. See: 380941: 200A AC/DC Mini Clamp Meter | Extech Instruments This is a professional grade meter. Not cheap, but it's almost perfect for a boat for a number of reasons. First, it's small enough to get into cramped spaces (aren't all spaces on a boat cramped?), like tight electrical panels, etc. It's easy and intuitive to use and very accurate. In addition to voltage, continuity, resistance, amperage, etc., it will measure AC line frequency so you can check your genset for 50/60 cycle. It's a true RMS volt meter which is useful for measuring ac voltages under load and it's a clamp on for both AC and DC measurements. I said above that it's "almost perfect"... the ONLY downside I found is that because the clamp jaw is only .9" (23mm) in diameter, it won't clamp around a 50a shore power cord to measure leakage current. For that, I use a cheap AC clamp meter to test for leakage current in a marina. But, the Extech is the go to on-board meter for everything else. Fluke has a great reputation but to my knowledge they don't make a mini-clamp meter as small as the Extech.

[chasmains]

Don’t forget those inexpensive ones sold by Craftsman. Had both a clamp and a DMM. They are years old and never failed me. We bought a bunch of the DMMs for our engineers of our company. We even send them out for calibration certs. We do nuclear power plant instrumentation. Sometimes contamination prevents them coming back out of the controlled areas. So into contaminated waste with no real waste of the prices of Flukes.
Craftsman is a real company with a fabulous rep so they sell good meters too.

[sailah]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Most everything mentioned is overkilll for a boat (for someone with electronics/electrical training) except the $10-$25 meter that can be bought at most any hardware store

Your circus, your monkey. I only use Fluke now because before I knew better I bought cheap multimeters. They were all made in china and fell apart in short order. I'm very particular about my tools, and my boat, and when I want something to work and give me good results, I don't rely on cheap tools ever.

The Flukes just last forever. They are sealed better and stand up to being dropped and mishandled.

I'm not saying that a $25 multimeter won't work, of course it will. I'd, personally, would rather buy 1 quality tool once than buy cheap tools 3x and still end up with a cheap tool.

[mvmojo]

Originally Posted by sailah

I'd, personally, would rather buy 1 quality tool once than buy cheap tools 3x and still end up with a cheap tool.

I'm pretty much in this camp - I've wasted a lot of money on cheap tools before I realized it was less expensive to buy quality the first time. As is often said, "Nothing's free including lessons!"

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailah

I also have a fluke clamp meter but i find it's not especially handy. All my flukes will read A but up to 10A only. That's typically all i want. The high amp clamp units aren't accurate at low amps and that's where i personally want it.

I don’t have a clamp meter on board and don’t really see the need as I have very accurate digital amp meters on the panel. It would be interesting to see the peak current draw sometimes, but not really particularly useful.
My Fluke came home with me from work, but I rarely use it, and while it’s nice to have one, I couldn’t justify the expense for my current needs. Completely different when your required to have an NIST calibrated instrument for work, then you need a high quality instrument.

[sailah]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I don’t have a clamp meter on board and don’t really see the need as I have very accurate digital amp meters on the panel. It would be interesting to see the peak current draw sometimes, but not really particularly useful.
My Fluke came home with me from work, but I rarely use it, and while it’s nice to have one, I couldn’t justify the expense for my current needs. Completely different when your required to have an NIST calibrated instrument for work, then you need a high quality instrument.

Same deal here, I have a shunt ammeter onboard for larger loads. My Fluke will do up to 10A through the leads which I find far more useful. My 189 will resolve down to uA which I have used on occasion to find really small currents.

None of my Flukes are NIST calibrated but I compare against other lab equipment I have in my shop (Keysight that goes down to picoamps) and they are pretty darn close. I'm not looking for absolute accuracy from a boat multimeter but what I am looking for is repeatibility and durability. And that's why I chose a less expensive but still very nice Fluke for boat. At $60, we're splitting hairs.

For awhile I had a cheap Amazon DMM onboard but the leads were very dodgy and I was always trying to get them to seat in the meter. I dropped it 2' and the screen broke. The junky battery leaked electrolyte and corroded the terminals. Lesson learned.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailah

Your circus, your monkey. I only use Fluke now because before I knew better I bought cheap multimeters. They were all made in china and fell apart in short order. I'm very particular about my tools, and my boat, and when I want something to work and give me good results, I don't rely on cheap tools ever.

The Flukes just last forever. They are sealed better and stand up to being dropped and mishandled.

I'm not saying that a $25 multimeter won't work, of course it will. I'd, personally, would rather buy 1 quality tool once than buy cheap tools 3x and still end up with a cheap tool.

