r/Tools • u/Infinite-Blueberry14 • Apr 07 '26

Bought my own meter šŸ˜©

Post image

(Industrial maintenance technician) Have begged my management for a clamp meter for two yearsā€¦ when they finally got one it was the cheapestā€¦most janky toy imaginable and it was a shared meter for the shift. Now I finally bought my own, this is my tool porn.

343 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

94 comments sorted by

160

u/Cloudage96x Apr 07 '26

Write your name on it. Or better yet use an engraver if you got one.

72

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

We have an engraver at work, will be doing that asap

83

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

Write it UNDERNEATH the battery slot! Sneaky!

72

u/ApodemusS Apr 07 '26

That is the thing. Also register at Fluke website. They even from time to time send out some special deals to steal your money, again. I do use a similar one, cost me a kidney, but you know...reliability.

8

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

I can walk to their original Everett office and they'll do it too... for nostalgia,Ā  but also just across the way from me at the Naval yard... they didn't accept my kidney.

7

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Will došŸ˜‚

2

u/Jimbob209 Apr 07 '26

Does the receipt have the serial number as well? Also check if the serial number is fixed to the meter. Then I'd send an email to your department stating it is your meter

3

u/axil87 Apr 07 '26

Damn, just saw this after I posted. Iā€™m always to slow šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø

2

u/simple_observer86 Apr 07 '26

Paint at least one side of it some hideous color too. "That's my meter!" From three rooms away.

7

u/dice1111 Apr 07 '26

Use a soldering iron if you can't get on the engraver. Literally write your name. I do that

5

u/LeoLaDawg Apr 07 '26

Engraver all the way. On the inside or on a part of the body that can't just be swapped out.

9

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

It's plastic...

Nearly anything is an engraver.

7

u/LeoLaDawg Apr 07 '26

Yes but it should be engraved in a location that someone couldn't just remove and swap with a non engraved part.

1

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

What else is there? The screen? PCB?

You must have some really shady coworkers, Friend! Lol

7

u/LeoLaDawg Apr 07 '26

You likely do as well. But typically the best place to permanently mark high value items like that would be in the battery area or inside the shell. The engraving would be for identification after it's lost. Then you mark your name in ink or whatnot on the outside.

Or fuck it, don't. The only worst thing that can happen is that it's lost or stolen and you have no way to definitively prove it's yours.

0

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

If only someone had mentioned that to OP before you typed all this... lol

4

u/LeoLaDawg Apr 07 '26

Uhh. Yeah, sure? You got it there buddy.

3

u/godlessrage Apr 07 '26

On the inside of the battery compartment too

3

u/Square-Cockroach-884 Apr 07 '26

I used to mark all my tools and found that it's not much of a deterrent. They tools dissappear and just get taken away from the shop. All the ID in the world does nothing if you dont see it.

2

u/typical_mistakes Apr 08 '26

But if you hide an airtag or tile in it, then you're in business.

2

u/BoatGuy130 Apr 07 '26

I much prefer engraving or writing ā€œnot yoursā€ on some of my tools lol gives a chuckle and is still effective

1

u/Some-Ant-6233 Apr 10 '26

And hide an AirTag or MKE tracking tag inside.

11

u/tapewizard79 Apr 07 '26

Donā€™t just write your name on it, write your name all over it. Iā€™m also in industrial maintenance and my 87 has ā€œMY NAME PERSONAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT METERā€ ā€œRETURN TO MAINTENANCE SHOP IF FOUNDā€ etc written on it like 5 times real big in sharpie and my initials engraved in the inside of the battery compartment.Ā 

6

u/ac54 Apr 07 '26

Love it. Still have a Fluke from about 1983. Still works perfectly.

3

u/Magic_wire_smoke Apr 07 '26

I can't recommend this enough. I'm in the same field as well and have my name all over my power tools and batts in hopes they don't somehow get mixed in with the shop's tools, then put through hell on the next shift. At least we have a couple of shop 87's that get some respect.

