Hf dmm #98674 dotw

[Monyet]

Anyone have any experience with this item? Seems like a decent looking meter, and decent reviews too.

[BobSch]

That's quite a meter. Sound level, luminance, humidity, and temperature, as well as electrical current and voltage? Dang, does it make coffee in the morning, too?

I haven't seen that one before, but I've had one of their cheap DMMs for several years and it works just fine. I think I got it for $2.99 on sale.

[pelligrini]

Looks like it does a lot with some fair tolerances. Doesn't look like a bad price either.

HF Link http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-...ter-98674.html

[LCHIEN]

Engineer goes crazy comparing specs, are they fair specs?

My curiosity led me to compare these:
HF 98674 compared to a Fluke 87V which costs about 10X as much

Accuracy:
DCV 0.7% vs 0.1%
DC Current 1.2% vs .2%
ACV 0.8% vs 0.7%
AC Amps 1-3% vs 1%
Capacitance 3% vs 1%
Resistance 1.2 to 2% vs 0.2 to 0.6%
Frequency 1.5-2% vs .005%

So in many areas the Fluke is quite more accurate.
But for many of you it won't matter. It's good enough
and the HF also allegedly does luminous intensity and sound intensity and temperature. The Fluke has temperature capablity, too.
OTOH the Fluke has min, max and other stuff which is real handy for keeping track of sags, surges and drifting.
HF operating range 0-40C vs FLuke -20-55C

Temperature performance:
Over 0-40C, DCV error 2.1% vs. .2% given:
Temperature coeff (e.g. change in reading vs change in temperature) HF .1xaccuracy/deg C Vs. Fluke .05xaccuracy/degree C (i.e. HF temp drift for DCV may be as much as 14X given the 7x better initial accuracy of the Fluke) At 0 C or 40C the HF would be off by another 1.4% (total error 2.1%) vs .1% more for a total of .2% total error for the Fluke. The HF is not guaranteed beyond 0-40 C it would probably work but the accuracy would really go off. The Fluke is guaranteed to work -20 to 55C a whole lot more, and with much less error than the HF.
0C to 40C is 32F to 104F;
-20C to 55C is -4F to +131F


The FLuke is also more rugged, electrically speaking:
withstands 1000VAC or 1000VDC in all modes and ranges whereas the HF withstands 1000VDC or 750VAC in higher ranges but only 250VAC in the lower ranges - this is a whole lot easier to destroy.

Anyway there you have it. The HF at $32 is a meter that's good for casual use, a home owner probably won't need the accuracy, use it outside of 32F to 131F, and there's no voltages in a house over 230VAC so 250VAC max overload is OK. If you only measure AC Volts then the Fluke is only marginally better than the HF. The Fluke costs more than 10X (I think around $380) has a lot more accuracy for virtually all modes and ranges, a whole lot more temperature stability and is electrically more robust and should be the choice of a professional electrician or electrical engineer, even at that price.

Links to Manuals with specs:
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/man...8999/98674.pdf
http://assets.fluke.com/manuals/87______umeng0800.pdf

[billfrommich]

As far as I can tell (and I may be wrong on this) the HF meter is not a "True RMS" meter, whereas the Fluke 87V is (and manufacturers usually make sure to publicize the fact when a particular meter is indeed a True RMS meter) . This means that when measuring AC voltages and currents with other than sinusoidal wave shapes there may be considerable inaccuracies in the readings provided by a non True RMS meter, particularly if these readings are being used to calculate power dissipation, etc. Typically if you know the wave shape of the AC voltage or current you happen to be measuring, you can apply a correction factor to a non True RMS meter's readings, but an actual True RMS meter will give you accurate readings even if you don't know the wave shape (within certain limits - the wave shape can't be too unusual, or even True RMS meters will start to lose accuracy). Whether or not this is important to the typical homeowner depends on what they are using the meter for, which is rather hard to predict, since a meter like this could be used for many different purposes.

[LCHIEN]

the HF did not claim to be a "True RMS" meter so it is likely not. The Fluke also had AC accuracy specifed as a function of frequency whereas the HF did not specify frequency at all so I suspect it may only be accurate at 50-60 Hz. probably the lack of True RMS and being only used at 60 Hz is not an issue for most homeowners.

[dbhost]

It depends on what you are wanting to use it for. You guys should know my proclivity for buying the best bang for the buck. When I bought a multi meter, I got a Blue Point branded Fluke meter. Been running strong now for almost 20 years, dead on accurate. For most analog stuff that HF meter is probably fine, but if you are working with circuits where .01v makes a difference, forget it...

[LCHIEN]

you may think after this that the Fluke 87V is a great meter.
Well, its not that great.
Lets compare specs for HF, Fluke and my Agilent 34401A DMM on my workbench in my lab:

DCV .7% vs .1% vs .0015%
ACV .8% vs .7% vs .06%

and I could spend a lot more on a DMM than the Agilent.
The HF and Fluke are handheld battery operated meters, the Agilent is a AC-powered benchtop instrument.

[pelligrini]

For most analog stuff that HF meter is probably fine, but if you are working with circuits where .01v makes a difference, forget it...

I think if someone is working within .01v tolerances and they decide to use a $40 multi-function meter from HF they've got much bigger problems to deal with...

I do like the Lux Meter. I might have to pick one of these up for our dart association. We're always having problems with board lighting and determining what "adequate lighting" as stated in our rules is. This would be an affordable meter.

[dbhost]

Those Agilent meters are nice. And right in the price range with the Fluke...

[Monyet]

Geez, all this way over my head, I have trouble remembering I've to measure voltage in parallel and current in series. Wait, is that right?? Boy do I need help.

[LCHIEN]

Those Agilent meters are nice. And right in the price range with the Fluke...

that agilent cost about three-four times as much as the fluke, 30-40 times what the HF cost.

[mdmitch2]

RE-badged Mastec

I have the HF DMM. I haven't used it too much, but it seems solidly built and has a lot of nice features. It's the same as the Mastec 8229 which sells for $70.

http://www.amazon.com/Sinometer-Auto...ies/B000JKMTDM

[billfrommich]

One of the reviewers on the HF website says the meter is also probably the same as a Protek 6300, so apparently it is being sold under a number of different brand names. Seems like HF has the best price however.