El Cheapo Multimeter Review - CAT ratings, safety, Standards Compliance / Certification
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- čas přidán 14. 04. 2012
- A review on some cheap entry level multimeters and some important safety information on CAT ratings and independent standards certification / compliance.
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Multimeters shown in this review:
* DT830B
* EM390
* Toptronic T830
* Brymen TBM251 / BM251
* RSR MS8209
* Fluke 115
* Agilent U1272A
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References to Multimeter CAT ratings:
www.myflukestore.com/crm_uploa...
kb.bkprecision.com/questions.p...
The ABCs of multimeter safety:
www.electroline.com.au/article...
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More about the Standards Compliance / Certification:
What is the CE Mark: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE_mark
What does CE marking mean? What do the initials CE stand for?
www.bis.gov.uk/policies/busine...
UL, CSA, ETL and CE: What are they and is there a difference?
www.nbsc.com/certifications_ul...
UL: Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
CSA: Canadian Standards Association
ETL: Originally a mark of ETL Testing Laboratories, now a mark of Intertek Testing Services
CE: Conformance European (Communauté Européenne or Conformité Européenne)
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Thanks for the feedback and the information...valuable input. Thanks for watching.
For whatever it's worth, every variation of the DT830 cheapies that I've come across *do* have a low battery indication. It comes on around six volts, and in testing I found that most of them still read accurately down to about five volts.
Thanks for posting that information and watching.
My pleasure, thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for the feedback!
Yes indeed! Thanks for watching and your feedback. Cheers, Martin.
Thanks for the feedback. I have not done a proper look inside the cheapos so I will add that to the "to do" list.
Brother, you totally roooock! Wish I would have had you as a prof back in the undergrad days, Always the Best
Yes, I have also seen some of these with certification, I think it depends what market they are trying to sell to....would be interesting to know if anything was changed to comply and get the certification...
The Brymen is a great meter, the Extech equivalent is an EX330 which is easier to find in USA and Europe...it's also on my Amazon store ;-)
Thanks for watching and posting. Cheers, Martin.
Yes, that certainly could be the case. I did a quick search and I see it is prolific. Thanks for watching.
i literally just returned from my local el cheapo shop with the DT830 B here. Your review is helpful and informative thanks. I'm using mine for testing e.cig atomiser resistance and as a voltmeter for batteries. It's proving useful and will be employed loads
My pleasure, thanks for watching.
excellent vid. Good testing the different quality MM. Very helpful.
Thank you for posting these videos
I had a scroll down and didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the comments but CE marking is effectively an INTERNAL safety rating. It's the manufacturer stating that they've designed / manufactured in accordance with EU law. It is as valuable as the trust you put in the manufacturer.
It also states the manufacturer / importer's name has to be next to the CE mark - which it isn't on your second example - that's normally a reasonable display of how well they're following / understand the EU safety rules.
I always used the cheapo ones just because they are disposable. I use them especially on the car bar i did use them on 220v aswell without any problems :)
So it goes poof, so long as you're not holding it what have you lost? There are more dangerous things in life than using a cheap multimeter.
@@rsattahip And going "poof" is guaranteed to affect only the multimeter, right? I'm sure there are more dangerous things, but why would you risk it just to save some bucks? Even treating them as disposables doesn't sound like a good idea. Why buy crap that you know is going to break and need to buy again instead of buying one that's gonna last longer? Did you work out the costs and figured out that it comes out cheaper in the end?
There's this weird idea going around that buying cheap crap makes you smarter and superior than the "uninformed idiots" who buy more expensive stuff and man, do people who think have some levels of arrogance, probably worse than people who choose to buy expensive stuff only out of elitism.
Had to chuckle reading the school story!
I've had a couple of "jolts" here from our mains...and it's not nice!
I bought the cheapest version you have in your video and got it for $2 U.S. new. I use it for batteries and pots on my guitars mostly and since that's all I planned on using it for I wasn't going to put much money into it. I went into the purchase also knowing I would never trust it for high voltage. As you indicated, if your life could be on the line, bargain basement gear isn't what you want to you. Great video too.
I recently acquired a Fluke 87 meter from an high street second-hand store for £49.99. It makes my other multimeter look like a toy.
