Wrote off those cheap multimeters for years until one saved my butt on a call

I always thought spending more than $50 on a multimeter was a waste. Bought a Fluke 117 after my old $30 one gave me weird readings on a refrigerator compressor in Akron last month. Turned out the start relay was bad but the cheap meter said the cap was fine. The Fluke caught it right away and I didn't have to swap a whole compressor for nothing. Now I get why the old guys tell you not to skimp on test gear. Saved me like 3 hours of headache on that one job. Has anyone else had a cheap tool bite them in the butt like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_burns23h agoRising Star

You ever get that sinking feeling when you realize your tool was lying to you (and you almost wasted hours because of it)? I've been there too, brother, and it's a real wake-up call.

hernandez.gavin23h ago

You said the cheap meter said the cap was fine. Did it actually give a wrong number or just show something weird?

paulnguyen21h ago

The relay on that compressor, @hernandez.gavin, the cheap meter actually showed the cap was within range, like 45 microfarads on a 50 cap. But the Fluke caught it at 38 with some weird ripple on the display. So it wasn't just a bad number, it was a misleading one that looked fine on the surface. That's what gets you, you know, a reading that's close enough to trust but wrong enough to steer you the wrong way. I always figured a meter was just a meter, but the difference in how they handle noise and inrush really matters on stuff like compressors. Saved me from swapping a whole compressor for a bad relay, which would've been a real stupid mistake.