2024 the best multimeter review
Price: $281.99 - $249.00
(as of Nov 18, 2024 21:03:13 UTC - Details)
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With its integrated non-contact voltage detection and the AutoV/LoZ function preventing false readings caused by ghost voltage, the Fluke 117 Electrician's Multimeter is the ideal multimeter for electricians. In fact, users around the world have said their 117 is an investment in accuracy. The Fluke 117 provides Min/Max/Average readings, measuring frequency and capacitance. With its easy-to-use design, the Fluke 117 will save you time, allowing you to move from job to job with ease. Surge protection 6 kV peak per IEC 61010–1 600 VCAT III, Pollution Degree 2.
VoltAlert technology for non-contact voltage detection
AutoVolt automatic AC/DC voltage selection. DC millivolts - Range : 600.0 mV, Resolution : 0.1 mV
Low input impedance: helps prevent false readings due to ghost voltage
Large white LED backlight to work in poorly lit areas
True RMS for accurate measurements on non-linear loads.Operating temperature:-10°C to plus50°C.Battery life:400 hours typical, without backlight
Reviewer: Me
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Trustworthy
Review: I worked as an electrician for 30 years in heavy industry. I was always provided a Fluke multimeter and it kept me alive. The highest criteria for a meter is always reliability and safety. Fluke has a strong professional reputation for both. I like the smaller foot print of this 117 and it does everything I need it to do. I primarialy do residential work now. You gotta be able to trust your meter.
Reviewer: Battery Guy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Awesome product!
Review: Works great!
Reviewer: DeusEx
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Electricians.... You've found your meter!
Review: The Fluke â110 seriesâ is Fluke's cheapest "Fluke Branded" line. (Note: as of 2015 there are two cheaper lines made by Fluke but I know little about them aside from the fact that they are stripped down a bit.) It's a Fluke so you know you're getting an instrument worth its salt. The 117 is the most feature packed and highest priced in the series. It's a smaller form factor than some of the other Fluke meters. It features all the traditional fields that you'll find on most modern DMMs. Volts AC (True RMS) & DC both to 600V. A full mV range. Resistance, continuity, diode check, capacitance, and frequency. It features AC & DC current measurement to 10A however it lacks a mA and uA range since this is an electrician's meter, not an electronics meter. Two more modes it offers are âvolt alertâ and a LoZ voltage measurement.What sets the 117 apart...The 117 has a 6000 count display with 4 updates per second, plus a 33 segment bar graph with 32 updates per second. The bar graph I find extremely responsive and reliable. This is a True-RMS meter as you would expect from Fluke (and any meter in this price range.) That's not such a big deal if you're taking measurements from a clean / pure sine wave source, but if it's a distorted waveform or not a sine wave (such as a measurement on a modified sine wave AC inverter), your measurement can be off quite a bit on non-RMS meter. The 117 has a CATIII rating. It has a maximum working voltage of 600V in both AC and DC ranges. The CAT ratings can a bit ambiguous but I'll attempt to summarize CATIII. Basically, you can work on most panel boards / switch gear and anything down stream of them (i.e. - feeders, outlets, hard wired equipment, and anything plugged into them.) CATIV is the only rating higher and it adds service drops to the list as well as underground installations. So basically CATIII is the MINIMUM rating you want on your meter and you can't probe the main drop from the power company. But âgenerallyâ once you're on the switched side of your main breaker, you're in CATIII territory. DO NOT exceed the CAT rating of ANY meter because doing so, in a Murphey's Law scenario can open you to the possibility of a potentially fatal shock or catastrophic failure of your meter. The voltage that accompanies the CAT rating isn't all that complicated. It's simply the maximum "working voltage " or "max line voltage" of the meter, maximum surge and destructive voltage can be a little harder to find if not posted in the literature. I believe the 117 has a peak surge rating of 6kV. I love the sturdiness of this meter, it a Fluke, so it's the brick crap house of DMMs. I'm serious, this can really take a beating. It does have a protruding dial on the face which in a face down drop could be venerable, but I still believe the 117 to be one of the sturdiest meters on the market. The rubber holster offers excellent 5 side protection and it feels good in the hand. Also there are some terrific tear down videos on the web if you're interested in the guts of the device. I love the battery access compartment! It's very innovative...no thin wires to worry about yanking out of the PCB. It features direct PCB soldiered tabs and a âone-wayâ 9V battery door that helps in properly installing the battery. The mode dial is great aside from what I mentioned above. It has an off center design that can be rolled from the side with your thumb. It's large and easy to grip with gloves on. The over current protection is another win. Most people fail to realize just how much force 10A can carry; this meter uses a single high quality