Thanks very much, appreciated!
Very nicely done. Thanks for comparing cheapo's to higher grade DMM's.
I've just bought a DT-830B for less than £5. For what I want it for (guitar rewiring, mainly measuring guitar pickup resistance) it's just the deal. But if I wanted to use a multimeter on a heavier duty job, I'd go to a higher spec'd and safer one.
Good and informative video, btw.
CE is NOT a test. CE compliance can be stated by the manufacturer on grounds of believing to have fulfilled the requirements of European regulations. Believing is the key word. Any monkey can put CE on stuff.
Not just that, there is STILL chinese companys who put a CE logo on appliances, that does NOT mean any kind of self-declaration, but only stands for China Export. The logo looks slightly different, but the differences are so minute that nobody can honestly claim to securely spot the difference without any comparison... CE is worth NOTHING if the manufacturer is outside of the EU.
Thanks, my pleasure.
very informative. thanks!
I only buy fluke ! But I'm looking to buy a new one . In my field way would I need one that NIST rated
I've had the E391 MM by EMOS (the 2nd one), and I can tell you its completely safe :) one friend of mine went measuring the voltage on the spark plug of a motorcycle(genious), and did not get shocked, however it was low current and the multimeter died though :(
PS the "cheapies" do have the low battery warning ;)
CE mark needs some explanation... It is a SELF DECLARED mark, so you simply declare that your product meets requirements for CE. You should make some actual measurements and keep records showing that it is safe... But if you stamp a CE mark on your product there is quite a big chance that nobody will actually check compilance, nor would validate your lab data, there is also no central database for "CE certificate", you cannot simply google out certificate like you can with for example TUV, or UL mark...Moreover it is valid in EU only, you can cover your product with CE marks and sell it outside of European Union and nobody can stop you...
My first multimeter was a Sanwa 830B. Like you've mentioned, I bought it only to measure voltage to calibrate my regulators to charge. One day I accidentally plugged my positive to the 10A and connected the leads to a fully charged 6V, 5mAH battery. Funny part was that I only saw a spark and nothing fried while the LCD was displaying 18A which is way above it's rated range it was almost 7 years back and she works perfectly fine except for the volt meter which has an error rate of 0.75V.
So the DT-830B I have is very accurate not bad for a five quid meter
I have a DT830, and it's UL (Underwriters Laboratories) listed as well as CE. The probes are also marked as CE. I feel confident in it's safety, especially with the UL listing. I only use it for lower voltage circuits in my electronics hobby, but wouldn't feel shy about using it within it's rated duties.
Excellent choice, I thought the TBM867 would cost way more than the EX530 so that is great...you'll certainly enjoy the investment.
What if I have a cheap multimeter which is not fused anywhere and I add fuses? Would that be completely fine to use anywhere (even CAT IV), for example? It wouldn't explode anymore no? (The fuse would melt first, I guess - I'd be buying a fast fuse, btw.)
Now the more realistic question, would you know if it would be completely fine to be on CAT 600 V as it states, even though it's not certified?
Thank you for the video!
thx for info.Great job.
how to use the first one for car and hom vol thx
very quick. .. 31 minutes. just nuts!
Very informative video on multimeters. Have you produce a video where you take one of the cheapos meters apart and show what is inside including information about the main circuits?
Tom
Hello, I use multimeters for checking 1.5V battery(AA), I switch it to 20, it shows 1.61, what is the value if I switch to 1.5V?
I like your little test board.Where can I buy That?
Just to be clear-if it doesn't have a cat 4 rating, do not stick it in your household outlet? I live in California. Thanks.
Why not buy a gray market Fluke 101 or 106 for a cheap meter?
is EXTECH a good brand of Multimeter?
Also Innova?
The MajorTech MT22 is actually made by Extech in China, with a few modifications to their range for international resellers, like Velleman in Belgium. It costs R540.00 in South Africa. Extech makes some of the best midrange multimeters.
Ok, fascinating to hear where you are from. You will need a 12 000 count meter if you want four decimal places then which is nice to have for that sort of project. I hope to do a video on helping folks selecting meters for projects like that soon. Do let me know if you find a meter that works well for you and how much it costs....I'm always keen to see what other folks manage to find. Cheers, Martin.
a very useful video
I use a DT830B for low voltage and general information , Ive never used it on higher voltages eg 240v , the most i ever put though it is probly 25-30v
I think a CAT II will suit my useage. Are batteries AAA x 3 ok or should 9V be the power source for multimeter.
