Fluke 902 is probably the best fluke hvac clamp meter.

I recently switched from fluke to fieldpiece 680 and I like it better even though it’s stupidly big.

 

Your post is fine, but in the wrong section. There is a tools section on this forum.
I agree with the above statement. Fluke is best long term quality within a technicians budget, but the SC680 works well with more functionality.
I had an issue with the 680 when I first bought it with a broken clamp, but got it replaced under warranty. Sadly, I had to pay to ship the nearly brand new product.
It’s been a while and my most recent issue was the whole screen flashing and beeping when AAC was selected. Turns out the batteries just needed to be replaced. Hopefully this issue doesn’t recur.

 

I have had multiple issues with FP products.

Went through 2 meters and a manometer.

I will not use them again.

 

I feel confident with Fluke the most. Please advise

With all the modern technology today, they're are lot of meters that perform well out there. Flukes are great meters, I own one and I don't even use it, simply because I'm concerned about leaving it on a job site, dropping it, or it possibly get stolen. I use my Fieldpiace daily, I also like Testo 760-2 is a great meter. My message here is, there is a lot of good competition out there, that I would rather drop, or leave on a job site. If you just have to have a Fluke, get the 117, nice inexpensive meter.

 

Fluke 117 isn’t a clamp meter.

 

Only had a couple sips of my coffee before posting. :grin2:

 

Although, I do own that one and love it! Low Z mode is such a great addition to any multimeter. It also great for discharging caps!

 

haha. I have the Fluke 101

 

I have the cheap uei dl479. Also have the fluke 902.
Honestly the uei is the one in my tool pouch. And that's because it does the job quite well, and I won't lose any sleep if it goes missing or falls in a puddle.
It's certainly not the best, but 3 years in my backpack, it's gotta be respected

 

Yup Me too. If I'm doubtful about the results with the UEI, Then I break out the High Dollar Meter. At times I still use my old analog. especially if I have a component that's dropping out and then kicking back on quickly. I like to see the old needle swing. Usually digitals just flash back and forth. The needle verifies it.

 

Moved to Tools & Test Equipment.

 

I recently got a klein Clamp meter kit, to replace one of the flukes I loved and lost. Figured Id try something new. Does all the stuff you’d need a meter to do. But I definitely like fluke better, but this is a fine starter/back up meter. I use it only for amperage. The clamp itself will also function as a non-contact voltage detector as-well.

Seems good enough and came with a pretty sweet bonus tool. Combination air probe/IR temp thermometer. Really compact. Very use-full in steam work.

Here is the kit: all in about $100

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have and really like my 902fc and I also have the fieldpiece sc480 that I picked up back at the end of summer, I did not like it at first but it has really grown on me ans I now use it more than the fluke. It has quite a few more features that are very useful for what we do. Even though fluke markets the 902 as their HVAC meter, it falls short in things that I think it should do for a HVAC meter. I also have 2 fluke 87v and a fluke 116 that only get pulled out for certain things, it’s good to have multiple meters.

 

Yep, same here. At first, I felt like the SC680 was too bulky, but now it's become my primary, and my 902 is a back up. The amp clamp is much more accurate on the SC680 from my testing. You can accurately check low hp motors like condenser fans and draft inducers. I would have to double or triple wrap my 902 and divide. Also, the SC680 is a full HVAC built meter. Checking loaded run capacitors calculates more accurately with the 680 as well. Just keeping my fingers crossed on durability.

 

I have several really good clamp meters, and there's a lot of em out there, but the one that has always had a place in my service bag for over six years is a FP SC440, and I have two of them.

 

I appreciate the help & direction. Now I know why all AC Pros have many meters.
# 1 There are too many to choose from
# 2 It seems you buy according to what you need at the time, then as you gain knowledge & expand horizons, you buy the next meter up.
I do "analyze till I paralyze" so I will be researching this a lot & making a note of everything everyone recommended. Thanks again.

 

Fieldpiece SC260 is cheap, simple, and does 99% of the things youll need to do with it. best bang for your buck IMO. you can find them for as low as 100$ sometimes

 

I have been doing a lot of research & the SC260 & the SC440 is where I am ending up at. My brother has an Amprobe & tried to push me that direction but It don't seem popular at all so I can't go there. I thought hard about UEI but most favor Fieldpiece over UEI & UEI seems to have more reliability issues than fieldpiece. I have the money to buy the best but I am conservative & really want to buy the best fit. I do not like too many things to learn at once & by default lean toward "simple" things ....like Fluke LOL. But I am really enjoying the HVAC journey & feel like I better get some extras on my meter for the future. Forums like this are inspiring. Thanks again everyone.

 

It appears the SC440 measures "Inrush" & the SC260 does not. How important is that feature ? I have studied "inrush" some. Can the sc260 accomplish a similar task of measuring startup inrush ?

