Author Topic: Which Bench multimeter to choose?  (Read 7662 times)

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Offline ElectricPowerTopic starter

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Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« on: December 14, 2022, 04:42:17 pm »
I want to invest in an good bench multimeter. My multimeter always stand on one place and do not fit in my shelf beacause of hight. (Brymen 869). I want an good bench multimeter that not is too expensive. Is it possible to get one for around 500 dollar or less?

I want a minimum 10.000 count meter with good accuracy and big screen.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2022, 05:15:45 am by ElectricPower »
 

Offline BillyO

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2022, 05:11:14 pm »
The Siglent SDM3055 would give you 240,000 counts for your $500.  It has a decent reputation and I am very happy with the one I have.

Also, the screen looks pretty big to me.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2022, 05:15:27 pm by BillyO »
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Online tautech

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2022, 07:47:52 pm »
The Siglent SDM3055 would give you 240,000 counts for your $500.  It has a decent reputation and I am very happy with the one I have.

Also, the screen looks pretty big to me.
Sure they're a reasonable size but the yellow on black numbers contrast is what makes them so visible and good to work with from a distance where some meters become hard to read.
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Online nctnico

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2022, 09:55:16 pm »
Vici VC8145. No fluff and it just works. One of these is my daily driver for professional use for a decade already

I also have a Keysight 6.5 digit dmm but I only use that when I need very high accuracy which is nearly never.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2022, 10:07:26 pm by nctnico »
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Offline Mortymore

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2022, 11:19:05 pm »
The Siglent SDM3045X may be also a good option.

Has roughly the same functionality of the SDM3055 (5.5 digit), but only 4.5 digits, 66.000 count, way above your requirement, but has no fan so it's quieter, and it's cheaper.

Study the datasheets of every meter you consider as a viable option.

Good luck

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2022, 11:24:29 pm »
The Siglent SDM3045X may be also a good option.

Has roughly the same functionality of the SDM3055 (5.5 digit), but only 4.5 digits, 66.000 count, way above your requirement, but has no fan so it's quieter, and it's cheaper.

Study the datasheets of every meter you consider as a viable option.

Good luck
Certainly.
We have a customer that has an electronic repair shop and they have 4 SDM3045X now, one for every techs bench and all sourced 1 by 1 over a few years. For us as the supplier nothing is more satisfying than professional's repeat purchases.
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Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2022, 11:41:12 am »
GwInstek  GDM-8251   sometime can be found at very low price ...

Some Fluke 45  too

Owon 55000 Counts XDM1241 ??

Really depend of your needs,  and how many count digits you need  loll

Vici VC8145   as mentioned  has a big display and backlight,   you have some Uni-T  bench meters  etc ....

And sometimes if you want to do serious stuff, think about a calibration cost or a DIY  solution ...
« Last Edit: December 15, 2022, 11:43:33 am by coromonadalix »
 

Offline thom

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2022, 03:18:42 pm »
of the 3 SDM3045 I bought, two were defective, but the good one serves as my secondary bench meter and is a fantastic value. one of them started locking up with increasing frequency, and the other one exhibited this behaviour within a day or two of hitting the bench. I was hoping to hear back from the siglent engineers (you can talk to them on the phone, which is greatly appreciated!), but no word back yet. my suspicion is something up with the SOC on those units, maybe poorly placed heatsinking or something, not sure, but it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

the good unit hasn't locked up once, hasn't had a single hiccup, and is used 7 days a week. the other two units locked up constantly, and all three were on the same firmware if memory serves. what I am saying is that I'd suggest leaving your unit powered up 24/7 for the first few weeks, and if it locks up even once, return it. a working unit is fantastic value, but the lock ups increase in frequency over time, and I would be willing to bet that any units that exhibit lockups at all will just get progressively worse, leaving you high and dry after the warranty period unless a warranty extension program for affected units is put in place.

this is just my experience though, so it's possible I was incredibly unlucky twice. if it were just one meter, I'd have remained on the siglent train, but I got off at the keithly station and haven't looked back since
 

Online tautech

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2022, 03:42:34 pm »
of the 3 SDM3045 I bought, two were defective, but the good one serves as my secondary bench meter and is a fantastic value. one of them started locking up with increasing frequency, and the other one exhibited this behaviour within a day or two of hitting the bench. I was hoping to hear back from the siglent engineers (you can talk to them on the phone, which is greatly appreciated!), but no word back yet. my suspicion is something up with the SOC on those units, maybe poorly placed heatsinking or something, not sure, but it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

the good unit hasn't locked up once, hasn't had a single hiccup, and is used 7 days a week. the other two units locked up constantly, and all three were on the same firmware if memory serves. what I am saying is that I'd suggest leaving your unit powered up 24/7 for the first few weeks, and if it locks up even once, return it. a working unit is fantastic value, but the lock ups increase in frequency over time, and I would be willing to bet that any units that exhibit lockups at all will just get progressively worse, leaving you high and dry after the warranty period unless a warranty extension program for affected units is put in place.

