Went from a Fluke 87V to a cheap $40 multimeter for one job and instantly regretted it

Had to trace a weird intermittent fault on a King KX 155 nav radio last Friday. My Fluke was in the shop so I grabbed a no-name meter off the truck. That thing couldn't even hold a stable reading on the power pins. Wasted two hours chasing ghosts. Swapped back to a borrowed Fluke and found the cold solder joint in 15 minutes. Has anyone else had a cheap meter steer them totally wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

smith.anna2d ago

I learned the hard way too after a cheap meter showed a false voltage reading on a control board, costing me a whole afternoon until I verified it with an old Simpson. Never again.

rivershah2d ago

A whole afternoon... c'mon, it's not like you rewired the place.