Beachy, I went Fluke. Come on over the water's fine.

[hvacrmedic]

Parts guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse today. The 116/62 kit at cost. I had the Fluke 16 at one time, but it was stolen shortly after I got it, so I didn't get to use it much. But even so, I got to know it well enough that I can compare it to the 116. I thought the 16 was just so-so, but I really love this 116! Great meter! The 62 IR thermometer isn't bad either. Beachy, my Fieldpiece HS36 is destined to gather a lot of dust. It's pure junk in comparison. Really.

You can use your Fieldpiece clamp head with any meter, so you wouldn't really need two meters to do the job of one if you happened to go Fluke. You only need the 116 and any remote clamp that outputs mv. Not really any different than the HS36 from that perspective, since it's also two parts. Just pick up the Fluke and feel it in your hand. It's a whole different experience than the Fieldpiece, even before you turn it on. And it's fast. Checked some capacitors laying around just for fun. Touch the probes to the terminals and "BAM", instant reading. Priceless.

You long time Fluke owners are probably yawning about now. :)

I wanted the 289. I drooled over it, but in the end it would have been overkill for sure, with a hefty price tag.

[beachtech]

i dunno. think they will offer the at cost price to me? :D

i been looking around, still.

the problem is that i don't carry a toolbag. i use a tool belt and have limited space for additional accesories, such as a seperate clamp attachment. maybe i can get another puch for the meter...

does it read 3 tenths of an amp when the amp clamp is plugged in? :D that's really my only beef with the fieldpiece.

[hvacrmedic]

i dunno. think they will offer the at cost price to me? :D

i been looking around, still.

the problem is that i don't carry a toolbag. i use a tool belt and have limited space for additional accesories, such as a seperate clamp attachment. maybe i can get another puch for the meter...

does it read 3 tenths of an amp when the amp clamp is plugged in? :D that's really my only beef with the fieldpiece.

Every scale zero's out perfectly just like it's supposed to. I haven't tried reading t-stat current or CCH with it yet. After all, I've only had it since this morning, but I ran several calls and got to use it anyway. Loved it. I think it's going to be in my bag for many years to come. The micro-amps, of course, won't zero out, unless you short the probes. It will intercept stray voltage out of the air in that scale. That's normal. Also, the lowZ voltage function will come in very handy at times.

[beachtech]

when i was at the electical whosaler the other day i did pick up a fluke catalog :o :o

lemme get this job thing straightend out, and i will give :)

[hvacrmedic]

when i was at the electical whosaler the other day i did pick up a fluke catalog :o :o

lemme get this job thing straightend out, and i will give :)

I picked up that catalog many times. Lot's of eye candy in there. A poor boy can wish anyway. :) Well to be fair, Fluke has some of their own junk. You get what you pay for usually. Their low end amp clamps, for instance, just average. I checked a 322. It wouldn't zero, and it was slow. Every brand has their Caddys and their Yugos I guess. I don't like Flukes RH meter at all. Some people do, so I guess there's some personal taste involved there too. But the 116, I think is a great little meter as an objective fact.

[grayghost]

The amp clamps unless you go top of the line will not read below 1 amp

[hvacrmedic]

The amp clamps unless you go top of the line will not read below 1 amp

You're correct. I just verified. Cannot get a reading below one amp with the Fieldpiece clamp head. That explains a lot. Guess I'll be investing a little more. Still, it's nice to see those zeros on the Fluke, and the instant readings.

[rbriggs]

And, what was the total price tag on that combo???

[beachtech]

The amp clamps unless you go top of the line will not read below 1 amp

check out the fieldpiece SC76 amp clamp ;)

read a 10watt drain tube heater today on a true reach in, and read .19 amps. verified that reading with ohm's law :p

the SC76 goes two decimal places on the amp reading, and also starts at zreo ;)

i quite carrying my HS36 about a week ago. i pulled my 2yr old SC76 out of retirement. it is a really nice amp clamp meter, but i miss the backlight and the magnetic strp hanger that my HS36 has... argh!!!

can someone please get all these features in one meter, please!!!! price wouldn't matter then!!!

[grayghost]

I meant when used with the 116.

