Review: Uni-T UT136B, Tired of the multimeter snobs? A very nice budget meter!

[RissViss]

Where is a good place to purchase the UT136B and UT61E and have shipped to Canada. I have looked on Aliexpress ebay and amazon, was wondering if there are places with better prices or places to stay away from?
Thanks
Have a day

[SkyMaster]

I guess it is possible for someone to want to counterfeit a Uni-T. Anything is possible in China. It is also possible that Uni-T made a change to the meter but that seems illogical. The UT139 series is no longer listed on their website. Weird.

The UT136 series is not shown on the English Uni-T website, but it is still on the Chinese Uni-T website - http://www.uni-trend.com.cn/searchlist.aspx?submit.x=24&submit.y=20&KeyWord=136

The pictures are showing "Hold" buttons.

[Malefoda]

The UT136C just arrived!
...
- (03 March 2014) Arrived 5mV out of calibration.  Fixed with adjustment of VR1 pot.

Hi fellows,
anyone with the trimpots assignment? The temp is way off and I want to get in in the ballpark of my Fluke 179 and other stuff I got here.
Thanks!

[osteichthyes]

Just wanted to chime in, this looks almost identical to the GW Instek GDM-350B, but that is manual ranging, and it has a power button. Everything else looks identical. I actually really like  it, I leave it connected to a DC supply, and just leave it in the 20VDC range, the power button makes it super easy. And, it was $8 when it was discontinued!

[rsjsouza]

A bit of necroposting... Uni-T re-cooked the UT136 and is now selling its "improved" UT136B+ and UT136C+ versions on a larger size, claiming it is 2m drop tested and with a transistor tester.

http://www.uni-trend.com/productsdetail_2468_1535_1535.html

Oh well... Until one is opened up and tore down, I will hold my recommendations for this meter, though. 

[001]

A bit of necroposting... Uni-T re-cooked the UT136 and is now selling its "improved" UT136B+ and UT136C+ versions on a larger size, claiming it is 2m drop tested and with a transistor tester.

http://www.uni-trend.com/productsdetail_2468_1535_1535.html

Oh well... Until one is opened up and tore down, I will hold my recommendations for this meter, though. 

No
It is totally new units 

[rafunky]

Hi there!
 i´m willing to buy my first multimeter, for now, safe dmm´s are out of my money range, e. g. Fluke, Agilent, Brymen, etc. Especially because i live in Argentina and usually things cost twice the price one sees on ebay...
So, being that importation procedures are a mysterie since we are changing president and party, i was willing to pick a uni-t since they are readily avaible here (only alternative i found here is astroai dt-132a). I can get UT136B, UT136B+ or UT136C+ (From lower to higher price). The question is: wich would you people recommend? I don´t think temperature nor HFE testing would be that important for me, but, essentially, i´m not really sure about the difference between the originals and their plus counterparts and couldn´t find any info online. I did find however the UT136B+ TEARDOWN here:



Also a little bit expensier i ve seen  UT890C wich is Trms but a little off topic...

Wich would you recommend as a first meter? or should i just buy some generic DMM and save my money for something else?
Thanks in advance,
Regards!

[TurboTom]

If buying from AliExpress is an option for you, you may search there for "Zeast 282" which is a quite well equipped multimeter based on the ubiquitious Hycontec HY12P65 chip (the same as all the ANENGs utilize). To provide the 4.5 Digits, secondary display and bargraph, there is a supportive display driver chip.

The accuracy of the instrument is very good but as with all similar meters, the safety rating is a plain lie. Anyway, for a meter basically used on the electronics workbench (or as a second or third or spare...), it's very good value for the money (currently 17EUR shipped -- I don't know the import expenses you've got to spend to get them into Argentina, in Europe usually these small orders just "slip through"  ).

Cheers and good luck!

[rsjsouza]

i´m willing to buy my first multimeter, for now, safe dmm´s are out of my money range, e. g. Fluke, Agilent, Brymen, etc. Especially because i live in Argentina and usually things cost twice the price one sees on ebay...

If you are interested in safety, the UT139C is a well built meter for quite a reasonable price (and True RMS). There are a few variants out there, but usually the meter itself is not that expensive. If you can import from Brasil at zero taxes, compare the Aliexpress/Banggood prices (with tax) to Minipa ET-1649 (same meters).

I did a review (in portuguese) at:
https://youtu.be/NvBGcvpxcSc

So, being that importation procedures are a mysterie since we are changing president and party,

My condolences. Having family in BsAs, I follow politics quite closely.

i was willing to pick a uni-t since they are readily avaible here (only alternative i found here is astroai dt-132a). I can get UT136B, UT136B+ or UT136C+ (From lower to higher price). The question is: wich would you people recommend? I don´t think temperature nor HFE testing would be that important for me, but, essentially, i´m not really sure about the difference between the originals and their plus counterparts and couldn´t find any info online. I did find however the UT136B+ TEARDOWN here:

Thanks for sharing the video. I have a UT136C (with temp) and it is a very compact and well built meter. It is also silent, which for me is a big plus (Uni-T insists in beeping at power on and at every change of range). However, from the video I can tell the "plus" variant has better input protection. As with everything else, it boils down to price.

