Spent $8 on a dollar store multimeter vs a $40 one from the hardware store

The cheap one gave me readings all over the place on a simple outlet test, but the $40 one was dead accurate every time. Anyone else find that paying a bit more for tools actually saves hassle down the line?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_mason121mo ago

Yeah man I feel that. I bought one of those cheap dollar store meters once just to check if a battery was dead and it told me my AA was putting out 12 volts. I knew something was off so I grabbed my buddy's Fluke and sure enough it was like 1.4 volts. It's not worth the headache honestly, especially when you're dealing with mains voltage where a wrong reading could actually get you zapped. I've learned the hard way that tools like multimeters are one of those things where you really do get what you pay for.

aaronlee1mo ago

Bruh same thing happened to me with a no name meter from Amazon. Thought my car battery was dead at 3 volts, turned out it was fine at 12.5. Almost bought a whole new battery for no reason.