Debate: Did I waste $400 on a cheap multimeter or was it worth it?

I bought a $40 multimeter off Amazon last year and it kept giving me wonky resistance readings. Finally got checking my work with a buddy's Fluke and I was off by like 30% every time. That 'bargain' cost me 3 days of troubleshooting bad wiring in a Garmin install. Now I'm thinking I should have just dropped $400 on a proper meter from the start. But then again half the guys I work with swear by the cheap ones and say operator error is the real problem. Which side are you on have you been burned by a budget meter or do you think I just messed up the settings?

2 comments

2 Comments

john4302d ago

man that sucks i feel your pain. i had almost the exact same thing happen with a cheap meter from harbor freight and it wasted a whole weekend trying to figure out why my car stereo was acting weird. turned out the meter was just lying to me about voltage and i was chasing ghosts. honestly if you're doing anything beyond just checking if a wall outlet is live the cheap meters are a gamble. the reliability is just not there and time is money. i don't think you messed up the settings i think you got a dud and it happens way too often with those budget ones. its a bummer but now you know your buddy's fluke is the gold standard for a reason.

kevin_hernandez832d ago

My old man always said "buy nice or buy twice" and I learned that one the hard way with a $9.99 Cen-Tech meter that told me a 9 volt battery was somehow pushing 14 volts. Spent three hours replacing fuses and relays in my truck before I wised up and tossed that thing in the trash where it belonged. Now I just borrow my neighbor's Fluke 87 and buy him a six pack as payment, cheaper than therapy for sure.