Digital Wiggies

randomkiller

Just wondering what you other guys are using for a basic volt/amp meter. I have been using the Fluke T5 for the last few years but I heard they came out with a newer model.

mdshunk

I use the T5 also, and I think that has become a pretty standard meter for lots of electricians. I did hear something about the T5-Pro that has an anti-phantom voltage feature, sorta like using a wiggy. Not enough incentive for me to rush right out and buy one.

randomkiller

Phantom voltage is the only thing I dont like with the digital, I see it all the time with control wires in the same conduit or ducts with 480/277. If it shows over 80 I ll pull out the old Ideal solenoid to see for sure.

Celtic

I'm so glad you asked that

I had the "opportunity" to use a bagfull of tricks the other day:


Testers used:
Ideal Circuit Tracer (Just the one piece)
Ideal Vol-Con (about 21 years old)
Fluke T2
Fluke 87
AWS Snap 8
GreenLee GT-11

....shown also is one partial roll of 14/3 NM

__________________

Celtic

LMAO ......that's what the bagful of tricks was for.

#17 for the whole show

__________________

randomkiller

Theres always a reason to have the old stuff close by. My last apprentice laughed when I handed him a hand brace with a screwdriver bit when all his batteries were dead, then he tells me he cant believe the torque that thing has. Go figure.

mdshunk

Hey, when I was an apprentice, the old guy I worked for drilled out entire new houses with a bit and brace.

randomkiller

Absolutely there was no cordless then other than a Yankee screwdriver, which I still have in my bag.

HVAC_NW

It has nothing to do with being digital. They just happen to be that way for a reason other than being digital.

The input impedance on most DMMs are 10Mohm, so the slightest capacitive coupling would cause it to register a significant voltage. There's an adapter that brings down a DMMs input impedance comparable to that of a good 'ol Simpson meter, while still retaining CAT IV safety. It goes in between the leads and the meter and the part # is SV225. The adapter is basically a glorified 3,000 ohm parallel resistor built to 1kV CATIII and 600V CATIV specs.

If you're getting new meters, the rather basic Fluke 114,116 and 117 has a Lo-impedance mode integrated without the use of an external adapter. It's too bad this isn't available on the 87-5.

A solenoid meter is fine under ordinary conditions, but if you end up measuring a 480v line and there happens to be transients causing an internal arcover, that thing's going to turn into a bomb when the source has a short circuit current capacity in tens of thousands. If I'm checking on things in a home, I don't really care, but I would sure like to have a CAT IV rating if I was poking around things near that 1MVA 480V transformer.

Fluke has an article called ABCs of DMM safety if safety things sparks your interest at all.

HVAC_NW

I haven't used it, but Fluke 114, 116 and 117 looks promising. They're DMMs with both high and low input impedance modes. Since these don't have the lo-pass filter option to reject the high freq noise, if you do VFDs, you'll just have to use an SV225 add-on with an 87-V.

Fluke explains it well in an article called "Dual impedance digital multimeters - what's the point?" search on Google if you care to look at it. (I can't post links yet, due to my post count)

randomkiller

I picked up a Fluke 902 today and like it so far. I have been using a Ideal volt-con for years on 480v and never had an explosion yet. I understand the impedance issue but just because I understand it doesnt make it any less annoying when it happens. I have seen the new Fluke Pro models in ads but not in use and for the price I would rather have a meter that also reads amps.