Bench multimeter suggestions

[deanclaxton]

I'm looking for a good quality, lowish cost bench meter, and wondering if you have any suggestions.

I'm quite happy to go with an older Fluke or similar. I know Dave did a video on the Fluke 8842A at one point - that's probably the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Seems they can be picked up on eBay for around the AU$400 mark, but most are from the USA so they slog Australians  with GST and the shipping is expensive too.

Are there any other models I should perhaps be looking out for?

Pm me if you are looking to sell

[targit]

https://emona.com.au/products/electronic-test-measure/multimeters/gdm-8245.html  I have one of these, works as advertised and is on sale just now, nothing fancy but it does have a 20A current range which is why I bought this one.

[nctnico]

The VC8145 is a good choice IMHO. These cost somewhere around US $160 from Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VICI-Digital-Multimeter-VC8145-Bench-Top-Voltmeter-PC-DMM-80K-Digit-AC-DC-N0107/141220247807

I have two and these are my daily use DMMs.

[deanclaxton]

Thanks,
Couple of decent options there. Do they both have nice fast continuity test?

[nctnico]

The VC8145 sure has. No delay at all so perfect for dragging a probe along a row of pins quickly to find which contact leads where.

[Specmaster]

I'm looking for a good quality, lowish cost bench meter, and wondering if you have any suggestions.

I'm quite happy to go with an older Fluke or similar. I know Dave did a video on the Fluke 8842A at one point - that's probably the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Seems they can be picked up on eBay for around the AU$400 mark, but most are from the USA so they slog Australians  with GST and the shipping is expensive too.

Are there any other models I should perhaps be looking out for?

Pm me if you are looking to sell

They can be had from USA ebay for around $70 plus shipping. I got 2 recently for about £250 all in for both. Very good meters.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[targit]

The GDM-8245 is pretty slow on the continuity buzzer, I had forgotten about that as I usually use my Fluke 85 for continuity tests.
The continuity is on a separate button from ohms so its a little annoying that it isn't faster.

[deanclaxton]

Thanks Specmaster - was that the 8842A though or the 8840A? Looks like the 8840A can be purchased quite cheaply - I'll have to have a quick read up on the specs. Most of the 8842A's on eBay atm seem to be around the US$300 mark.

[deanclaxton]

The GDM-8245 is pretty slow on the continuity buzzer, I had forgotten about that as I usually use my Fluke 85 for continuity tests.
The continuity is on a separate button from ohms so its a little annoying that it isn't faster.

Ok thanks - I'd like a nice fast continuity test I think - my old hand held Meterman 37XR is a bit slow.

Looking at the older Fluke models, its a real rabbit hole. Especially when eBay throws up links to old equivalent HP's! Fluke 884x vs HP3478 for example.

I'll bide my time and see what comes up. Thanks for putting some options out there though. I'll read up some more on the VICI meters too.

[Performa01]

Looking at the older Fluke models, its a real rabbit hole. Especially when eBay throws up links to old equivalent HP's! Fluke 884x vs HP3478 for example.

I'll bide my time and see what comes up. Thanks for putting some options out there though. I'll read up some more on the VICI meters too.

The better Fluke bench meters of that time (8840A, 8842A) don't have continuity test at all. They do have phantastic accuracy and long term stability though in return.

I have found that there is nor real difference between 8840A and 8842A in practice. Long term stability of a well aged 8840A is just as good as the 8842A; consequently, this is also true for the accuracy - and they seem to be very well calibrated, even when they are very old. Another feature is the rather low input current (~40pA) up to 20V, which hard to find nowadays.

The additional ranges (20 mV, 20 ohm) of the 8842A are pretty much useless. The meter gets very slow with these and the readings are unstable nevertheless. Short-term stability of these meters just isn't up to the task.

So when you're really interested in such a meter, forget about continuity (these meters are accurate lab instruments, not tools for the service tech) and look for a good deal on an 8840A, as they are much easier to find.

You need to be aware that the AC ranges (true RMS) are an option, the same is true for GPIP, and most offers don't state whether it's fitted or not.

[bd139]

Remember to look at the calibration story. GW Instek ones are a bugger to cal.

Fluke/HP or bust for me now.

[Berni]

Out of the bench meters i still find the Keithley 2015 to be my favorite overall. You used to be able to get one on on ebay for 400 bucks or even less, but the prices seam to have went up.

[beanflying]

Out of the bench meters i still find the Keithley 2015 to be my favorite overall. You used to be able to get one on on ebay for 400 bucks or even less, but the prices seam to have went up.

$400 AUpeso's is around $280 USD. Up to half of that is likely to be postage from the USA if he goes down that path. My postage bill for test gear last year from the US will have run over four figures 

Few alternate brands to keep an eye out for is Advantest, Solartron and Datron. Just do a good search here and online to see if their is any quirks but it should be possible to land a decent 6 1/2 digit meter for your budget.

Biggest tip is search ebay.com as ebay.com.au dumps a heap of possible search results 

[Berni]

Yeah even i spend a lot on shipping gear from US to Europe and i hear Australia is much worse.

For me just using "ebay.com" doesn't do it, as it still hides listings from me. What i have to do is open an item, select shipping to US and then fill the search field with what i want. But then if i chose "sort by price" i get all US shipping prices, but at least i get to see all of the listings. Some are worth using a US reshipping service to get them into Europe.