I wouldn't say those $10-$25 meters are cheap. They are just less expensive and don't have a cal sticker but work quite well.

Mine has lasted maybe 5-6 years and does the job usually troubleshooting solar (and/or battery) problems if redoing the connections doesn't work.

I do have 6-8 calibrated meters (several are Fluke 87's) at work though I could borrow if need be, but I haven't needed them as of yet

[Apollo366]

Best deal
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-101-B....c101195.m1851

and it's Auto Ranging too!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailah

Your circus, your monkey. I only use Fluke now because before I knew better I bought cheap multimeters. They were all made in china and fell apart in short order. I'm very particular about my tools, and my boat, and when I want something to work and give me good results, I don't rely on cheap tools ever.

The Flukes just last forever. They are sealed better and stand up to being dropped and mishandled.

I'm not saying that a $25 multimeter won't work, of course it will. I'd, personally, would rather buy 1 quality tool once than buy cheap tools 3x and still end up with a cheap tool.

I'm in the field (electronics/electrical/computers) and do troubleshooting (manager now) for a living and have used whatever is available.

We normally have Fluke Meters (plus a few HP's) and Tektronix O'scopes at work, but I've used many times whatever is available. We have many systems to maintain at work.

For just a boat and it's few systems most any meter will work fine. You won't be having that many failures where you will even get a chance to use it.

It's all up to the individual though and what he wants to spend on tools he rarely uses.

I know tool guys and how they are .........even my brother had to have Snap-On back in the day and spent a ton for one other their large red tool boxes full of those nice shiny tools

[CommodoreDoug]

An accurate digital meter is a must but I also recommend keeping an inexpensive analog meter as well.

They're perfect for detecting the causes of power surges, flickering lights, etc. That analog needle will jump in unison with the surge when the lead hits the source and problem solved. Or pinpointed anyway.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CommodoreDoug

An accurate digital meter is a must but I also recommend keeping an inexpensive analog meter as well.

They're perfect for detecting the causes of power surges, flickering lights, etc. That analog needle will jump in unison with the surge when the lead hits the source and problem solved. Or pinpointed anyway.

And they are good for checking Caps (capacitors)

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I don’t have a clamp meter on board and don’t really see the need as I have very accurate digital amp meters on the panel. It would be interesting to see the peak current draw sometimes, but not really particularly useful.

The MASTECH clamp-on meter I linked to earlier has a MAX/MIN hold function, so it's possible to measure high current intermittent things like engine starter or windlass current.

Another use of a clamp-on meter is to look for AC current flow on a shore-power cable. If you clamp around a shore-power cable, and you can see a net current flow of an amp or more, the boat it's connected to has a serious AC fault that likely created an electric-shock drowning hazard. (ESD)

[lvictorlucas]

The main reasons for paying for a Fluke are:
1) If you use it every day it is one of the more reliable
2) Accuracy
3) Short circuit protection with sand fuses, not air insulated
4) Good quality probes
5) Long battery life
#3 is especially important for inexperienced users as several people have died using meters with air insulated fuses, look on line for videos of exploding meters
If you decide to get a cheap meter make sure it has a peak hold mode
If you decide to get a cheap meter make sure you can lock the range
True RMS is not very important for most inexperienced users
Virtually all meters will have auto shutoff
The speed of the continuity detector is VERY important, more than most inexperience users would think
A Fluke designed for China and not sold in north america is very good and can be found on eBay and amazon, just make sure it is a real Fluke
A transistor tester mode is useless for most inexperienced users but useful for testing diodes and LEDs

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by lvictorlucas

The main reasons for paying for a Fluke are:
1) If you use it every day it is one of the more reliable
2) Accuracy
3) Short circuit protection with sand fuses, not air insulated
4) Good quality probes
5) Long battery life
#3 is especially important for inexperienced users as several people have died using meters with air insulated fuses, look on line for videos of exploding meters
If you decide to get a cheap meter make sure it has a peak hold mode
If you decide to get a cheap meter make sure you can lock the range
True RMS is not very important for most inexperienced users
Virtually all meters will have auto shutoff
The speed of the continuity detector is VERY important, more than most inexperience users would think
A Fluke designed for China and not sold in north america is very good and can be found on eBay and amazon, just make sure it is a real Fluke
A transistor tester mode is useless for most inexperienced users but useful for testing diodes and LEDs

You won't use it every day on a boat.

All meters have a long battery life these days.

The probes are just fine on the $10-$25 meters.

The less expensive meters accuracy is good enough for troubleshooting problems that can occur on a boat.

But I know some folks feel that if they have the best equipment it will take the place of their lack of knowledge..............

Also you can test transistors with your low priced meter but those days are basically over