What multimeter would you recommend for automotive applications? And do you sell one on your Amazon store?
most the time you are reading conduity or voltage a cheap meter will do this easy there is no majic in a high $$$ meter when you are trying to fix a problem you need some idea of how it works in order to fix it..
Wich is the best multi meter for my hobby amiture rodio
I have a grey version of the dt830 and it does have a CE mark on the back, and agree it means more china-export than a safety certificate, the fuse is soldered to main board and theres 1/10th of a millimeter of space aroundsome items that would carry high voltage if you used it on such, so its fine for low voltage such as car but wouldnt plug into mains, also the leads are hair thin inside with terrible insulation
I'm a beginner in hobby electronics and I own a Mastech M-830B which looks pretty much the same as the DT830B, but this one at least has CE and RWTÜV certification. What a relief. :-)
And the leads don't have that plastic feel either. I don't remember how much it cost, but I haven't had problems with it so far. Your Brymen looks nice. I think I now know what I'll ask for my birthday. :-)
Thank-you for this. I have been looking for a cheap digital multimeter to measure resistors - I am colour blind so reading the coloured bands is impossible. I'm new to the electronics hobby, I don't want to spend much on my first device. This review reassured me that the DT830B was suitable for low voltage, low current battery-powered / USB electronics such as my breadboard and Raspberry Pi projects. Given your advice, I'll put a label on the back to remind me it is NOT suitable for mains!
can i use that cheap multimeter for 12v automotive use?? i have an old car, to check alternator and the system in general, even grounds!
+neoholland I use one for automotive all the time. They are great for low voltage and I don"t care if it gets dirty.
i got exactly the same meter as the EM390 but under a different brand.....
thank you sir
What's the brand an model of the 2nd unit you review. Thanks
EMOS EM390/391 :)
My DT830B has the ranges printed on a piece of paper and stuck on the front, lol.
I have a cheapo multimeter, it has cat 2 600V on it (nothing else) Still not a good idea to use it on appliances? Also mine has a Q.C. Passed sticker on it, something a lot of products in Britain will have on.
Lots of cheap multimeters will say Cat 2. I generally don't trust them. I've seen many with poor quality probes that aren't insulated properly and dodgy fuses. Don't take all the quality marks found on British goods as gospel. I've seen many cheap Chinese products with British standards marks and the double insulated mark when they actually weren't.
why didn't you turn the captions on?
Unfortunately I can't say how well a meter with the ETL rating compares to the other.
One does not simply argue about multimeter prices, I've learned this the hard way.
Want to save your bucks? -Buy a multimiter specified for your appliance and never ever use it outside that range.
The super cheap one read 666 when it was turned on... HERES YOUR SIGN
I agree that safety must come first, you are less likely to be injured when using a meter that has four input jacks rather than three, especially when you consider that each input has a separate function. In my opinion there is nothing more dangerous than using a combo input and finding yourself rotating the selector to current range that is not fused and potentially short out the meter and seriously injurer yourself or worse, (death). Cat ratings are a number that I only trust on well known brands that cost more and worth every penny when this is your living.
im 86 yrs old can not remember the lastime i checked for current in a circuit if you have correct resistance and voltage the current will take care of its self
thanks men
A video like that would be just awesome. I couldn't find neither the Brymen TBM251 (BM257 was the closest I could see) nor the Extech EX330 (only 230, 430 and 530) at Romanian retailers. I'll see how things progress and I'll definitely write a few lines when appropriate.
PS: the Fluke 115 costs 176 EUR... that's more than half of my monthly wage... bummer.
You forgot one thing...to blow something up! Great video by the way,
mine did that wen was checking a drill batery
Martin never said that you must buy a particular multimeter. He just pointed out that cases like that happened and they could happen any time with any one so watch out and try to be prepared. With more expensive multimeters the chances of something like this happening might be lower. That's all.
