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Craftsman multimeter inaccurate

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PoorOwner

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I have the red craftsman multiimter It was problem free for many years.

But recently I noticed it would read DC about 1V higher, the battery in low 12V would read 13V, the charger actually go to work, and the number is not settling like you should see on a battery.
Do you guys know what is happening? I find there some people had caps going bad.

Calibration Routine for Craftsman Multimeter

Anyone have a calibration routine for a Craftsman 982408 / 82408 multimeter (or similar)? I can't seem to discover the MFG. It has 3 calibration points, so far as I can tell. A blue-colored VR1 near the LCD, then a VR2 and 3 elsewhere on the board. I've had this thing since the early 1990s, or...
www.garagejournal.com www.garagejournal.com



I found a place to calibrate it which the price much exceed the price of the unit. But it is the one in the picture.



also I have wanted to upgrade to a Fluke for years now if you know any upcoming deals (BF..) on one.
 
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Steve_P

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I had something similar happen to an old Extech? meter where the voltage was slightly off.

Super high quality, loaded with features, DMMs are soo cheap now, that it's not worth even thinking about trying to fix anything but a top of line Fluke. I ended up replacing the meter with an Astro AI.
 
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bwringer

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A dying battery can also cause similar symptoms, but yeah... if the gubbins inside are going bad, there's little you can do besides replace it and have a respectable funeral.

And please stop using it immediately, lest it become a viking funeral.
 
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PoorOwner

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Turns out it was not a 9v battery but it uses 2 AAA
 
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PoorOwner

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Steve_P said:
Super high quality, loaded with features, DMMs are soo cheap now, that it's not worth even thinking about trying to fix anything but a top of line Fluke. I ended up replacing the meter with an Astro AI.
Click to expand...

Which one do you have? Never heard of Astro brand …. Mostly on amazon.
How do you know it’s accurate ?
 
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Steve_P

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PoorOwner said:
Which one do you have? Never heard of Astro brand …. Mostly on amazon.
How do you know it’s accurate ?
Click to expand...

I have this as a budget meter in a kitchen drawer:

In addition, I have two Flukes, including an 87V; those are in the garage/shop. Unless I was an industrial electrician, there's no way I'd buy an 87V today with all of the choices for 10% of the cost.

edit: the leads are perfectly functional on the AstroAI, but not great; the problem is that I've become spoiled once I discovered Probemaster leads here at GJ.
 
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Steve_P

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micromind said:
Most meters will read high if the battery is low. I'd replace the battery then see if it still reads high.
Click to expand...

Yes, for sure try a new battery first. The battery was fine in the one I referenced and I kept using it, because it was accurate enough for the purpose (kitchen drawer type meter); but, then it either completely died, or went totally nuts (I don't remember) a few months later.
 
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Citation

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Odds are your meter could be fixed. Hard to say if it's worth it but sometimes we fix things because we want to, not because it's the most rational thing.

As for a Fluke meter, if you want basic then the Fluke 101 is as basic and affordable as they come.
They are basic but they also do uphold the Fluke name. Much beyond that and I feel like Brymen made meters (many good meters are Brymen under the skin) are a better value. They trade almost zero quality (other than most lack "touch hold" which is on Flukes above the 11x line). So assuming you don't want to play games looking for deals on ebay these would be some of my suggestions (all Amazon/Walmart because they are easy to search):

Greenlee DM-200A, DM-210A, DM-510A (~$90-150 on Amazon)
This family of meters is also sold by Matco

undefined undefined | Matco Tools

www.matcotools.com www.matcotools.com
And is the basis for one of the EEVblog meters
The EEVBlog one is a bit customized but using the Greenlee numbers, 510 has true RMS AC voltage readings and a thermo couple reading. The 210 is not true RMS, the 200 is not true RMS and lacks the temp reading. For most home/garage people the true RMS isn't much value but the temperature probe probably would be. Thus for my money I would get the 210A. If I had a choice between a free Fluke 117 or Greenlee 510A I would pick the 510A. I think it's a better meter in just about every way.
The Uni-T 210E (don't forget the E) is a good option. It's a clamp meter thus not always as handy as a traditional meter but the great thing about the 210E is it will measure DC current with a clamp. So you can clamp this around a battery lead and measure if a leakage current is draining your car battery. This is one of those tools that is nice to have in addition to a traditional meter.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188WD1NE/?tag=atomicindus08-20

There are some companies that make decent low buck meters. I don't have any off the shelf recommendations. The low cost stuff will typically be reasonably accurate but the safety circuits will be less able to handle high power/voltage spikes. That also typically isn't a concern if you are just working on cars/home owner type hardware.
 
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Steve_P

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I forgot that I also have the Fluke 101 as I typically keep that in my truck. So, I have three Flukes. The 101 is a good meter, but the AstroAI that I linked above has way more functionality than the 101 and is currently considerably cheaper. The only reason I bought the Fluke was because it was compact; and this is the only reason I'd recommend it.
 
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PoorOwner

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Steve_P said:
I have this as a budget meter in a kitchen drawer:

In addition, I have two Flukes, including an 87V; those are in the garage/shop. Unless I was an industrial electrician, there's no way I'd buy an 87V today with all of the choices for 10% of the cost.

edit: the leads are perfectly functional on the AstroAI, but not great; the problem is that I've become spoiled once I discovered Probemaster leads here at GJ.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I got the one in your link, very stable reading battery.

Unfortunately I find my craftsman has 2 new AAA reading 1.57V already in it.
It is reading the a 12V battery about 1V high and jumpy. Actually, might have been doing that for a while just gradually getting bad enough to notice now. I think this was an inexpensive unit back then. I should throw it out but might keep it around to check for continuity.
 
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Citation

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PoorOwner said:
Thanks, I got the one in your link, very stable reading battery.

Unfortunately I find my craftsman has 2 new AAA reading 1.57V already in it.
It is reading the a 12V battery about 1V high and jumpy. Actually, might have been doing that for a while just gradually getting bad enough to notice now. I think this was an inexpensive unit back then. I should throw it out but might keep it around to check for continuity.
Click to expand...
When the new one comes check the batteries :D
Also most decent or better meters will have a low battery indicator. The idea is once that indicator turns on the readings can no longer be trusted. Some of the new Fluke have a two stage setup where the low battery indicator turns on as a warning to change batteries soon. When the battery gets even lower the meter says "bat" and will no longer take any readings. In a good the system will prevent you from taking a reading if the battery is too low to deliver a trustworthy reading. I suspect your Sears meter probably has a low battery indicator and if it's not on the battery level shouldn't be the cause.
 
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Sumboodie

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PoorOwner said:
I had the battery so low the display went off
If it was 9v i think grabbed one of the smoke alarm used battery. lol I cannot tell that 9v battery voltage because I don’t have another meter
Click to expand...
Your tongue broke too?
 
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PoorOwner

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Citation said:
When the new one comes check the batteries :D
Also most decent or better meters will have a low battery indicator. The idea is once that indicator turns on the readings can no longer be trusted. Some of the new Fluke have a two stage setup where the low battery indicator turns on as a warning to change batteries soon. When the battery gets even lower the meter says "bat" and will no longer take any readings. In a good the system will prevent you from taking a reading if the battery is too low to deliver a trustworthy reading. I suspect your Sears meter probably has a low battery indicator and if it's not on the battery level shouldn't be the cause.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it does have good battery in the craftsman. I also took note of your longer post above. I will see if I can repair the old one.
 
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dnschmidt

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Good quality DVM's are so cheap why bother. Ivan of Pine Hollow Diagnostics swears by Astro AI . That's a good enough of an endorsement for me.
 
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BrandonV

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If you can't afford or don't want a Fluke - I'd stick to the Bryman (import, Greenlee, or the Matco unit).

Good build quality and it will last you in an non-industrial environment.
 
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BrandonV

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If you're ever in the market for trashing the thing. Hit me up. I fix & repair meters to keep them out of the landfill!
 
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Citation

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jayemm said:
Well, you would hopefully tell the kid it reads 1 volt off in that range and selection. To them it may not be worth obsessing over.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's a good idea to give someone a meter that clearly reads wrong. This isn't just a bit off. Also, without knowing the core issue you don't know if this is a static offset, a simple scaling error, which ranges it might affect etc. The fix might be easy but so long as it's clearly wrong I wouldn't trust the thing for much beyond a continuity beep.
 
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