[Mike in Canada]

Is there a meter with better bang for buck than the Klein cl800? Looking at fluke meters, money doesn’t get you nearly as far… the t6-1000 is like 450 and doesn’t have a clamp, which I’m iffy on. Just looking for some advice before I go and spend money on what I hope to be my go to meter for everything. Currently using a pretty basic Klein meter without an amp clamp and that’s quite annoying, my foreman and boss have the cl800 and from what I’ve seen I like it. Any suggestions/experiences with the cl800?

I have a C800 as my in-the-pouch meter. It's okay. For me it gets irritating because it won't discern between AC and DC in voltage mode. There's only one voltage reading position on the switch, and if you are expecting DC you have to push a button to switch to DC or it won't read it. That frustrates me because I read DC often. For many electricians this wouldn't be problem at all.
A couple of good things about the C800 are the work light, which has its moments, and it has a 'lip' on the clamp for separating wires. Also it has a LoZ mode.
Drawbacks - I cracked the lens of the display somehow. Maybe not so tough. Probes plug in one the bottom so if you leave the probes plugged in when it's in your pouch it's pretty tall. All in all a pretty decent meter for general tasks.
If you are going to do a lot of troubleshooting then maybe look at a Fieldpiece meter. Good pricing for decent meters with a good reputation.
I have Extech and Flir meters, too. The big Flir meters are REALLY good, in my experience, but the little Extechs are just okay.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I previously had a Klein. Dropped it and broke the clamp. I replaced it with amprobe 310. I preferred the Klein. Sounds dumb but the magnet and the light are what I miss the most.

Quality of life conveniences are important.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I like the looks of this Ideal meter

https://www.idealind.com/us/en/category/product.html/600a-ac-dc-trms-tightsightr-clamp-meter.html

It has true RMS, low Z, and a CAT rating, bunch of other features and a few gimmicks, for about $135 at Home Depot.

The tightsight was glorious in its day, but has been pretty near rendered useless by the advent of bluetooth meters that can display the value on your phone.

I've got to say, though... that meter is ticking all of the boxes for me, personally. The only thing that would make it even better would be if there was a separate jack for the K-type thermocouple so that it could be used as an amp for thermocouples and you could get a probe wand and plug it in. That's something that not many people would want, but it would be the icing on the cake for me.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Here is what might be almost the perfect clamp meter:

SC680 Swivel Head Wireless Clamp Meter | Fieldpiece

See the SC680 AC/DC Swivel Head Wireless Clamp Meter at Fieldpiece. It has everything you need to install, service, and troubleshoot any HVACR system.

www.fieldpiece.com

It connects to your phone up to 1000 feet away (so it says) to display values.
True RMS, low-pass filter, the clamp swivels so you can see the value when the wire isn't going where you want, and it has two features that I haven't seen on a meter before - it has a micro-amps DC range for sensor readings using the clamp (!) and it has a phase rotation check thing built in. Comes with TWO thermocouples that PLUG IN PROPERLY. Oh, man. I want this meter now.
Not cheap, but if it had Fluke's name on it it would be $1000 more.
Drawbacks - Looks pretty tall. Not sure how it would fit in a tool bag. There is a version that doesn't have the swivel clamp that is shorter.

 

[Mike in Canada]

That looks nice. But does Ideal make a good meter?

I still really like the Milwaukee fork meter that was made to compete with the Fluke T5. But I can’t get over the fact that it’s a Milwaukee. I don’t know anything about Ideal when it comes to meters.

Milwaukee made a fantastic little amp meter for 4-20ma sensor readings, but they discontinued it just before I needed one. It still bothers me.

 

[Mike in Canada]

First off Fluke snobs can kiss my grits.

Especially if their name is 'Mel'!

 

[Mike in Canada]

That seems to be missing LoZ. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an electrician with a Fieldpiece. I’m surprised they don’t try to push more into the electrical trade.

You're right... I don't see LoZ. That is unfortunate. However, it has a couple of other tricks that I didn't notice before... This is a power meter that can break down apparent power, power factor, etc. Kind of cool. It does a lot of tricks, but the input impedance is 5 megaohms and that's it. It can display delta temperature on the display using the two thermocouples and that is crazy good for dealing with heat exchangers. I really really want one now. I just have to figure out if I'm willing to suffer the extra height for the swiveling head.

 

[Mike in Canada]

This thing ticks all the boxes to make it a T5 killer. LoZ, TrueRMS, 200A jaws, and a bunch of other nice features. But it’s made by Milwaukee, it just doesn’t feel right for a meter.

View attachment 199553

I almost bought one of those some time ago, but I don't like that the test leads plug in the bottom.
[/QUOTE]

 

[Mike in Canada]

I like smaller meters like that for the one that you carry around with you all the time.

Fluke makes an adorable little meter that I would love to have but from everything I have read it’s a piece of trash. It seems more like Chinese junk that Fluke put their brand name on.

As far as I can tell only 3 meters are still made almost exclusively in North America. The rest are assembled in the 'states at best.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Thinking about it, if my current (haha) Klein multimeter only lacks the amp clamp, I could get away with a t5 or t6 as a daily driver and if I ever need to measure something it can’t, I have a backup.