I'm a Hungarian guy, living in Romania and I will do a bit a research to see which multimeters are available around here and at which price. I said that my Mastech is OK, but it can show only two decimals. I'm worried about it because in my first project I would like to put together a solar powered cell phone charger and I believe four decimals would be necessary for precise monitoring.
Search for Brymen BM867 on ebay, one of my viewers is selling a new one there.
can I use cheap multimeter like DT830B in mobile phone repairing.I see this kind of multimeter being used in my area by mobile phone repairing shops.Please recommend cheap and handy multimeter for mobile repairing.I am not using it for heavy duty purpose.
Boston Word unit-ut61E why? -U'll need the extra counts, really.
Couldn't find the MT1887 in Romania and the EX530 costs more than the Brymen TBM867 which based on your review is a way better multimeter. So I already started putting away the money for it. :-)
Did I destroy my multimeter with measuring current of motorcycle battey with using too small measuring range (200mAmax)... It doesnt work now but i dont know why..?
I have multimeter that is down left
Katarina Ovčar If you meter wont even power on, then it might be destroyed.
If just the mA fuction no longer works, it will probably be a protection fuse, replace the fuse with the same rating.
RetroCable.com Agreed with you there RetroCable.
If you have another multimeter or can borrow one owned by a friend measure the resistance between your current port and common. If it's infinite (no conductivity) you've blown the fuse or in a non-fused case fried some components inside.
If it's a decent multimeter it's definitely worth opening it up and replace said fuse, do try to use the proper ones though (not just a glass fuse or even worse just putting a bit of copper wire between it).
I have a dt830b and just use it for around the house testing. Nothing major It tests 120v ac outlets fine.
So get the second cheapest one, and retro fit two fuses.
Just wondering.... Do you (or anyone reading this) know of a SUPER INEXPENSIVE DMM that will test household batteries (9v, 1.5v) under load, test continuity with sound and test impedience? This is for guitar repair- I'm putting guitar maintenance kits together for players who want to do their own work. I am asking this same question on several other good YT DMM videos, so don't be surprised if you see me asking elsewhere. Thanks in advance.
I would be hardly surprised the two cheapies is all from the same DMM chip , the venerable 7106
mjlorton Good video. This information cannot be talked about enough. We tend to get caught up in specs; accuracy and resolution. And, we ignore the fact that many cheap meters will never meet their stated certifications. Personally, I consider any circuit with 50 volts or more to be potentially life threatening; no matter if the unit is in a faulted state or not. Many devices, especially test equipment (Keithley) have the capacity to store very large potentials on cable connector jacks or test fixtures. I won't trust my life or body parts to test equipment with obviously fraudulent certifications.
I never understand multi meters my mate gave me an expensive on as I had the cheap all yellow one you test an all I use it for its to find a 12 v source in my car lol
Mine does have a C E mark, on the front.
me too i have CE mark and on back QC Passed
TheIronlefty QC Passed only means it passed the Quality Check the manufacturer set for itself, Just considered it a feel good label on products inexpensive goods.
Hans is the best of them
I ended up spending some money on that cheapo (granted I knew it wasn't the best, but I am just a beginner when it comes to this sort of thing) in a "kit" so to speak (has a few tools other than the meter, that I wanted too ... say wire strippers, and a few other basic things).
I think WHEN I get into things enough for me to justify spending a good bit of cash on a meter, the only real brand I am going to end up looking at (while they may be a few good ones) would be a Fluke. Like (something else I want to learn now to do) the soldering station I have been looking at (I have nothing to practice on anyway) is that Blue Hakko you usually see in many of the top rated tutorials. If (more like when, then "if") I'd get one, that is one I'd be looking at. It may be a bit more then some others, though I am serious about getting into this, and I want (not the "most expensive, top of the line equipment) but still .. good, trusted, dependable equipment.
With that Cheapo, I just got it (for the other tools in the set too) to help me get "familiar" with a meter, with plans that I'd get a better one down the line, as I have said
just an addition .. .I WOULDN'T Think of ever using the cheapo meter on anything high end ... batteries, and small circuit "with low specs" (just to get familar with using a meter as I study circuit and circuitry diagram (how to read/ do the math on ...etc) and get more skills... again I thought it was a little bit better, but I sort of knew what I was getting when I bought it... I think it was at yard-sale/Theft sale that the profits from all the sales went for some good cause, so I figured "what the heck?"
