I was wrong about those cheap capacitor testers

Used to think spending over $100 on a capacitor tester was a waste. Tried a $15 one from Amazon and it kept showing bad caps as good. Lost a whole afternoon on a fridge compressor that tested fine but wouldn't start. Bought a Fluke meter after that and haven't looked back. Anyone else had cheap testers mess up a job for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

terrywilson21d ago

My buddy has one of those $12 Amazon specials and he's been using it daily for two years without a single issue lol. @paul_owens25 I get your point about the battery reading but honestly I think most of these problems come from user error or not reading the cheap manual. A $15 meter won't hold up to a Fluke in a pro shop but for a home guy doing a fridge cap once a year it's probably fine. I've had a $20 Klein multimeter that reads dead batteries as 12v too but I just know to check it with a known good battery first. The truth is if you understand the tool's limits and buy from a brand that at least tries to meet safety standards a cheap tester can save you a lot of cash.

amyh2121d ago

Gotta agree with you on that "know your tool's limits" thing. I think a lot of people grab a $10 meter and treat it like it's a Fluke without ever reading the manual or testing it against something they KNOW is good first. That Klein example you gave is spot on too, it's not always the price, sometimes it's just the quirk of the model. A cheap meter is fine for checking if a wire has power or not, but I would NEVER trust one for something safety related like checking a live house circuit. You just have to be real about what it can and can't do and save the expensive stuff for when it actually matters.

paul_owens2522d ago

Bought a $20 no-name brand multimeter once that showed 12 volts on a dead battery. Took me forever to figure out why my car wouldn't crank after I'd "tested" everything. Never skimp on meters anymore, that's for sure.