MosportGreen66

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to purchase a quality Multimeter for the purpose of testing alternators and voltage regulators. Can anyone recommend a good one?

Thanks,
Dave

Canute

Fluke is pretty much the standard.

jim lockwood

Yep. Fluke is the brand you want.

Jim

Powershift

Agree with the others on the Fluke meter. I have an older #73 III and love it. Cost about $150 with a lifetime warranty from Fluke. They have recently almost stopped the lifetime warranty.

If you can afford it, get the #87. Cost is about $300 or so, but this is the meter that the electricians and instrument technicians use in the chemical plants for all their work. Outstanding meter......and the only one (I believe) that still carries a lifetime warranty.

Go on-line and check out the Fluke lineup, and then also check the on-line discount houses for best price. Some places may still carry the #73 III. Also buy the zipper, vinyl case.

Larry

Frankie the Fink

I've used Fluke equipment since the early '70s and yes....they are the 'best of breed'....
(John Fluke invented a method of 'degaussing' Naval warships in WW-II to reduce their radar signature.)

Another old standby is a Simpson 260. Not digital but fused all to hell and nearly indestructible; they actually still make them: http://www.transcat.com/Catalog/prod...FUNb2godCwVqug. An analog meter is often better suited to spotting 'trends' in measurements over time than many digital multimeters..

I dropped one 20' from an aircraft wing onto a concrete tarmac and picked it right up and used it for another 8 years...

mrtexas

I use a cheap digital meter bought at Home Depot. It works just fine for as much as I use it. You are probably only going to need to test voltage and ohms to test the diodes. IMHO a $300 meter is overkill but that is just my opinion. My 89 year old father keeps telling me I should have an analog meter though, didn't know they were still made!!! The digital meters can sometimes mislead you(this has happened to me). Hmm, I re-read your post and you said "quality."

Frankie the Fink

Yes, I do buy cheap meters.....then they burn up or the display goes out or just plain quit working. I still buy them to keep in the car for trips or to loan out....and I usually get my money's worth.

However, my Fluke meter never leaves my tool box unless I am personally using it for a critical measurement or I don't believe what the 'cheapie' meter is telling me...

Powershift

Thanks for the info on the SIMPSON meter. I do also have an old analog meter that I occasionally use, but it's not a Simpson......they were the standard of the industry for decades and still can hold their own.

Larry

MosportGreen66

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for all the info. I just picked up a Fluke Multimeter 115. I'm thinking this will be more than sufficient in testing alternators and voltage regulators. Anyone have one of these?

Thanks,
Dave

Bill Irwin

Back in August we took a lightening hit on the house, among the items damaged was our whole house stand-by generator.
When the electricians were leaving, one left his Fluke, ( the one that even measures Frequency).
I thought long and hard before I picked up the phone. Bill.

AZDoug

Analog, only way to go for multimeter, everything except the ohms will work if the battery is dead.

Doug

Ironcross

I use a Vat 28 that checks the whole charging and cranking systems...just roll it around.....any one use it ?,

AZDoug

I may have used something like that back in auto shop in the early 1970's, along with a Sun machine for checking the ignition system, and an old distributor machine for setting up dizzies, and a growler for checking armatures.

Doug

rgs

Analog meters suffer less from effects of buffering of quickly changing signals. The cheaper digital multimeters have integration times of almost 1/2 second. Any quick change in value is lost with these meters. Better digital meters have less integration time and the top of the line digital meters also have linear bar graphs to display the real-time value of the measurement.

The Simpson 260 is one great meter and I used them extensively when I was teaching introductory circuit analysis.

Not all analog meters will work with a dead battery, case in point, the VTVOM or Vacuum-Tube-Volt-Ohm-Meter, but how many people other than me have one of those sitting around the shop?

VetteJohn

Dave,

I've owned both cheapie & high quality meters and "you get what you pay for". That being said, if all you're looking for is to be able to read is battery & alt. voltage even the cheap ones are pretty good. After all, you can always double check the readings with another car.

I see your forum name is MosportGreen66, great color. I have a buddy that has a '66 BB Mosprot Grenn with green interior and it is one of the best color combos I'll ever seen. How about some pictres?

MosportGreen66

As per the request. The car is an early production L72 rated at 450hp. Duntov, Bloomington Gold, Greenwich Concours d' Elegance recipient. Mosport Green / Black.




Thanks for all the help with the Multimeter,

-Dave

skids

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MG] How about something like this? I have it on fleabay.