Help! Total beginner- Just recieved my new UNI-T multimeter and I've killed it

[Sorry State]

I'm a real beginner. I treated myself to a UNI-T UT61D (as reviewed in the $100 test). So I started using it, I tested a 9V battery for Volts and Amps and that worked fine. Then I thought I'd test an agricultural eclectic fence. At first I had the red and black cables on the same piece of eclectic fence wire no great result so then I kept one cable on the electric fence and I touched the other cable to a non-electrified metal sheep wire fence under the eclectic fence. 

There was a slight click from the arc of the electric fence being short circuited (which is normal if you touch the fence with anything that will conduct.) Except the Multimeter has gone dead.

In the manual it has a way of testing to check if the fuses are blown, except it requires the display to work. But mine is just dead.

Could an electric fence really kill a Cat III 1000v multimeter? I am so p*ssed off right now.
Any help appreciated

[Time]

aren't electric fences on the order of 10,000 V?

[DJPhil]

I haven't heard of a fence lower than 2kV, and that was a tiny unit meant to wire 30 feet of flower patch to keep dogs out. The farms around here that I've been to use 10kV fences for livestock fencing.
It's most likely your fuse, but the voltage is high enough that it may have arced across traces in the case. Even if the fuse is toast the meter should power up. I'd pull the fuses and the leads out, swap the battery, and see if it turns on. If not I'd suspect that the voltage arced inside and fried something sensitive. Is it still under warranty?

I wish you luck.

[Kiriakos-GR]

That's a crazy story ... that's how it sounds to me at list ...

You should pay a visit at the Nearest Church, light up about 50 candles , and Glory the Lord ..

This multimeter saved your life ... keep it as souvenir for ever.

There is special tools for voltages above the 1000V mark.
They called as High voltage probes.

Now you know ...  
 

[Mechatrommer]

so whats the verdict on the Uni-T? should a descent meter survive this? should we ask Dave to re-test Fluke beyond its limit? if the fence is 10KV, then thats a 10 times abuse test... wait...
i re-watched my saved Dave's 4KV DMM Blow. I'm not sure how much energy the fence got. But by right, there is possibility of DMM explosion. Luckily your just went dead silently.
opening the case and post the picture here to see whats happened inside will interests me.

[Strube09]

Yep,

If you don't have warranty (bought it used) then it is time to open it up!

[dds]

I am so p*ssed off right now.
Any help appreciated

You should write email to factory and thank them for a good product

[Kiriakos-GR]

so whats the verdict on the Uni-T?

Died like a hero ..  

should a descent meter survive this?

The guinness world records, does not know any common DMM that passed this test  

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/search/default.aspx?q=multimeter

[Time]

Just to clear some things up:

Electric fences aren't meant to kill you.  High voltage will sting like hell but not really cause any damage if there isn't much current behind it.  Its high voltage DC that you should fear.  Imagine a mile of electric fence charged to 30 kV DC.  Just the thought of that scares the day lights out of me.  There would just be dead animals strewn about that length of fence.  If someone comes along and touches their leg between the 'electrode' wires, the stray parasitic capacitance alone would be enough to deliver a burst of charge that could very well blow your leg off.  Whats on electric fence lines are short HV pulses that come every second or so. The meter didn't protect him because there wasn't anything to be protected from.  He should thank the electric fence company for making a fence thats not going to cook his unsuspecting dogs or livestock.


I have seen cows that have desensitized themselves to shock lean on extremely strong agricultural electrical fences with no problems.

[Mechatrommer]

If you don't have warranty (bought it used) then it is time to open it up!

even if its new. i think he broke the warranty already by violating the rules and regulation, to operate the DMM within its limit.

[Kiriakos-GR]

If you don't have warranty (bought it used) then it is time to open it up!

even if its new. i think he broke the warranty already by violating the rules and regulation, to operate the DMM within its limit.

Totally agree ..

Silicone IC's does not respond as cows does ..


.

[Sorry State]

Wow, you guys reply quickly.

You can touch the fence with your hand and it gives a nasty little sting but its nowhere near dangerous.

I opened up the unit and temporarily replaced the 1A fuse with a 5A and the 10A with a 13A (its all I have at the moment) and a new battery but there was no signs of life.

There is no sign of damage inside, from what I can see.

I can't believe a simple agricultural electric fence could kill a multimeter. I'm astonished...astonished.

I'm going off somewhere quiet to cry.

[Kiriakos-GR]

I can't believe a simple agricultural electric fence could kill a multimeter. I'm astonished...astonished.

There is nothing simple to it ... you should had ask any older near by , so to take some advice !!
  

I'm going off somewhere quiet to cry.

There is no need for that ...  

