EEV Blog Multimeter

[Ricardus]

Does anyone own one of the EEV Blog Multimeters?

Just curious what you think.

 

[Whoops]

They are both pretty good, but inexpensive.

These UNI-T multimeters are great and cost 1/4 of that price:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233971004428?hash=item3679c2340c:g:y2YAAOSwoDxgepwH
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13367720...4182a406c01809f6b305|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164829452596?epid=10012053682&hash=item266099d934:g:-z4AAOSwcapge-n6

 

[user 37518]

They are both pretty good, but expensive.

These UNI-T multimeters are great and cost 1/4 of that price:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233971004428?hash=item3679c2340c:g:y2YAAOSwoDxgepwH
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13367720...4182a406c01809f6b305|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164829452596?epid=10012053682&hash=item266099d934:g:-z4AAOSwcapge-n6

I hate UNI-T they are garbage, on the inside they look like a cheap chinese toy.

In an audio school I teach they have UNI-T multimeters for the students, more than half don't work anymore, the few remaining have issues, for example 2 of them will give extremely far off readings, I would scratch my head whilst testing the stundent's circuits, then I realized the damn meters were wrong, others have small issues like the piezo will no longer "buzz" for continuity, and so on.

In short: garbage.

 

[Khron]

I've yet to hear horror stories about Brymen meters - I've got one or two on my "shopping list" since a few years ago. They OEM'd the smaller EEVblog multimeter, afaik.

 

[Matador]

I own two of the Brymen meters, which are sold under various names (mine are both Greenlee DM510A's), however look identical and operate the same.

Rock solid, tolerant up to 1000V, has a 10M input impedance when measuring voltage, and still about half the price of a Fluke. I can see why EEVBlog picked them: they are at a sweet spot between quality and price.

 

[buckethead]

Satisfied user of a Brymen 235 here - I probably use it more often than my Flukes, works like a charm. Quite a difference to the UNI-T meters I sometimes have/had to use.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Owning a decent meter means you never have to question the readings. I have a decent Fluke and a couple cheap VOMs.

JR

 

[user 37518]

Owning a decent meter means you never have to question the readings. I have a decent Fluke and a couple cheap VOMs.

JR

I have a Fluke and a Keysight, both are great but I prefer Keysight, its just a preference they are both equally great, Keysight is more expensive.

The german Gossen Metrawatt appear to be equally great, but they are expensive AF, at least outside of Germany.

I've heard that the Brymen are quite good. Also, surpisingly the Amazon Commercial DMM are great, I believe they are made by CEM

From Japan I really like Sanwa and Hioki

Amprobe and Extech are not bad either, not a fan of BK Precision, UNI-T is crap

 

[Whoops]

In an audio school I teach they have UNI-T multimeters for the students, more than half don't work anymore,

I have a really good Fluke 179 and also a couple of Uni-T meters.
I use the Uni-T all the time, they work great after 5 years of use, I really like them and actually regret to have ever spent the extra cash on the Fluke.

My colleague that shares the workshop with me has his UNI-T as his main and only meter for many years and it works perfectly.

I can only recommend UNI-T meters to everyone.

I also teach in a school, and to be honest any type of units you put in a school will not work after a while because students just break stuff, or because they will use it wrongly or do stupid stuff or just plainly don't care.
You could put in students hands Fluke meters and after a while half of them would not be working also.

 

[user 37518]

I also teach in a school, and to be honest any type of units you put in a school will not work after a while because students just break stuff, or because they will use it wrongly or do stupid stuff or just plainly don't care.
You could put in students hands Fluke meters and after a while half of them would not be working also.

I disagree, I teach also EE at a major university, they have Fluke meters and they are solid AF, the worst thing that happens is a student blowing up the fuse but the meters seldom fail.

 

[PermO]

There's places where they won't even let you board with a thing like that in your pocket...
(Also, you are not allowed to take voltage readings with a multimeter.)

So I got a Fluke.

I have spend a whole winter outside, at sea at elevated height with my Fluke and it is still fine, not even a hint of moisture / condensation...

 

[s2udio]

I hate UNI-T they are garbage, on the inside they look like a cheap chinese toy.

In an audio school I teach they have UNI-T multimeters for the students, more than half don't work anymore, the few remaining have issues, for example 2 of them will give extremely far off readings, I would scratch my head whilst testing the stundent's circuits, then I realized the damn meters were wrong, others have small issues like the piezo will no longer "buzz" for continuity, and so on.

