If you're worried you can scratch off a I and get a more realistic rating.
If I dindn't already have a Fluke 101, I would buy this thing
If it is possible to replace the fuse holders with something bigger, I will give it a go.
Dave,
products like this and an iffy economy are why, if I were you, I would not risk your future finances on the success of your meter, nomatter how good it is, we can never compete on price with the Chinese.. we shouldn't even try.
We have to work smarter, and make smarter products, not cheaper.
In other news: The sibling AN8002 survived longer than a Fluke 87V in joe's electrical robustness testing. There's no reason to think this will be different, the PCBs are almost identical.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/
While that is encouraging, that says little about safety.
If I dindn't already have a Fluke 101, I would buy this thing
What country are you from? Is there a law against owning both?
I bought one of these to use as a secondary meter to my old Fluke 27
(or primary, I can't promise which one will be used most in practice)
My advice for anybody who:
a) Wants to poke pieces of metal into mains sockets and distribution panels
and
b) Thinks a proper industrial meter is "too expensive"
is to get a Fluke 101. They're only $42, delivered. There's really no excuse.
Also: The multimeter is only a part of the equation. I'd prefer to use this meter on a distribution panel with gloves, face shield, hearing protection and a partner standing by with telephone in hand than a "safe" Fluke 87V without any of those things.
What is the cut off voltage. Can it be used with Ni-Mh?
I originally bought the Fluke 101 to always have a nice little meter with in my backpack and also the have a meter I can trust during holidays, where I can't acess the rest of my gear. Since I have that, I don't really see the need for another meter.
My point for ranting here is that when people casually mention modifying their meters to better the input protection they either have no idea what they are saying, have no idea what safety actually implies, but even worse they might give the casual reader the idea that modifying a multimeter is automatically a good thing and nothing could go wrong.
Someone with enough knowledge and a clever design can even make this $20, 99.8% safe without any issues.
And that doesn't need to be expensive.
So by just ranting that people don't have clue about safety is absolutely nonsense without any context.
Than I am simply gonna rant back
When people talk about modifying a multimeter to make its input protection "better", I cringe. You might be able to reliably improve the sensitivity of the meter to damage and failure. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the meter is safer for the user.
...
Joe has done many tests and his thread was originally something to with matching CAT ratings, but he has edited the title to remove this association and for good reason. Joe has also modified meters to make them, the meters themselves, survive HIS tests. His tests are not safety tests. They might have a some relation to the safety of a meter but that is not his goal nor should the results infer any safety level of the meters he tests. It is quite possible, even likely, that his modified UT61E will pass CATIII/600V without any problems, but it has not been tested under the requirements for that rating and that means it actually could be a bigger bomb in your hand under the wrong circumstances than the original.
My point for ranting here is that when people casually mention modifying their meters to better the input protection they either have no idea what they are saying, have no idea what safety actually implies, but even worse they might give the casual reader the idea that modifying a multimeter is automatically a good thing and nothing could go wrong.
.....
Sure, modifying is fun, can be useful, educational, and even money saving, but it cannot imply better safety. If you modify a meter, keep it on the bench and mark it as mentioned before. It should never be used on anything higher than CATII, maybe even CATI.
With me a lot of people in the field are getting extremely sick of all the ridiculous so called 'safety rules'.
You can write pages about how many years of experience you have and what kind of qualifications or certificates etc, but it all simply comes down to some general science knowledge.
.....
Btw, with all the respect, but I don't know who brainwashed people that 'you need approved safety facilities' to test safety.
Than you simply have fallen in the big marketing trap.
You forget the reason WHY these facilities exist, with the one and only reason: cover themselves in court.
Nothing more, nothing less. That doesn't mean that other ways aren't safe.
(in fact I know many so called 'safety regulations' in some countries that are absolutely forbidden in others)
Second to that, if safety is so important, why is it SO difficult and SO expensive to get these tests done, of to even get the basic documents?
These things should be open to the public.
All of this doesn't mean that there are people out there that make these type of meters, review a lot of meters or just have a very good understanding what potential dangerous there are and how to tackle them or are just smart people with enough knowledge/resources to find that out.
....
When people talk about modifying a multimeter to make its input protection "better", I cringe.
You might be able to reliably improve the sensitivity of the meter to damage and failure.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that the meter is safer for the user.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that the meter is safer for the user.BINGO!
. However, does the AN8002 have those ranges?
Sometimes I think some people would only be satisfied if every meter was Cat IV 1000V - and even then they would worry that somebody might pick it up and connect it to a lightning rod, in a storm, in Darwin, while standing in a puddle of salt water, naked, and surrounded by crocodiles. A Fluke would be fine in that scenario of course, patentend croc-repellant in the special yellow plastic I expect.
How many hours do people spend reading EEVBlog forum using a tablet connected to a mains charger... I wonder how well the average mains charger would fare when a 6000V impulse comes down the wire (Cat II 1000V), but we don't really give it a second thought.