BK Precision 2712 vs Aneng AN8008

[Mat219]

Hi,

I was looking at getting a new (better) meter recently and came across a BK Precision 2712.
My common sense is telling me that it has to be better than the Aneng AN8008 I have now, but when looking at the datasheets, the Aneng has 1% on all DC current ranges while the 2712 has 0.5% on the mA range and 2% on the A range, so is the 2712 really more accurate?

I know that I probably will be getting more safety with the 2712 along with more confidence in the measurement, with BK being a reputable brand, but what other things am I missing here?

Thanks for reading.

Update: I've had the BM786 EEVblog edition for under a year now and it looks like either the firmware bugged out or the micro died, because it's not turning on. Gonna have to return it I quess.

[Fungus]

what other things am I missing here?

The Brymen website?

https://brymen.eu/product-category/multimeters/

[coromonadalix]

yes  Brymen, Amprobe, Mastech, Greenlee, CEM, Tenma     even some Uni-T    etc ....

Many 40k counts meters nowadays have cheap prices and in some cases have more functionalities

Some Beckman  equipement (s) are  rebadged brands

[Mat219]

Are the Brymens really that good? I wasn't aware they had sub-0.1% DCV precision for under 150€.

As a sidenote, this better meter that I'm getting would be mostly a reference meter to calibrate my other tools like PSUs.

[Fungus]

Are the Brymens really that good?

Yes.

I wasn't aware they had sub-0.1% DCV precision for under 150€.

Here's one that's 0.08% for 149€: https://brymen.eu/shop/bm829s/

On the other hand you can get 0.03% accuracy for only 9€ more: https://brymen.eu/shop/bm857s/

I own a BM857 and I'm very happy with it. I like the square shape and AFAICT it easily beats that 0.03% spec, it's probably sub-0.01% in practice.

[rsjsouza]

Another vote for Brymen here. I have a BM857 and a simpler BM251 and they are both incredibly accurate.
Mechanically they are a notch below Fluke (and perhaps Gossen), but good enough to last you quite some time. Another drawback is the absence of warranty in countries that have no official distribution, but you can always purchase a local rebrand. For example: in the US, selected models are sold as Greenlee.

[Fungus]

Mechanically they are a notch below Fluke (and perhaps Gossen), but good enough to last you quite some time.

Joe hasn't managed to break one yet.

(unlike the fancy $700 Keysight which is currently being killed)

[tautech]

Mechanically they are a notch below Fluke (and perhaps Gossen), but good enough to last you quite some time.

Joe hasn't managed to break one yet.

(unlike the fancy $700 Keysight which is currently being killed)

It's dead Jim, did you not know ?

[J-R]

I'll keep harping on this because I don't think it gets enough visibility, but especially for these lower-end handheld DMMs, the published accuracy specifications are basically meaningless.  I can have two different manufacturer's DMMs with nearly identical specs, yet one is literally 10 times more accurate in real life.  Even years later.

So if accuracy is your primary focus, be aware of that and check reviews or maybe go with a bench meter.  If it isn't, then I would go for reasonable quality and needed functions.

Can you clarify more about what aspects of the DMM are important to you and what this will be used for?

[trobbins]

I have two AN8009 - they are dead accurate for the sample resistance and voltage measurement comparisons I have made over the last few years since I've had them.  I had just done a 19.999k resistance comparison with some other meters, and the 8009's are both still spot on, and I have one on 2.000mVdc at the moment and it is bang on.  So for accuracy of basic measurements (perhaps not FS current) they are good.

[J-R]

Also, the BK Precision 2712 is 40,000 count, the Anengs are 9,999 count.  Many of the recommended Brymens will be 50,000 or 60,000 count.

[Mat219]

As stated above in an edited post, The DMM would be used for calibration/verification of the cheaper equipment I have, because right now, I own a Tenma 72-10495 and two AN8008s.

As for the requirements:
I have a budget of 3500CZK or around 150€
It has to be available in my country, which means Farnell is a safe bet, although I might be able to find different distributors as well with some digging.

I need it to be as accurate as I can get, preferably under 0.5% on all ranges
It needs to have small long term drift, as I don't have a reference to calibrate against
Auto-ranging with manual override that's pretty fast
Latching continuity function
capacitance measurement function is nice, but not essential
I don't need a temp measurement function, but it wouldn't hurt to have it
I'd like it to have good input jacks, because I've had to toss a few multimeters because of faulty jacks, and I'd like to avoid that.
It has to be reasonably safe, I don't know what that requires aside from HRC fuses.
Access doors for the fuses and batteries would be real good
I'd like something with over 10000 counts for the increase in accuracy
If possible over 20A max current measurement, the voltage is not that important, but it has to handle mains (230VAC)

That's pretty much it. I'm mostly going off of Dave's reccomendations from his multimeter buying guide, and my preferences.
Again, I'm not that well versed in buying multimeters, so my requirements might be way to high for the price.

[coromonadalix]

Not to be rude,  if you do some "serious stuff"   pls  try to search for a good meter, and maybe invest a little bit more if you need to,  "being easily" calibrable will be a key role for you adventure

Check some youtube videos of the models you have interests,    some meters wait a bit to display the read value(s), some of them give a "false zero"  some show everything near zero  ....

Brymen on some models can be user calibrated, dont know for the newest lines ...   and many other meters are based on the same chipsets  ....

