Capacitance Meter

[Sandyn]

I have to refurbish the motor on my planer in the near future, the centrifugal switch must be faulty, so a previous owned wired in an external switch to the start winding, which works very well, lol. When I start the motor, I press the power switch and aux switch. When it gets up to speed, I switch out the start winding. I need to confirm one of the capacitor values, so It was time to get a nice new DVM which could measure Capacitance as well. I got THIS one.
It seems to be reasonable value. Has a built in torch, and measures all the usual things also capacitance, frequency, Temp and true RMS.

I've just had a wee play with it, but it has some handy features:- torch, loud beep on continuity, LED indication on continuity, when you select a function on the dial the correct terminals to use are back lit for a few seconds. Whoever designed this has put a bit of thought into what might be useful for users.
It also came with a thermocouple

AND batteries!!! but considering the name, decided to fit Duracell

50uF capacitors I got from Amazon

Reasonable price and UL recognised, so proper safety testing done on it.

Not sure when I will get round to doing the motor. I need the planer working for something I'm working on just now. I have a suspicion the centrifugal switch will be gubbed. The mods were done by someone who understood the problem. It's also a pig to access the motor. I'll have to turn the planer on its side.

 

[Sideways]

Buying a DMM is an interesting challenge.
Features are one thing but a very important factor in a tool that could be used for checking high voltages and currents is safety.
It's hard to tell from the outside if something has been designed correctly e.g. with proper spacing between tracks on the PCB and slots to prevent electrical arcing. Is it built using quality components, with over voltage protection and high current protection fuses.

High energy fuses used in good meters contain sand that melts to absorb the heat of the melting fuse wire. These cost about a tenner each to replace. Some meters don't cost a whole lot more than that ...

If you want a meter to measure mains / 3phase voltages on higher current circuits, it's well worth finding the EEV Blog on youtube and watching his teardown tuesdays which include a full strip down of some quality test kit with a commentary and a few silly drop tests to destruction for fun

 

[Spectric]

I never knew you could buy vegetarian capacitors. I am always cautious about lesser known instrumentation and would tread carefully.

 

[Sandyn]

The METER has "Safety Level/Certification: IEC-61010-1 CATⅢ 1000V, CAT IV 600V", so perfectly fine for what I need. AND!!!! a 3 year warranty......probably have to be sent back to China....not so good.

If it is fully compliant, then all the creepage/clearance single fault analysis, impact testing, flammability and all the requirements checked for this class of product.. I would bet it will have UL recognised fuses, makes compliance much easier. All the critical safety items will be listed and checked in the report. The product is CE marked IEC61010-1 pollution degree 2.

£29.99! pretty darned good! It's got a backlit display....and a voltage sensor and a manual!

 

[guineafowl21]

That’s an awful lot of features for the money.

Bear in mind, the leads are only cat III rated, even though the meter is cat IV, and the exposed probe tips are long, increasing the chance of shorting out what you’re measuring. Taking into account VAT, shipping etc, it’s unlikely to be genuinely rated as stated. But still a very useful meter.

It’s hard to find a multimeter that does everything you want - I went for a Fluke 87V, but I do hate not having a LoZ voltage range, for eliminating ghost voltages.

 

[Sandyn]

I never knew you could buy vegetarian capacitors. I am always cautious about lesser known instrumentation and would tread carefully.

lol, yes a vegetarian capacitor!!! It's UL recognised which is as good as it gets. The oil will be a critical safety item, so the source of it will have to be a UL approved supplier, they won't be able to nip round to the local British supermarket and get a bottle of Mazola

 

[Sideways]

I'm really not knocking it, I'm just pointing out that some prudence needs to be used if you are going to trust your life to a tool that sold for £30, possibly cost £1.50 to make and claims to be safe to 1kV. You don't get something for nothing, whatever certifications are printed on it.
For your intended use of checking a capacitor etc, I hope that it will prove excellent value.
I myself wouldn't ever use an unknown £30 meter for testing on hazardous voltages be it 3 phase anywhere or 240V near the incoming supply to my fuse box.

 

[Spectric]

Put some baseline reference to the argument for a £30 meter. My last Fluke DVM cost me in excess of £300 and a Metrel multifunction tester over £600 but both have a stated calibration and are known fit for purpose. I am not sure whatwould happen if I turn up for a job with some unreconised test meter and what it would say when listed on a test cert.

 

[Sandyn]

That’s an awful lot of features for the money.

Bear in mind, the leads are only cat III rated, even though the meter is cat IV, and the exposed probe tips are long, increasing the chance of shorting out what you’re measuring. Taking into account VAT, shipping etc, it’s unlikely to be genuinely rated as stated. But still a very useful meter.

It’s hard to find a multimeter that does everything you want - I went for a Fluke 87V, but I do hate not having a LoZ voltage range, for eliminating ghost voltages.

I just got it to measure Capacitance and it was a nice looking meter...nice colours!! lol... and a good price, but since then I've had a look on the web and this meter gets very good reviews on various sites.
I'm quite satisfied that the compliance has probably been done correctly. I have a wee bit of experience with compliance and a good nose for sniffing out iffy products, but without seeing the test report, you never know if they have found a 'shortcut' to compliance. They exist within most standards. The manual has all the safety specific warnings/statements subtle detail, which is normally missing from 'fake' certifications, but you never know these days!! The one thing which is missing are specific details of the fuse types, but. it is covered by the 'replace with the same specification' which is quite normal...just noticed the fuse type is on the case...
The meter and probes are compliant to CAT III 1000V and CAT IV 600V according to the manual, but I see the picture on Amazon they are CAT III, but interestingly the probes I have are marked CAT III on the probe and CATIV 600V on the tip cover, so looks OK The tip covers reduce the exposed length of probe to 4mm.
The domain Kaiweets is owned by Alibaba. The meter is made by Habotest, a Chinese test equipment company. Their Compliance testing is done by PTC, which is fully accredited by major test agencies such as TUV and UL. Everything I have checked out, holds up.

I think I have accidentally bought a wee gem of a meter, lol it appears to be fully compliant. There's a break down of it HERE The guy does make a comment about not trusting your life on a £30 meter, which is very fair comment. Everyone has to decide for themselves, taking account of use . With cheap meters, You never know how they will stand up to constant use, perhaps the insulation on the leads may start to crack after a while, that kind of issue can never be identified in compliance testing (I don't think they do ageing tests on leads, but not sure) If you are wanting the best, or using professionally, then get the best, one with a good pedigree such as Fluke, but I don't need that, this will do fine.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Certified by Kingspan?

 

[Jake]

I seriously wouldn't trust just some symbols and stuff printed on a label in China as meaning any actual certification.

Edit: OK so you've seen their test certification?

 

[Sandyn]

I seriously wouldn't trust just some symbols and stuff printed on a label in China as meaning any actual certification.

Edit: OK so you've seen their test certification?

Cool. Everyone is free to make their own decisions.

 

[Eric The Viking]

It’s hard to find a multimeter that does everything you want - I went for a Fluke 87V, but I do hate not having a LoZ voltage range, for eliminating ghost voltages.

That's why I keep my AVO, and a similar (but higher impedance) Taylor. For everything else DMM.

 

[Sandyn]

That's why I keep my AVO, and a similar (but higher impedance) Taylor. For everything else DMM.

Cover your eyes.....lol

 

[Eric The Viking]

Awww. That's just nasty. It hasn't done the owner any harm, I expect.