That $200 multimeter I swore was overpriced saved my bacon last Friday

Everyone says get a cheap one for home use, but my Fluke caught a weird voltage drop that would've fried my new fridge. Anyone else found a tool where spending more actually paid off?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma3061mo ago

Did that drop show up as a small flicker on lights before the meter caught it?

elizabetht561mo ago

Oh man, that "small flicker on lights" part really hit home... I had something similar happen last month and it was driving me crazy trying to figure out what was going on. The lights in my kitchen would dim just a tiny bit for like half a second, and I thought it was just an old bulb going bad. Then the meter caught a big drop a few days later and that's when I realized it was all connected. It's so frustrating when you notice these little things but can't quite put your finger on what's causing them until it gets worse.

grayb641mo ago

Little flickers are almost always the first sign of a loose neutral or a bad connection somewhere. A cheap meter might show 120 volts but miss the voltage sag under load. That Fluke caught it because it samples fast enough to see those quick dips. Once you know what to look for, those little light flickers become a dead giveaway. The hard part is convincing yourself it's not just a bad bulb or a loose switch plate. But once you see it on the meter, you know it's time to start checking every junction box in the circuit.