MULTIMETER , 7-function Digital $2.99

[mindless1]

Frankschwab, are you sure you're talking about the same meters? I own one (in black, before they changed the casing color) and it does not use a 9V battery, it uses a little cylindrical 12V like you find in some old cameras, and isn't remotely close to accurate on the mA range.

 

[tomatom]

* You ( anyone ) could put a rubber band around your

hi-grade meter & a $3 meter . Then every time you use one ,

do a comparison reading with the other . Note the variance

in significant digits &/or standard deviations .


( it is my understanding that the digital meters take several

measurements < 10 ? > per second , then display an AVERAGE

of these measurements )

( i am not familar with the operations of the analog meters )

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: FrankSchwab
We build small devices for the PC market where power is a premium. Our die has three on-board regulators each generating 1.2V from a regulated 3.3V input which comes from a 5V USB cable. For each of those voltages, we need to know the current draw in a range of up to about 30 milliamps with a resolution of about 10 microamps. Our solution? Most engineers have 6 or 8 of these meters mounted on a small rack each measuring a different parameter - and they work marvelously. When we ESD test our product, we don't put a $150 Fluke in line to measure current draw; we put a $3 HF unit inline and we've never blown one up (even testing up to 30KV). We've probably bought 100 of these meters over the last several years for various engineering activities. Heck, when the 9V battery in them dies, it's more expensive to replace the battery than the meter!

These units are remarkably accurate (for a $3 meter). The hardware engineers characterizing our silicon use these meters most of the time; there are occasions when a measurement requires a higher quality meter, and they use them then. But those occasions are much rarer than you might think. They have certainly proven their worth.

that was my point all along. There is no need to pay much more than the $2 for this if all you need it for is casual measurements. If you need the accuracy, you wouldn't even be considering this unit anyway.

EDIT: My last few purchased are the same, typical 9v battery.

 

[mikeford]

Cheap meter, FINE for tossing in the toolbox and general purpose use. No pain when lost or it breaks.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: dodger2020
Just be aware that you get what you pay for. Harbor Freight has a store down the road from where I work so we bought a few of these for use at work. Even with fresh batteries all three showed different values when measuring the same voltages. In addition they had quite a bit of fluctuation on those values - they wouldn't settle. There's a small potentiometer on the inside which you can use to adjust them so you can get it close but they still would fluctuate.

Not dogging harbor freight as I buy other tools there all the time. But these 1.99 - 3.99 multimeters (price changes every few weeks) are junk. Occasionally they'll have a slightly better looking model (the 4.99 one in the OP's link) for a few bucks more but I haven't checked those.

hahahaha, what do you assume people use a multimeter for?

You're either measuring ~12Vdc automotive, ~120VAC home, 12, 5, or 3.3Vdc computer. How friggen accurate does it need to be? If you need precision, you KNOW you need precision and have a budget for it. A warning like this is just plain silly