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On Sun, 8 Jan 2023 19:02:15 -0000 (UTC), antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jan 2023 01:04:32 -0000 (UTC), antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
Ed Lee <edward.ming.lee@gmail.com> wrote:
But not immediately. I tested 400V occasionally, but couple of them died while testing 12V. I am wondering it 400V weaken the meter.
High voltage can destroy resistors, but this seem to be quite fast.
The old CenTech meters are 1000V, but the new models are 250V. Why even bother to have 50V more than the next range of 200V. Perhaps it\'s just same design with new label, when they got enough reports/complaints.
Lot of folks live in countries where line voltage is 230V. So 50 volts
makes a lot of difference.
I am wondering if it\'s worth picking up some of the older 1000V models off ebay.
I know nothing about CenTech meters. But I have several \"DT830B\"
meters. Available schematics shows 3 resistors in series for 1000V.
My oldest one have 2 resistors. Newest one have single resistor.
Standard miniature resistors are rated for 250V, one can get
better ones, but I doubt that one can get cheaply 1000V capable
ones. Still, meter is marked as 1000V DC, 700V AC (the same
as old meters).
They eliminated 0.2 cents worth of resistors. Ignore temperature and
voltage coefficient effects. Maybe some of that is mathed out?
Chinese product prices ratchet towards cheap, and the specs ratchet
deep into the lies region. Chinese amps and volts and per cent are
about 10:1 off from SI standards.
Well, the cheap \"DT830B\" were surprisingly accurate. I have
used 4 to measure the same voltage. IIRC the differences
were in last digit and did not exceed 2 counts. They were
bought from different sources at different times, so it
is unlikly to be the same error on all. And they agreed
with better meter. Newest ones seem to have larger
errors, but still well withing specs.
AFAICS biggest problem with cheap meters are test leads,
they tend to fail rather quickly. Second problem is
main switch, which is formed from part of PCB. It
seem to degrade with use. And failing switch can
produce all kinds of wrong results.
Why buy cheap junk test equipment?
John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sun, 8 Jan 2023 19:02:15 -0000 (UTC), antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jan 2023 01:04:32 -0000 (UTC), antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
Ed Lee <edward.ming.lee@gmail.com> wrote:
But not immediately. I tested 400V occasionally, but couple of them died while testing 12V. I am wondering it 400V weaken the meter.
High voltage can destroy resistors, but this seem to be quite fast.
The old CenTech meters are 1000V, but the new models are 250V. Why even bother to have 50V more than the next range of 200V. Perhaps it\'s just same design with new label, when they got enough reports/complaints.
Lot of folks live in countries where line voltage is 230V. So 50 volts
makes a lot of difference.
I am wondering if it\'s worth picking up some of the older 1000V models off ebay.
I know nothing about CenTech meters. But I have several \"DT830B\"
meters. Available schematics shows 3 resistors in series for 1000V.
My oldest one have 2 resistors. Newest one have single resistor.
Standard miniature resistors are rated for 250V, one can get
better ones, but I doubt that one can get cheaply 1000V capable
ones. Still, meter is marked as 1000V DC, 700V AC (the same
as old meters).
They eliminated 0.2 cents worth of resistors. Ignore temperature and
voltage coefficient effects. Maybe some of that is mathed out?
Chinese product prices ratchet towards cheap, and the specs ratchet
deep into the lies region. Chinese amps and volts and per cent are
about 10:1 off from SI standards.
Well, the cheap \"DT830B\" were surprisingly accurate. I have
used 4 to measure the same voltage. IIRC the differences
were in last digit and did not exceed 2 counts. They were
bought from different sources at different times, so it
is unlikly to be the same error on all. And they agreed
with better meter. Newest ones seem to have larger
errors, but still well withing specs.
AFAICS biggest problem with cheap meters are test leads,
they tend to fail rather quickly. Second problem is
main switch, which is formed from part of PCB. It
seem to degrade with use. And failing switch can
produce all kinds of wrong results.
