Is Cheap Test Equipment Worth It?

I get a lot of promotional catalogs delivered to myself, in them is a small multimeter selection.

There cheapest multimeter is £5.35!

Now I know quality comes at a price, but do people actually use these non-branded cheap testers?

If you do, were they a success? or was it a complete fail?

Some simple spec for this simple multimeter:

AC/DC voltage = 200v -600v

DC Current = 200uA - 10A

Resistance = 200ohm - 2Mohm

Nothing less than £30 is worth buying for a professional, they're just not accurate or robust enough. For a DIYer, hobbyist they're better than nothing / neon screwdriver, just, but best kept to vehicle electrics or Maplins hobby electronics kits.

I had a 5 quid one in my old van wired to the battery to check if the dodgy alternator was working or not,!

I have a £25 clamp meter and it is fairly accurate unless you go under about 2amps.

I've had several cheap multimeters. They seem to have failed on two counts:

Many of them become hideously inaccurate when the batteries start to get low, but with no warning they are becoming inaccurate. and they eat batteries like they are going out of fashion.

One of them "failed" because it became impossible to undo the screw to remove the battery compartment. the screw had jammed and the knurled nut just span in it's moulding. I had to break it apart in the end to get into it.

By contrast, my Fluke 73 must be at least 15 years old. It's dependable, accurate even with flat batteries, and battery life is exceptional, even when you forget to turn it off.

Oh and the Fluke doesn't blow up when you connect it to 240V while switched to hms :innocent

Cheap meters might be okay for DIY use one in a while, but for anything else, forget it.

A facilities manger at my largest clients had a cheap multimeter

He decided that it was not the way forwards when he almost blew himself through his own wedding ring

I bought the Fluke T 110 from you to replace his smoke damaged el- cheapo

He is now happy and his life expectancy has significantly improved

Just.........

Seems that a lot of people opt in for the cheapo testers, just to then spend the money on a good one once it breaks/nearly kills them.

I won't buy cheap, as I learned the lesson from watching someone else nearly blow themselves up with a cheap tester!

The other thing being, Mike, do these cheapo meters comply with the required "standards" for business use, i.e would they meet the requirements of EAWR, PUWER etc.?

These are more exacting than those they would have to meet to be sold for DIY use, worrying as that is!  ]

It's a good point, a scary point when you think about it! That's if electricians do use them. Maybe they get around it by branding them as DIY tools. I'll look back in the catalog tomorow and see if they comply to any actual regs

megger mike said:

Seems that a lot of people opt in for the cheapo testers, just to then spend the money on a good one once it breaks/nearly kills them.

Click to expand...

nothing like a good scare to sort people out

Most of my better customers have had a belt whilst doing DIY :^O

For a start a lot of these cheapos do NOT comply with GS38! Lead not fused. dirty great long test probes, no finger guards etc.

I got a cheapo one in the van, I too use it for testing the battery, have also used it for small electronic stuff & the car.

It seems to have survived 12v stuff but wouldn't use for 230v.