I personally dislike the transistor checker in a multimeter and, if this is important for you, I would save for one of the cheap component testers on Aliexpress/Banggood. Dave did a review at video 1020.
https://youtu.be/7Br3L1B80ow

Also a little bit expensier i ve seen  UT890C wich is Trms but a little off topic...

This one is manual range and TurboTom's suggestion seems to be much better suited for that - I think this meter is also sold as Aneng AN870. The UT139C to me also seems to be a better choice.

Wich would you recommend as a first meter? or should i just buy some generic DMM and save my money for something else?

I would definitely recommend the DMMs that are cheaper at this stage in your path to electronics. Fortunately the options are much reduced in price with still a good quality when compared to decades ago.

[rafunky]

Thanks both of you for your recomendations! 
importing is out of the scope since i would probably get the dmm in 2021 that way. Found what it seems to be an aneng870 with other brand on it at the same money range of 136b, so i´m gonna have to decide between those two.
Saw your nice video rsjsousa  , and ut139c seems really solid but sadly those are sold over 100US here. Anyways, the 136C seemed quite good for the price, and i'm with you, its really annoying when the thing beeps just for switching the dial.
For anyone interested, the person who uploaded the video i shared told:
 
"Back when I went to buy this (plus version) the seller showed me the 136b and it felt very sturdy and the range selector felt very snappy compared to 136b+, and also the build quality felt better too.. but I didn't buy that because of the 9v battery. This one has a long battery life, it's been running on the same pair of alkaline batteries since purchase."

Thanks again and best of luck!

[rsjsouza]

Thanks both of you for your recomendations! 
importing is out of the scope since i would probably get the dmm in 2021 that way. Found what it seems to be an aneng870 with other brand on it at the same money range of 136b, so i´m gonna have to decide between those two.

Just beware of an "AN870-like". I reviewed a very similar meter (Surpeer AV4, similar in specs and look) and it was an unfinished product with frustrating limitations. Make sure you are able to test it and see if less used functions such as min/max, relative speed of bargraph (if it has one), etc. work well.

Saw your nice video rsjsousa  , and ut139c seems really solid but sadly those are sold over 100US here. Anyways, the 136C seemed quite good for the price, and i'm with you, its really annoying when the thing beeps just for switching the dial.
For anyone interested, the person who uploaded the video i shared told:
 
"Back when I went to buy this (plus version) the seller showed me the 136b and it felt very sturdy and the range selector felt very snappy compared to 136b+, and also the build quality felt better too.. but I didn't buy that because of the 9v battery. This one has a long battery life, it's been running on the same pair of alkaline batteries since purchase."

Thanks again and best of luck!

I am glad you liked the video and thanks for sharing the poster's experience comparing the two. My UT136C is used quite often and it still has the original 9V battery on it (the absence of a beep helps with that).

I did a power consumption comparison at the link below.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/msg2100013/#msg2100013

One additional plus for 9V batteries is the fact they rarely leak - I have had several products be partially or totally damaged recently and I am pretty pissed at AA and AAA batteries.

[ElectricPower]

Not the same, but i bought Uni-T UT61D for one week ago, and i returned it before i left the parking lot. Crappy LCD and å beeping sound when i turned it to current setting.

I bought Extech 505 instead. Much better and nicer price here in Norway.

[Fungus]

å beeping sound when i turned it to current setting.

You know some meters beep when there's no cable in the amps socket, right?

[a_q]

I have a UT136C which started playing up. The volts would not zero, and fluctuated around 130mV  , and I couldn't trust the other ranges.

So I opened it up. THe opening of these things isn't really posted up properly nor is there much detail in the manual.
After removing the battery and two lower screws, the case halves separate around the seam in the red plastic mid-way between top and bottom.
Separate the case near the lead connectors first, then pull it apart hinging on the battery end, and disengage the two plastic lugs near the top.

Inside, I found a number of areas where flux had been left around some through-hole soldering.  Especially the "SELECT" switch.

So I removed the flux with a screwdriver, then cleaned the board both sides with isopropyl, dried it off, and reassembled.
Make sure both side lugs are engaged above the PCB or else the switch won't operate correctly and you'll be opening it up again.

Good news - the meter started reading properly again. While I was at it I found some decent leads as the OEM ones are terrible and one probe had fallen off.

So - all back up and running. 0V reads 0.1mV. Also 0 ohms reads zero which is nice. And the continuity beeper is REALLY responsive.

Original purchase price was £11.86 so I suppose I can't grumble....