Cheap Multimeter Fact or Fiction

Nice write up and thank you for the evaluations. Excellent job.

Please add one (or three)piece to the puzzle.

I own a few of those HF “cheap” and a few off brand categorized as “cheap”
I also own a few Fluke meters. All of excellent quality. So I am familiar with them all. I buy cheap ones for my service trucks so if somebody walks off I’m out a lot less money than a Fluke.

The leads for the meters on cheap units are smaller in Gauge and shorter in length.

The cheap units if hit with any type of cleaning aerosol turn white- including the face. My Flukes are cleaned regularly with brake and parts cleaner to get grease off units. No troubles.

The cheap units do not have easy access to adapters and testers like the Flukes. I can walk into almost any electrical store and get new leads or adapters for the fluke as long as the store is open.

The fuses inside the cheap units are inexpensive glass style (or at least on all of mine they are) easy to find.
The fuses on the flukes are special style only found on line and not easy to find by my shop.

Both have merit and warrant use. You can buy approx 100 inexpensive Harbor freight units for a well versed Fluke. If you wait for the coupon from HF... it’s free. Lol!
Thank you again for this info. I loved it.
Joe