/diy/ - Do It Yourself » Thread #893881

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67KiB, 400x271, Using MultiMeter on Circuit Board.jpg

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:08:57 No.893881 View Reply Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893882 >>893923 >>893998 >>894005 >>894056 >>894710 >>894952

What MultiMeter is best for circuit board/tube amp work?

Electronics n00b here. Keep getting more and more into it. These things range from $20 to $2k, I have no idea what would best suit my needs.

I've gotten my soldering game good enough to feel confident in building a tube amp from the ground up. I plan to fix my old 1951 tube amp record player as a primer beforehand.

That said, I'm not sure which of these I should buy that's good for testing out connections on PCB while also being able to tackle bigger projects (eventually).

lil' help?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:13:22 No.893882 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893886

>>893881
Buy a $20 shitter that covers the voltage ranges you need (try to get one with at least a built in transistor tester) and use it till it breaks. Once it does you'll have some time under your belt, and you'll know which features are most important to you. End of they day, it's only $20.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:31:53 No.893886 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893887 >>893891

>>893882
I've always been one of those "buy the best so you don't have to later on" kinda guys.

Why waste the $20+ if the one I need is only $60 or $100?
I'd rather get it right the first time.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:36:30 No.893887 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893905

>>893886
Not that guy but that is such a fucking stupid way of thinking that annoys me.

He's telling you to invest lightly so you can learn how to properly use such devices, so that you can properly make a sounds investment that will fit your needs.

You have to be a spic only they think in that way of buying the expensive shit now and end up fucking it up or selling it due to inexperience

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:41:48 No.893891 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893898 >>893905

>>893886
So am I, but why spend $200 on a Fluke when you're not even sure which features you need? I sure as hell didn't start out with a Fluke on my bench, but after about a year of fucking around and realising what I had, had but didn't need, and didn't need at all, dipping into the big boys tools was a snap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 03:52:46 No.893898 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893904

>>893891
Funny enough, it's those $20 meters which have all the possible features.
$200 Fluke gives you mainly accuracy, reliability, robustness and safety.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:00:47 No.893904 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893898
>Funny enough, it's those $20 meters which have all the possible features.
Yes.. Which is why you buy one, fuck with it, work out which features you use (reads; work out which features you require accuracy and tolerance on) then go buy one from someone who has been making meters for longer than 12 months.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:02:21 No.893905 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893907 >>893909

>>893887
>annoys you

kek. I'm a financial analyst, you fucking narf. If I were to 'invest lightly' in everything I did. Say, $20 for every hundred, I'd never have been able to do shit. I'd have spent 20% of total earnings to hopefully save 20% on a handful of those projects, still spending 20% on all current and future endeavors. Even if those 20% light investments panned out to be 'wins', then I'd have 20% of my workspace covered in worthless shit I'd grown out of.
If you actually knew wtf you were talking about regarding my question, you'd have said something like this>>893891. But you didn't, because you're retarded. Like your mother.

>>893891
That's what I'm curious about, I wasn't sure that each had it's own separate features that differed from one to the next. My assumption was that features/quality escalated with each price point. Making all of them useful for work with electrical current, just on varying degrees of job/project size.
What are your thoughts on a mid-level Klein? ($50ish)

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:11:52 No.893907 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893908

>>893905
Don't be cunt. We are not talking about volatile markets here, we are talking about a device that if well selected, will be passed on to your grandkids, irrespective of the $10 or $100 pricetag. To be honest I agree with him completely, I just don't care as much as him how other people choose to spend/waste their money.

>My assumption was that features/quality escalated with each price point.
Features no, quality definitely. Better

> What are your thoughts on a mid-level Klein? ($50ish)
They are irrelevant, because I do not know what features you are looking for. Certainly not a bad choice, but still a little pricey (imo) for a first recommendation. Once you are out looking you'll start to see that 70% of the bottom end is literally the same unit in a different coloured wrapper, made by the same factory in china. If it looks good to you, go for it. For the sort of work you're looking at, it will be a fine choice.

Making all of them useful for work with electrical current, just on varying degrees of job/project size.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:12:58 No.893908 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893907
err.. scratch that random "Better", aint no one got time for that..

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:14:55 No.893909 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893925

>>893905
Don't be cunt. We are not talking about volatile markets here, we are talking about a device that if well selected, will be passed on to your grandkids, irrespective of the $10 or $100 pricetag. To be honest I agree with him completely, I just don't care as much as him how other people choose to spend/waste their money.

>My assumption was that features/quality escalated with each price point.
Features no, quality definitely.

