# Which companies are meter manufacturers



## Felandro (Mar 16, 2014)

If looking for a clamp meter I know fluke seems to be the main one but I have seen some people recommend brands like field piece that although they are geared towards HVAC they work for us as well. I can also pick up a true RMS one for around 100 bucks with all the extras where as I am looking at the fluke 376 for the same features. Are these the two main meter manufacturers or are there other ones out there with a good reputation?


----------



## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

Felandro said:


> If looking for a clamp meter I know fluke seems to be the main one but I have seen some people recommend brands like field piece that although they are geared towards HVAC they work for us as well. I can also pick up a true RMS one for around 100 bucks with all the extras where as I am looking at the fluke 376 for the same features. Are these the two main meter manufacturers or are there other ones out there with a good reputation?


Fluke has the best stuff


----------



## AllWIRES (Apr 10, 2014)

Get the fluke now. Otherwise you'll get it later at its price plus the money you spent on the others.


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Fluke is one of the few names you can trust. I think there's a factory in China that makes almost everything else.


----------



## Spunk#7 (Nov 30, 2012)

Some Fluke products are made in China.


----------



## Voltage Hazard (Aug 10, 2009)

Spunk#7 said:


> Some Fluke products are made in China.


All (not some) Fluke clamps are made in China.

As for other meter companies, there are dozens. It comes down to what you want to pay, and the features you need.


----------



## Felandro (Mar 16, 2014)

Voltage Hazard said:


> All (not some) Fluke clamps are made in China.
> 
> As for other meter companies, there are dozens. It comes down to what you want to pay, and the features you need.


Well I most likely won't need the fluke 376 for the Iflex as I don't see myself using it. Safety is my number one priority, having something I can count on as I just recently saw a topic on here where someone's meter exploded while testing voltage in a panel. Having the ability to measure everything would be good and if that means buying a fluke I'll just have to save up but my issue is anything below the 376 seem to be at a lower voltage rating than other meters, just wondering if anyone else out there made reliable meters at a step down price. Like the difference between a festool drill and the new fuel line.


----------



## Voltage Hazard (Aug 10, 2009)

Felandro said:


> Having the ability to measure everything would be good and if that means buying a fluke I'll just have to save up but my issue is anything below the 376 seem to be at a lower voltage rating than other meters,


Do you really need to go to 1000 Volts on a clamp meter? Also, do you need to go to the 1000 Amos (both AC and DC) that the 376 gives you? Or, is AC only good enough?


----------



## Hmacanada (Jan 16, 2014)

I agree with the fluke meter being dependable.
My dad who also is a electrician had a cheaper ideal auto ranging meter blow out of his hand when testing 600volt.
So much for auto ranging .
He replaced it with a fluke!


Sent from my iPhone using electriciantalk.com


----------



## Dave Kadonoff (Jun 25, 2014)

*Clamp Meters*

Dear Felandro. I am going to start by saying that I work for Ideal Industries. We are but one of perhaps 3 dozen suppliers/manufacturers of Multi and Clamp meters, encompassing literally many hundreds of choices for any type of consumer, offering combinations of functions, ranges, resolutions, TRMS versus ARMS and accuracy.

It presents quite a challenge to navigate the myriad of choices which are all tradeoffs between performance, features and price. 

I would encourage you to select a meter that is TRMS and from there, define your foreseeable needs so that you don't have to purchase another meter in a year or two. A good example of that is does the meter need to measure AC and DC current?

I would google digital clamp meters or digital multi meters and look carefully at your options. Hope this helps!
Dave Kadonoff



Felandro said:


> If looking for a clamp meter I know fluke seems to be the main one but I have seen some people recommend brands like field piece that although they are geared towards HVAC they work for us as well. I can also pick up a true RMS one for around 100 bucks with all the extras where as I am looking at the fluke 376 for the same features. Are these the two main meter manufacturers or are there other ones out there with a good reputation?


----------



## Dave Kadonoff (Jun 25, 2014)

*One Other Note*

Be sure to get a minimum of a Cat III rated meter that is UL listed.




Dave Kadonoff said:


> Dear Felandro. I am going to start by saying that I work for Ideal Industries. We are but one of perhaps 3 dozen suppliers/manufacturers of Multi and Clamp meters, encompassing literally many hundreds of choices for any type of consumer, offering combinations of functions, ranges, resolutions, TRMS versus ARMS and accuracy.
> 
> It presents quite a challenge to navigate the myriad of choices which are all tradeoffs between performance, features and price.
> 
> ...