Why buy cheap junk test equipment?
I would not lablel my \"DT830B\"-s as junk, they work well enough.
As I wrote, they are accurate. They are small and light.
And the measurement ranges are better suited to electronics
that many more expensive meters (for example many meters lack
200uA range). I like ranges set by switch and lack of automatic
turn-off (so meter does not turn off half into long measurement).
Featurewise, I would like separate power switch, but that would
be hard to add given compact form factor.
Concerning test leads, when they fail I take new ones, that is
minor annoyance. Basically it means that one has to factor
cost of replacement leads to price of the meter. Concerning
PCB switch, it means that meter is less durable than meters with
real switch. OTOH looking at teardowns of various meters I
saw no with real switch. Maybe there are some, but I do not
expect to get meter with real switch below $60 (or should
I write $600?).
To put it differently, for simple measurements I do not see
anything better, so why pay more? When I need better accuracy
or need more than \"DT830B\" can do I use better meters
(slightly better \"DT9205A\" or Aneng 8000 series).
BTW: Some folks probably would say that Anengs are
\"cheap junk\", they costed me below $20 per piece.
Yet they have resolution better than much more expensive
stuff. They look solid and people who tested them say
they are solid.
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case, one can buy
product from expensive brand and get exactly the same
junk as cheap one.
John Larkin <jla...@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sun, 8 Jan 2023 19:02:15 -0000 (UTC), anti...@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
John Larkin <jla...@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jan 2023 01:04:32 -0000 (UTC), anti...@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
Ed Lee <edward....@gmail.com> wrote:
But not immediately. I tested 400V occasionally, but couple of them died while testing 12V. I am wondering it 400V weaken the meter.
High voltage can destroy resistors, but this seem to be quite fast.
The old CenTech meters are 1000V, but the new models are 250V. Why even bother to have 50V more than the next range of 200V. Perhaps it\'s just same design with new label, when they got enough reports/complaints.
Lot of folks live in countries where line voltage is 230V. So 50 volts
makes a lot of difference.
I am wondering if it\'s worth picking up some of the older 1000V models off ebay.
I know nothing about CenTech meters. But I have several \"DT830B\"
meters. Available schematics shows 3 resistors in series for 1000V.
My oldest one have 2 resistors. Newest one have single resistor.
Standard miniature resistors are rated for 250V, one can get
better ones, but I doubt that one can get cheaply 1000V capable
ones. Still, meter is marked as 1000V DC, 700V AC (the same
as old meters).
They eliminated 0.2 cents worth of resistors. Ignore temperature and
voltage coefficient effects. Maybe some of that is mathed out?
Chinese product prices ratchet towards cheap, and the specs ratchet
deep into the lies region. Chinese amps and volts and per cent are
about 10:1 off from SI standards.
Well, the cheap \"DT830B\" were surprisingly accurate. I have
used 4 to measure the same voltage. IIRC the differences
were in last digit and did not exceed 2 counts. They were
bought from different sources at different times, so it
is unlikly to be the same error on all. And they agreed
with better meter. Newest ones seem to have larger
errors, but still well withing specs.
AFAICS biggest problem with cheap meters are test leads,
they tend to fail rather quickly. Second problem is
main switch, which is formed from part of PCB. It
seem to degrade with use. And failing switch can
produce all kinds of wrong results.
Why buy cheap junk test equipment?
I would not lablel my \"DT830B\"-s as junk, they work well enough.
As I wrote, they are accurate. They are small and light.
And the measurement ranges are better suited to electronics
that many more expensive meters (for example many meters lack
200uA range). I like ranges set by switch and lack of automatic
turn-off (so meter does not turn off half into long measurement).
Featurewise, I would like separate power switch, but that would
be hard to add given compact form factor.
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case, one can buy
product from expensive brand and get exactly the same
junk as cheap one.
