Heads Up : Another Cheap Multimeter : Aldi UK (14/03/19)

[jack-daniels]

As there was quite a discussion on the cheap Lidl DMM here,

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/heads-up-cheap-multimeter-lidl-uk-(080218)/msg1420675/#msg1420675




(Which I bought and use all the time even though I own a EEVblog Brymen & several others!)


I thought I'd put a link to one available from Aldi (UK) from Thursday 14th March 19.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/workzone-multimeter/p/012320273025300



   "An LCD easy-to-read display
    Protective casing with stand
    Tests diode & continuity
    1.5V/9V battery testing
    With overload protection
    16 Functions
    Tests AC/DC voltage, DC current and resistance with overload protection
    Guarantee/Warranty 3 Years"


Looks similar to a previous Lidl one?



http://offers.kd2.org/en/gb/lidl/pbDLz/


Anyway, worth a look, can't have too many multimeters, right? 

[Heartbreaker]

Watch out, Lidl. This is Fluke territory.

[bd139]

LOL. I wouldn't pay a tenner for that Aldi one. Smells of DT830. CPC were selling DT830's with ceramic fuses and PTCs in them for £3 a while back!

[Fiveohfour]

LOL. I wouldn't pay a tenner for that Aldi one. Smells of DT830. CPC were selling DT830's with ceramic fuses and PTCs in them for £3 a while back!

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it? I’ve long been trying to determine who the main manufacturers of these multi meters and clamp meter is or that keep being “build a brand"'ed by Fly-by-night “instrument manufacturers “

Edit: I do realize that these Shenzhen-based companies for instance will allow you to basically custom motor a lot of meters more less made to your specifications but based on a reference design usually and displays a large part in why so many of the meters we see look identical more or less a few features and the aesthetic around me usually the differentiate them I’m curious just how deep the rabbit hole goes though for instance can you have a passable high-end device made from the same reference design but I think to use quality parts everywhere it’s an option or do you pretty much have to custom design your meter to have a high-end meter on the level of “approaching fluke territory “

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[bd139]

Absolutely no idea who makes them. I suspect many manufacturers. They seem to be loosely based around the same generic design.

[Fiveohfour]

Absolutely no idea who makes them. I suspect many manufacturers. They seem to be loosely based around the same generic design.

I’ve been wondering for a long time if uni- trend is one of the brands of the manufacturer who also makes devices for countless other brands or if they’re justOne of the largest/most recognizable/most successful examples of a company that’s simply ordering meters from a OEM

Very much a chicken and egg situation but at least from my memory the Uni-t UT-210E style clamp was the first of the 100 variants/brands of this meter, i’ve never been able to find out for sure though. anyhow thanks again.


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[bd139]

I know Uni-Trend make Tenma branded stuff and the bottom end GW Instek meters.

There's probably some massive Chinese factory churning out different variations of these in their thousands every day.

[Fungus]

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it?

Many, many different people. Everybody trying to make them even cheaper than all the others.

[bd139]

There are some premium ones out there as well although I somewhat question the sanity of bothering with that. I mean they're fine for what they are but don't try and glitter that brown smelly thing and sell it as something it's not.

[Gyro]

Aldi and Lidl stuff almost universally goes though testing at TÜV. I guess that means at least an honest CAT rating on the front panel - CAT III 250V from the look of it. It would be interesting to see what internal differences there are against the other variants.

[bd139]

I don’t believe that based on the dangerous nightmare one of their soldering stations I saw was.

[Gyro]

Go into the store and look at the back of the box of the item you're interested in. I say again, most items are TÜV tested [EDIT: and carry the GS mark in addition to the CE mark].  https://www.tuvsud.com/en/services/product-certification/gs-mark

[threephase]

Not 100% sure, but it may be a variant from all-sun

http://www.all-sun.com/EN/p.aspx?px=1

CEM and Mastech are also big into providing instruments for others, many of the Extech units are from CEM.

[HalFET]

Aldi and Lidl stuff almost universally goes though testing at TÜV. I guess that means at least an honest CAT rating on the front panel - CAT III 250V from the look of it. It would be interesting to see what internal differences there are against the other variants.

Don't be so sure about that, they'd bother to get it tested if they're legally responsible. But I thought the legal liability is with the importer? So if they bought a few pallets of these things from some European distributor and just relabelled it they're probably already covered... And Aldi's Work Force/Topcraft/... brand is usually rebadged stuff from other manufacturers anyway, like many of the power tools you find there are actually made by Einhell. (Incidently, Einhell sells spare parts for some of them. )

[jfiresto]

Aldi and Lidl stuff almost universally goes though testing at TÜV....