----------



## Wpgshocker (Jan 25, 2013)

Dave Kadonoff said:


> Be sure to get a minimum of a Cat III rated meter that is UL listed.


This.

Starting out, it can be confusing. You don't have to buy Fluke. There are a few very good brands. I am currently using a Greenlee clamp that is fantastic. My daily MM is a Milwaukee. Truth be told, the Milwaukee is as good if not better than my old Fluke that didn't survive a 6 foot ladder fall. It is also 1/2 the price and meters faster.

You won't disappointed if stick with a listed, calibrated meter.

Fluke vs "Every other brand " is no different than Ford vs Chev, lots of opinions, but in the end they do the same thing.
If any reputable company made meters that were complete garbage, they would go out of business.


Sent from my HTC One_M8 using electriciantalk.com mobile app


----------



## Felandro (Mar 16, 2014)

Voltage Hazard said:


> Do you really need to go to 1000 Volts on a clamp meter? Also, do you need to go to the 1000 Amos (both AC and DC) that the 376 gives you? Or, is AC only good enough?


It's not the volts that I am concerned with that only needs 600 volts with maybe 400-600 amps max. I have noticed the Cat safety rating is rather low on the fluke 323, 324, 325 series. That would be my reason for getting the 376, that and higher resistance measurements. I have read of blown up meters rated for 600 volts so I would prefer that I can get one rated over 600 volts just in case. I know some meters would be good either way for measuring if not better for the price. So far though, I have yet to hear of a fluke blowing up.


----------



## Voltage Hazard (Aug 10, 2009)

Felandro said:


> It's not the volts that I am concerned with that only needs 600 volts with maybe 400-600 amps max. I have noticed the Cat safety rating is rather low on the fluke 323, 324, 325 series.


Then why not go with the 374? It has the same CAT IV rating that the 376 has, and it is $100 cheaper.

But, as others have said, there are some very good brands out there much lower priced than the Fluke. Amprobe, Ideal, and Klein all have some nice models out, at very reasonable prices. I'd stay away from Southwire and Greenlee though.


----------



## Felandro (Mar 16, 2014)

I've heard of Amprobe but not widely, aren't they owned by another company? I was hoping for higher resistance out of the flukes but theirs is rather low, I think the 375 seems to be the best bet?


----------



## Voltage Hazard (Aug 10, 2009)

Felandro said:


> I've heard of Amprobe but not widely, aren't they owned by another company?


Amprobe and Fluke are owned by the same parent company.


----------



## samc (Oct 19, 2013)

I own a fluke 87 which is probably like 15-20 yrs old but still works great. Again fluke or go home.

edit: I also own a cat III rated ideal clamp meter which I use daily and it works very well for me. If price was a concern ideal is great as well. If you want a meter for 20 yrs, fluke.


----------



## Lz_69 (Nov 1, 2007)

I have a 376 and it's a nice meter, one thing that made me buy it over say a 374 and lower model was that it can measure resistance to 60k which saves me from packing a dmm and a clamp on around with me when I am working something like a fire alarm system where I have to measure eol resistors. The 375 also has this feature as well.


----------



## Felandro (Mar 16, 2014)

Lz_69 said:


> I have a 376 and it's a nice meter, one thing that made me buy it over say a 374 and lower model was that it can measure resistance to 60k which saves me from packing a dmm and a clamp on around with me when I am working something like a fire alarm system where I have to measure eol resistors. The 375 also has this feature as well.


One of the main things I saw between a lot of the meters is they didn't measure very high resistance where as every other company has quite high resistance measurement. Is there a reason fluke does this?


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Voltage Hazard said:


> Then why not go with the 374? It has the same CAT IV rating that the 376 has, and it is $100 cheaper.
> 
> But, as others have said, there are some very good brands out there much lower priced than the Fluke. Amprobe, Ideal, and Klein all have some nice models out, at very reasonable prices. I'd stay away from Southwire and Greenlee though.


Depends on what kind of work you do or plan on doing in the future. Some industrial sites around here won't allow anything less than Cat lll 1000V. Sucks if you buy a 374 and then find out you need a 376.


----------