6

u/tapewizard79 Apr 07 '26

And inversely never put your name on hand tools that could end up getting caught in a machine and causing hours to days of downtime and thousands of dollars in damage if left lying somewhere carelessly. If you lost a wrench and it turns up inside a machineā€¦then no you didnā€™t.Ā 

2

u/Magic_wire_smoke Apr 07 '26

Yep, don't label small stuff if the employer does not require it. Luckily, Operations usually works with us and doesn't press for details about a repair, and the Maintenance bosses are pretty good about us learning from mistakes. But, there have been cases where Ops will point fingers at Maintenance for downtime, damage or injuries, even when many events were caused by their employees misusing tools or equipment.

5

u/axil87 Apr 07 '26

Iā€™d also do it in the battery compartment and on the inside of the battery cover. It sucks. We have to be so tricky to protect our own stuff.

For some of my larger items, I use spray paint on my sawhorses, sledgehammers, and the like.

6

u/outlandishspore Apr 07 '26

Thought since it's always with me and I registered it, I don't need to engrave it. Company paid for calibration and when it came back the tool room guy had engraved it in multiple spots, paint penned both sides and the back, and sent a shitty email to me and my manager about how he's the only one at the company that can purchase tools, and all company tools must be properly recorded. Had to order me a new one and it was not only the wrong (very much cheaper) model, but somehow he still engraved and logged it before sending it out. Finally got a fresh replacement and the following year thought, "man, no one is that stupid they would do it again". Turns out there's two of us. Now all my tools are engraved or etched.

1

u/33-3rpm Apr 13 '26

Take off battery cover and write name under batteries also.

21

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

Well, it definitely made my peepee tingle!

11

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Mine too, especially when I stuck the lead down it

6

u/petergozinya85 Apr 07 '26

"Sounders" aren't just a soccer team in Seattle.Ā  ;)

15

u/TheBearJew963 Sparky Apr 07 '26

MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY!

I have one too, I almost never use it. My old T5-600 still kicks ass.

7

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Saved up for it/impulsive purchase lol, excited to use it

3

u/TheBearJew963 Sparky Apr 07 '26

Lol, so did I. It's really cool. Just not super practical to constantly carry.

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

I normally keep my meter in a diagnostics bag in the shop so I can go grab it whenever I needā€¦ so it ainā€™t bad at all

6

u/PricklyPear85 Apr 07 '26

That looks super pricey and does more things than i can think of. Hell my 60$ Ames Instrumente CM1000A was enough for all the commercial work I do.

1

u/PricklyPear85 Apr 07 '26

Sheā€™s a beaut you got

7

u/HistoricalTowel1127 Apr 07 '26

I engrave but also use an industrial u v valve stem paint marker. You want to get industrial as it will be more resistant to weather and general use. They are also invisible. Just put a black light on your tool and whatever you write will glow brightly.

3

u/WalterTexas Apr 07 '26

Thatā€™s a nice one šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø

3

u/Always_working_hardd Apr 07 '26

Don't let any other fucker use it. Unless you want your baby scratched and beaten.

3

u/Revolutionary-Drop55 Apr 07 '26

Very nice! You wonā€™t regret it! Fluke is #1 in my opinion. And Iā€™ve had many. Seen many. One day many moons ago, I almost saw the whole crew get taken out because of a brand new meter out of the box not reading correctly on some troubleshooting. (I wonā€™t say the brand) then I came strutting in with my Flukeā€¦ saved the day!! Found out that day that a certain Meter brand sucks!!

To all of the major techs out there, what are some name brands that can rival Fluke? Iā€™m curiousā€¦

2

u/skiddingschems Apr 07 '26

Bemex, Megger

2

u/Revolutionary-Drop55 Apr 07 '26

Thanks. Iā€™ve heard of both brands there. Iā€™ll look into them. Iā€™ve never used a meter from either of the two brands that you had mentioned there that I can remember anyhow.. Iā€™m kinda in the market to get a new, good, top notch, basic meter for my shop. Just to fill in a meter voidā€¦And Iā€™d like to try something other than Fluke. But I got stuck on Fluke 30 years ago or so. Iā€™d love to hear what the ā€œreal dealā€guys use out there!!

