Flir Branded Meters

[bpan]

I have just purchased a Flir CM85-2 clamp meter, which is on backorder. I would like to check them out for myself, but in the meantime I'm wondering what you guys think of them in general.

Are they rebrands? Quality issues?

The meters I was looking at were the FLIR CM85-2 (on order), and the Fluke 376FC. If I don't like the Flir, I will return it and buy the Fluke. OR maybe someone has a better alternative?

[mwb1100]

At least one of the meters is a Brymen rebrand: Flir DM64 == Brymen BM235.

As far as I can tell the differences are only cosmetic.  The DM64 was $50 USD shipped to the USA from flir.com (this price has been in effect since at least the beginning of May).  They were backordered and it took 3 or 4 weeks (I can't remember) to get it.  But that price is a steal.

I prefer the look/feel of the Brymen, but like I said that's entirely cosmetic.

The Flir comes with nice silicone leads.  I can't remember if the Brymen BM235 came with PVC leads, but I think it did.  The leads included with the EEVBlog branded BM235 are the very nice Brymen silicone leads.

Note that Flir documents a lower CAT rating and fuses than the BM235.  However the fuses that came in mine were the same rating as in the Brymen BM235 I have.  As far as CAT rating goes, I don't know if there's any actual difference or if it's a matter of what Flir wants to pay for certifying/guaranteeing.  Also some areas of Flir's website might still say the DM64 has a lifetime warranty, but that's not correct anymore - the warranty is 3 years (which is better than Brymen's 1 year warranty, and if you're in the USA probably much easier to get handled).

As a side note, Flir also has a DM66 model multimeter which costs significantly more than the DM64 ($110 more with the $50 sale price on the DM64) but as far as I can tell the only difference between the two models is that the DM66 comes with alligator clips that slip onto the ends of the probes.  The meter itself is identical.

[bpan]

Thanks for the awesome response, that looks like a great meter at a reasonable price for sure! I'm glad to see they have chose to use a quality meter as the base for their DM64. I do actually like the look of the Flir over the Bremen personally.

[J-R]

Teledyne Flir / Extech for sure has an eclectic mix of rebranding, in-house and acquisition cross-pollination going on.

Some additional specific rebrands I've noticed recently:
Extech MA145 - Amprobe AMP-25
Extech MA63/MA61 - Uni-T UT210x
Extech MS420 - Owon HDS1022M-N

Internal cross-pollination:
Extech IRC130 Thermal imager - Flir TG series

Due to this sale Flir has been having, I did pick up the DM166 and the DM93.
The DM166 is plenty of fun with its color screen, built-in thermal camera and laser pointer.  You can see Min/Max/Avg all at the same time along with the current reading. The test leads seem identical to what you get from Brymen.
The DM93 has some interesting design choices such as the tiny options icon menu at the bottom of the screen.  Oddly, it remembers some settings but not others.  Runs on 6xAAA batteries.  No carrying case included.  My first one had a flaky button, so I returned it and am awaiting the replacement.

My summary judgement on Flir products is that the pricing is a bit higher than what you might expect, but that is primarily due to the warranty coverage and support.  I had no issues reaching a live person via phone and e-mail.  The quality of the products seems reasonable (I also have the Flir TG267).

With regard to Extech, I would say generally it seems like their budget branding so you probably will see hits and misses depending.

[J-R]

Flir took back the DM93, no issues there, got another one and while the buttons work fine, the accuracy is perhaps less than ideal for a 40,000 count DMM.  I can see why the default is 4,000 counts.  It meets spec, but some ranges are just barely within tolerance despite this being new and recently manufactured (approximately 10-20 counts high or low at the top of the range, depending).  They want $300 to have it NIST calibrated and they will not give out the calibration procedure.

Otherwise, the DMM is OK, and the dual display is nice for MIN/MAX/AVG functions if that is something you need.  As some Youtube reviews have pointed out, if you take it out of full Auto AC/DC mode, the display updates VERY quickly and that is unique in my opinion.

These are on sale direct from Flir or via their ebay store for $150.  It's totally worth it IMHO if you need something this offers.

Support was nice, they were willing to replace the DMM again if I wanted to try that.  I'm probably going to keep it.

It works reasonably well with Eneloop AAAs, but it displays 2/3 on the battery gauge right out of the charger, so not perfect.