New Uni-T UT61 series (UT61e+)

[EEVblog]

hFE for a meter that is marketed as an "Electrician" meter too. I can't understand why electrician's would be concerned about hFE in their day to day work. AND you need that huge adapter to use it too.

Yep, shows that they are clueless about who uses meters and how.

[Fungus]

Yep, shows that they are clueless about who uses meters and how.

Nailed!

That's the problem, right there.

[WilldV]

I was thinking about ordering the UT161E. It should come with the HRC fuse. Has anybody a verdict on the UT161E? Should I look for something different?
Thanks

[Fungus]

I was thinking about ordering the UT161E. It should come with the HRC fuse.

What will you use the meter for? Why do you need HRC fuse?

[joeqsmith]

https://youtu.be/bxluPKhyOUU

I don't speak the language but found this video more useful than most.   

It appears they have moved away from the 5mm PTCs but decided against the typical surge rated series resistors.  Odd that only one of the four PTCs have has a cover.   Guessing it is similar to my UT181A which used two PTCs in series for each leg.  That arrangement can certainly be made to work and it may handle some abuse.  Then again, it be easily damaged like most UNI-T products I have looked at. 

Price on Ebay looks about $100 USD.   Personally, I would rather have Dave's new Brymen.

[Fungus]

If safety is of primary importance then maybe a Brymen is better, eg. the BM235:

https://brymen.eu/shop/bm235/

See the full range here: https://brymen.eu/product-category/multimetry/?orderby=price

[WilldV]

If safety is of primary importance then maybe a Brymen is better, eg. the BM235:

https://brymen.eu/shop/bm235/

See the full range here: https://brymen.eu/product-category/multimetry/?orderby=price

Mostly arduino stuff, electric Motors and repairing items. (Electric motors around 4kw) 
I like the idea of data logging and I was looking at the BM235 but I dont know.
How unsafe would the UNI-T UT161E be?

[linuxlou]

I found the DC accuracy to be excellent, comparable with a SDM3055 !! From 50mV to 60V it was never off by more than 4 counts !!
I have a calibrated Resistor Box and from 1.0 ohm to 1.0M Ohm it was an order of magnitude better than the spec.( 0.5%+10)
AC is arguable, since I have no calibrated source but it looks good too. It is spec'd to 10KHz but accurate to >100KHz. (-3dB @ 700K)
Frequency is usable to ~70Mhz if you blast it with 300mVrms, and only 10Khz resolution. Sensitivity at 1Khz is ~100mVrms.
Caps seemed to be in spec (3%), and agreed with the SDM3055.  Still need to test the current and diode measurements.
I will not use it for NCV, it really lacks sensitivity. The loud beep for 'turn me off' is a bit annoying, but can be turned off.
I was able to get the USB working on Windows10, but not on Linux which is a big disappointment.   

[rsjsouza]

If safety is of primary importance then maybe a Brymen is better, eg. the BM235:

https://brymen.eu/shop/bm235/

See the full range here: https://brymen.eu/product-category/multimetry/?orderby=price

Mostly arduino stuff, electric Motors and repairing items. (Electric motors around 4kw) 
I like the idea of data logging and I was looking at the BM235 but I dont know.
How unsafe would the UNI-T UT161E be?

The UT161E is third party certified, so at least you would have a meter that was subjected to tests and do not only depend on the manufacturer's own word for safety.

For the Arduino part, you shouldn't need much else other than a plain UT61E, but the 4kw motors can change the game. I would not necessarily have a problem using the plain UT61E on this scenario, but since I don't know your experience, the more conservative assumption is to keep the recommendation to a certified multimeter.

The UT161E, however, gets dangerously close in price to the excellent Brymen BM857 and BM867 (tme.eu), both edging the UT161E in features while having the weight of an excellent and reliable brand. With a loss of counts but at the same price range you have the also excellent BM257.

Good luck in your quest.

[WilldV]

Thank you my questions are answered.

[Fungus]

Mostly arduino stuff, electric Motors and repairing items. (Electric motors around 4kw) 
I like the idea of data logging and I was looking at the BM235 but I dont know.
How unsafe would the UNI-T UT161E be?

That depends on what you mean by "safety". There's two aspects to that, "user safety" and "meter robustness" how likely the meter is to die.

User safety depends on user procedure as much as anything else. If you connect the meter up to the AC power in amps mode then a good meter will minimize the user excitement. The real trick is to not do that in the first place (or own a meter that doesn't even have an amps mode for those measurements).

Meter robustness means how likely you are to have to go and buy another meter afterwards. Anything with big motors can easily damage a multimeter. Uni-T don't have a great record in this department. See the spreadsheet in the first post on this page:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/

I found the DC accuracy to be excellent, comparable with a SDM3055 !!

That's nice but even a meter with 0.5% accuracy (ie. 2000 counts) is more accurate than most of the USB power supplies, resistors, etc. found around an Arduino workbench (which are normally 5-10% accuracy).

[rf-loop]

I found the DC accuracy to be excellent, comparable with a SDM3055 !!

That's nice but even a meter with 0.5% accuracy (ie. 2000 counts) is more accurate than most of the USB power supplies, resistors, etc. found around an Arduino workbench (which are normally 5-10% accuracy).

@linuxlou  have used what he said and its accuracy and resolution is far over UNI-T 61E+

Btw. What random generator you use for generate these comments.

and then this accuracy vs count... omg.

[Fungus]

and then this accuracy vs count... omg.

Oh, you thought it was a calculation?

The actual logic was: 2000 counts is the lowest counts I've seen on a meter and it's enough for 0.5%.

I couldn't be bothered to figure out the exact number of counts that would give at least 0.5% accuracy on all possible inputs.

[rf-loop]

and then this accuracy vs count... omg.

Oh, you thought it was a calculation?

The actual logic was: 2000 counts is the lowest counts I've seen on a meter and it's enough for 0.5%.

I couldn't be bothered to figure out the exact number of counts that would give at least 0.5% accuracy on all possible inputs.

Btw, uni-t 61e+ is claimed Accuracy: ±(0.05%+5) (a% of reading + b digits)
SDM3055 is  1 year 0.015 + 0.004  tempco 0.0020 + 0.0005  Accuracy±（% of Reading + % of Range）


 

[joeqsmith]

Starting on 11-21-2016, I have been running a long drift term test on a UT61E.   This meter is anything but stock.  The meter has not been modified since I started collecting data. 

[evgen.05]

I've got a Uni-T UT61 and UT61+. Older model is faster(more faster power up, buttons has more fast click response ), than the younger. Amazing. How could it be? Accuracy is +/- equal. Younger model has a backlight and bigger display. My opinion: if you has a UT61 model there is no reason to buy UT61+.

[CDN_Torsten]

I agree the UT61E is superior to the UT61E+ (and less expensive).  The only benefit of the E+ is that it has a much bigger display.

[evgen.05]

I agree the UT61E is superior to the UT61E+ (and less expensive).  The only benefit of the E+ is that it has a much bigger display.

And AAA battery cells. That's all benefits. Quality of external coverage - much poor in new model. It's aweful. Clicks of main switch it's some one chicken shit  - omg, who could made this? 

[EEVblog]

Teardown photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/albums/72157718441411852

[rsjsouza]

Teardown photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/albums/72157718441411852

Shiny new photograph box! Nice.
The photos turned out very good. Thanks for sharing.

[Fungus]

Teardown photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/albums/72157718441411852

No MELFs? 

(in fact, where the hell are the input protection resistors? I don't see them...)

[ekin.grg]

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

[Adrian_Arg.]

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

Me too   

[EEVblog]

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).

[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.