 

i believe it has to do with the refresh rate of the data, my SC260 can measure start up amps, however it is not as accurate or as fast as the SC440. It hasn't stopped me from doing my job properly , but sometimes you may need to retest to see what the peak amp draw was.

 

Fieldpiece SC260 is the best all around meter. Fits budget does everything you need and simply.
Now you're going to be doing a lot of commercial you might want to get something with a removable head or wireless but on residential you probably not even use all the features that it has.

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Agreed. I have several meters, but the SC260 sees the most use, since it's small, easy to handle and clamps to my Veto MB2 using a nite ize s-biner (in the FP case). Always present and does most of what I need 99% of the time. I have the SC660 that stays mostly in my truck. It's a monster.

 

Sc260 true RMS is the one I use too. I plan to someday upgrade to the sc440 but who knows if that'll ever happen. [emoji16]
I honestly don't even know what the difference in the features are but I'm pretty sure it's more expensive so it must be better right? [emoji1787]

 

Sc260 true RMS is the one I use too. I plan to someday upgrade to the sc440 but who knows if that'll ever happen. [emoji16]
I honestly don't even know what the difference in the features are but I'm pretty sure it's more expensive so it must be better right? [emoji1787]

Microamps DC
Inrush current
Duty cycle %
Frequency via leads and clamp
50 Mega Ohm vs 40 Mega Ohm (both@.1 resolution)
Test lead holders
Clamp probe holder
magnetic hanging strap as opposed to magnetic disk (260)

The 440 isn't that much bigger than the 260, and it's only $50 more (than the 260). I may pick that up when my 260 gives out (or if I lose it). I'm getting to be a meter junkie. I have the SC76, the 260, the 660 and the Redfish IDVM550 (for MQ integration). The 680 is also suppose to work with MQ and has all the bells and whistles, including PF, KW, etc.

 

The 440 is much faster, does micro amp DC, inrush, and is true rms and I think that's all but it's enough for me. You can find almost new ones on ebay for less than $100.

 

How many meters are you willing to carry? If you say just one for everything, then that narrows the field a bit. The Fluke 902 can't check thermocouples, it doesn't do millivolts DC, it doesn't do inrush, either. How good is your hearing, the Fluke's continuity buzzer is trash, I've never heard one myself, but I hear that they exist.
Uei's can be good, they're not as fast as most of the others and they do tend to have niggling little problems that make them annoying, but I've used a DL389 and it got the job done. The Uei meters have all the things you need,
The Amprobe's to look at are the ACD14pro, and it will do things very well, except I don't remember is it can do millivolts, They are so light, they feel flimsy, but I've never had trouble with one. The other Amprobe to look at is the ACD51NAV, this is a fantastic meter, but again, I know it doesn't do millivolts. If you can live with that it's a stellar meter. I always have one around. It does PF, and watts, and you can calculate reactive power with it. Great meter, it also has a nifty ac/dc voltage range that automatically picks the right one, and you don't have to do anything. Also the acd51 is one of the fastest meters I've used, it can instantly measure very low amps thru the clamp, having no trouble with .1 amps, and the reading is almost instant. It really is a heck of a meter.
There are only two Klein meters I'd ever consider, but they are really good ones. The CL450 and CL440, the only real difference is that the 450 you can calibrate the thermometer. I don't normally use my meters for temps, and if I do a couple of degrees is good enough, so this feature is kind of moot for me. They do everything you could ever ask of a meter and do it well. If I had to gripe, it would be that they are a tiny bit on the large bulky side, but hey I always have one or the other around.
The Fieldpiece is the meter I use daily. I don't remember ever in the last six or so years or more that I haven't had two of them around and one is ALWAYS in my service bag. I just don't like going out without one of them. I may keep a backup in the truck, one of the other meters, and I keep one in my car for unexpected use, and a couple in the garage, but a FP is with me when I go to work. I've never had a failure, never a strange reading, nothing has ever gone wrong. The 440 and even the 480 will do everything you could ever ask of a clamp meter, I will say the amp clamp ont eh 480 is just slightly less sensitive than the 440 clamp which is fantastic, it will easily measure .1 amp all day long. I know you can coil wire and make it more sensitive, but it's just so handy to clamp a wire on a small blower and see if it is actually running without having to do any wire bundling.
Meters are personal choice things, everyone has their favorites, and there's not a thing wrong with that. but if you want a meter to do almost anything that comes up, it would be Klein, UEI or FP. If you can accept not being able to check a thermocouple, the the Amprobe ACD51NAV is a great meter.
I like a meter to have some way to hang in on metal, this is where the FP, Klein and UEI shine, they can be magnetically hung on a furnace or condenser cabinet.. I like the Klein way the least as it has an extra optional strap magnet, which is not so handy but it works. The FP and UEI are the best as they have magnets on the back that let them hang straight up for easy reading.
Continuity beepers are kind of a pet peeve of mine, an awful lot of meters have them but you just can't hear them. The Klein and FP are great, good and loud, and FP has the added bonus of a LED on the meter that shines green with continuity in loud environments, really handy.
Backlighting is another issue to be aware of. Only Klein does it right, you turn it on and you turn it off. If a meter has APO, the you certainly don't need a backlight that turns off in 30 sec. The FP stays on for like 5 minutes which is good enough. The Amprobe ACD51 is the worst, it is on any time you move the switch, but only for 15 sec, who ever thought of that. I don't use a back light a lot, but it's darn handy when you need one.
The only thing I like about the Fluke 902FC is the display is large and bright, and even the decimal points are large and easy to see. with a lot of other meters you have to look hard. FP, Klein, UEI and Amprobe are pretty good, but not as large as the Fluke. It's not enough to make me go Fluke, not even close, but it's a nice display. I will admit, that for an awful lot of service calls, the Fluke would work, but there's a lot it can't do also, so I don't go there. Fluke just doesn't get the HVAC trade at all, and maybe doesn't care I dunno, they certainly have the electrical trade locked up, for now.