I am sure the ones they sell in Germany are well tested. If I didn't already have five, I would probably be buying another multimeter. They built a new Aldi a four minute walk from my flat and it is hard to resist temptation.

[bd139]

The one I was shown was a parkside unit and the strain relief broke in half due to being poorly moulded and it was dangling by one pole of the mains, the other floating around loose inside.  One tug away from electrocution.

It probably passed basic safety tests but the design is utter shit and dangerous.

[Ranayna]

I remember an Aldi or LIDL meter I bought years ago. Looked very much like the yellow one in the first post.
That bumper smelled so atrociously... Even after several years of light use, it still smelled. It's gone now, I do not remember the internals at all, sorry.

[Fungus]

Go into the store and look at the back of the box of the item you're interested in. I say again, most items are TÜV tested [EDIT: and carry the GS mark in addition to the CE mark].  https://www.tuvsud.com/en/services/product-certification/gs-mark

Yep. The LIDL meter in my video came with CAT III 300V certification (TUV/GS certification).

The one I was shown was a parkside unit and the strain relief broke in half due to being poorly moulded and it was dangling by one pole of the mains, the other floating around loose inside.  One tug away from electrocution.

It probably passed basic safety tests but the design is utter shit and dangerous.

a) If you're using a $15 multimeter in places where "electrocution" happens and you're not wearing gloves and inspecting your equipment regularly then it's your own problem. You're obviously not a trained electrician, you shouldn't be touching that stuff.

b) At least you're not using a DT830B.

[bd139]

I don’t know about that. My trained electrician is useless. I do it myself and get him to sign off anything notifiable.

I do agree with your $15 comment. Hence 87V here.

[Fungus]

87V here.

You're still supposed to wear gloves, etc. 

[HalFET]

I don’t know about that. My trained electrician is useless. I do it myself and get him to sign off anything notifiable.

I do agree with your $15 comment. Hence 87V here.

I saw a "trained electrician" forget that 11 kV might arc a little. I suspect he might finally be done with his skin transplants by now... 

Anyway, always use decent equipment on mains, remember folks, the decent meter costs less than the skin transplants and finger amputations!

DT830B is fine for working with 9V battery stuff though, I wish they brought out a version that (correctly) said it's only safe up to 30V.

[bd139]

Yes agree with electrical safety for certain ...

Got some screwfix £4 Uvex gloves. Also have appropriate eye protection, VDE tools, eye wash and first aid kit as well as a qualified first responder at home and live 30 seconds by car from the local ambulance station and 2 minutes from the local A&E 

The interesting thing about my sparky is his main skill is drinking tea, complaining about his wife and saying he remembers the old days (the 70s for him) when all you needed was some balls and an avo 

If I'm going to do something stupid I do it in style though 



(no i am not hands on here for ref)

[HalFET]

Yes agree with electrical safety for certain ...

Got some screwfix £4 Uvex gloves. Also have appropriate eye protection, VDE tools, eye wash and first aid kit as well as a qualified first responder at home and live 30 seconds by car from the local ambulance station and 2 minutes from the local A&E 

The interesting thing about my sparky is his main skill is drinking tea, complaining about his wife and saying he remembers the old days (the 70s for him) when all you needed was some balls and an avo 

If I'm going to do something stupid I do it in style though 



(no i am not hands on here for ref)

Hey now! Complaining about relatives and drinking tea are important company functions, imagine how much time he saves the rest of you by taking up those responsibilities! 

Though he probably survived the seventies due to the avo. You have two types of electricians from that era, the ones who had an avo and the ones who had a closed casket funeral...

I think I already reached my stupidity quota by having a plugged-in Matsusada HV power supply sitting under my desk.   I call it Pikachu 

[bd139]

As a contractor, I have to agree. The more we hang around the water cooler and bitch the less work we have to do for our dollarydoos.

Never thought of using an Avo in terms of survivor bias but you're probably right  . Incidentally my father had a particularly deadly Philips service analogue multimeter, because it was cheaper than an Avo I suspect, which had uninsulated 4mm jacks on the front. There were 5mm or so of exposed contacts which you could touch when changing range. While he was faffing inside stuff we'd regularly get told not to make him jump and not touch it or we'd go up in smoke. He's sitting there poking around with HT brushing the hairs on his hands. Again, he survived that only by luck I suspect.

I keep meaning to buy an HT supply but they usually slip between my fingers on ebay. Got a box of tubes/valves here and never use 'em!

[HalFET]

As a contractor, I have to agree. The more we hang around the water cooler and bitch the less work we have to do for our dollarydoos.