The Chinese sell logic analyzers and PIC programmers branded with the actual names of the corresponding manufacturers whose products they have cloned. Why would they be above stamping a phony safety logo on something?
Have you seen all the apps for the I-Phone all to do with Ohms law and all kinds of circuit and components calculators well worth a look. I have been using Precision gold M285 for many years At least 18 I paid over £20.00 for it then tomorrow I get a free Multi meter CSI 2110 I think it will about a £3.00 to £4.00 Job?
She's the cheapest yet most robust multimeter I ever come across. I recently bought some Chinese dual display multimeter which was a load of crap for which I wasted a lot of money. Now I own a Sanwa CD800a which is pretty simple and decent pro tool but has a limited range of only 600V AC/DC and 400mA but does what it does.
I have a " CAT II " multimiter but with " CAT III " leads . But it wasnt a cheap multimiter it cost me 60 $ Us dollars
I wished you opened their guts, showed and pointed out how one multimeter is physically unsafe to use compared to the others. For all I know, I might see a CE mark on a multimeter but it is unsafe to use because of inherent weakness on its design and construction. You could have showed the guts and pointed out why that design and/or construction is not safe to use on measuring 100 volts and higher voltages. But still that was a good and enlightening review.
You should cut the leads to see the wires
pity... Thought I might learn something here... I'll just go look it up.
Correction: at least three decimals like on the Brymen, but preferably four.
They literally GIVE the little 830B meters away free with any purchase at HarborFreight sometimes with a coupon.
CE is te controleren ;de midden balk van de e valt exact in de e cirkel de c doortrekken in de e loopt precies in de cirkel van de e.(de chinese c e ;de middenbalk van de e is korter de c rond doortrekken ontstaat ruimte tussen beide letters ondanks alle theorien china houdt zich hieraan
Found this really good NI white paper that explains the various protection categories, what CE mark/EN61010/IEC 1010 standard is, and a nice picture of what you ought to be using for working where... www.ni.com/white-paper/2827/en/
Was sad yesterday, my fluke 77 from the 80's just died (or wore out), I'm a professional and its another Fluke for me.
Why would a Fluke ever wear out? Perhaps then, Fluke is overpriced?
> tries testing a battery
> SATAN shows up
+pk2hitman47 Yeah, the devil is in the detail (or in this case in the floating LCD display)
I would never trust any of those CE markings on the El Cheapos DMM.
C"E" in cases such as these El Cheapo DMMs means "China Export". How they can use the same symbol, I don't know.
@@rachelmaxwell4936 china export?
Did you mean Chinese Explosives?
@@rachelmaxwell4936 "CE" doesn't stand for "Chinese Export" as AvE thinks it does too - for an engineer that bloke can pretty ignorant, yet that's no surprise from a tertiary educated person either. Here are two links that will allow you to see for yourself what it means: www.batteryspace.com/ul-ce-emc-fcc-and-csa.aspx
www.cui.com/catalog/resource/power-supply-safety-standards-agencies-and-marks.pdf
Oh my goodness...it certainly puts things in perspective when you mention the time it would take to purchase a 115.
Ok, have a look at my video (or just the spec) of the Major Tech MT1887. I do point out several issues with it but it is one is the cheapest 40 000 count meters I know of and it has been fairly accurate. It also goes by the name of QM1543 and have a look at CEM multimeters. Cheers, Martin.
This cheapo has similar accuracy to Fluke, costs 100x less, and it's even yellow. People should rush to the stores right now.
i have 4 freebe from harbor freight i put a new battery in one of them i use the almost daily they work fine i can test any thing i want with them i also have a radio shack analog meter it still works i built the first meter i had from a heath kit backin the 60-s mail order course on basic elect. and basic electronics im 86 been in repair all my adult life i see these guys tell biginers howto test stuff with a meter with 59 functions on it they dont need that they need a simple meter to start a good lesson would be how read schmatics if dont how something works how can you fix it
Exactly , I got a cheap one ,It works fine around my house ,why spent couple hundred dollars ,since I am not a pro ?
At least Million people in third world can afford one Multimeter .