New Uni-T UT61 series (UT61e+)

[Fungus]

I'm planning to buy UT61E+ within few days. If you are going to review this multimeter, I am going to wait a little longer and decide if I should buy it after the video

Just shot it.
TLDR; It's a decent enough upgrade, but not for the 40-50% extra cost over the existing model, there are likely better options. The 20,000 count ANENG 870 is less than half the cost (although I have not looked at that).

The Aneng measures everything really well but it has cheap-ass glass fuses in it.

It all comes down to the old "safety" debate, ie. How likely are you to poke at an arc-flash hazard with the leads in the current sockets? Will it ever be in the hands of the sort of person who tries to measure how many amps a mains socket has? Would the Uni-T be safer in those situations or should you only trust things with UL markings?

(Would measuring mains amps with a glass fuse even be dangerous or would it simply blow with no problem? How much of the safety debate is FUD on a hobby workbench with Arduinos and 12V power supplies? Is basic education worth more than the safest meter in the world?)

At least the Aneng's fuses are standard size and could be replaced with ceramic equivalents for 50 cents.

[Monkeh]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

[Fungus]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

Labelled as 240V on the PCB.

[Monkeh]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

Labelled as 240V on the PCB.

Uh, and?

[Fungus]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

Labelled as 240V on the PCB.

Uh, and?

Totally out of sync with the 1000V CAT rating printed on the front?
Slightly out of sync with the 250V fuse rating printed on the front?
Unsafe at any speed?

[Monkeh]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

Labelled as 240V on the PCB.

Uh, and?

Totally out of sync with the 1000V CAT rating printed on the front?
Slightly out of sync with the 250V fuse rating printed on the front?
Unsafe at any speed?

The CAT rating we know is a lie. The fuse rating is close enough (the original spec was 250V, as the years have gone by the revisionists have been at it). I fail to see what this has to do with the standard size of the fuse. The Aneng has an almost certainly equally false CAT rating, although the longer fuse does make available higher voltage fuses (50 cents I question).

[Fungus]

The Aneng has an almost certainly equally false CAT rating

Definitely false! But nobody expects a $25-$30 Chinese meter to have a real CAT rating.

A lot of people think the much more expensive Uni-T might be.

Worse: Some versions of the older UT61E had proper fuses, etc. People might expect a newer "UT61E+" to be an improvement but it looks like a step backwards from a "full fat" UT61E.

The only step forwards I see is gold plated test leads, which every meter should have. They make a huge difference.

[rf-loop]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

AsianFuse AF63C-10A in UTC61E+ is not fuse like "on the order of billions in use."

It is afaik 264/(250) VAC  6kA Icu  ceramic 10A fuse.  Size 6,3 x 25mm
But much much better than in most totally cheap meters where in worst case is 5x20mm normal class fuse with very low Icu.
Example normal class tube 5x20mm, Littelfuse series 201P, 250VAC, 0.08kA Icu. Yes max interrupting capability 80A or even worse, 10A Littelfuse type 217, 250VAC and max Icu 35A !!!  and kind of these two they belong to this "on the order of billions in use.".

Of course AF63C in 61E+  is not at all in same class where is Littelfuse FLU 011. what is 11A / 1000VDC/VAC, 20kA Icu,  Size 10.3 x 38.1mm
Designed specially for protection in multimeters.

[Wytnucls]

AsianFuse AF63C is the same as the BS1362 used in every British and most Hong Kong plugs. They cost less than a British pound each.
It is a fast/medium ceramic fuse with a breaking capacity of 6kA at 240 VAC (264 V peak). The fuse is not rated for DC, AFAIK.
It will blow within 30 minutes at 1.9x nominal current.

https://docs.rs-online.com/9819/0900766b8002b71e.pdf

[Fungus]

AsianFuse AF63C is the same as the BS1362 used in every British plug. They cost less than a British pound each.
It is a fast/medium ceramic fuse with a breaking capacity of 6kA at 240 VAC (264 V peak). The fuse is not rated for DC, AFAIK.
It will break within 30 minutes at 1.9x nominal max current.

Yep, they're not expensive. Almost as cheap as glass fuses in any sort of quantity.

What's the burden voltage on those things compared to a glass fuse? Is there a reason to not put them in multimeters apart from saving $0.10?

[rf-loop]

AsianFuse AF63C is the same as the BS1362 used in every British plug. They cost less than a British pound each.
It is a fast/medium ceramic fuse with a breaking capacity of 6kA at 240 VAC (264 V peak). The fuse is not rated for DC, AFAIK.

Much better than I have seen in one cheap Chinese "Victor" where was 5x20mm just like some Littelfuse 217 or similar  and without even any sign about manufacturer.  When Icu is 35 or 80A  it can not break even our home electrical outlet short circuit current peak. So it can not protect even in CAT II.

