Commercial Electric test equipment

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2Broke2Sleep

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I bought a cheap clamp meter at HD manufactured by C.E. and it wouldn't read 208V at work the other day. Co-worker happened to have a different model C.E. meter and also would not read the 208 present at terminations. Anybody have any experience with these or any meter that won't read voltage just under a month old??? Would stay away from these!
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
I bought a cheap clamp meter at HD manufactured by C.E. and it wouldn't read 208V at work the other day. Co-worker happened to have a different model C.E. meter and also would not read the 208 present at terminations. Anybody have any experience with these or any meter that won't read voltage just under a month old??? Would stay away from these!
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What did it read? I'm not familiar with the meter at all.

Next time spend the money!

We standardized everyday testers and use Fluke T+Pros. That means I buy them.
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
I bought a cheap clamp meter at HD manufactured by C.E. and it wouldn't read 208V at work the other day. Co-worker happened to have a different model C.E. meter and also would not read the 208 present at terminations. Anybody have any experience with these or any meter that won't read voltage just under a month old??? Would stay away from these!
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I have had all kinds of cheap meters over the years. never had one that cared what the voltage was as far as working or not. I suspect some kind of operator error to be candid.

is this the $4 voltage detector they sell? If so it appears from the description that it detects only 110 and 220 volts. maybe it is not supposed to work at 208 V. Did you read the instructions?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-110-220-VAC-Voltage-Tester-MS8900H/202520892
 
petersonra said:
I have had all kinds of cheap meters over the years. never had one that cared what the voltage was as far as working or not. I suspect some kind of operator error to be candid.
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Quite possibly operator error... I had one of those commercial electric multimeters for a while, the markings on the face to tell you what mode you are in quickly wore off, making it more or less useless.

That written, I have a even cheaper Gardner Bender voltmeter that works fine on identifying 208 from 240 or another voltage.

The only other possibility I can think of with a failure to detect 208v is a lost phase, bad neutral, or a missing neutral to ground bond.

Edited to add... Just saw the link to that commercial electric, voltmeter... looks more like a toy than any kind of serious test instrument... You would think 208 would be close enough to 220 for it to work... Who knows
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
I bought a cheap clamp meter at HD manufactured by C.E. and it wouldn't read 208V at work the other day. Co-worker happened to have a different model C.E. meter and also would not read the 208 present at terminations. Anybody have any experience with these or any meter that won't read voltage just under a month old??? Would stay away from these!
Click to expand...

You should always keep receipts for tools bought from anywhere. If it's bad then take it back. Get a refund and buy a better meter.
 
Mine was $40 I stated in the OP it was an amp probe meter. Another electrician stated the same problem after trying it out AND used another C.E. meter. I would suspect operator error as well but I still maintain that myself and another very experienced electrician could not get 208v off the terminals.
 
petersonra said:
For a $4 tool?
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Why not? It goes back to what Ben Franklin said, "watch your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves".

If you buy a tool for $4 at HD there is a good chance it's not even going to work the first time. Why throw $4 away?

Right off I can't think of anything that I have purchased for $4 because even a screw driver cost more than that. It's the principle of the thing.
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
Mine was $40 I stated in the OP it was an amp probe meter. Another electrician stated the same problem after trying it out AND used another C.E. meter. I would suspect operator error as well but I still maintain that myself and another very experienced electrician could not get 208v off the terminals.
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If it is the dual light indicator kind, I would not expect it to work on 208.

Circuitry inside lights one indicator for '110', and another for '220'. Those are your choices. 208 will be too high to keep the 110 light on and not high enough to keep the 220 light on.


commercial-electric-voltage-tester-ms8900h-64_1000.jpg
 
K8MHZ said:
If it is the dual light indicator kind, I would not expect it to work on 208.
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I wouldn't either but having to read the instruction is going a bit to far.

Actually that makes it kind of useless for commercial work. How dare they call themselves " Commercial Electric"?
 
growler said:
I wouldn't either but having to read the instruction is going a bit to far.

Actually that makes it kind of useless for commercial work. How dare they call themselves " Commercial Electric"?
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I think the OP came back and indicated it was a more conventional volt meter. I guess I would be checking to see if it worked at some other voltage.
 
I wonder what reading they are getting, and if it could be phantom voltage on a deenergized circuit.
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
I bought a cheap clamp meter at HD manufactured by C.E. and it wouldn't read 208V at work the other day. Co-worker happened to have a different model C.E. meter and also would not read the 208 present at terminations.
Click to expand...

2Broke2Sleep said:
Mine was $40 I stated in the OP it was an amp probe meter. Another electrician stated the same problem after trying it out AND used another C.E. meter.
Click to expand...

petersonra said:
I think the OP came back and indicated it was a more conventional volt meter. I guess I would be checking to see if it worked at some other voltage.
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All the OP stated was that he had a cheap clamp meter, CE model and cost $40.

I did a search and couldn't find a CE clamp meter for $40. I did find the model# MS 2015A that sells for $84.95 which I would assume is a better model (higher priced).

Has an interesting warranty: Warranty: 12 Months, For one year from date of purchase, this product is warranted against any defects in materials or workmanship. This warranty is void if this product is ever used while providing commercial services or rented to anyone.

Sounds like a great product with full warranty if you never use it professionally.

Again the name "Commercial Electric" can be a little deceptive.
 
2Broke2Sleep said:
I would suspect operator error as well but I still maintain that myself and another very experienced electrician could not get 208v off the terminals.
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LarryFine said:
I wonder what reading they are getting, and if it could be phantom voltage on a deenergized circuit.
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It could be anything,not enough information. We don't even know the type of meter. It may not have a low battery indicator. Could act up with low battery.

First thing I always suggest is try another meter but they did that. I would go to a known energized source and see what I could read. A couple of phases in the panel should work if the lights are on. You almost never see two phases dropped.
 
maybe we are getting caught up in his statement about it not working on 208 V. I kind of took that to mean it worked on other voltages. Maybe it also does not work on any voltage.

OTOH, the low chance of two of them failing in the same way at the same time leads me back to the operator error thought.
 
Cheap DMM's

Cheap DMM's

Over on an electronics forum a few years ago a shootout was done between the dirt cheap DMM's and a lab grade meter. The consensus was the dirt cheap meters were more than accurate enough for most electronic work. That said, they are perfectly fine for general electrical work. The only thing I would worry about is insulation ratings especially around 480v as the Harbor Freight meters are hardly UL listed (at least not officially) ;)
 
Andy Delle said:
Over on an electronics forum a few years ago a shootout was done between the dirt cheap DMM's and a lab grade meter. The consensus was the dirt cheap meters were more than accurate enough for most electronic work. That said, they are perfectly fine for general electrical work. The only thing I would worry about is insulation ratings especially around 480v as the Harbor Freight meters are hardly UL listed (at least not officially) ;)
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That kind of thing has been true for a long time. I can remember the better part of forty years ago people debated the utility of expensive scopes versus less expensive ones, and analog meters versus the more expensive digital meters.

Sometimes the more industrialized stuff is a little more likely to survive rough use, but often the internal electronics is not much different.
 
I'll try to get more info or pics/video of this meter in use at work next time I'm checking for 208v. I vaguely remember getting 120v to G. on the two phases but meter showing something 'ghosty' when on the 208V config.
 
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