Worlds simplest multimeter W\ teardown

[larrybl]

I picked this up because it was cute. Yea I wasted $5.00 but what the heck, it seems to work for my needs. Specifications are 2k-volt.

[Domagoj T]

That looks like my first multimeter, mine being beige.
Several years ago I wrapped it in bubble wrap to send it to Dave for the mailbag, but it ended up sitting on my shelf for a few weeks (or was it months). In that time somebody else (IIRC from somewhere in Africa) already sent him one. Never got around to actually send it.

Well, I found it...

[Ian.M]

At least yours doesn't have 1000V ranges!   

[Domagoj T]

You appear to have the same probes I do. I don't think 500V or 1000V makes much of a difference with them.
Anyway, I've just opened mine and there is a bit of a difference between the two units.
Yours appears to be one of them newfangled SMD jobs. This one is old school. They don't make them as they used to...

Since I had it opened, I popped in a battery and tested it. Something's wrong with it. I can't get it to measure a 56 ohm resistor. Turning the pots doesn't do anything.

EDIT:
The white dotted silkscreen on the back of the board matches the copper on the other side. I'm no CAT certification expert, but I don't think it would qualify even for the Chinese CE sticker.

[orolo]

Exactly these extremely cheap things are sold here as well. I have one or two in the junkbox for the pieces. The analog needle is cute, I put one in my first homebrew PSU. The case is ok for small projects, the right size for 18650 batteries.

The multimeter itself is utter junk. The probes fall apart if you look at them too hard. Precision is nonexistent. Didn't someone send one to Dave in the mailbag, long, long ago? Since these multimeters appear to be spread the whole world around, it could be an interesting project to make them just usable.