Looking for Digital Clamp/Multi Meter

[Muskoka]

I've got 2 multimeters, and a Clamp meter. Multimeters are Fluke and Greenlee, the Clamp is a Extech. They all take readings very close to each other, that's not the issue.

All 3 of them only display 1 decimal place when I'm reading DC voltage around 55 volts, regardless of where I have the range set on the meter. Down around 24v and lower they show 2 decimal places just fine.

Does anyone have, or can recommend a multimeter, that displays 2 decimal places above 50v DC. I really don't want to start buying meters, and then returning them because they don't.

Thank you for any recommendations.

 

[robbob2112]

Look in my answer thread under tools near the bottom

Post in thread 'Robbob2112 Answer thread'

May 24, 2024

#5 - Tools

Everyone will have different ideas on tools - these are the ones I have to work on solar


Temco - TH0005 hydraulic crimper - cheaper from Temco directly
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJXG3KM

Temco - TH0004 hydraulic knockout punch kit - when installing I kept needing it and the little Greenlee set dad bought 50 years ago still works but not good enough or big enough since it is 1/2, 3/4, and 1in.

2 inch Hydraulic Knockout Punch - Electrical Conduit Hole Cutter Tool Set

The TEMCo TH0004 Hydraulic Knockout Punch has a powerful 9 US TRUE TON punching capacity and produces perfect, uniform holes every time. Its compact design is especially designed for field use on construction sites and maintenance jobs. Quick, effortless and simple to operate. Punches more than...

temcoindustrial.com

Southwire cable cutter (large cables)...

• robbob2112

• 

 

[wpns]

I’ve been really happy with my:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08CX6VHWV

Kaiweets meter, 6000 counts, inrush, LoZ, all the measurements.

 

[Muskoka]

Thank you for the replies. Still not seeing the criteria I'm looking for.

I need to know whether these meters show 2 decimal places at 50v DC, and higher. The meters I have are already "higher quality" meters, at least the Fluke and Greenlee, but, they only display 1 decimal place at 50v DC range, and changing the meters range does not help.

I need a meter "proven" to show 2 decimals at 50v DC and higher. All my meters showed 2 decimal places when my battery bank was 24v, which is great. Now my bank is 48v, and all the meters only display 1 decimal place for the DC voltage, regardless of the range set on the meter.

 

[wpns]

 

[Muskoka]

View attachment 303873

Thank you. Interesting, mine is also a Fluke 87, different model, with some segments in the display that are getting weak. It will not display 2 decimal places in the 50v DC range. Not on auto, as in the pic, or, if I cycle through the ranges.

 

[robbob2112]

To get to an accurate 3 digits after the decimal place take a very high sample rate... I am not at all certain it is needed --- sure you want an accurate 3 digits on a single cell so you can put it into the BMS and let it know how to compensate for the sense wires used.

For a 3.5 digit hand held meter you are going to spend some bucks -- at least if you want it to be actually accurate at higher ranges --- meaning something like a 50,000 count spec in the description. My bench meter is a 5.5 digit Siglent SDM3055 -- 240,000 counts...

https://www.tequipment.net/Siglent/SDM3055/Benchtop-Multimeter/

To get to an accurate 3 digits after the decimal place takes a higher sample rate than most handheld meters can do -- i.e. faster clock speed means faster CPU

12,000 count might be good enough for your purposes -- a Fluke 287 or 289 series for the 12,000/50,000 count

What you will find in cheap meters is they quote that they do millivolts, but if you look at the specs they are ±100mv when on 50v range and the higher the range the worse they get.... Each range higher has a ± that is between 2% and 10% depending on the meter ---

Fluke is generally very accurate across all ranges but for the hobby person we seldom need that. Hoiki and several others make just as good a meter as Fluke does at a much smaller price typically.

 

[Muskoka]

Per my above posts, 2 decimal places is fine. Nowhere have I asked for 3 decimal places.

As per my pic above I'm currently only getting 1 decimal place, "53.3" v DC.

What I'm looking for is exactly what is shown in the other members pic, "63.05" v DC, 2 decimal places when measuring at 50v and above.

My Fluke, Greenlee, and Extech only display 1 decimal place at 50v +, regardless of chosen range.

As I stated earlier, I could just start buying meters until I got one that displays 2 decimal places in that voltage range. I was hoping to avoid having to do that.

 

[wpns]

I’ve been really happy with my:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08CX6VHWV

Kaiweets meter, 6000 counts, inrush, LoZ, all the measurements.

Note that it doesn’t meet your spec.

 

[Muskoka]

Note that it doesn’t meet your spec.

Thank you. That meter is actually sitting in my Amazon cart from a few days ago. I did ask the question on Amazons Canadian site whether it displayed 2 decimals around 50 v DC and never received a response, so I didn't go ahead with the purchase. I also couldn't find a pic showing 2 decimal places in that voltage range with that meter.

Thank you for confirming it for me with the picture, much appreciated.

 

[Muskoka]

I inquired about both the FNIRSI DMC-100 Digital clamp meter, and the KAIWEETS HT208D, on Amazon Canada. I heard back from both of them, they both claim to display 2 decimal places in the 50v DC range.