In short: garbage.

I have 2x UNI-T UT61E,
Absolutely not garbage , pretty good for a budget meter....I also have 2X Flukes.
Mine are pretty near the accuracy of the flukes, all in daily use......you must have faulty items.
My only complaint is no auto shut of, but not a big drawback

 

[Whoops]

I disagree, I teach also EE at a major university, they have Fluke meters and they are solid AF, the worst thing that happens is a student blowing up the fuse but the meters seldom fail.

My Fluke 179 meter is great, I really like it.
But now it’s making bad contact when I change to the continuity testing mode, most of the times doesn’t work in that mode, also the plastic around screw holes in the battery compartment broke down.
So yes Fluke fails and also breaks.

I bought the Uni-T at the same time of the Fluke and the Uni-ts have no issues and nothing broke down.

Measurements and performance of the Fluke and Uni-T for the portou-se of this forum are exactely the same.

Uni-T are great, specially for the price, there’s no project in this forum that needs a Fluke or a 200€ meter.

 

[user 37518]

My Fluke 179 meter is great, I really like it.
But now it’s making bad contact when I change to the continuity testing mode, most of the times doesn’t work in that mode, also the plastic around screw holes in the battery compartment broke down.
So yes Fluke fails and also breaks.

I bought the Uni-T at the same time of the Fluke and the Uni-ts have no issues and nothing broke down.

Measurements and performance of the Fluke and Uni-T for the portou-se of this forum are exactely the same.

Uni-T are great, specially for the price, there’s no project in this forum that needs a Fluke or a 200€ meter.

Fluke meters are not eternal, but they are sturdy AF. The Fluke 87V is a rock, but nothing compares to my Keysight U1282A, that thing is out of this world. It is rated to withstand a 3m drop without a problem, you can submerge it 1m into water for like 30 min and water wont get inside, it is dust proof. Dave Jones made some tests with the U1282A some years ago, he had to drop it repeateadly from a height of like 20m? into solid concrete to make it stop working, look it up its on YouTube.

The U1282A is True RMS, 60000 counts and comes with a NIST traceable calibration certificate from Keysight. I don't have to worry if the meter is giving me accurate readings and I have the assurance that it wont blow up in my hand.

If your UNI-T meter can do all that, then I will recant my previous statement.

Granted, the U1282A is not cheap, but for the price of a common UNI-T there are much better options out there.

 

[user 37518]

Mine are pretty near the accuracy of the flukes, all in daily use......you must have faulty items.

Yes, The school must have 18 faulty items out of 25.

BTW I don't know if the school replaced them, it was around 2 years ago that I last saw them and I haven't been there since the pandemic started.

They also have a UNI-T Handheld DMM/Scope, that one is a bit more reliable, the scope is crap thou, but in its defense most handheld scopes are crap.

 

[Whoops]

Fluke meters are not eternal, but they are sturdy AF.

Yes, as Uni-T meters are not eternal also.
But my 3 Uni-T are sturdier than my Fluke.

Also I never used my multimeter when I’m swimming, when I scuba dive or when I’m rock clibbing neither I ever heard anyone on this forum that uses a DMM for those activities, so for practical everyday use those Dave Jones videos are just a goofy exercise and mean nothing relevant.

People here use the DMM for DC readings, AC readings, resistors, continuity and sometimes Current measurement, capacitors and transistor HFE. That’s it

An Uni-T is capable of that with much more precision than what we need and with a really good price

 

[s2udio]

See conclusion

I really don't need true RMS at 60000 counts who do's with an everyday digi multimeter ?
Your experience maybe true
So is mine........go figure
Regards

 

[Whoops]

Yes, The school must have 18 faulty items out of 25.

Yes, I’m pretty sure about that, or the bad handling from the students over the years.

I’m not a careless student, I use my gear with rational care, and my units exibit no problems at all after many years of use

 

[user 37518]

I really don't need true RMS at 60000 counts who do's with an everyday digi multimeter ?
Your experience maybe true
So is mine........go figure
Regards

You seem to have neglected all the other things I mentioned about the Keysight meter....

 

[user 37518]

I’m not a careless student, I use my gear with rational care, and my units exibir no problems at all after many years

If your heart skips a beat when the meter falls from the bench, its not a good meter....