What do you think of your EEVblog Brymen BM235 Multimeter ?

[ez24]

What do you think of your EEVblog Brymen BM235 Multimeter ?

Edit:  This is available through US Amazon

[rstofer]

It works fine on my bench.  I have put away my Fluke 189 and a few others, the BM235 is the only one laying on the bench (small space).  It's a very handy meter!  Nice size, easy to handle, etc.

I don't like the fact that it doesn't come with alligator clips and I don't care for the knob arrangement where OFF isn't fully counter-clockwise.  None of which makes an iota of difference.

I bought two to support the cause, gave one to my grandson, and if I need another meter, I'll buy a third.

[RGB255_0_0]

Nice to have a DMM with working capacitance, unlike my Extech. Need to do something with the buzzer as it gives me tinnitus and it's not like you can really turn it off. Otherwise I'm happy with it but haven't used anything other than DC, diode, cap, resistance.

The screw-on tips to go into banana binding posts are a nice touch, but it'd be nice if there was somewhere on the meter to put them when I need to take them off.

[linux-works]

got mine today from amazon.  I like it.  I have almost a dozen dmm's of various kinds, but had to have this one for its coolness factor and to help get dave's message out, so to speak.  I'll probably leave this on my desk at work and people will notice it, maybe even ask about it.

the size is great.  smaller than I expected, being used to flukes and some agilents.

digit size is nice and large.  backlight works well.  flashing backlight on continuity (have not read manual yet, maybe other reasons for flashing) is unique to me.

probes are great; better than most stock probes.  I like the screw on low profile banana jacks.  wish there was a storage hole of some kind to hold them and the plastic insulators for the tips.

I hear there may be a soft case made for this, coming later (I asked on amazon and dave directly answered; thanks, dave!).  would be nice to have a choice of a low cost plastic case as well as a nicer leather version (stitching of dave's logo?  would be super cool to have that, fwiw.)

like the blue soft grippy cover.

never had a brymen before.  nice addition to my collection.

(is there a touch-hold feature?  yeah, I need to read the fine manual...)

[imidis]

I like mine, even with duty couldn't find a meter with as many features for the price. I even accidentally pulled it down to my cement floor pretty hard and it's still ticking, that rubber surround protects it pretty well. Over all pretty happy with it. 

[EEVblog]

The screw-on tips to go into banana binding posts are a nice touch, but it'd be nice if there was somewhere on the meter to put them when I need to take them off.

There is.
They fit nicely into the probe holder cutouts on the back.

[linux-works]

would it add much more to the price to include a few spare banana tips?  they seem nice, but I can see myself losing at least one.

[spronkey]

I'm interested to know if anyone wishes they had a bar graph, or whether the high update rate is good enough. Trying to decide between 235 and 257s. The former has a few desirable features (accuracy, backlight flashing continuity, cool blue rubber ) but the latter has the bar graph and PC comms.

[EEVblog]

I'm interested to know if anyone wishes they had a bar graph, or whether the high update rate is good enough. Trying to decide between 235 and 257s. The former has a few desirable features (accuracy, backlight flashing continuity, cool blue rubber ) but the latter has the bar graph and PC comms.

BM235 has better EMF detection (multiple ranges) and AVG mode.
BM257 has crest.
BM235 is cheaper.

It's a bit of a coin toss.

[EEVblog]

would it add much more to the price to include a few spare banana tips?  they seem nice, but I can see myself losing at least one.

Murphy will ensure you lose them all!
I have mine attached on the back in the probe holders, they haven't fallen out yet.

[mgysgthath]

I'm a newb so take it with a grain of salt.  But I like it, everything good that I thought has been said already.  The blinking continuity is nice, i would prefer maybe a faster frequency on the flashes but its nice either way.

This may be a stupid question.. but for what purpose would I want banana plugs on the end of my probes?  I've never had that on my cheaper meters, and can't think of a use for that feature -- except maybe probe tips attaching to it?

Also does anyone know if https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VRFKPW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=rossmanngroup-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B000VRFKPW&linkId=e6a7d3405038f673acc26eca8758dc10 tips would fit on this meter?