> What are your thoughts on a mid-level Klein? ($50ish)
They are irrelevant, because I do not know what features you are looking for. Certainly not a bad choice, but still a little pricey (imo) for a first recommendation. Once you are out looking you'll start to see that 70% of the bottom end is literally the same unit in a different coloured wrapper, made by the same factory in china. If it looks good to you, go for it. For the sort of work you're looking at, it will be a fine choice.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 04:46:08 No.893916 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893925

Electrical Engineer here, I still have my same $20 multimeter that I got before college.

If it can't do what you're trying to do it's likely you'd be better off using an oscilloscope anyhow.

Just my two cents though. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what a fluke would do that a cheap-o hardware store piece wouldn't.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 05:15:36 No.893923 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893925 >>893931

>>893881
I say buy the cheapest multimeter that has the features you need, you can get expensive one later when you are more experienced, also you need a tube tester, that might be a first project before the amp.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 05:54:44 No.893925 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894093

>>893916
you're an electrical engineer and you couldn't tell me the difference?
not arguing, CS major here and people think that means I've memorized every dumbass formula in MS Excel..still though, I feel like this is a bit more specific.

>>893923
>>893909
The point here guys is that this is my first rod-e-o for circuit board and tube work and I'm ASKING what features I may need with that kind of project..tube sockets, transformer, caps, switches, relays, terminal blocks...etc.

to be clear, I'm troubleshooting/diagnosing my old tube powered record player as a primer. Then moving onto building my own tube amp from the ground up.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 06:34:27 No.893931 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893938

>>893923
you mean building a tube tester before I get into building the amp?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 07:21:33 No.893938 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893949

>>893931
ur likely gona need to test those tubes to see if they work, how do u plan on doing that ? can buy one or make one

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 07:53:34 No.893949 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893965

>>893938
sounds like fun..any particularly popular builds you know of?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 08:22:09 No.893965 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>893966 >>894368

>>893949
i would start by understanding it a bit more, then you will know what you are looking for exactly. Should be pretty cheap to build the voltage multiplier

https://youtu.be/CRW3jBFroD0?t=663

https://youtu.be/xr4Urn0oejk?t=865

You MIGHT be able to get away with just this cheap shit http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Voltage-generator-voltage-multiplier-for-flying-insect-killers-DC-spark-DIY-/141276065160?hash=item20e4b5ad88:g:VOoAAOxyBotTZNiV

But depends on the tubes under test

If you build a proper one u might end up with something like http://www.ebay.com/itm/M3KV6-negative-high-voltage-DC-power-supply-multiplier-/311470701427?hash=item488519bb73:m:mS8gWYl6D6hMObNJ05aVadw

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 08:24:37 No.893966 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893965
disregard the previous ebay links im a retard

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC12V-24-to-DC-200-450V-70W-high-voltage-converter-boost-step-up-power-supply-/181746908549?hash=item2a50f5bd85:g:uykAAOSwv0tVVvMh
but again, depends if ur tubes have higher voltage than that

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 10:05:56 No.893998 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894368

>>893881
http://www.transcat.com/fluke-tir4-ft-10-20-flk-tir4-ft-10-20?st-t=adword_google_*&gclid=CJDVyYvp4sgCFRNrfgodhD0PUw
one of these, I have 3

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 10:10:24 No.894005 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893881
Fluke 87 or Amprobe 180

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO ANALOG_MULTIMETER_TM_502TR.jpg, 38KiB, 400x380

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 11:37:30 No.894032 Report Delete

Quoted By:

10$ still works for years and it helps if you know what you are doing.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 12:29:33 No.894056 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894368

>>893881
>What MultiMeter is best for circuit board/tube amp work?
There is no need to spend a lot of money on a multimeter; even most cheapo generic digital meters work pretty well.
They are based around sensing integrated circuits that are calibrated during manufacturing (-during the IC manufacturing, that is-) and even the cheapest ones hit usually hit within a couple percent accuracy.

The oldest multimeter I have (it is 20+ years old) and one I still mainly use, is a Velleman DVM850BL. They cost $20 now on Amazon, it was $60 IIRC back when I got it.
There is a cheaper version of the same meter called the Mastech MAS830L that sells for around $15, if you're really short on money.
The most expensive one I own is an Extech EX410 (costs $50 now, I think I paid $85 for it some years back).
And I have a few $7 super-cheapo dmm's around, to loan out people if they ask,,,, but all those work too.

There's not much point in buying a Fluke for hobby use. There's even better brands that cost even more, if you want to burn money--but they're not going to be functionally different in use than one of the cheap meters.

General multimeter advice:
1--some cheaper digital auto-ranging meters have problems dealing with reading randomly-varying levels. If you will only buy one, I would advise against an auto-ranging one.
2--even if you mainly wish to use a digital meter, it is sometimes useful to have an analog meter and they don't cost much either. Get both if possible.

