Multimeter Thermocouples - are they all interchangable?

[petreza]

I am looking at a multimeter that has the capability to connect two thermocouples at the same time - Greenlee DM-860A. It comes with one thermocouple that has banana plugs and is rated up to 200°C, which is too low. I want to buy a second thermocouple that goes higher, maybe 500°C. So far I have seen K-Type thermocouples that come with banana plug adapters and some that don't but I see that banana plug adapters could be purchased separately.

Are all K-Type thermocouples compatible with all temp-capable multimeters?
Are the ones that go to banana plug directly substantially more accurate or is it marginal?
Any brand that you recommend?
Is the 200°C probe more accurate in its range than the 500°C probe?

Thanks!

[tszaboo]

It is two (defined) metals welded together, with different insulation, maybe different kind of plastic used for a standard connector, maybe different lengths.

[Jay_Diddy_B]

Hi,

To the OP, you might want to look for something like a Fluke 51/52. This is a dedicated thermocouple thermometer. The 51 has a single input. The 52 has two inputs.

Jay_Diddy_B

[Lightages]

You might also look at the Brymen BM869 which s the original meter that Greenlee rebrands and charges much more. The M869 can be purchased from our friend here, iloveelectronics, on his ebay store http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM869-Digital-Multimeter-500-000-count-Dual-Temp-AC-DC-TRMS-PC-Logging-/171189631344?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27dbb27970 or by contacting him directly through a PM here. He also has the BM525 which has is lower accuracy but will do internal logging if you prefer http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-BM525-Digital-Multimeter-Internal-Logging-Dual-Display-Temp-AC-DC-TRMS-/171151111418?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d966b4fa .

A company in Poland can also sell these meters http://www.tme.eu and they will ship to the US.

Either of these two options will save you money over the Greenelee rebrand.

And to answer the original question; A K type thermocouple is the same as any other. The only differences will be n probe shape and ,like any other thing, quality.

[ace3838]

No, the sensor has to match the readout. You could always just buy a thermocouple and read the Milli volt output and look up on a chart what temperature it relates too. go to omega engineering.

[Jon Chandler]

If the replacement is the same type as the original (I.e., J type, K type, etc) it should work fine.  There are various tolerance ranges available depending on the purity of the metals used.

[nanofrog]

Are the ones that go to banana plug directly substantially more accurate or is it marginal?
Any brand that you recommend?

The connector on the end won't matter.

Some do use better materials, which make them a bit more accurate. Costs more of course, and not your typical cheapies from eBay. You'd want to go to omega if you need one of the more accurate types for your meter (usually K, but some can also accommodate others, such as J types).

If you buy a thermocouple with a mini connector on the end, there's an adapter available (mini K female to male banana).

[Wytnucls]

Some meters don't accept thermocouple probes at all. The Gossen MetraHit 26S for instance, only works with more accurate Pt100 or Pt1000 platinum temperature sensors.

http://www.omega.co.uk/prodinfo/RTD.html