Recommend me a multimeter

Roland

The meter which I've had for decades has stopped working just when I need to test the Christmas tree lights. I need a replacement which can be used for all the usual household and guitar maintenance activities: resistance, capacitance, dc and ac voltage; but not the clever stuff like temperature. Who knows about these things? What can you recommend?

thermionic

I've had my eye on a Fluke 15B+, which fits your bill. The 17B+ comes with a thermocouple which like you, I wouldn't use. The 18B+ has an LED tester, which could be useful. They're made in China for the Chinese market but widely available from UK sellers on ebay. The 15B+ were around £60 but seem to have gone up a bit recently.

A £20 one from Maplins might be all you need though (I've been spoilt by years working the electronics industry and want a Fluke meter and Weller soldering station!)

ICBM

The Maplin ones at about £20 are fine - they certainly don't have Fluke levels of accuracy and reliability, but they're plenty good enough for domestic and guitar-related work. I use one… I haven't had a Fluke since someone else was paying for it!

robinbowes

Yeah, don't fret about getting something expensive unless you know you need it (or someone else is paying!).

I have one of these: https://www.rapidonline.com/digital-multimeter-328-lcd-85-0721

It was cheap - about £20, from memory - and has served me well.

R.

lasermonkey

I have a similar Rapid DMM, but mine doesn't have the frequency function. I've had it for almost ten years and it's been very reliable. We ended up getting some of them at work, as they were so cheap. They'd be checked against our externally calibrated Fluke 75 and they were close enough for setting up the lasers we built.

robinbowes

lasermonkey said:

but mine doesn't have the frequency function.

Oooh, I hadn't noticed that

R.

Xsmnmy

I have bought two different DMMs from Maplin's and not the cheapest ones - both crapped out. Never again.