[Performa01]

Keithley 2000/2015 are nice high precision bench meters, the same is true for various other vintage gear from e.g. HP/Agilent, Solartron/Schlumberger, Datron. But none of them has a continuity test, which appears to be important for deanclaxton.

Fluke 45 has fast continuity, but even though just average in terms of resolution/accuracy it is still even more expensive than e.g. Fluke 8040A (at least in Europe).

[nctnico]

Keithley 2000/2015 are nice high precision bench meters, the same is true for various other vintage gear from e.g. HP/Agilent, Solartron/Schlumberger, Datron. But none of them has a continuity test, which appears to be important for deanclaxton.

I agree. Before buying the VC8145 I looked at used (higher end) meters as well only to find that they lack many modern features and the current measurement stops at a few amps already.

[Mr. Scram]

Keithley 2000/2015 are nice high precision bench meters, the same is true for various other vintage gear from e.g. HP/Agilent, Solartron/Schlumberger, Datron. But none of them has a continuity test, which appears to be important for deanclaxton.

Fluke 45 has fast continuity, but even though just average in terms of resolution/accuracy it is still even more expensive than e.g. Fluke 8040A (at least in Europe).

The Keithley 2000 has a continuity test, as do many of the other usual suspects.

[Performa01]

Keithley 2000/2015 are nice high precision bench meters, the same is true for various other vintage gear from e.g. HP/Agilent, Solartron/Schlumberger, Datron. But none of them has a continuity test, which appears to be important for deanclaxton.

Fluke 45 has fast continuity, but even though just average in terms of resolution/accuracy it is still even more expensive than e.g. Fluke 8040A (at least in Europe).

The Keithley 2000 has a continuity test, as do many of the other usual suspects.

Interesting. I could have sworn that my 2015 THD doesn't have it. maybe Keithley have added this feature at some point?

But then again, I might have missed it, since I rather use my Fluke 45 and not the high prescision bench meters for continuity tests.
Can't check it right now, but will do it next weekend.

In case of my Fluke 8840/42 and Keithley 2001 meters I'm pretty sure though that they don't have continuity.

Btw, Nicos remark about the current ranges is worth emphasizing: not so much the high current ranges, but especially the lower ones are missing in most of these vintage instruments:

Schlumberger/Solartron 7150: 2A only (another one with no continuity)
Fluke 8840A: 2A only
Fluke 8842A: 2A plus a barely usable 200mA range
Keithley 2015 THD: 10mA, 100mA, 1A, 3A (same as HP/Agilent 34401A, resolution still just 10nA, no better than a halfway decent 4-1/2 digit handheld)

By contrast:
Keithley 2001: 200µA, 2mA, 20mA, 200mA, 2A  (resolution 10pA!)

[MarkF]

Vici VC8145 review and teardown:

http://lygte-info.dk/review/DMMVici%20VC8145%20UK.html

[genghisnico13]

The Keithley 2015 also has continuity with a configurable threshold from 1-1kOhm, and as most of its functions its pretty fast. its a shame that they are so expensive now. VFDs look really nice.
And low current ranges are not available unfortunately, other than that its pretty good.

[Performa01]

Yeah, right. Just found an old photograph where I can clearly spot the continuity funtion as a 2nd function of the 2-wire resistance measurement button. I never used that - hell, I don't even know how it sounds!

[bdunham7]

I have the Fluke 8842A as well as a BK Precision 2831E (and its cousin the BK 5491B).  If extreme accuracy and high input impedance matter, the Fluke is for you.  I'm sure the 8840A is more than good enough for most uses, but contrary to what a previous poster said, the 20mV/20R ranges are perfectly usable if you understand the limitations due to noise and contact resistance.  The Flukes have 4W ohms as well.  The BKs on the other hand are not such lab-grade instruments, but I end up using them first 90% of the time because they are handier.  Dual display for power supply outputs show you voltage and ripple at the same time.  Fast continuity and diode check that the Flukes don't even have.  Wider current ranges (the Flukes only have 200mA and 2000mA) and frequency.  The BKs measure AC current over the entire audio spectrum (to 20KHz). 

So, no meter does it all.  You need to figure out what is important to you.  As far as cost, the 8840A and 8842A have gotten more expensive recently and there are a lot of pretty beat up ones showing up on eBay.  I got lucky and the minor issues mine had were repairable (except I still have a cracked bezel) but others have been less lucky.  If you go the Fluke route, I'd recommend you find the best one you can from a reputable seller.

[Berni]

Keithley 2015 does indeed have continuity test and a pretty darn awesome one at that. Flexible and quick despite being a latching one. The diode test also has plenty of voltage behind it and even has an adjustable test current.

Don't know about the 2001 but the 2002 definitely does not have continuity test at all, but both do autorange  trough the whole scale on Ohms faster than you can say Ohm. That's a thing i like in general on a lot of Keithleys.

[deanclaxton]

Wow - I hadn't checked my thread for a day or so and I have a heap of new replies to digest and a heap more research
to do. Thank you all for your suggestions.

Fast continuity would be a nice to have, but I guess I can always get another handheld meter for that function. A classic 8060A perhaps

[Specmaster]

If your looking for a really fast and reliable continuity tester in a bench meter, you could also look at a Brymen BM867 or BM869, they are a 5.5 digit, 500,000 count meter that is a large size handheld / bench meter and is a dual display plus has a lightening fast bar graph display as well.