Good multimeter for an Industrial Tech

[tszaboo]

In industrial electricity and power electronics, NEVER use a multimeter to measure current....that's a basic rule of safety !
Use a clamp instead.

But then again. There are cases, when you want to measure mAs with an industrial meter. One example is to check, if a current transformer is installed correctly or not. The other to check, if a 4-20mA communication system is good or not. Or to check GFI relays.

That being said, I think the Fluke 117 is probably the best meter for this kind of job. It is small, lightweight, easy to operate the knob, has a magnetic strap mount, large screen without mess, the new ones have no contact voltage. And it is cheap for what it does.

[all_repair]

Fluke
RMS
Simplest possible
One hand operationable
If you think you may loose it in the field, get the lowest cost.

Your next meter, you may consider one with bluetooth enabled, or/and with scope display for you to see the waveform.

[oldway]

There are cases, when you want to measure mAs with an industrial meter. One example is to check, if a current transformer is installed correctly or not. The other to check, if a 4-20mA communication system is good or not. Or to check GFI relays.

This is more "automation and process " than electricity or power electronics.
There are "processmeter" for this application like the Fluke 787.

[Electro Detective]

I'm not a fan of using an 'All In One' meter in OPs situation   
"employed as an industrial maintenance and repair tech and find myself in need of a better, and more importantly safer meter."

Separate meters is 'SAFER METER' ferried about in a wheelie tool bag or back pack thingie or pimped up personal tool belt

Separate meters means less fiddling with switches and leads, less menu BS, less thinking,
less OOPS!    money wasted on blown gear, blown meter, blown appendages etc

and less time your clients, employer, family and friends waste, attending hospital and or funeral etc 


OTOH: if you like a bit of russian roulette on the job to reduce the boredom, or your phone can't receive the latest thrilling EEVblog video on Youtube and or your favorite p0rn site please ignore the above   

[kleblanc]

A Fluke 375 (600 amps) or 376 (1000 amps) should cover you for 95% of industrial usage.  The Fluke 87V is good for measuring frequency of VFD drives and inverters with the Low Pass filter

I have both the 375 and 87V Fluke and use those for work. I grab the 375 and it does the job most the time. I use the 87V for the accuracy on analog controls.

I also have the Flir CM85 that stays at home. It's a good meter with Bluetooth but I find myself messing around with all the function keys and start getting frustrating with to many options.

Fluke, Flir, Keysight, and Brymen would be  the brands I would stick to for industrial work. There is other good meters but I'm assuming your in the USA. Flukes are built well and have great reliability. They always never seem to maintain their accuracy went they are sent in for calibration.

[Muttley Snickers]

You could probably get away with a Fluke 174 and whilst about it do a review on it for the rest of us.   

The Fluke 174 Thread.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-174/

[Electro Detective]

And keep away from Fuke and Fuxing meters, and especially  'giveaways'  bundled with tool purchases   

unless you need some cheap car wheel chocs that look bling and techy    

[tooki]

Hey all, I am currently employed as an industrial maintenance and repair tech and find myself in need of a better, and more importantly safer meter. There is the obvious Fluke 87-V

I wouldn't say Fluke87V is the best for your job. The 87V is for electronics engineers - you don't need 0.05% accuracy when looking at big motors, you don't need to measure capacitance. You probably don't even need amps (and if you do, you'll be using a clamp because the 87V can't measure that many amps).

Fluke makes meters for industrial electricians as well as electronics engineers, eg. Fluke 117 (which also has non-contact voltage detector).

Though I agree that an 87V may not be the right choice for every situation, and indeed for a lot of industrial use a clamp meter may make more sense, but saying that the 87V is not industrial, that it's an electronics engineer meter, is patently absurd. Everything about it is optimized for industrial, not EE, use.

