Multimeter recommendation

[Mr Spigot]

I have decided I should get a multimeter to check up the electrics and wondered if anyone had any particular recommendations, or are they all much of a muchness? Prices seem to vary between around £16 and over £200! I don't need anything complex but simple enough to be used on a couple of Morris Minors.

[geoberni]

£16, that's a high starting point....
I totally understand your confusion as to the wide range.
There's obviously the bottom end of the market, shall we say under £8 on the ebay price scale....
At the bottom end of the price range, it's probably not got a replaceable fuse inside it and the quality of manufacture will be poor, bad soldering of circuit board etc.
A fuse is inside because if you make a mistake like setting it as a Voltmeter and connecting for Amps, the fuse will rupture instead of frying the meter....
Then there's whether to get Digital or Analogue.
Digital is quick and easy, but is poor at detecting pulses or flicks of supply, the display will just average out, whereas an analogue display, with a needle, will usually clearly show a pulsing needle ....

For your purposes, basic supply checks, resistance and continuity checks, a Digital should be fine.

I've noticed that the lower end these days tend to be AC Current or DC Current, but not both.
So make sure you get one that can be used for DC Current, which is usually limited to 10Amp (But some are only 5A).
You won't be checking the output current of the Dynamo/Alternator with that, or the cranking Amps of the Starter, but it's useful to have for checking the current drawn by individual circuits, if you wish to.
Auto power off is a useful thing to have, after you've left it on for 10 minutes or so.

Personally, for the sort of thing you want, I'd go between £10 and £15, in a good chunky case, it should be a reasonable quality for what you need..

This is by no means a recommendation, but see this one as an example. There's even a download of the Instruction manual available on the website to take a look at before you buy....: https://www.espares.co.uk/product/es174 ... ultimeter- £
AC current: 2mA - 10A
DC Current: 2mA - 10A
AC Voltage: 200mV - 600V
DC Voltage: 200mV - 600V
Capacitance: 200µF - 20nF
Resistance: 200 Ohms - 200M Ohms
Continuity 'Bleeper' Function
Test Lead Length: 660mm

[svenedin]

I have two. A cheap digital and this slightly more expensive analogue meter. For the reasons Berni mentions, I prefer the analogue meter. I carry the analogue meter in the boot with other tools and emergency spares.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

Stephen

[oliver90owner]

The fuse in most digi multi meters (DMM) will only protect the low current circuits (often 200mA or 400mA range) the high current connection will unlikely be fuse protected. Over current on that range will likely result in the meter being ‘fried’.

[les]

The analogue one shown should cover all your everyday needs.

[geoberni]

The analogue one shown should cover all your everyday needs.

Some people have difficulty reading/understanding the multitude of scales shown on the face of an analogue meter....

The fuse in most digi multi meters (DMM) will only protect the low current circuits (often 200mA or 400mA range) the high current connection will unlikely be fuse protected. Over current on that range will likely result in the meter being ‘fried’.

Agreed, that can be the case. It's always better to know what you're doing and not rely on a fuse being there.
The one I linked to has 2 fuses, including a 10A one in the 10A Range.

[Mr Spigot]

Many thanks for all the helpful responses. My knowledge of multimeters has increased 100%!

[oliver90owner]

One more comment that some don’t know/understand. DMMs rely on the internal battery (usually a 9V PP3). Readings can (and will) be affected by that battery as its voltage reduces - giving incorrect readings.

Analogue meters often only use a 1.5V cell which is only used for resistance measurements with the cheaper meters (more expensive analogue meters may well have other ranges, requiring internal power, which are not generally applicable to basic circuit checking - like that needed for the Minor).

[geoberni]

One more comment that some don’t know/understand. DMMs rely on the internal battery (usually a 9V PP3). Readings can (and will) be affected by that battery as its voltage reduces - giving incorrect readings.

I think you're potentially causing undue concern, since any reasonable quality electronic device of any kind, that relies on it's internal battery will have a power supply operating range with a 'Low Battery' indication of some sort.
People don't put fresh batteries in every time, just because the internal battery had dropped by 0.01v since it was last used....

An analogue device is more fragile, since it relies on moving, finely balanced components and requires mechanical zeroing of the mechanism and use of the parallax mirror to read it....

[Chief]

I'm on my first multimeter, a new, cheap eBay one for £5~ bought at least 20 years ago and still working fine.

However, I'm on my second set of leads/prongs as they fall apart (this current set is now taped up as they too fell apart, but not as badly as the originals).

[oliver90owner]

[/quote]

I think you're potentially causing undue concern, since any reasonable quality electronic device of any kind, that relies on it's internal battery will have a power supply operating range with a 'Low Battery' indication of some sort.
People don't put fresh batteries in every time, just because the internal battery had dropped by 0.01v since it was last used....

An analogue device is more fragile, since it relies on moving, finely balanced components and requires mechanical zeroing of the mechanism and use of the parallax mirror to read it....
[/quote]

There is always potential, but….. for general use, the parallax is likely not even appropriate - it’s only for precision readings by technicians and all meters can be ruined by rough handling (like dropping them)

The comment was simply that low voltage readings (for instance) can lead the inexperienced user ‘up the garden path’ if the battery is failing and cheap DMMs can run through batteries rather more quickly than the more expensive varieties - especially if the cheap ones arrive with a cheap battery.

I have several meters - both digi and analogue. They all work OK but only a three of the DMMs are normally fitted with a battery. My analogue meter has had the same ‘battery’ (an AA cell) for years and works perfectly well for everything, except resistance, without it. My Fluke is the ‘goto’ meter, unless I need to measure current. My Avo rarely sees the light of day and the others are occasionally used if I need a meter set up for monitoring purposes.

Better to know the possible errors than get caught out when a fault arises. There are a lot on this site that might need the information, to be aware of possible wrong readings.

It’s like my digi calipers/micrometers - they can go through cells quite rapidly. My vernier calipers/micrometers cost nothing to run - but one needs better eyesight!

PP3 batteries are not cheap, these days, either. Of course people will not change the battery if the voltage drops by a tiny amount. 0.01 voltage drop for a 9V battery is totally inconsequential - but less than about 8 volts output most certainly is. My cheapest chinese digi does not indicate when the battery requires changing.

[les]

You can complicate everything if you try, the above is a fine example !
I think Mr Spigot just wants to check a few electrical things on his Minor.