--
Waldek Hebisch
antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl wrote:
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case, one can buy
product from expensive brand and get exactly the same
junk as cheap one.
--
Waldek Hebisch
I agree. I have bought many DT830 multimeters and found some die for no
reason. I also have bought many to give to friends.
Since then, I have come across the very best multimeter I have ever seen in
my 80 years. It is called the RichMeter RM109.
It has very fast autoranging with manual option, 4 1/2 digit, 1 KVDC range,
1MV range with resolution down to 1 microvolt, can measure down to 1e-13A
with external 10MEG resistor, measures frequency, capacitance, built-in
square wave signal generator. Unblievable performance in a small 5\" X 2.5\"
package.
Specifications
https://richmeters.en.made-in-china.com/product/rdvAUnjKZocY/China-RM109-
Digital-Multimeter-9999-Counts-Square-Wave-Auto-Ranging.html
US $22.87
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001966216610.html
A companion model measures temperature.
antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl wrote:
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case, one can buy
product from expensive brand and get exactly the same
junk as cheap one.
--
Waldek Hebisch
I agree. I have bought many DT830 multimeters and found some die for no
reason. I also have bought many to give to friends.
Since then, I have come across the very best multimeter I have ever seen in
my 80 years. It is called the RichMeter RM109.
It has very fast autoranging with manual option, 4 1/2 digit, 1 KVDC range,
1MV range with resolution down to 1 microvolt, can measure down to 1e-13A
with external 10MEG resistor, measures frequency, capacitance, built-in
square wave signal generator. Unblievable performance in a small 5\" X 2.5\"
package.
Specifications
https://richmeters.en.made-in-china.com/product/rdvAUnjKZocY/China-RM109-
Digital-Multimeter-9999-Counts-Square-Wave-Auto-Ranging.html
US $22.87
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001966216610.html
A companion model measures temperature.
That looks quite similar to Aneng AN8009 that I have. They are
probably based on the same chip.
--
Waldek Hebisch
On Sat, 14 Jan 2023 15:06:40 -0000 (UTC), anti...@math.uni.wroc.pl
wrote:
John Larkin <jla...@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case...
I don\'t understand spending hours to save a few dollars and maybe get
something flakey.
Some people are just obcessive about saving money. They clip coupons,
search for deals, buy and return stuff.
antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl wrote:
That looks quite similar to Aneng AN8009 that I have. They are
probably based on the same chip.
--
Waldek Hebisch
You are right. It looks identical. Not only the same chip, it has the same
case with different branding. Somewhere there has to be a source that
supplies these meters to different companies for distribution.
Mike Monett VE3BTI <spamme@not.com> wrote:
antispam@math.uni.wroc.pl wrote:
Why buy cheap junk anything?
I many cases buying a product is cheapest way to get info
if it is worth anything. In bygone era one could relay
on brands, but this is no longer the case, one can buy
product from expensive brand and get exactly the same
junk as cheap one.
--
Waldek Hebisch
I agree. I have bought many DT830 multimeters and found some die for no
reason. I also have bought many to give to friends.
Since then, I have come across the very best multimeter I have ever seen in
my 80 years. It is called the RichMeter RM109.
It has very fast autoranging with manual option, 4 1/2 digit, 1 KVDC range,
1MV range with resolution down to 1 microvolt, can measure down to 1e-13A
with external 10MEG resistor, measures frequency, capacitance, built-in
square wave signal generator. Unblievable performance in a small 5\" X 2.5\"
package.
Specifications
https://richmeters.en.made-in-china.com/product/rdvAUnjKZocY/China-RM109-
Digital-Multimeter-9999-Counts-Square-Wave-Auto-Ranging.html
US $22.87
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001966216610.html
A companion model measures temperature.
That looks quite similar to Aneng AN8009 that I have. They are
probably based on the same chip.
--
Waldek Hebisch