[Wytnucls]

Burden voltage will be comparable to a glass fuse (~8mohm for a 13A fuse).
Safety wise, not much better than a very fast FF glass fuse rated for 250VAC, in a CAT II home environment.
There is no data for higher AC voltages or any DC voltage.

A multimeter which respects European/US regulations should have fast fuses rated for AC and DC, with the proper voltage rating and breaking capacity.

[Fungus]

Safety wise, not much better than a very fast FF glass fuse rated for 250VAC, in a CAT II home environment.

Less arc flash?

[Wytnucls]

I couldn't shatter a glass fuse put across the mains, so arc flash is unlikely at mains voltage and in a CAT II environment.

A BS1362 dissipates close to 1 watt at nominal AC current, so may cause some damage in a multimeter at higher currents.
The fuse will last for at least 30 minutes at 1.6x nominal current.
The purpose of the fuse is to protect the cable insulation when the appliance becomes faulty (3A fuse if appliance draws <700W, otherwise 13A)

[Monkeh]

The fuses in the UT61E+ are a standard size, on the order of billions in use.

AsianFuse AF63C-10A in UTC61E+ is not fuse like "on the order of billions in use."

As stated it's a BS1362 fuse. I have.. something approaching a hundred of them around the house. There are 28 million households in this country and I can't even be bothered to look up commercial properties. There are absolutely billions of this size of fuse.

[rsjsouza]

A multimeter which respects European/US regulations should have fast fuses rated for AC and DC, with the proper voltage rating and breaking capacity.

The UT161E is claiked to be third party certified, so it may have the proper fuses or is properly rated.

I would love to see a teardown but, at hefty 129 Euros, it is quite a steep price.

The Batronix website has more info than the manufacturer's
https://www.batronix.com/shop/multimeter/UNI-T-UT161E.html

Perhaps consider adding these meters (61E+/161E) to the spreadsheet?

[Wytnucls]

There is a GS certified version of the UT61E for Europe, with proper fuses.
The meters are in the spreadsheet already, to be published shortly.

[AlexTee]

Hi.
Ordered mine from Taobao via a freight forwarder, payed only 55USD on 11.11 deal last year.
Overall, I'm satisfied with it. however, recently, caught a strange bug. I was just switching the dial to a different function, when suddenly the low battery indicator went on, the DMM started to beep, and a shutdown followed few seconds later. I then turned the switch to Off position then turned it on again - no low battery was ever registered since then. I opened up the cover, and measured the voltage, it was more than 6 volts, so the batteries were fresh. Dunno, if this will repeat, just letting you know.

The revision I have is 130820-2:

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[george.b]

Can't say I'm a fan of the Transformers-like design of the thing. Looks kinda like a toy. I like my tools to look like serious stuff. The non-plus looked better IMHO.

[Fungus]

A multimeter which respects European/US regulations should have fast fuses rated for AC and DC, with the proper voltage rating and breaking capacity.

The UT161E is claiked to be third party certified, so it may have the proper fuses or is properly rated.

Let's make a very clear distinction between the two. People might get confused.

The UT61E+ and the UT161E+ are two very different meters.

The 161E+ isn't an Aliexpress special, it's sold by reputable shops like Batronix and costs money in the Brymen price range:

[rsjsouza]

A multimeter which respects European/US regulations should have fast fuses rated for AC and DC, with the proper voltage rating and breaking capacity.

The UT161E is claiked to be third party certified, so it may have the proper fuses or is properly rated.

Let's make a very clear distinction between the two. People might get confused.

The UT61E+ and the UT161E+ are two very different meters.

The 161E+ isn't an Aliexpress special, it's sold by reputable shops like Batronix and costs money in the Brymen price range:

You think they are very different? I suspect they are not, apart from unpopulated or lower grade parts populating the PCB. This is based on the latest instances of their previous generation UT61E (mine included), which had non-populated protection everywhere but was very different than the early UT61E meters posted here in EEV and everywhere.

Also, a clarification: there is no UT161E+, only UT161E - similar thing for UT161B and UT161D.
https://www.uni-trend.com/meters/html/product/NewProducts/UT61%20161%20Series/

BTW, other certified meters are also sold on Aliexpress/Banggood, such as the UT191E/T series
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001786321090.html
(I don't know how they passed it with mA shared with V/ohms, but maybe the safety test are not as they used to be)

[GigaJoe]

UT161 , discount
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002717433552.html

[Saskia]

just obtained a UT161. Anyone wants me to open it and take a few pictures ?

[AVGresponding]

just obtained a UT161. Anyone wants me to open it and take a few pictures ?

Only if you open it Pommijätkät-style with 50 grams...

[Saskia]

I did actually open it.

I'll leave it to folks more qualified to judge on the cat-worthiness of the meter.