Surely you've picked up on how many people here wish you could get the 87V to default to DC current -- nope, it defaults to AC. Its capacitance range is very much geared towards the larger caps you get in large circuits, it doesn't cover the small capacitances often used in electronics. It has things like a low-pass filter specifically for industrial use. Proper CAT ratings, etc etc etc. It's specifically marketed as an industrial meter.

[Z80]

but saying that the 87V is not industrial, that it's an electronics engineer meter, is patently absurd

Absolutely and Fluke agrees with you.

[Jeroen3]

Today I discovered a 87 V is waterproof! Someone tossed their toolbox in in the ocean. Everything wet.
The 1507 board had several copper traces, component pins and via's dissolved. (in hours)
The 87 was perfectly dry and in working order. 

[Electro Detective]

More likely the 1507 had battery leakage issues all over the board from way back, and the salt water got the rap

A few more hours and that 87V would have gone the way of the Titanic.. It's not waterproof! unless in a sealed airtight sandwich bag

Fluke 28-11 might fare better, but ocean water has a way of winning eventually, one way or the other 

I'd like to see that 87V opened up,

bet there's some drama lurking in there somewhere   

[Jeroen3]

I opened up the 1507, the battery spring terminals were all green, including everything that was connected to + terminal. (Galvanic corrosion?)
Several component pins were corroded until they disconnected.

Opened up the 87V. Nothing. No water, no corrosion on the inside. Only the outside was dirty. 
It's not like it was submerged "hours". The 1507 probably got some water inside, which stayed inside.

TL;DR: get a meter that is somewhat waterproof.

[Electro Detective]

Lucky on that 87V that the dust sealing held up   

From owner experience, my money is still on the 1507 that it had AA battery corrosion issues before it went -scuba diving- 

[Dave Rich]

Fluke 117 is a good choice.

[shteii01]

Well.  I am back from the job.

The scope of the job. 
Remove 4-5 meters long section of conveyor.  Remove several servo drivers from the panel. 
Install new section of conveyor.  Install several VFD on the panel.
Some other odds and bits of work on the panel.

Not a single current measurement was taken while we worked.  Spent about 12 hours on Saturday (that includes helping our mechanical guys to remove old conveyor and install the new conveyor, and do the actual electrical work).  Spent another 6 hours on Sunday finishing up electrical work and troubleshooting electrical/PLC issues.

The only really important electrical safety element was to make sure that the panel did not receive power from anywhere.  No contact voltage detector would have been nice, but we did not have any issues anyway. 

[Kryoclasm]

I prefer the 87V for my hobby work.

At work where we are not building electronics, just general troubleshooting on power panels, control circuits and 3 phase motors, we us the Fluke T1000. It has an integrated clamp-less amp probe, also a built in proximity high voltage sensor.
The probe tips are replaceable or you can add exertions or alligator clips, whatever.

Here is the link: [size=78%]http://en-us.fluke.com/products/electrical-testers/fluke-t5-1000-electrical-tester.html[/size]

[AllTheGearNoIdea]

I recommend any reputable brand that you can afford to loose or smash when it falls off the ladder. This combined with a  reputable dead tester. I trust fluke and Gosawhatevermetrixetc. Depending on the work I would make the dead tester the priority.

Allthegearnoidea

[AllTheGearNoIdea]

Thumbs up for the T1000 used these for years. Fits into pocket nicely and the ability to hold one of the probes in the meter body is better than growing and extra arm. Mind you an extra arm would obviously be nice too, but then again I have other body parts wouldn't mind replicating. I can think of an extra pair that Would be useful when the wife catches me sneaking in the next bit of test gear into the house.

I prefer the 87V for my hobby work.

At work where we are not building electronics, just general troubleshooting on power panels, control circuits and 3 phase motors, we us the Fluke T1000. It has an integrated clamp-less amp probe, also a built in proximity high voltage sensor.
The probe tips are replaceable or you can add exertions or alligator clips, whatever.

Here is the link: [size=78%]http://en-us.fluke.com/products/electrical-testers/fluke-t5-1000-electrical-tester.html[/size]