this is just my experience though, so it's possible I was incredibly unlucky twice. if it were just one meter, I'd have remained on the siglent train, but I got off at the keithly station and haven't looked back since
Did you consider checking the firmware version installed and updating it ?
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Offline thom

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2022, 03:58:20 pm »
updating firmware is the first thing we do after unboxing. siglent engineer confirmed it was a hardware issue, was hoping he would get back to me with findings about what was wrong, but I'm sure their plate is full
 
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Offline Fungus

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2022, 04:02:48 pm »
We have a customer that has an electronic repair shop and they have 4 SDM3045X now, one for every techs bench and all sourced 1 by 1 over a few years. For us as the supplier nothing is more satisfying than professional's repeat purchases.

"Better the devil you know"?  :box:
 

Offline H713

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2022, 04:52:29 am »
Because someone has to say it,
Which = a question.
Witch = a magic person in a pointy hat.

Anyway, I personally like the 34401A, and you can get them for <$500 regularly enough. Great accuracy, well-built, nice to use. We have a few of them at work and I quite like them.

I went the route of the Fluke 8842A, but this applies to the Fluke 45s as well. Dim VFDs plague MANY of these meters, and you cannot get replacements. I believe that replacements do exist for the 34401A.
 
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Offline AVGresponding

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #12 on: December 16, 2022, 06:20:46 am »
Because someone has to say it,
Which = a question.
Witch = a magic person in a pointy hat.

Anyway, I personally like the 34401A, and you can get them for <$500 regularly enough. Great accuracy, well-built, nice to use. We have a few of them at work and I quite like them.

I went the route of the Fluke 8842A, but this applies to the Fluke 45s as well. Dim VFDs plague MANY of these meters, and you cannot get replacements. I believe that replacements do exist for the 34401A.

New LED displays are available for the 8840A/42A via forum member AHOL, though since he is in Ukraine afaik, there may be shipping delays.
$500 gets you quite a serious used bench DMM, though the OP doesn't mention if used is acceptable. A Keithley 2000/2015THD should also be considered in this price range, if yes.
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Offline Mortymore

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #13 on: December 16, 2022, 09:51:41 am »
Don't know how thing work in Norway, but for a EU country one should be careful with items bought from outside the EU, because of the income/duty taxes.

It's not easy to find those "fancy used meters", particularly at the price ranges that one can get in US.

If that meter is intended to be the best meter in place, or there's no way to check how good or accurate the used meter will be, buy a new one.

Besides, now in EU there's a 3 year warranty for new items, where the used ones my have none.
Again, I don't know how things work for the OP country of origin.

Just saying...
 
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Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Witch Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #14 on: December 16, 2022, 11:33:02 am »

Anyway, I personally like the 34401A, and you can get them for <$500 regularly enough. Great accuracy, well-built, nice to use. We have a few of them at work and I quite like them.

I went the route of the Fluke 8842A, but this applies to the Fluke 45s as well. Dim VFDs plague MANY of these meters, and you cannot get replacements. I believe that replacements do exist for the 34401A.

For the 34401a   Keysight is about to go  or is : "no longer available",   i have bought vfd clones from Aliexpress when they just came out,  no problems on them too, bought at 35$ usd at the time,  now almost doubled

Their used price has gone nuts,  better find more recent alternatives  like the 34410a and 34411a

Just did the same thing on a 34410a  for 200$ cad delivered,  it is very tight fit,  but works very well, bright and fast,  the controller is hidden in the vfd itself

you have vfd substiitutions projects here ... with oled or led displays

If the OP want precision,  a good investment is in order
« Last Edit: December 16, 2022, 11:35:52 am by coromonadalix »
 

Offline ElectricPowerTopic starter

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2022, 03:30:50 am »
Thanks for all replyes :)

I think i'm going to reject the bench multimeter and go for BM786 instead. (The EEVblog one).
I have allready ordered it :)
 

Offline BillyO

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #16 on: December 17, 2022, 05:14:33 am »
Thanks for all replyes :)

I think i'm going to reject the bench multimeter and go for BM786 instead. (The EEVblog one).
I have allready ordered it :)
Other than it being blue, it's not going to solve the main problem you cited. :-//

A bit late but, if you don't need capacitance and frequency you can get a prime 4.5 digit Fluke 8050A for under $75.