Got an Amprobe Am140 for a ridicoulous price, on par with the 857 series

Fluke need special software

Beckman i dont know


and your 20 amps measurements for a meter is not realistic, and can / could be dangerous,   many meters are now 10 amps, because it heat a lot in them, use a shunt resistor in place or a clamp meter

[Fungus]

Got an Amprobe Am140 for a ridicoulous price, on par with the 857 series

The AM140 is a Brymen BM857. Brymen do a lot of rebrands. They don't sell the BM857 directly in the USA so if you want one over there you have to get the Amprobe.

and your 20 amps measurements for a meter is not realistic, and can / could be dangerous

Yes. At 20A you should be using a clamp meter.

(or maybe an external current shunt)

[Fungus]

It has to be available in my country, which means Farnell is a safe bet

That's up to you but you'll definitely get a worse meter if you go down that path.

Brymen.eu and welectron are European and have excellent support.

(I got mine from welectron, they work with EEVBLOG and sell Dave's meters)

[J-R]

The Tenma 72-10495 is 3,000 count on voltage and 5,000 count on current.  Generally, easy to keep under control IMHO.

It's rare but possible to get a DMM out of spec.

So now we talk a DMM that is calibrated.

About the cheapest Brymen option might be the 9,999 count BM829s.  Welectron is 125 + 58 (Euros) for the DMM + calibration.  Not sure about taxes and shipping for you.  The PC interface can be picked up later for some added functionality.

However, to properly calibrate/adjust the Tenma, I think you will want 50,000 counts.  Can you expand your budget a bit?

[rsjsouza]

Mechanically they are a notch below Fluke (and perhaps Gossen), but good enough to last you quite some time.

Joe hasn't managed to break one yet.

(unlike the fancy $700 Keysight which is currently being killed)

Of all the Brymens I know, none would have survived the mechanical stress that Dave imposed on the U1282A. Are there Brymens that could survive? Perhaps as I haven't seen the BM7xx series yet on my hands.

Robustness, just like quality and durability, are words with a very wide range of interpretations and angles. Don't lose sight of that in the light of Joe's tests which, although are excellent to get specific angles of these adjectives, don't capture their whole gamut.

[Fungus]

Of all the Brymens I know, none would have survived the mechanical stress that Dave imposed on the U1282A. Are there Brymens that could survive? Perhaps as I haven't seen the BM7xx series yet on my hands.

Maybe it's not that difficult. I've thrown DT830s down stone staircases and towed then behind canoes. Dave once took an oscilloscope on a mud run and it still worked.

[Mat219]

  Can you expand your budget a bit?

How much? 5000CZK or 200€ is the absolute max I can afford right now, and I don't really want to spend that much.

Can I get away without the calibration or calibrate it myself? Maybe building my own voltage reference?

[J-R]

  Can you expand your budget a bit?

How much? 5000CZK or 200€ is the absolute max I can afford right now, and I don't really want to spend that much.

Can I get away without the calibration or calibrate it myself? Maybe building my own voltage reference?

Even if you did get a decent reference and had it calibrated, that won't help with any other aspects of the DMM, such as AC voltage, current, mV ranges, resistance, etc. and will have minimal impact on even the DC voltage functions due to limited reference voltages.

What do you think about that BM829s + calibration?

[Mat219]

What do you think about that BM829s + calibration?

Looks quite good, just a few questions:
How do I request the calibration, and how does it work? Do they actually trim the meter to a standard or do they just tell you the inaccuracies so you know how to compensate for them?

[rsjsouza]

Maybe it's not that difficult.

Throw any Brymen in the water. It will either be dead as a dodo or will need to be thoroughly cleaned from the inside.

Again, Brymens are excellent meters and will be a suitable candidate for the OP given his requirements, but they are neither perfect nor indestructible and do not apply in all conditions. I used to perform maintenance in my pool equipment (damp/wet area) and the U1282A was the one to take due to IP67 and Dave's torture tests. Any other meter I have (including serious Flukes) were a "maybe".

[rsjsouza]

What do you think about that BM829s + calibration?

Looks quite good, just a few questions:
How do I request the calibration, and how does it work? Do they actually trim the meter to a standard or do they just tell you the inaccuracies so you know how to compensate for them?

I couldn't find Brymen calibration, but Fluke covers this topic more extensively:

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/support/calibration-services

[Fungus]

How well do your existing DMMs agree with each other?

If they all agree then that's a good start for a reference. Those Anengs are quite accurate for what they are, if they agree with each other and agree with a new Brymen then it's a good start.

Calibration is expensive unless you really, really need it.

At a hobby level it might be better to spend the money on getting some reference components for sanity checking and comparing it with other meters like your Anengs (IMHO). You can get a high degree of confidence that way and you'll be able to check the meter for many years using them.

What do you think about that BM829s

Looks quite good, just a few questions:
How do I request the calibration, and how does it work?

At welectron you just tick the box on the form when you order the meter.

Do they actually trim the meter to a standard or do they just tell you the inaccuracies so you know how to compensate for them?

Calibration is telling you the inaccuracies so you know how to compensate for them.

They'll give you a piece of paper with a report of the meter's readings against their reference standards.

Some people would claim it's invalidated as soon as the meter gets sent through the postal system. 

[tomud]

It has to be available in my country, which means Farnell is a safe bet, although I might be able to find different distributors as well with some digging.

When it comes to Brymen multimeters, you can easily buy at TME (They ship easily to the Czech Republic and you can pay in CZK):
https://www.tme.eu/cz/katalog/digitalni-multimetry_112609/?mapped_params=2:258;

When it comes to calibrating yourself, without good equipment it is a bit difficult, but if you do not need a certificate, calibration at the manufacturer's authorized service (in Poland it is not high - around 50 euros http://www.biall.com.pl/en/contact.html  serwis@biall.com.pl you can easily send an inquiry in English.).