Recommend a good multimeter

[Travis]

Ive been using Fluke for 12 years. Awesome meter. The model 73 III is what I use now.

[Wayne]

I guess the other thing I should mention about my Fluke 12 is that it doesn't actually measure current.

As an alternative to shunt biasing, what I've taken to doing is measuring resistance across each half of the primary, then floating the meter to measure voltage across it, all this of course after a bit of a burn in to heat the tranny up to operating temps. This seems to me like a more accurate way to measure plate current. Anybody else do this, or care to comment about it as a method?

Actually, I don't own a Fluke and there was one instance where I lost focus and nearly <bleep'd> my meter. Since that time, I'm a big fan of using the plate voltage and the resistance of the secondary winding to calculate the amps. This is different from what you describe. As long as your meter is reasonably accurate, this is probably a very reasonable approach. If I'm working with a particular amp, I make a lookup chart in Excel, with a range of relevant values so that I don't have to stop and punch numbers into a calculator.

So, if I understand you correctly, Phil, you measure B+ to ground, then Vp to ground, & subtract?

W

[David Root]

I usde a Fluke 187 with a $70 Meterman as backup. IMO the Meterman is excellent value for money.

The Meterman is now used mainly to tweak the wall voltage thru my Variac to 120.0 volts when making amp measurements, as my wall supply varies unpredictably.

The Fluke has a limited capacitance capability. I have an LCR meter and another designed for electrolytic PS caps which will smoke out the bad ones, as it applies a low but realistic voltage, about 150V I think.

[selloutrr]

If you want the added feature of component testing the 867b offers a better then average cap and diode test function with graphical display. It's better then the handheld units but nothing can take the place of the bench units that can test accurately at high voltage. the best cap testers in my opinion are the Sencore LC series the 75 is great and easy to use i believe it's capable of testing at 600 Volts. The LC-102 is everything the 75 is with the addition of testing up to 1000V with a more complex testing function for good / bad and forming tests. The LC-103 is the same as the 102 with the ability to test in-circuit.
I really wanted to purchase the LC-103 since I reform mostly repairs so in-circuit testing really caught my attention. I ended up purchasing the LC-102 with all the bells and whistles for ~$400.00 and had it calibrated for another $50 so i know what it tells me is probably right. to cover the in-circuit testing I use the Cap wizard it's easy and accurate and beeps good so it's quick to go threw an amp. fully mod'd it was under $250.00 so all said and done i'm in the cap test for ~$700.00 not bad considering the LC-103 is almost $3,000.00 and less then a year ago the LC-102 was over $2,000.00.
I guess that was the longest way of saying meters with component test features are cool but not really designed for high voltage tests and can very quite wildley as to the readings when confronted with a cap that is beyond there capability.