We all have kill our first multimeter ...  
I bet that the second will live for ever ...
And If you get the same model , you will have some spare parts too.
Extra display and  housing plus leads , from the dead one ..  

[Bored@Work]

So I started using it, I tested a 9V battery for ... Amps and that worked fine.

I call bullshit.

[Sorry State]

So I started using it, I tested a 9V battery for ... Amps and that worked fine.

I call bullshit.

Explain?

[Mechatrommer]

So I started using it, I tested a 9V battery for ... Amps and that worked fine.

I call bullshit.

when reading that line, i thought that was what killing the DMM. yea! bullshit. how do you measure 9V in amp? thats how i kill my 1st MM

edited: ammendment pls... there is possibility today's DMM can accept excess current (given that non excess voltage). mine was analog cheapy and killed by car's battery, not 9V. after 2 posts below, 4Amp max for 9V, then its may not be bullshit i think sorry!

[allanw]

It's just measuring the short circuit current of the battery. Nothing fishy about that...

[JohnS_AZ]

I don't know. I read somewhere that a dead short across a new alkaline 9V battery can provide around 4 amps, albeit for a very short amount of time. I presume a used 9V would be far far less. His meter MIGHT autorange to accept it. I know that my trusty olf Fluke 77 wouldn't on the low current scale (300ma).

[Sorry State]

I don't know what the "bullshit" remark was for. As it says in the Subject headline I'm a total beginner. I touched the two probes to the terminals of the 9V battery and select Volts and then selected amps. I had to mess around with a couple cable position but I got a reading. Is that impossible? Wheres the conspiracy in that?

[allanw]

Right, it's not the best thing to try on the fused low current amp jack, but there's nothing wrong with trying it on the amps jack. It doesn't really have anything to do with how the multimeter died when applied to high voltage.

edit: to shafri's edit: a car battery is designed to provide a humongous amount of "cold cranking" current. Something like 500A+. A short across the battery will definitely kill whatever you used to short it with.

[Mechatrommer]

my last post ammended, sorry for my "premature thinking"

[saturation]

Sorry to read, Sorry State, as a last resort you might be able to return it to the vendor or maker for a warranty replacement, and say its just died.  Good luck!  You've nothing to lose.  I presume its brand new and still under full warranty.

I'm a real beginner. I treated myself to a UNI-T UT61D (as reviewed in the $100 test). So I started using it, I tested a 9V battery for Volts and Amps and that worked fine. Then I thought I'd test an agricultural eclectic fence. At first I had the red and black cables on the same piece of eclectic fence wire no great result so then I kept one cable on the electric fence and I touched the other cable to a non-electrified metal sheep wire fence under the eclectic fence. 

There was a slight click from the arc of the electric fence being short circuited (which is normal if you touch the fence with anything that will conduct.) Except the Multimeter has gone dead.

In the manual it has a way of testing to check if the fuses are blown, except it requires the display to work. But mine is just dead.

Could an electric fence really kill a Cat III 1000v multimeter? I am so p*ssed off right now.
Any help appreciated

[Bored@Work]

I don't know what the "bullshit" remark was for.

For lying to us (telling us bullshit, making up a story, also known as trolling). Or you are doing bullshit so carelessly that you should be lucky to be alive. Then consider the broken meter to be kind of an idiot tax you paid for being careless and giving a dam about what you are doing. And don't get me started on replacing the fuses with stronger ones. Really ...

Finally, don't give me that shit about being a beginner. This is no excuse for being stupid or for lying to us.

[Strube09]

Calm down boredatwork... what is so unbelievable about what he said? Seems a bit rude to be discouraging people from the forum or the world of electronics.

You can short a 9V battery across a current shunt... probably didn't get more than a few amps anyways... at most he might have blown the fuse... but as he said it didn’t die until he used it on the fence which is very likely is what killed it.

Strube

[Sorry State]

I don't know what the "bullshit" remark was for.

For lying to us (telling us bullshit, making up a story, also known as trolling). Or you are doing bullshit so carelessly that you should be lucky to be alive. Then consider the broken meter to be kind of an idiot tax you paid for being careless and giving a dam about what you are doing. And don't get me started on replacing the fuses with stronger ones. Really ...

Finally, don't give me that shit about being a beginner. This is no excuse for being stupid or for lying to us.

(1) How am I lying to you? Why would any one make this up to 'troll'
(2) How is testing a 9v battery for voltage and amps so careless that I should be lucky to be alive
(3) How is testing an agricultural electric fence for voltage  so careless that I should be lucky to be alive. I've been touching that electric fence since I was a kid
(4) I just put the stronger fuses in to see if I could get the display to come alive... like I said they were temporary.

Me Stupid? I think my efforts today prove that. Lying to you? No

But thanks for your help. Appreciate it