[MonkHead]

Hi, well i bought this expensive el-chippo DMM the other day

got it for around 30$, it is made by a chinese manufacture named UNI-T.
Anyways, im having an hard time taking measurements with it. if i want for example to test a resistor, i really need to squeeze on his pins to get a stable measurement, actually it dosnt matter what im trying to measure i always need to squeez it to death with the dmm's pins or else it wont give me a stable reading. other then that the dmm looks pretty solid and has nice functions like HOLD and BACLIT.
could you guys recommend of a site that has some "dmm exercises"? or something like that so i could practice with it? thanks....
CHEERS

 

[Budgie]

That sounds kinda weird. Does it do that if you short the leads together when you are set to measure resistence? (which should give you a reading of a fraction of an ohm)

 

[Garbz]

might just be crap leads. My $14 (AUD so about $9USD) DMM hasn't failed me once yet.

 

[Excalibur]

I agree with Garbz. The only time I've seen that problem, flakey leads was the cause. Sometimes they fail very slowly by giving you readings that seem to keep "changing" and sometimes they fail all at once by giving you no reading. Try another pair and see if the problem goes away.

 

[MonkHead]

yeh the leads give me a reading of around 0.05 ohm when i short them before measuring. like i said i can get a stable reading only when i press on the resistor leads really hard, or if i hold the leads of the multi' and bind them to the leads of the resistor with my fingers- doing the measurement with my hands and not on a table. i think its probably because im doing something wrong, but it suppose to be pretty much self explanatory so i guess A)im an idiot B)im a cheap person and i should get a new dmm/leads.
thanks all.
CHEERS

 

[tangent]

I've seen similar things with Flukes. Unless you're talking about a problem of a much greater degree than what I'm thinking of, this may be normal.

If you go buy something, consider buying leads with grabbers of some sort on the end for testing resistors. This takes the unsteadiness of your hands out of the equation. If you get the right kind of grabbers, it also means no more deformed leads from testing.

There are slip-on grabbers that go on regular probes, but cheap ones are worthless. Instead, I'd recommend you get a Pomona test lead kit. It'll cost you, but Pomona leads are far higher in quality than the PVC-insulated crap you get with cheap meters.

 

[MonkHead]

well then i guess ill just have to buy a new dmm cause cause it will be pretty stupid to spend more money on the leads then on the actual dmm...THANKS
CHEERS

 

[Kenny12]

make some of your own plugs, banna plug + wire (i used cat5) + allagator clips or whatever probe u want to use.

works for me

 

[MonkHead]

hey thats a great idea. thanks.
CHEERS

 

[jasonhanjk]

All new DMM leads are coated in wax to prevent rust. Clean the leads with alcohol.