[beachtech]

And, what was the total price tag on that combo???

lol

he said he got a good deal on it. i don't think he is going to describe exactly how good a deal he got. guess you'll have to do your own shopping around ;)

[KLEINman]

Could it be true:confused:, beachtech might buy a fluke:eek::eek::eek::eek::p

[beachtech]

lmao

i looked at a couple yesterday, still not impressed.

really not impressed by any one meter manu

IMO they all fall short of making the meter that makes perfrect sense for our job demands.

non contact voltage can be tossed for all i care. checking live circuits, should always be chaecking each leg to ground! PERIOD!!! don't get lazy and be on the 6 o'clock news!

so if we can drop the NCV and bring in backlight display as standard feature and also back that up with magnetic attachment of some sort so i can hold both leads with both hands... now we're talking. :)

also an amp clamp meter should be able to ohm everything just short of megging a comp :) :p

[KLEINman]

lmao

i looked at a couple yesterday, still not impressed.

really not impressed by any one meter manu

IMO they all fall short of making the meter that makes perfrect sense for our job demands.

non contact voltage can be tossed for all i care. checking live circuits, should always be chaecking each leg to ground! PERIOD!!! don't get lazy and be on the 6 o'clock news!

so if we can drop the NCV and bring in backlight display as standard feature and also back that up with magnetic attachment of some sort so i can hold both leads with both hands... now we're talking. :)

also an amp clamp meter should be able to ohm everything just short of megging a comp :) :p

This is true, fluke did kind of drop the ball with the 902 HVAC meter with the ohms scale, but it is stll all in all a great meter. I just recently purchased the fluke 87-5. by far my favorite meter. It has everything i need, high ohms scale, 50Mohms, Micro amps, milli volts, it aslo has a low pass filter for troubleshooting VFD's, multi leevel backlight, and you can get the magnet strap to hold it in place. With an added amp clamp accesory, you will never need another meter.:)

[beachtech]

there's something else to think about... how much extra is the magnet strap and the amp clamp accesory???

then the total bill adds up to be left arm, half right leg, and firts born :rolleyes:

[KLEINman]

there's something else to think about... how much extra is the magnet strap and the amp clamp accesory???

then the total bill adds up to be left arm, half right leg, and firts born :rolleyes:

LMFAO, welli payed 267 for the meter, the amp clamp is about 110 and the magnet strap is 30, for everything you will ever need a bout 400 bucks lol. Actually its more like both legs lmao.:p

[hvacrmedic]

This is true, fluke did kind of drop the ball with the 902 HVAC meter with the ohms scale, but it is stll all in all a great meter. I just recently purchased the fluke 87-5. by far my favorite meter. It has everything i need, high ohms scale, 50Mohms, Micro amps, milli volts, it aslo has a low pass filter for troubleshooting VFD's, multi leevel backlight, and you can get the magnet strap to hold it in place. With an added amp clamp accesory, you will never need another meter.:)

Fluke recommends a separate amp clamp rather than an amp clamp accossory. If you get the battery powered accessory that will read tenths of an amp, then you will have spent more than what the 322 costs. The 322 reads down to hundredths of an amp, so actually a much better deal. If you need to read DC amps, then that's a different story.

I tested my 322 on a 250 ohm ceramic shunt resistor connected to 24 volts. That's the resistor that you get with some digital stats.

The 322 read 0.10 amps. The voltage was actually 27.5, so should have been more like 0.11 amps, but I won't get upset over a 1/100th of an amp error. :) I also did another comparison between the 322 and the HS36. Had 6.01 amps on a motor with the 322. The HS36 registered 6.5 amps. That's a substantial error.

Most of the time, we only need to verify that something is energized and pulling amps, and don't necessarily need an accurate reading. Heat strips for instance. 20 amps, 23 amps, who cares, it's working right? But when you are looking at the FLA on a fan motor and one meter has it running over FLA and the other under FLA, then it makes a difference which one you trust. I don't trust the Fieldpiece. It had me a half amp over at 6 amps. Had that been a fan motor I'd have wasted time trying to find out why it was over amping, when in reality it wasn't.

How do I know it was the Fieldpiece that was in error? Well I don't actually, but I know at least that the 322 was accurate to within a hundredth of an amp at .1 amps, and the Fieldpiece won't even read anything under an amp, so the circumstantial evidence is piled up against it.