Never thought of using an Avo in terms of survivor bias but you're probably right  . Incidentally my father had a particularly deadly Philips service analogue multimeter, because it was cheaper than an Avo I suspect, which had uninsulated 4mm jacks on the front. There were 5mm or so of exposed contacts which you could touch when changing range. While he was faffing inside stuff we'd regularly get told not to make him jump and not touch it or we'd go up in smoke. He's sitting there poking around with HT brushing the hairs on his hands. Again, he survived that only by luck I suspect.

I keep meaning to buy an HT supply but they usually slip between my fingers on ebay. Got a box of tubes/valves here and never use 'em!

Clearly all white vans now need a water cooler in the back, just to "optimise" social interaction on the job site.

Yeah, they're notoriously hard to come by, I snatched mine up at a county court bailiff auction (well the local equivalent of it) by accident. Turns out you can earn cheap lab equipment by helping friends pack furniture in the back of a van.    The issue is then getting a suitable cable for it though, because Matsusada themselves are entirely useless, they either flat out refuse to sell you something or charge you a million pounds. But if you just need something to generate large bias voltages, these modules look kind a sweet: https://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/Matsusada-J4-3P-LXMH-High-Voltage-Power-Supply/233164994710

[rsjsouza]

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it?

Many, many different people. Everybody trying to make them even cheaper than all the others.

The original design that is being ripped off all around nowadays was from Mastech and it was named M830B. The thread below contains several instances and variants across the years.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/harbor-freight-cen-tech-90899-small-teardown/

[Fiveohfour]

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it?

Many, many different people. Everybody trying to make them even cheaper than all the others.

The original design that is being ripped off all around nowadays was from Mastech and it was named M830B. The thread below contains several instances and variants across the years.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/harbor-freight-cen-tech-90899-small-teardown/

Wow so Mastech is a real company with original designs? I was sure they must be a clone...Extech too? Surely not uni-t?

It’s strange because some designs/housings seem to be used by EVERYONE, like the little tiny clamps for low current ranges. It sure would be nice though to know who is an ODM, if they have a house brand or not, and who uses their design. As well as who “clones” designs but not up to the same quality standards etc.

The Mastech 8215 is a clamp that kind of fascinates me, simply because I don’t see a on of clones.

I thought Klein designed their own stuff but suspect they’re licensing designs as well. It’s quite overwhelming.


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[Fiveohfour]

Not 100% sure, but it may be a variant from all-sun

http://www.all-sun.com/EN/p.aspx?px=1

CEM and Mastech are also big into providing instruments for others, many of the Extech units are from CEM.

Extech has a design that’s shared with a few companies I noticed but wasn’t sure who was the original so to speak or if the housing was all that was shared or not.

Am I going crazy or is there a ton of Fluke knockoffs with a slightly different yellow?


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[rsjsouza]

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it?

Many, many different people. Everybody trying to make them even cheaper than all the others.

The original design that is being ripped off all around nowadays was from Mastech and it was named M830B. The thread below contains several instances and variants across the years.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/harbor-freight-cen-tech-90899-small-teardown/

Wow so Mastech is a real company with original designs? I was sure they must be a clone...Extech too? Surely not uni-t?

Uni-T is an original designer, just like Mastech, CEM, UEI, etc. Extech may have been in the past.

The Mastech 8215 is a clamp that kind of fascinates me, simply because I don’t see a on of clones.

The Mastech 8215 seems to be a very polished meter, with very basic features but not a clamp:
https://www.amazon.com/Mastech-MS8215-Multimeter-Capacitance-Resistance/dp/B00MDTC4XC

[Fiveohfour]

Pardon my ignorance but please enlighten me as to the DT 830 who manufactures it?

Many, many different people. Everybody trying to make them even cheaper than all the others.

The original design that is being ripped off all around nowadays was from Mastech and it was named M830B. The thread below contains several instances and variants across the years.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/harbor-freight-cen-tech-90899-small-teardown/

Wow so Mastech is a real company with original designs? I was sure they must be a clone...Extech too? Surely not uni-t?

Uni-T is an original designer, just like Mastech, CEM, UEI, etc. Extech may have been in the past.

The Mastech 8215 is a clamp that kind of fascinates me, simply because I don’t see a on of clones.

The Mastech 8215 seems to be a very polished meter, with very basic features but not a clamp:
https://www.amazon.com/Mastech-MS8215-Multimeter-Capacitance-Resistance/dp/B00MDTC4XC

Thanks. Yes you’re right I misspoke, I meant the 2115B. I had been looking at the 8050 bench meter and must’ve mixed the two. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F172756467313


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