Tube specific: most audio tubes run at 350v or less, and a typical digital meter can handle that much.
For *testing* tubes, there is special devices for that--you don't use a voltmeter. But if you are buying new tubes anyway, you won't need a tube tester.
If you wanted to play with making your own output transformers then you might want to have a piece of equipment called an "RCL bridge".

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 13:39:48 No.894093 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893925
>I'm ASKING what features I may need...

You stupid moron

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 13:51:10 No.894105 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894492

>EEVblog
has your answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh1n_ELmpFI

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 21:57:38 No.894368 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893998
I said I [spoiler:lit]DIDN'T[spoiler:lit] want a kid's toy.

>>894056
>>893965
I really appreciate all the incite guys, any other material or direction you think is worth pointing a newbie in is all very much appreciated. I'm sure it's fairly obvious how much of a novice I am, if that. But there's something about all the tinkering I've been doing over the last couple years that's really got me obsessed with all this. It's a hard thing finding anybody locally that can point me in the right direction, if any.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 27 Oct 2015 23:28:00 No.894395 Report Delete

Quoted By:

If you're gonna measure plate voltages I would get a 600V rated (Cat II?) multimeter.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 05:01:36 No.894488 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894507

go ahead, buy a $20 shitter and have it blow up in your face when you connect it to tube voltages

at least get something with proper input protection, you can get seriously hurt with a shit multimeter

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 05:37:46 No.894492 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894105
doin god's work, anon.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 07:00:57 No.894507 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894679

>>894488
Why would you put it in your face?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 07:17:34 No.894510 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>895549

no autorange pisses me off.
no proper diode test pisses me off.(voltage drop readout)
no frequency measuring pisses me off.

after i got a fluke 177, anything less is just annoying.
maybe I'm spoiled.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 14:47:55 No.894671 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894683

what about analog vs. digital?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 15:02:12 No.894679 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894507
can't read no good.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 15:15:00 No.894683 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894671
Non-shit digital meters usually include some kind of bar-graph display to give you analog-like rough indication of level.
It's largely a matter of personal taste and requirements whether analog or digital display is better. However, analog meters tend to be low-tech instruments where your circuit directly powers the meter. As a result, they draw non-negligible amounts of current. Also, personally I hate their nonlinear resistance ranges.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 15:54:45 No.894691 Report Delete

Quoted By:

If you're just putting something together from a schematic you found online, you might not even need one, just solder that shit together like it is in the picture. If there's stuff that needs adjusting, it's unlikely you'll need anything beyond a shitty $20 one from the hardware store. If you're trying to design something from scratch you're gonna need an oscilloscope more than a fancy multimeter.

tl;dr just buy a shitty one.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 17:02:12 No.894710 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>893881

f l u k e 8 7
l
u
k
e
8
7

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 17:32:41 No.894718 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894761

Get a second-hand Fluke 85 or 87. Unless it's been really abused even 20-year old units are almost guaranteed to work as good as new.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 28 Oct 2015 18:58:51 No.894761 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>895074

>>894718
horse hockey.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Oct 2015 03:55:02 No.894952 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>894961

>>893881
I use a fluke 117 for general workshop and circuit board work, i have a 28ii for site work. Probably have it the wrong way round but the 117 does everything required and is extremely robust, its over 10 years old now gets used daily and thrown, dragged dropped you name it.
I will however say only ever use genuine fluke leads, pov cheap leads are shithouse and a waste of time. Also get a set of leads with slim probes instead of forcing the normal TL-75 leads into interconnection cable sockets.
Never bothered using propper fluke alligator clips even though my 28ii came with them, i just use a dodgy set of alligator clip leads and clip them to the probe and away you go.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Oct 2015 04:16:31 No.894961 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894952
>I will however say only ever use genuine fluke leads
Yeah, this.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 29 Oct 2015 12:47:27 No.895074 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894761
I've got three "good" meters, a first-gen Fluke 85, a Fluke 87-III and a Gossen Metrahit 26S. I got them all second-hand, they're all still within spec. If you just have a little patience, you can easily find a good Fluke for under a hundred bucks.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 Oct 2015 03:41:52 No.895487 Report Delete

Quoted By:

OP, get 2 or 3 of the cheap ones. Cross referencing is as beneficial as a voltage scale. As your experience increases you will find what features/specs/compromises you prefer.

If I'm working on a fault that has me scratching my head, I'll be using multiple meters with probe clips and a cro too. Gotta catch that fucker somewhere.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 Oct 2015 08:15:14 No.895549 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>894510
fast autorange is a great feature
slow autorange on a cheaper or older digital meter is awful

>ok meter, i'll just keep pressing down on this probe for thirty seconds while you autorange down from megaohms to ohms
>oh the contact wasn't perfect and now i have to wait again? that's OK it's not like i've got thousands of tests to perform today

if you're only spending ten bux, manual range selector is the way to go

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