I have the CL800, and as a daily driver it's fine. If you are only using it for AC then the AC/DC voltage annoyance won't bother you. The leads plugging in on the end of the meter irritates me but maybe it's fine for you.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I’m not just buying for now, I’m also buying for my future. There have been occasions where I needed the amp clamp and Farads, but to be honest nowadays it’s mostly voltage and continuity. If the fluke 323 had loZ I’d get it but the lack of that seems stupid to me

I have very poor impulse control and I just ordered that $500 Fieldpiece SC680 that I posted about. It's like it was made just for me (except for the lack of LoZ, but that's what wiggys are for, I suppose). It will take a few days to get, but I will let you know how I like it. They make an SC480 which is smaller and less expensive. The Fieldpiece meter is designed for troubleshooting, so I suspect it will work well for me.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I get it, most of us are already in that future.


Damn I’m old. This midlife crisis is hitting me hard

Someone did a study that looked at how fast time seems to pass at different ages. Like, to a kid a week is an eternity, but in your later years it flies by. Anyway, this study concluded that for an average human lifespan, 'middle age' is 23 years or something like that.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Most of us have a daily knock around meter and then something more sophisticated when we need it. Forks aren’t all that bad. Clamps can be awkward when you’re working on a panel that was wired by a guy with a cable tie obsession.

I resemble that remark.
That's why I miss this:

That thing could snake into ridiculous spots to take a reading.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I think Fluke uses Low Z as a marketing gimmick to make you buy more meter than you need. If my $60 Ideal is Low Z, it isn’t expensive magic.

Really, to me, LoZ is only really useful if you have a meter that can do it or not. If you get one voltage in 'normal' mode and a significantly lower voltage in LoZ, then that should indicate that there is a weak (compromised) connection somewhere. If the feed is clean then you should get the same voltage in both modes. LoZ kind of shows you what the device sees when a load hits the wire (I say 'kind of' because the load applied by the meter is unlikely to match the device). It would actually be cool to just have a button to press for LoZ so that it can be used as a momentary function.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Ghost voltage is a thing.

Yeah, it is, but if you read 220V with your multimeter and sorta-kinda-maybe 208V with your wiggy, then are you sure there's a problem?
If it's a completely ghost voltage then the wiggy shows zero, and yeah, that would be good enough. It's still way better to have both on one device, in my opinion.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Imagine being in an attic needing to work on a junction box that you believe you shut off. You’re sweaty and laying across old BX cables and pipes. You use your tester to make sure those circuits you need to work on are dead, they read 102 V with your standard meter.

Is that live? Or is that ghost voltage?

Using a wiggy or a tester/meter with LoZ alleviates this gamble.

Yeah, for sure. I'm saying that LoZ should be in a meter that also reads with a high impedance. The low impedance should be selectable so that you have the full functionality instead of just detecting ghost voltage.

 

[Mike in Canada]

So what I’m getting is LoZ is a function I want. Fluke is good in some ways but sneaky the way they make you collect them all. Probably my best bet is the cl800 so far but that isn’t the most rugged or accurate meter

Reader's Digest Condensed Edition, as interpreted by Coles Notes:
Normally a meter has a LOT of input impedance when measuring voltage. I've seen 5 or 10 megaohms. This reads the voltage without allowing current to flow through the meter (heating it up). This also means that a near-zero-amperage signal is still read. If you have a relatively low input impedance like 5 kiloohms, then it sucks up enough current that that little wispy near-zero-amperage signal is sucked up and you see zero or near zero volts. Wiggys do this by making the signal power the solenoid. LoZ meters have a separate circuit that is low impedance so a bit of current can pass.
For ghost voltage (near-zero-amperage) LoZ is all you need.
LoZ can also be used to detect compromised connections, but that requires being able to read with and without LoZ.

 

[Mike in Canada]

I think for what Dave is doing, having a tester like the T+ Pro that is always LoZ would be fine as a frontline tester.

For a tester I think that's a fair statement.

 

[Mike in Canada]

Also

• if it's going to be used for testing voltage in field wiring, must have low Z.
• spend a little more for TrueRMS, pays the first time you need it.

I think you have a good list going there.
I personally think that LoZ and TRMS are common enough (and cheap enough) that there is no point in buying a meter that doesn't have it, unless there is a real serious reason why (like, my Amprobe micro-ohmmeter does voltage, but has neither LoZ or TRMS but I don't care because that's not what the meter is for).
In the 'quality of life' list I like:
Magnet for hanging
Built in light
Built in NCVT
If a clamp meter then dual displays or bluetooth

 

[Mike in Canada]

Well I ended up getting the Amprobe 220… just came in the Mail and my first impressions are very positive

I like the looks of that meter. Very compact. It has a low-pass filter which is very nice. Reads DC amps through the clamp. All good. Seems to suffer the same lack as my Fieldpiece SC-680 - no LoZ mode. Unless there is some button that I can't see on it...
Hasn't been a problem for me, yet.
It has enough stuff going on to be a good daily driver meter, in a really small package. Nice.