My multimeter gave me a false reading and I almost fried a panel

Was troubleshooting a bad breaker on a Square D QO panel last Tuesday. Tested for voltage with my old Fluke 77 and it showed zero, so I started pulling wires. Turns out the batteries were dying and it was giving me ghost readings. Nearly took a 277 volt hit. Anyone else ever get bit by low battery readings on their meter?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulw6313d ago

Yeah that's a scary one. Low batteries on a Fluke are dangerous.

taylor.paige1mo ago

...actually there's something else going on here that nobody really talks about... those old Fluke 77 meters have a known issue where they don't always give you a low battery warning before they start messing up readings. Most people think they're bulletproof but they're not. I had a buddy who tested a line three times with his 77 and got a solid zero every time... turned out the batteries were at like 1.1 volts each. What's worse is that meter can show a false zero even on live circuits when the battery gets weak in a certain way.

terry_barnes1mo ago

Had a similar scare with a radar detector in my old truck, went silent right before a speed trap.