ceramic HRC fuse and all of the standard additional suppression devices to give the user maximum protection. The case is designed with a deep lip / blast shield as well to protect against debris being blown out the sides in the event of truly catastrophic failure. I love the LoZ Volts voltage measurement. This is a low impedance voltage test that operates on something close to a 3,ooo Ohm resistance. Quite often if you have parallel runs of wiring where one line is de-energized and another is not. The "dead" line can show a voltage reading on a traditional DMM. Very simply this happens due to induction, but the voltage present is at an almost non-existent current level that cannot âpush throughâ a typical high resistance resister used in DMMs to measure voltages. I've personally seen 70V on supposedly âswitched offâ 120V circuits. Flipping to the low impedance mode allows this ghost voltage to âdissipateâ and read what's really on the line (which should be less than half a volt on a circuit thatâs de-energized.) One note however, if you use this meter on electronics DO NOT use this mode. The resistance on a PCB in electronics circuit can often be much higher than 3,000 Ohms...you could short out that segment of your board by allowing current to flow through the meter as apposed in parallel to it. This is why traditional meters use mega ohm class resistors to test voltage, and most of the time that's fine. So always start out in "normal" volts AC or DC then if ghost voltages are suspect, then switch to the LoZ range.What else is there to like...The continuity check is great! It's a latched system which means you get a positive tone every time a circuit is completed. The response time is excellent as well. The "Volt Alert" is a non-contact voltage detector that functions the same as those pen style testers that have been on the market for years. It's nice to test walls for live electrical lines prior to drilling or nailing into them. Also it's handy if you need to trace the path of a run of wire behind a wall. It features high and low sensitivity modes for different wall thicknesses. Still I caution you not to trust your life to it. The Amperage range is decent. It's reads .001A to 6.000A in .001A increments and 6.01A to 10.00A in .01A increments in both AC and DC amps ranges. There is no mA nor uA range on this meter as it is geared primarily to electricians. However in my opinion the amperage range is quite useful for a general purpose meter and perfectly geared for electricians or homeowners. The resistance tester has a good range; going from .01 ohms to 40.00 mega-ohms. The capacitance tester is decent enough. Accuracy isn't too bad for it and its measurement range goes down to 1 nF. Honestly, this is more than enough for a general purpose meter. Any lower and you really should be looking for something more specialized like and LCR meter. The manual that comes with the 117 is great. It's written in 9 languages but it's still simple and easy to understand while at the same time giving the user all the information and data that they could possibly need about this meter. And of course you should read this start to finish before using your meter for the first time! This meter has good numeric resolution on the screen being a 6000 count meter. In brief terms I will attempt to explain accuracy vs. counts. This meter will display three digits after the MOST significant digit up to the significant digit being a 6, after that the meter drops to two digits after the most significant digit. In other words, it will display 5.999V but once the reading crosses the 6V threshold it will display 6.01V on the screen. This is true at any range. So it drops a digit every factor of 10 up to 600.0 (i.e - 6.000, 60.00, 600.0) Now having said all of that, the accuracy isn't reflected in the screen's numeric resolution. Still though, that's pretty standard in handheld meters. This meter has a basic DC volts accuracy of +/- 0.5% +2. "What the heck does that mean?!" Basically, you look at the reading on the display (we'll imagine measuring against a precision voltage reference of 1.000V) The first step is to add AND subtract half of a percent to get a range (in our example 0.995V & 1.005V) then you add and subtract 2 counts. A count is the least significant digit displayed on screen. So again if our meter is measuring against 1.000V source, the farthest out our meter âshouldâ be displaying is 0.993V and 1.007V. Honestly for precision testing that could be quite a bit, which is why high accuracy bench top meters costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars, however for general purpose measurments, this is actually is really good accuracy. That said, this accuracy falls on a bell curve. In most cases you aren't going to be that far out and in fact will be close to spot on. There are videos on youtube that show meters being tested against precision voltage references and with most I've seen on Fluke hardware, their always right at the voltage or a count or two high or low. As for the rest of the accuracy, AC volts is +/- 1.0% + 3 cts, ohms to 6 mega ohms is 0.9% + 1ct (6-40 mega ohms is 5% + 2), and amperage is 1.5% + 3 (AC) and 1.0% + 3 on DC. Lastly on the accuracy point, it does float a bit as the meter ages. So a meter thatâs new from the factory will have a much better chance of near pinpoint accuracy than a meter thatâs been in the field for years.Areas