[linux-works]

at first, I was thinking about plugging the probes directly into the banana jacks of a power supply, etc - but then thought about the good old (often ignored) idea of 'strain relief'.

so, what I would do is use banana male-male cables (that also have a sideways hole, sometimes a stacking hole, too) for the male dmm plug.  plug the other end of the cable into your power supply or other signal source.

might even be nice to have some 2" stubby male-female banana cables so that you are not tempted to plug the probes directly to jacks.  the weight of the probe handles would not be good to have hanging from a chassis mount banana jack.

thinking about it, I prefer these banana jacklets (new term?  lol) to alligator clips.  the clips often are too big or don't hold well and they look better than they are in real life.  these jacks, otoh, will probably end up being far more useful.

[JonM]

The screw on banana adapters are great for use with "Minigrabber" or alligator probe ends. I recently dug up some Pomona insulated alligator clips that I added to the case that I carry my BM235 in.

I am eagerly awaiting Dave's next meter with Bluetooth, if it is similar in size I might need to carry it my daily bag in case data acquisition is needed.

Jon
 

[tautech]

IMO how robust it is and how that fits alongside other DMM's is of great importance.
In short it is very good according to Joe:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hear-kitty-kitty-kitty-nope-not-that-kind-of-cat/msg1030093/#msg1030093

[TheWelly888]

I like it. It's a perfectly sound multimeter which replaced my 1991 vintage Fluke 77 which died mysteriously.

I'll get another one when I can get it here without a bill from Her Majesty's Robbing Canutes.

[Kuro]

Trying to decide between 235 and 257s. The former has a few desirable features (accuracy, backlight flashing continuity, cool blue rubber ) but the latter has the bar graph and PC comms.

Could you elaborate on your statement that the 257 is less accurate than the 235? I remember putting the specs side by side and don't recall that conclusion. I'm not at my PC right now, but I only remember the 235 performing somewhat better on capacity and resistance, but for current and voltage the 257 was more accurate (unless my memory is becoming inaccurate which at my age is not uncommon  )

[mos6502]

Considering all the extra features and the fact that the 257s is only 20 bucks more, I'd definitely go for the 257. Also, the 257 doesn't have a noisy backlight 

Edit: after carefully comparing the datasheets, it's not so clear cut. 235 has better diode check (3V). 257 only has a puny 1V, which is a big downside. 257 has the bargraph, which can be super useful. 257 also has the peak min/max, which again is very useful. 235 Hz only goes up to 50kHz, while 257 has logic level Hz which goes to 1MHz.

Personally, I'd say screw it and just go for the 869s, which is only a little more than double the price of the 257s. But then you're also almost in the price range of a used Fluke 87 V, so I'd just get that 

I like it. It's a perfectly sound multimeter which replaced my 1991 vintage Fluke 77 which died mysteriously.

Died how? The only problem I had with my 77 was cracked solder joints at the jacks, which were easily fixed by reflowing the solder.

[joeqsmith]

Considering all the extra features and the fact that the 257s is only 20 bucks more, I'd definitely go for the 257. Also, the 257 doesn't have a noisy backlight 

Edit: after carefully comparing the datasheets, it's not so clear cut. 235 has better diode check (3V). 257 only has a puny 1V, which is a big downside. 257 has the bargraph, which can be super useful. 257 also has the peak min/max, which again is very useful. 235 Hz only goes up to 50kHz, while 257 has logic level Hz which goes to 1MHz.

Personally, I'd say screw it and just go for the 869s, which is only a little more than double the price of the 257s. But then you're also almost in the price range of a used Fluke 87 V, so I'd just get that 

I was with you until the antique 87V with it's weak front end. 

[mos6502]

I was with you until the antique 87V with it's weak front end. 

Jeez man, what's with the hate? Did John Fluke steal your girlfriend in high school?

[joeqsmith]

It's just data.  The 87V performed very poor during my tests. I call it an antique because it is a very old meter compared with many that I look at.  All of the Asian made Flukes I have looked at including the 101, 107, 115 and 17B+ did very well.   I suspect that Fluke has improved their designs is all and the 87V is just a thing of the past.  Don't take it personal.