Anyway, I too have the BM786.  It's a really good meter for a handheld unit.  And it's blue.  But I do use my Fluke 8050A more than my BM786 .. just saying.  (actually I use my SDM3055  the most)
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Online J-R

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #17 on: December 17, 2022, 08:01:25 am »
Can't see the Fluke 8050A making much sense unless you're just nostalgic.  It's not auto-ranging and uses flaky push button switches for everything instead of soft keys.

If old faithfuls like the 34401A or Keithley 2015THD are outside your budget, the Keithley 197A and Fluke 8840A/8842A are nice to have in my opinion.  34401A and 8840A/8842A have pretty nice VFD displays.

Speaking of displays, the 121GW has a nice Windows app where you can make the digits as big as you want...
 

Offline bingo600

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #18 on: December 17, 2022, 09:48:57 am »
I would also recommend to look for a used HPAK 34401A , if the precision is needed.
I got mine for $430 - Opened box , but never used, all in there, some years ago.

I have :
Agilent 34401A
K2015-THD
- And better

But when i need something, for a quick measure.
I either use my Brymen 257 handheld , or my Mastech 9803R (looks the same as the - Vici VC8145)

They're "instant on", and i don't need 6+ digits for a quick voltage measurement

/Bingo
« Last Edit: December 17, 2022, 09:51:15 am by bingo600 »
 

Offline Mortymore

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #19 on: December 17, 2022, 10:46:10 am »
Well...

With a budget of $500 for handheld multimeter that has to fit in a small high shelf, I would have recommend then the Fluke233



You could leave the meter on the bench and the display on the tight shelf  :-DD

Hope the BM786 serves you well.  :-DMM
One can't have enough meters... others will come.

Online nctnico

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #20 on: December 17, 2022, 10:50:29 am »
But when i need something, for a quick measure.
I either use my Brymen 257 handheld , or my Mastech 9803R (looks the same as the - Vici VC8145)

They're "instant on", and i don't need 6+ digits for a quick voltage measurement
Agreed. For a quick measurement you don't need a fancy meter. Before I bought the VC8145 I looked at lots of bench multimeters both new and used and it just came out on top. I quickly discarded the older ones from HP and so on because they typically have small displays, slow continuity, limited features and a very low current measurement range (like 3A or so). Especially the 6.5 digit meters are all about precission and not having the most features.

Nowadays there are more low cost models on the market from brands like Uni-T. Either way, for a general purpose DMM I'd look for something that doesn't run an OS and thus powers up instantly. Less components means less can break and thus more reliability. Capacitance and temperature measurements are useful to have.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2022, 10:52:39 am by nctnico »
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Offline BeBuLamar

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #21 on: December 17, 2022, 01:30:59 pm »
I use my handheld DMM sideway. It would fit on the shelf. I would not buy a bench meter due to shelf space. Sure I would buy bench meter for the accuracy but then they are more than $500.
 

Online nctnico

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #22 on: December 17, 2022, 03:17:20 pm »
I use my handheld DMM sideway. It would fit on the shelf. I would not buy a bench meter due to shelf space. Sure I would buy bench meter for the accuracy but then they are more than $500.
How about never needing to change the batteries and it never shuts off automatically? For me these two features alone are reason enough to get a bench DMM  ;D
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline BillyO

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #23 on: December 17, 2022, 03:34:52 pm »
Can't see the Fluke 8050A making much sense unless you're just nostalgic.  It's not auto-ranging and uses flaky push button switches for everything instead of soft keys.
Hmm, I have both a 8010 and an 8050A and the push buttons on neither are flaky.  Also, auto-ranging has it's down sides not the least being the time it takes when doing repetitive measurements.  Generally you know pretty well what range you should be on before taking a measurement.

All that aside, should we then just assume the 1.5763V my 8050A reads on a battery is to be treated as rubbish compared to the 1.57627V my SDM3055 reads because one has soft buttons and the other does not? :-DD

Good to know.
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Offline ElectricPowerTopic starter

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Re: Which Bench multimeter to choose?
« Reply #24 on: December 17, 2022, 03:51:23 pm »
Thanks for all replyes :)

I think i'm going to reject the bench multimeter and go for BM786 instead. (The EEVblog one).
I have allready ordered it :)
Other than it being blue, it's not going to solve the main problem you cited. :-//

A bit late but, if you don't need capacitance and frequency you can get a prime 4.5 digit Fluke 8050A for under $75.

Anyway, I too have the BM786.  It's a really good meter for a handheld unit.  And it's blue.  But I do use my Fluke 8050A more than my BM786 .. just saying.  (actually I use my SDM3055  the most)
Yes it will solve my main problem. BM786 is a little lower than BM869, so this will fitt in my shelf. It fits my other recuirements also. Maybe without the "big" screen, but that i can live with. :)

Is there some smart stands for handhield multimeters that make them less wiggle wiggle on the bench?

Btw... in my opinion, Fluke is overprised for personal use.
 


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