that have room for improvement...The diode check is average (limited to 2V) but it works. Frankly I never check diodes so itâs of little consequence to me. The frequency measurement could stand to be a little better. It's limited to 50kHz which might me low for some users. The test leads that come with this meter are Fluke TL75's. They are of decent quality being rated to CATIII 1000V/CATIV 600V if the tips are shrouded. That said I still have pet peeve. The jackets on these are not as flexible as other Fluke leads and even some of their competition. The TL71âs sell right here on Amazon for roughly $10-20... The TL175's which are much nicer in both feel and usage are roughly $25... Seriously, tack on the $10 to the MSRP and give us the better leads. Still, they do work and work well. (Note: Some lower end meters from other manufacturers are shipped with leads that are not rated to the same CAT standard as the meter theyâre paired with and in some cases, not rated at all. This is something watch out for when purchasing a DMM.) Another place I see room for improvement is the backlight. I might be being a little overly critical here but I did a backlight comparison with my 87-V. I have to say the 117's backlight isn't nearly as bright. It's bright enough, but in a side by side comparison it just felt like it was lacking.This section is dedicated to things I don't like about the 117...First is the hold feature. Fluke traditionally offers an "auto hold" AKA âtouch holdâ feature. I have to say, I'm disappointed they didn't include that feature on this model. With a push button hold, you have to find a way to push a hold button with both of your hands tied up holding probes. Now let's say for instance I used an alligator clip to attach one probe to a bus bar and used the other to probe around. This would leave my other hand free to hold the meter and push the button. But if I could hold the meter, I could just get it in front of my face and LOOK at the digits on the display...completely eliminating the need for a hold feature. The second complaint is with the Fluke company's lack of accessories. This is a common problem with all of their meters and products. No case! I want something to store my meter in! And I don't want to spend 10 or 20 dollars on it either. Just mark the price up another 2 bucks and give us a pouch for our meters here Fluke! A set of alligator clips would've been nice, but alas nope... Sold separately. I have several meters and thus have them laying around, but I'm speaking from the value standpoint. Honestly, I have a few Fluke products and a disappointing lack of accessories is actually a common problem. If you find a Fluke Kit for the meter you're interested in at a reasonable price...GET IT! You'll spend more buying cases and lead accessories piece by piece then getting the kit up front. That said, being part Fluke's economy line...I don't know of any kits offered for this meter. Go figure...So assuming you've made it this far I hear your question. This all sounds great but this meter is ~$140-$170 and I can get most or all of this in a meter in ~$100-$120 range right? Why should I spend 50 more of my hard earned dollars to get this? Well it can be summed up in three words, "build quality" & "safety". Most manufactures build their equipment to a price that was set the day they started planning to build that instrument (or even prior to designing it.) Sure Fluke has a "market" and therefore a "price" in mind, but they build their units to a "standard" first. The final price reflects what it took to get there. Back up in the first section I spoke of safety ratings, this meter is a genuine CATIII meter that is ready for commercial and light industrial use. To ensure that, Fluke sends every one of their products to several of the major safety & standards testing groups for testing and proofing. That is why Fluke is the industry standard in nearly all commercial and industrial environments and why nearly all electricians have at least one their products in their tool box. At the end of the day, they know that these units have been tested rigorously and "proven" so that when they need quality and survivability, as well as maximum personal protection these meters will perform. Personally, I wouldn't use anything BUT a Fluke on CATIII installations. Just about the time the high voltage transient comes down the electric utility and causes a flash arc inside the meter's casing is not the time to be wishing you had something built and tested to protect YOU against it. Expensive meters are still cheaper than the cheapest hospital stay.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Just what I needed, Fast and dependable
Review: You pay for the best and it works
Reviewer: Gary Avrett
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent meter
Review: We used Fluke meters for years at work. At home I typically liked another brand that was accurate enough but as of late the quality appears to be suffering. After mulling through many brands and models I gave up and decided to spend the extra money and buy this Fluke 117 meter. By comparison this is like driving a more expensive luxury vehicle compared to run of the mill inexpensive ones. It is such a pleasure to use and has more useful functions. The display is very bright compared to the ones I have used at home and even the earlier model Flukes. So glad I decided to purchase this meter.