[thump_rrr]

I have a Fluke 88 which I bought for $600.00 canadian back in 1991.

I still have that meter and use it quite often.
I also have a Fluke 400i AC clamp I bought at the same time along with a Fluke 800i AC clamp which I inherited used in 1988. They both work very well which is why I feel that any money I spend on FLuke is very well spent.

Here is a pic of most of the collection.

My wish list is also very long.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c40/Thump_rrr/DSCN0455.jpg?t=1235172579

[tarheel_tech]

Come on beachy,the water is great!!!!:D But seriously,the main gripe I have about the 902 is the ohmn scale which blantly it sucks.Do I dislike the meter for this...uh....no it is still a great meter.My gripe on the 322 is a backlight and true rms,yeah I heard you don't need true rms but I rather have it and not need it,than you know the rest.The 116 is a great meter IMHO,I have serveral meters and I use them all in different tool bags for diffferent jobs.I use the 902/116/52-II/335 the most.The magnetic clip accessory for the flukes is by far the best magnetic tool accessory that I have used.Worth every penny.

[hvacrmedic]

check out the fieldpiece SC76 amp clamp ;)

read a 10watt drain tube heater today on a true reach in, and read .19 amps. verified that reading with ohm's law :p

Ohm's law doesn't verify that, unless you were feeding the heater with 52.6 volts. Read the resistance of the heater when it's hot. The actual amp draw will be given by E/R.

But at least you were able to verify that it was working, which is more than I can say for the HS36. :)

[kah1010]

Ohm's law doesn't verify that, unless you were feeding the heater with 52.6 volts. Read the resistance of the heater when it's hot. The actual amp draw will be given by E/R.

But at least you were able to verify that it was working, which is more than I can say for the HS36. :)

Is it just me, but anything below 1A (5A actually), I do want to break a circuit and and have my meter in series, instead of clamp, for better accuracy.

K

[beachtech]

Is it just me, but anything below 1A (5A actually), I do want to break a circuit and and have my meter in series, instead of clamp, for better accuracy.

K

With DC voltage, yes. With AC voltage, no.

[beachtech]

Come on beachy,the water is great!!!!:D But seriously,the main gripe I have about the 902 is the ohmn scale which blantly it sucks.Do I dislike the meter for this...uh....no it is still a great meter.My gripe on the 322 is a backlight and true rms,yeah I heard you don't need true rms but I rather have it and not need it,than you know the rest.The 116 is a great meter IMHO,I have serveral meters and I use them all in different tool bags for diffferent jobs.I use the 902/116/52-II/335 the most.The magnetic clip accessory for the flukes is by far the best magnetic tool accessory that I have used.Worth every penny.

i been looking at the 902. but i need the OHM's sacle right now. i don't need it that much with my future plans ;) ;) so i may get the 116 shortly after the 902.

but i am prolly going to get the cooper MFM-300 kit, so i don't think i will need the 52-II :)

[KLEINman]

i been looking at the 902. but i need the OHM's sacle right now. i don't need it that much with my future plans ;) ;) so i may get the 116 shortly after the 902.

but i am prolly going to get the cooper MFM-300 kit, so i don't think i will need the 52-II :)

Get the fluke, lighter, easier to carry, and you can use the magnet hanging strap for it.:D As for the other meters, great choices!!! You will not be dissapointed with either one. Im up to four fluke meters now lol. 52-2, 87-5, 902, 322.

[Pascone10]

i been looking at the 902. but i need the OHM's sacle right now. i don't need it that much with my future plans ;) ;) so i may get the 116 shortly after the 902.

but i am prolly going to get the cooper MFM-300 kit, so i don't think i will need the 52-II :)

that cooper kit looks sweet. i like the expandability... i have the sh77. i like that. let us know how that works out.. also fluke is some good stuff.

when the hvac-talk community supporting something you know its gotta be good lol:p:cool:

[ryand]

I like Fluke, and a little trick I learned the Mr.Clean Magic Eraser will clean your meter to like new condition very easily :D

[ryand]

oops

[beachtech]

Get the fluke, lighter, easier to carry, and you can use the magnet hanging strap for it.:D As for the other meters, great choices!!! You will not be dissapointed with either one. Im up to four fluke meters now lol. 52-2, 87-5, 902, 322.

i don't need four meters... :p