Certainly a lot to think about, but I think you just need to pick one and learn to use it properly and move on. If you like to overthink tools, you got a lot of overthinking to do in this trade, because, I've never seen any trade that needed the amount of tools we need. Yes, you'll buy some you don't like, and you'll probably always be upgrading and changing, that's just evolution.

Also, someone mentioned doing inrush with the FP SC260... I dunno about what you're getting because I've never tried that meter. Inrush is usually meant to describe the current flow at startup of an inductor, and is commonly viewed as in the first 80-100 milliseconds, depending on which meter you buy. IIRC 80ms is the standard, but don't quote me on that. Peak amps could be anything and usually much farther away in time from startup. I know we're splitting hairs here. I've not seen a lot of value in day to day service of knowing inrush. You can diagnose motor start problems with it, and I do that on occasion,

 

Also, someone mentioned doing inrush with the FP SC260... I dunno about what you're getting because I've never tried that meter. Inrush is usually meant to describe the current flow at startup of an inductor, and is commonly viewed as in the first 80-100 milliseconds, depending on which meter you buy. IIRC 80ms is the standard, but don't quote me on that. Peak amps could be anything and usually much farther away in time from startup. I know we're splitting hairs here. I've not seen a lot of value in day to day service of knowing inrush. You can diagnose motor start problems with it, and I do that on occasion,

The 260 doesn't do inrush. They may be thinking of the Max\Hold feature. Having looked at the difference in features and price point between the 260 and 440, my next 'daily-toolbag' meter purchase will be the 440, particularly since it's not much bigger than the 260.

 

How do the digital meters work testing for for open motor rotor bars with a variac? Always used analog meters for this test.

 

There is a UEi 599 now for keeping up with the jones

 

In the HVAC world the saying is keeping up with the field piece. [emoji1787]

 

Hello JayMan7
I am thinking of purchasing a FP 440 or 480 . Do you use the wireless feature on your 680.
I have a Fluke 902FC If I wanted to look at something remotely.
thanks
Scott

 

Hello Channellxbob

I am thinking of purchasing a Fieldpiece 440 or 480
Did you use the wireless feature when you had the 480?
I have a fluke 902FC if I wanted to look at a reading on my phone
thanks
Scott

 

Sorry to be so late, just now saw this.
No, I did not use the wireless feature much at all. If you do appliances like a resi fridge, then I can see it might be useful, but although nice, it's not something that I see myself using all that much. I did use the PF some to test caps and play around with EER, but it's more interesting, than useful too.
I have to say, that over the last several years, I have never gone on a call with a 440 in hand, that I ever thought I needed something else to get the job done, not once. That's the biggest reason, even though I have several meters, I just can't bring myself to trust a meter that can't do all the 440 can in my service bag. Not saying, those others aren't good, just not "as good" to me.
You can go on ebay and pick up an almost new 440 for less than a C-note, and for the difference in cost of a 480, I just don't see the benefit.
I really don't think you'll ever be sorry purchasing a 440,
One thing I love about the 440, that even the 480 can't do is measure super low amps thru the clamp. The 440 will easily measure .1 amp, whereas the 480 has trouble below .4 amps, which is where a lot of inducers and small fan motors run. In environs where it's hard to hear, or I can't see the rear of the motor, I can clamp a lead and see if it's running quickly. It's possible it was the 480 I had was not that sensitive, but I've never had a 440 that would go that low.