[mos6502]

I think I watched the test you're referring to. OK, so you set it to ohms and connected it to 1.5kV. That's just user error. I'm not gonna do that, ever. I always make sure the meter is in the right mode and I don't switch the dial while it's connected to something. But if I did, it's good to know that it still failed in a safe manner. Maybe it was designed this way on purpose, so it would be returned to Fluke's service department to make sure it's still safe to use? An overload might damage a meter in all kinds of ways. A meter that survives an overload acting normally but in a weakened state may fail catastrophically later on. I don't think you can fault the 87 V. In a crash test, the criterion is how the passengers look after the crash, not how the car looks.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by antiquated. The 87 V has all the important features. It has great ergonomics. It has great battery life. IMHO it is the best general purpose meter available. It has an excellent balance of features (all useful, no useless stuff). The BM869s's dial is cluttered with functions that belong on specialized meters, like the 4-20mA function.

I've considered buying the BM869s. But it has some quirks. Like the BM869s's backlight turns off after 32s. The 87 V's stays on until you turn it off. Or the weird cutting off of the last digit, instead of doing proper rounding. Or the useless hold function, vs. the excellent touch hold that the Fluke has. Or the slow peak min max vs. the really fast peak min/max of the 87 V. Or the remembering of the dial function (that's not a good thing).

I may get it eventually, but something like the Fluke 89 IV/189 is higher on my list.

[noidea]

I'm interested to know if anyone wishes they had a bar graph, or whether the high update rate is good enough. Trying to decide between 235 and 257s. The former has a few desirable features (accuracy, backlight flashing continuity, cool blue rubber ) but the latter has the bar graph and PC comms.

BM235 has better EMF detection (multiple ranges) and AVG mode.
BM257 has crest.
BM235 is cheaper.

Dave is there any chance a bar graph version of the 235 is in the works / pipeline?

[EEVblog]

Considering all the extra features and the fact that the 257s is only 20 bucks more, I'd definitely go for the 257. Also, the 257 doesn't have a noisy backlight 

Neither has any BM235 sold from the last several shipments.

[EEVblog]

Dave is there any chance a bar graph version of the 235 is in the works / pipeline?

Nope.
They left the BM257 on the market for a reason.

[joeqsmith]

I think I watched the test you're referring to. OK, so you set it to ohms and connected it to 1.5kV. That's just user error. I'm not gonna do that, ever. I always make sure the meter is in the right mode and I don't switch the dial while it's connected to something. But if I did, it's good to know that it still failed in a safe manner.

 
At sub 20 Joules, ever meter I test that failed better fail in a safe manner!!!  The 87V sadly just failed at very low levels compared with every other Fluke I looked at. 

Maybe it was designed this way on purpose, so it would be returned to Fluke's service department to make sure it's still safe to use?

I doubt very many products in general are designed by accident.  As to why the 87V fails at such low levels compared with the newer Flukes I looked at, I can't answer beyond what I already stated with it being an earlier design and maybe they changed their requirements.   You could be right that they had too many field failures and were trying to save money by making more robust products. 

An overload might damage a meter in all kinds of ways. A meter that survives an overload acting normally but in a weakened state may fail catastrophically later on. I don't think you can fault the 87 V.

It is true that I have seen meters fail "in all kinds of ways" during these tests.  I doubt many people are ever going to know if their meter was subjected to a transient or not (unless it fails).  You are right that if the product is so sensitive that it normally fails, this could be considered a sort of feature.   Again, I really don't care about how the testing goes one way or the other.  I run them, collect the data and make it available for free to the public.  I'm not paid in any way to run them, nor are the meters being provided free of charge (except where 5KY and a few friends donated a few).   I am also not affiliated with any distributors or OEMs. 

In a crash test, the criterion is how the passengers look after the crash, not how the car looks.

It's a hand held meter, not a car. The testing is very different between the two along with the requirements.   That said, if you want look at it from a car crash test sort of perspective, my testing would be like driving a car at walking speed into a rubber wall.   Again, to be clear my testing has nothing to do with safety.