Reviewer: MikeM
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fluke 117 Multimeter
Review: Outstanding meter! The best I've owned in 20 years of using quality meters. I was immediately impressed by the hefty weight of the device, about one pound. This suggests long durability. The rubber case will protect the meter against all but the most severe drops. The kickstand angles the meter to 45 degrees, making it easy to read. In a nutshell, the meter physically says "quality" in every way I weigh that attribute.My only reluctance in buying the meter concerned the many (not numerous) criticisms of the readout. Yes, the readout isn't the blackest black it could be but it surely isn't a no-go limitation. Empirically, the readout does not diminish from angles of 0 to 30 degrees. Easily read at ~45 degrees, understandably diminishing significantly past ~60 degrees. The backlight washes out the readout and is seriously ugly, but that function will seldom be used.Read the instruction booklet. Messages such as "Beep", "Lead", etc., will baffle you if you don't read the guide. I downloaded it to permit a search for keywords when the meter doesn't display what I expected. Magic. The audible conductivity beep is loud. Resistance locks in almost immediately. Voltages are accurate. Capacitors and diodes are a snap. The "Volt Alert" function triggers when within a several inches of an AC voltage source - which is a warm fuzzy live-circuit confirmation. The Auto-V function is really a real plus for those of us too lazy to move the knob a few clicks right. I haven't used the Hz function yet. The only thing missing is amperage measurements, but I don't need several hundred dollars of seldom used amperage readings. I can do that with other meters I have. Three year warranty. You can't go wrong with this meter. It you don't need Amps, buy it!
Reviewer: Cuauhtémoc Rojas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Pensé que tardarÃa más en llegar o que incluso no llegara por su costo. Pero realmente me asombró, es una muy buena marca y fue una buena compra.
Reviewer: Shawn R., Halifax, NS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is my second Fluke multimeter and I really enjoy the features packed in this great handheld unit. I had an 87 before, but there were way too many functions that I never ended up using, so I gave that one to a colleague and purchased the 117. It reads true which is a bonus and I love the non-contact voltage feature. Great work the working electrician or the DIY'er. As with all Fluke products, you get what you pay for. They are very robust, accurate, multi-use, but are not cheap. Although, when messing with electricity, don't settle!
Reviewer: T.T
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Si la qualité Fluke n'est plus à démontrer, ce multimètre en est une nouvelle fois l'exemple !Des pointes de touche à la qualité du boitier et de l'affichage, tout respire le professionnalisme de Fluke.Très simple à l'usage et complet
Reviewer: Hayk Howanesjan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ein hervorragendes Produkt. Leider habe ich zu spät gemerkt, dass es keine Temperatur messen kann. Dafür hat er aber auf Distanz Stromerkennung!
Reviewer: Paikan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Que dire de plus quand on sait que c'est un Fluke ? Parfait, rapide, solide, construction nickel. La fonction détection de tension est efficace (j'ai pas encore testé pour un câble dans un mur).Modèle 117 parfait pour les électriciens dans un budget limité. Pour un professionnel je recommanderai plutôt un modèle 175 ou 179.En tout cas, vous pouvez y aller les yeux fermés !
Customers say
Customers like the quality, functionality, and value of the electric circuit testing device. They mention it's an excellent meter, works well, and is good value for the money. Some say the instructions are great and it's perfect for beginners. Customers also appreciate the voltage detection. However, some customers have mixed opinions on readability.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews