Mac Tools Multimeter EM823 Replacement Test Leads

[JoeDurks]

Hi,

I am after getting some replacement test leads from MAC for my EM823 multimeter, none of the same as what is supplied are listed on the MAC website. Does anyone have any ideas of a part number? I would prefer to get the exact ones that come with the new multimeter none some generic ones.

Thanks!
JoeDurks

 

[bimmer630]

But Mac just takes whatever brand of leads they feel like at that moment and time, and sell them as their own. there are no "genuine mac test leads" basically

 

[Wamsutta]

Fluke or Pomona are going to be the best.

 

[pstemari]

Fluke or Pomona are going to be the best.

+1.

Afaik, Pomona and Fluke leads come off the same manufacturing line. Pomona is a subsidiary of Fluke, and moved its manufacturing to Everett.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

Fluke. or like other above have said..
Check out AESwave

 

[Rabid Badger]

Fluke or Pomona are going to be the best.

No.

+1.

No.

Fluke. or like other above have said..
Check out AESwave

No.

Behold, the greatest multimeter leads made by human hands:

https://www.amazon.com/8000-Series-Test-Lead-Kit/dp/B000TLXGE2

 

[pstemari]

Eh. No back pin probes, etc. This is a much more comprehensive set for automotive use:

Fluke TL81A Test Lead Set, Deluxe Electronic https://amzn.com/B000NI2B6A/



Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Rabid Badger]

Eh. No back pin probes, etc. This is a much more comprehensive set for automotive use:

Fluke TL81A Test Lead Set, Deluxe Electronic https://amzn.com/B000NI2B6A/



Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Well then get this:

https://probemaster.com/9104-electronic-deluxe-test-lead-kit/

and this:

https://probemaster.com/8000-series-kits/

and save $5 while getting a vastly superior product.

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

those look cheap, you need good leads, check leads Resistance before doing anying
My fluke leads have .003 ohms of resistance

 

[Davefr]

^^^ None of the above.

Get Brymen gold plated leads:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-Sil...bes-for-Multimeters-CAT-IV-1000V/171162377470

 

[Rabid Badger]

those look cheap

They're made in the USA and regarded by people who know what they're talking about as the best you can buy.

you need good leads, check leads Resistance before doing anying

Good advice.

My fluke leads have .003 ohms of resistance

Really? What did you measure that with?


I have four sets of leads in my desk drawer right now. Here's how they stack up:

1) Probe Master 8000 - Incredibly sharp gold plated tips with threading for accessories. Ridiculously good strain relief and the highest quality cabling I've ever seen. Extremely flexible with zero kinking. Secure and easily removable tip guards.

2) Brymen BL21S2-T4SC - Fairly sharp tips with good gold plating, threaded for accessories. Decent strain relief. Cables are silicone insulated. No kinking and good flexibility. Included screw-on adapters to convert the tips to banana plugs. Secure and easily removable tip guards.

3) Fluke TL175 - Sharp stainless steel tips with threading for accessories. Good strain relief. Cables are silicone insulated. No kinking, but nowhere near as flexible as the Brymen or Probe Master leads. Retractable tip guard is nice if you have a tendency to misplace removable guards, but the mechanism feels fragile.

*NOTE* Be careful when purchasing TL175 leads. I ordered a set from Amazon and what I received were clearly knockoffs. I sent them back and ordered from Zoro and got genuine Fluke leads.

4) Fluke TL75 - These are the leads Fluke includes with their meters. Tips are stainless steel, not very sharp and lack threading. Strain relief is okay. Cables are PVC insulated. They kink easily and flexibility is poor. The tip guards are hard and have a tendency to crack.

 

[californiaHank]

Ones I have and like -

ProbeMaster 8000 series - fine gold plated tips, silicone wire, good for tightly packed electronics

Pomona 5519A - medium nickel-plated brass tips, silicone wire, good for general electrical use

Ones I have and don't like -

Fluke TL-75 - general purpose probes with PVC wire. Not good around hot engines, soldering, etc. as the insulation will melt if the leads contact something hot. Fluke makes lots of other test leads with silicone wire. If you want Fluke, buy those models instead.

 

[Max]

Thank you for the info. as I am looking at leads as well. Did I understand correctly that the PM 8000 probes are made in the US?

BTW, the PM probes are rated for 1 KV and the linked Fluke probes are rated for 3 KV. Not an issue for me, or likely many people, but it may matter for some folks.

Max

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

They're made in the USA and regarded by people who know what they're talking about as the best you can buy.



Good advice.



Really? What did you measure that with?


I have four sets of leads in my desk drawer right now. Here's how they stack up:

1) Probe Master 8000 - Incredibly sharp gold plated tips with threading for accessories. Ridiculously good strain relief and the highest quality cabling I've ever seen. Extremely flexible with zero kinking. Secure and easily removable tip guards.

2) Brymen BL21S2-T4SC - Fairly sharp tips with good gold plating, threaded for accessories. Decent strain relief. Cables are silicone insulated. No kinking and good flexibility. Included screw-on adapters to convert the tips to banana plugs. Secure and easily removable tip guards.

3) Fluke TL175 - Sharp stainless steel tips with threading for accessories. Good strain relief. Cables are silicone insulated. No kinking, but nowhere near as flexible as the Brymen or Probe Master leads. Retractable tip guard is nice if you have a tendency to misplace removable guards, but the mechanism feels fragile.

*NOTE* Be careful when purchasing TL175 leads. I ordered a set from Amazon and what I received were clearly knockoffs. I sent them back and ordered from Zoro and got genuine Fluke leads.

4) Fluke TL75 - These are the leads Fluke includes with their meters. Tips are stainless steel, not very sharp and lack threading. Strain relief is okay. Cables are PVC insulated. They kink easily and flexibility is poor. The tip guards are hard and have a tendency to crack.

My Fluke 87 I bought use of ebay

 

[Rabid Badger]

My Fluke 87 I bought use of ebay

The Fluke 87 doesn't have milliohm resolution. In fact, no handheld multimeter does.

Also, it is literally physically impossible for a set of multimeter leads to have resistance in the single-digit milliohms range. Four feet of 18AWG copper wire has a resistance of 0.025 ohm. Add in banana jacks, solder joints and steel tips and...you get the picture.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Thank you for the info. as I am looking at leads as well. Did I understand correctly that the PM 8000 probes are made in the US?

Correct.

BTW, the PM probes are rated for 1 KV and the linked Fluke probes are rated for 3 KV. Not an issue for me, or likely many people, but it may matter for some folks.

Max

That's a typo, it should read CAT III 300V. Check the Fluke website:

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/accessories/kits/fluke-tl81a

 

[californiaHank]

Thank you for the info. as I am looking at leads as well. Did I understand correctly that the PM 8000 probes are made in the US?

BTW, the PM probes are rated for 1 KV and the linked Fluke probes are rated for 3 KV. Not an issue for me, or likely many people, but it may matter for some folks.

Max

I believe that all three (Probemaster, Pomona, and Fluke) are rated for CAT III, 1000V with their protective caps on. That's a safety rating, not the voltage where the leads break down. Equipment rated for CAT III, 1000V needs to be able to withstand an 8000 V transient for a certain number of repititions. I don't think you will find a handheld meter with a rating higher than that, and many have much lower ratings or no CAT III ratings at all.

If you're an electrician probing a hot CAT III system - high power three phase distribution panels and the like - you're probably wearing a face shield, insulated gloves, and insulated boots. I'm mainly a CAT I (electronics) and CAT II (home electric) kind of guy. :^)

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I've been happy with ESI and AESwave leads; the latter are mainly used for the scope. They flex well, haven't burst into flames or anything.


For household 120v and automotive, what's the big deal? Grab a set that flexes well, usually silicone, and get to work. Gold plating and super strain relief sound nice, but leads are consumables. Eventually you'll get one stuck around a door knob or sucked into a serpentine belt. IMO voltage dropping doesn't require any super fancy leads, and that's about as precision as the average guy gets, without moving to a scope anyways.

 

[Rabid Badger]

I've been happy with ESI and AESwave leads; the latter are mainly used for the scope. They flex well, haven't burst into flames or anything.


For household 120v and automotive, what's the big deal? Grab a set that flexes well, usually silicone, and get to work. Gold plating and super strain relief sound nice, but leads are consumables. Eventually you'll get one stuck around a door knob or sucked into a serpentine belt. IMO voltage dropping doesn't require any super fancy leads, and that's about as precision as the average guy gets, without moving to a scope anyways.

When the best you can get cost $18 delivered, why bother with anything else?

https://probemaster.com/8000-series-test-leads-only/

 

[2ndGearRubber]

When the best you can get cost $18 delivered, why bother with anything else?

https://probemaster.com/8000-series-test-leads-only/

Because those are way too big, and won't fit anywhere. For automotive DC, stick this on the end of your meter lead; not much else can touch it.

https://www.aeswave.com/Flexible-back-pinning-probe-Black-p9452.html



Additionally, the "best" cannot be a gator connector, back probe, lead extension, etc, without spin on attachments which make it into a 6 inch tumor preventing you from reaching that obscured connector. Big 'ol leads are fine for household electrical, or checking 12 volt battery voltage across the terminals. You couldn't even take a measurement on late model connectors with those giant things. If you somehow managed to, you'd smash the terminals all up and screw up the pin fitment. Hell everything now is nearly a micro 64 connector, front probing is harder than back probing.

 

[Max]

Rabid Badger, thank you for the info. I like to keep my probes in spec with my meters as then I don’t have to worry about any potential issues later. (“Let’s see, the meter is rated for 600V, but which leads are these and what was their rating again...”).

For AC I’m at 240V and below, but for DC I work on old tube stuff and it can get to 450V or so pretty easily. I also have a power supply that I use to test leakage on caps that goes to 1KV, but in that case I don’t need to be super accurate on the voltage and I can just use the supply’s reading.

I can measure m Ohms as I have several bench meters that are 4 wire. But I agree that for a hand held meter probe resistance is generally not an issue with reasonably good probes.

Max

 

[Rabid Badger]

Because those are way too big, and won't fit anywhere. For automotive DC, stick this on the end of your meter lead; not much else can touch it.

https://www.aeswave.com/Flexible-back-pinning-probe-Black-p9452.html

https://probemaster.com/1207-1208-extender-tip-4/

Cheaper, and sheathed to prevent shorting out nearby components.

Additionally, the "best" cannot be a gator connector, back probe, lead extension, etc, without spin on attachments which make it into a 6 inch tumor preventing you from reaching that obscured connector. Big 'ol leads are fine for household electrical, or checking 12 volt battery voltage across the terminals. You couldn't even take a measurement on late model connectors with those giant things. If you somehow managed to, you'd smash the terminals all up and screw up the pin fitment. Hell everything now is nearly a micro 64 connector, front probing is harder than back probing.

For those purposes you'd be better off with the kit I linked several posts ago. Did you forget to read the thread?

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Sheaths are cool, until you can't slide them past the seals, and you have to cut them off anyways. Common sense obviously needs applied. Although the dangers of "double t-pinning" and what-not are often raised, any circuit with a load on it, should have short protection built in. Otherwise a shorted coil, injector, motor, etc would be a death sentence to the PCM and they'd be getting replaced left and right. Not that I'm advocating jumping PCM pins, just food for thought.



- I did read the thread, I just disagree with that kit, or most any of the probe master kits linked, being the best option. I see hook probes, possibly piercing probes (100% no), some admittedly nice looking baby-gators on banana plugs, and big old test leads. Sheaths on the back probes will likely be cut off anyways.

https://www.aeswave.com/Back-probe-Alligator-Clip-Set-11-pc-p9113.html

Half the thickness of the probe-master probes. Still WAY too big for some stuff, but acceptable. I wouldn't jam wall voltage through them, but DC automotive would be fine. I've used these and others on primary ignition patterns.


My assumption would be that a MAC multimeter, a brand marketed to mechanics, would likely spend most of its time working on 12v DC systems. I also have found no need for extreme strain relief, nor gold plating, working on automotive systems. My snap on/AES/Pico stuff isn't strain relieved nor gold plated; I see little need for it.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Sheaths are cool, until you can't slide them past the seals, and you have to cut them off anyways. Common sense obviously needs applied. Although the dangers of "double t-pinning" and what-not are often raised, any circuit with a load on it, should have short protection built in. Otherwise a shorted coil, injector, motor, etc would be a death sentence to the PCM and they'd be getting replaced left and right. Not that I'm advocating jumping PCM pins, just food for thought.



- I did read the thread, I just disagree with that kit, or most any of the probe master kits linked, being the best option. I see hook probes, possibly piercing probes (100% no), some admittedly nice looking baby-gators on banana plugs, and big old test leads. Sheaths on the back probes will likely be cut off anyways.

https://www.aeswave.com/Back-probe-Alligator-Clip-Set-11-pc-p9113.html

Half the thickness of the probe-master probes. Still WAY too big for some stuff, but acceptable. I wouldn't jam wall voltage through them, but DC automotive would be fine. I've used these and others on primary ignition patterns.


My assumption would be that a MAC multimeter, a brand marketed to mechanics, would likely spend most of its time working on 12v DC systems. I also have found no need for extreme strain relief, nor gold plating, working on automotive systems. My snap on/AES/Pico stuff isn't strain relieved nor gold plated; I see little need for it.

Okay, those are nice.

 

[Max]

Note that gold plating is not added as some kind of magical conductivity improvement. Instead, the benefit if gold is that it doesn’t corrode over time, with humidity, with dissimilar metals, etc. It’s actually a good thing to have, whether or not you have seen the benefits or not. I don’t think it’s essential for DVM probes, but it does have and add value.

Max

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Note that gold plating is not added as some kind of magical conductivity improvement. Instead, the benefit if gold is that it doesn’t corrode over time, with humidity, with dissimilar metals, etc. It’s actually a good thing to have, whether or not you have seen the benefits or not. I don’t think it’s essential for DVM probes, but it does have and add value.

Max

Agreed 100%, corrosion and extremely mild increase in conductivity are benefits.

I simply feel in dvm probes, it's not worth building into the price. I'd rather have 1 extra backprobe than everything be gold plated.



Dont store your scope leads in a wet basement.