Which Multimeter?

[junglieD]

Morning Gents,

I'll begin with my apologies for the dull nature of this request! I don't know how I've done it but I've managed 15 months ownership of an S without a multimeter but I now plan to buy one so am after any tips or reccommendations.

Budget is up to £40 - 50 (though I see there are plenty available for less) and just wanted to know if there are any functions I should look for to help future-proof it against any issues I'm yet to have? I'm looking on amazon because I have some credit - range is massive though; from a basic multimeter to engine analyser ones that measure temperature and idle speeds etc.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[GadgeS3C]

Obvious first question - analogue or digital? Suspect buying analogue these days is scary expensive.
Nice comparison of them here

Being old(!) I quite like analogue for fault finding as a flick of the needle is much quicker than waiting for a digital reading to settle.

One really useful feature is to able to measure a decent amount of current.

Maplin's do some good offers - well worth being on their mailing list - not sure if you can buy from them through Amazon though.

Edited by GadgeS3C on Monday 15th October 11:18

[Griffinr]

Its quite useful to have one with a buzzer for circuit continuity testing. Got mine from Maplins a long time ago, they do a good range.

Rob.

[phillpot]

Rather than a "traditional" multimeter I find something like this useful because you don't have to balance the meter in view somewhere while you probe around with the probes !

My one "works backwards" so you can have the big end held to an earth and prod around with the little end or I've used a connector block to join a piece of wire with a crocodile clip on to one of the probes to connect to a live or earth rather than having to hold in place.

[Oldred_V8S]

Take a look in Maplins I'm sure they will have something that will meet all your needs. They occasionally run some good offers too.

[SMGB]

Although I would like to own an AVO8, preferably ex MoD I much prefer digital now. I have a couple of el cheapo analog meters, one in the garage and one in the boot of the MGB and they will do 99% of what you need to trouble shoot car electicals at the roadside. They used to be buttons from Farnell but who knows if you can still buy them.
I also have a Tenma DVM, its pretty basic one with a resolution of 3 digits. it has ohms AC/DC volts AC?DC current and 10 amp shunt current facilty. The only frill is a capacitance measuring capabilty which I have used for points and condensor era cars. This is really useful for cars and can even give you good idea of battery condition and alternator health. Personally for use in a car I qwould buy something at the lower end, then if it gets left behind or run over on a rally just buy another one.
No point posting the model number of the Tenma its so old they will no longer make it.

[Barkychoc]

I spotted a really useful additional meter in a cpc flyer yesterday - it is an ammeter with 2 flat probes joined together to go in a fuse position in the fusebox.
One of those 'that looks handy' toys that I guess might not get used!

edited to add

http://cpc.farnell.com/_/cf-02/current-tester-auto...

£7.30 plus delivery

Edited by Barkychoc on Monday 15th October 21:15

[Oldred_V8S]

Barkychoc said:

I spotted a really useful additional meter in a cpc flyer yesterday - it is an ammeter with 2 flat probes joined together to go in a fuse position in the fusebox.
One of those 'that looks handy' toys that I guess might not get used!

edited to add

http://cpc.farnell.com/_/cf-02/current-tester-auto...

£7.30 plus delivery

Edited by Barkychoc on Monday 15th October 21:15

Damn you Barkychoc!

Yet another toy I now need to buy. I cannot resist anything to do with auto electrics. Awaiting a nice tool to come from the US that indicates where in a wire bundle a short or open circuit is occurring, could really have used this a few weeks back on my Dad's old car. Why is it I always discover these tools after the event?

[gifdy]

As long as the meter has autoranging and an audio continuity test it should do the trick. I've got a really good Fluke meter and a tiny ten bob one that looks like it came out of a Xmas cracker, both do pretty much the same thing.

However, I borrowed a powered probe recently and it was fantastic for fault finding. I'm just about to invest in one to sort out a wiring problem with my door mirrors. It makes it easy to inject a 12V signal to power up various bits and bobs. I haven't done a good search yet - but this sort of thing :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-6v-24v-Car-Probe-...

[junglieD]

Thanks for your input guys. I've just received a pretty basic one that cost me less than a tenner from Amazon. It has the circuit continuity feature in addition to the others mentioned so I'll have fun learning to use at the weekend and chasing down any breaks in connections (currently niggled by the interior light not working and my main beams for some reason). I like the fuse multimeter pointed out by Barkychoc and have found that there are a few blade-fuse test leads with banana-plug connections available for use with your existing multimeter. I may end up buying one of those too!

Cheers,

Dave