Products > Test Equipment
Is CAT II a useful rating for a multimeter?
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EEVblog:

--- Quote from: Fungus on April 26, 2023, 11:46:45 am ---
--- Quote from: Gyro on April 26, 2023, 11:33:36 am ---It's a shame they put the uA range on the voltage input jack.

--- End quote ---
It doesn't have amps so maybe it's only "uA" for flame sensor testing, like the Fluke 116.
ie. No fuse and chunky internal protection on that range.

--- End quote ---

Yep, no fuse needed. Well, they probably use a chunky fusible resistor followed by big MOVs.
EEVblog:

--- Quote from: Fungus on April 26, 2023, 11:56:01 am ---
--- Quote from: EEVblog on April 26, 2023, 11:22:31 am ---That brings up a the question, what is the safest/bested meter on the market?

--- End quote ---

If I had to choose a Fluke for poking around industrial things I'd probably go for the Fluke 113.
CAT IV 600V, only two input jacks, only two dial positions, mostly automatic function selection.

--- End quote ---

Yeah, if I was an electrician that's what I'd carry.
xrunner:

--- Quote from: Fungus on April 26, 2023, 08:41:54 am ---So, given that:
a) There's basically no difference in price between a CAT II multimeter and a CAT III multimeter.
b) You can't tell what rating a mains socket is just by looking at it so you have to assume it's CAT III.

What use is CAT II when you're looking to buy a multimeter? Shouldn't you just go for CAT III and be done with it?

To me CAT II marking just seems to say "Don't buy me, get a CAT III meter instead!"

nb. I'm not arguing that there shouldn't be a difference between CAT II and CAT III safety precautions and procedures, eg. use of PPE in CAT III environments. Maybe that should be separated out from the markings on test gear.

--- End quote ---

I'm brushing up on this stuff myself, hadn't thought about it for a while. As I understand it, between CAT II and Cat III, after the breaker, there is nothing but wiring (am I wrong?). Yet you could have some outlet strips (extending the CAT II scenario from the outlet by a few feet) with surge protection so it's not that simple from another point of view. Maybe it is simpler to just use CAT III for everything up to the device power input connection.  |O
EEVblog:
Uni-T make a 1700V meter, but it's only CAT IV 600V
https://meters.uni-trend.com/product/ut196/

and the UT892 for 2000V
https://meters.uni-trend.com/product/ut892/



Inside: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-uni-t-ut892-2000v-acdc-high-voltage-multimeter/msg4404907/#msg4404907
madires:
Alternative: Benning has some nice DMMs for sparkies and industrial applications. IIRC, my Duspol (not a DMM) is CAT IV 1000V.
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