FNIRSI was the first to respond, so I ended up buying that clamp meter to see/test. It does in fact display 2 decimal places in the 50v DC range. It looks to be a nice meter, Youtube reviews look favorable at it's price point, which for me was $75.70 Canadian total.

Here's the response from KAIWEETS about the HT208D on Amazon, if anyone is interested.

"Hi,Thank you for your question.Yes, when measuring approximately 50 volts DC, the multimeter will use the 60V range, which provides a resolution of 0.01V. This means it will display the reading with two decimal places (e.g., 50.23V).If you have any further questions or need additional information, feel free to reach out anytime."

Here's a pic of the FNIRSI in action.

 

[Mattb4]

delete.

Sorry my mistake I missed you were looking for a clamp meter.

 

[wpns]

Here's the response from KAIWEETS about the HT208D on Amazon, if anyone is interested.

"Hi,Thank you for your question.Yes, when measuring approximately 50 volts DC, the multimeter will use the 60V range, which provides a resolution of 0.01V. This means it will display the reading with two decimal places (e.g., 50.23V).If you have any further questions or need additional information, feel free to reach out anytime."

Well, yes and no:


So for 48V-nominal LFP you are probably OK.

 

[Solar Guppy]

The specification you are interested is "counts" , a majority of meters are 6000, and going above this will move the decimal place and reduce from 100th's to 10th's the resolution in the range your interested in.

There are low cost options on amazon with higher counts, here is one with 10,000 counts with lots of other features for $49.99

 

[Muskoka]

The specification you are interested is "counts" , a majority of meters are 6000, and going above this will move the decimal place and reduce from 100th's to 10th's the resolution in the range your interested in.

There are low cost options on amazon with higher counts, here is one with 10,000 counts with lots of other features for $49.99

View attachment 304385

Per my post #11 above, posted this morning, that's the clamp meter I received today from Amazon Canada. I wish it was $49.99, not here in Canada unfortunately.

 

[Ottox]

Hioki 4373 does two decimal places up to 60V I believe

 

[Muskoka]

Hioki 4373 does two decimal places up to 60V I believe

For $600 it better do 2 decimal places, and a lot more.

 

[Ottox]

For $600 it better do 2 decimal places, and a lot more.

Oh I got mine on Amazon “used” aka new but damaged box for $150ish but it doesn’t have the Bluetooth. You can usually find it for less than the list price and much less than a comparable Fluke.

 

[JustFloyd]

It looks like you have a leading 0 in your reading which is taking up one of the display locations. If the leading 0 was not there you would have a space for the second digit after the decimal. Can you set your meter to 60V range and not auto?

 

[Sweet Tatorman]

I've got 2 multimeters, and a Clamp meter. Multimeters are Fluke and Greenlee, the Clamp is a Extech. They all take readings very close to each other, that's not the issue.

All 3 of them only display 1 decimal place when I'm reading DC voltage around 55 volts, regardless of where I have the range set on the meter. Down around 24v and lower they show 2 decimal places just fine.

Does anyone have, or can recommend a multimeter, that displays 2 decimal places above 50v DC. I really don't want to start buying meters, and then returning them because they don't.

Thank you for any recommendations.

I have a Richmeters model 101. It is a 6000 count meter so will display 2 digits past decimal at 60 volts. It performs well within it's accuracy specifications and is very inexpensive, around $30. I actually bought a second one for a friend as I was tired of being at his place and having him ask me to troubleshoot something electrical using his very sorry excuse for a DMM. I usually grab the Richmeters just to keep the wear and tear off of my Fluke 87 III which is over 20 y/o. The only downside to the Richmeters is they use a very odd fuse size which took awhile to find. I have never blown one but like to have spares at hand.

 

[Solar Guppy]

Just thought I would mention I just received from AliExpress the 10k count meter and it was only ~28 dollars delivered ( same as the Amazon one for 49.99 ) and it looks and works great, having a full screen and loads of features is a bonus.

 

[ChrisG]

Harbor Freight. Also does inrush.

 

[werepuppy]

Does anyone know if any of these work ok at relatively low DC currents? The hope is to measure leakage or parasatic drain by clamping around battery cable. The specs and descriptions are mostly unclear about this.

 

[wpns]

Does anyone know if any of these work ok at relatively low DC currents? The hope is to measure leakage or parasatic drain by clamping around battery cable. The specs and descriptions are mostly unclear about this.

Work? Yes.

Accurate? Not really.

I'll have to play with my 'not-very-bench-like-supply' and my Fluke DVM and see what my Kaweets says, but sometimes I have to open and close it a few times to get a zero reading with no wire passing through it. It does have a zero button, but then I don't think the accuracy is anywhere near the resolution. On the 600A Oops, 60A scale it reads between 0.23 and 0.07 amps with empty jaws depending on orientation.

So if you want to know if it's "around an amp" then you're good. If you're looking for 10mA accuracy, then maybe a clamp-on isn't your best tool.

 

[werepuppy]

Thanks. I see the Harbor Freight unit has a 60A range (had to look in pdf manual to find that). So with 6000 counts that's 10mA per count. Does that sound usable? I don't need highly accurate readings at the sub-100mA level but would like to be able to tell low current from zero or notice changes if possible. I figure that disconnecting a large battery cable is something to be avoided, because of possibility of shorting it, among other things.