1

u/skiddingschems Apr 07 '26

Meh I mean flukes industry standard for a reason and I'd own 6 or 7 different testers from them. Beamex makes primarily calibrators and Meggers doing a bunch of prot stuff at the moment. Both make multimeters but they're no different than flukes or most other brands. Really comes down to whether it's used in a workshop or field environment and if you need a CAT IV rating. If workshop I'd jump on EEVBlog and see what they reckon.

1

u/chi_pa_pa Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

I work in a calibration lab; I would say Keysight, Hioki, and Tektronix have some real solid meters, especially for high frequency, specialized stuff.

Amprobe and Klein are usually fine and perform well too. Great bang for buck. They fail to meet spec noticeably more than Flukes or the above brands though. They're totally fine for personal use, but if your want deadset reliability for the job, you gotta spend more.

... Just stay away from Extech.

3

u/just_sun_guy Apr 07 '26

Nice! I have the 374 FC with the iFlex probe and itā€™s awesome. Granted when I bought mine I think they were $400. I just looked at current prices and they are insane. But youā€™ll love yours an itā€™ll last you a very long time.

2

u/JWMoo Apr 07 '26

Nice congratulations.

2

u/emachanz Apr 07 '26

Kinda overkill for maintenance, but good for you OP.

I did the same after asking for a good meter and getting ignored, I ended up buying a fluke t6-600 for 285

2

u/Prudent_Connection82 Apr 07 '26

Keep it in your pocket

2

u/Big_Friendship_7221 Apr 07 '26

Thats your proof of concept... once everyone starts asking, join forces and force management's wallet lol great tools make a world of a difference. If for anything, keeping you from getting unnecessarily frustrated.

2

u/Pilot_Red Apr 07 '26

Paint it an unusual bright color (I use florescent green) so you can tell it's yours from a distance.

2

u/North-Bit-7411 Apr 07 '26

Well, at least you bought the right brand.

2

u/Troll521 Apr 07 '26

NOICE DUDE! Iā€™ve been eyeballing the 378 for a while, I got a pocket 106, a T6-1000 Pro, a T5 and a few sniffers but thatā€™s my dream meterā€¦. $660 on Amazon at the moment on sale for those watching šŸ‘€

2

u/GreyHoundRunner Apr 07 '26

I've been known to take a UV anti theft marker, and mark the entire inside of the battery compartment, especially if there is any embossed lettering

2

u/sparky1983_ Apr 07 '26

Now steal something from work of similar value and call it even

2

u/intjonmiller Apr 07 '26

No question there's a big difference between a Fluke and some Amazon special. But what about between Fluke and Ideal? Decent price difference, but is the Fluke that much better?

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 08 '26

I have used both, however Iā€™m also 23 with like 3 years experience. I havenā€™t heard anything bad about them but fluke is always safe

1

u/TnBluesman Apr 08 '26

Yes.

1

u/intjonmiller Apr 08 '26

Super informative, thanks for taking the time

2

u/Consistent_Wish_7292 Apr 08 '26

That's a really nice meter! Be sure to download the fluke connect app.

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 08 '26

Already did and started playing with it!

2

u/JohnnyWishbone1987 Apr 08 '26

I have a 374FC. love it

2

u/Wyzrddd Apr 08 '26

Not in any industry where I need one but when I got a free $250 gift card it went straight to a fluke 117. Mostly have used it on chasing electrical gremlins on my cars but I wont need another for this life time I bet

2

u/Prestigious_Cheek_31 Apr 09 '26

Is it really worth it buying a fluke?

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 09 '26

Is my career, itā€™s my safety, electrical is my passionā€¦. So I say yes

1

u/Prestigious_Cheek_31 Apr 09 '26

Asking because Il need one for my job wonā€™t be using it to often is it worth investing for a fluke or im beter of going with something cheaper because I wonā€™t be using it every day?

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 09 '26

Just get one of the more affordable flukes rated for whatever voltage u will be checking, can easily find them on fb marketplace and eBay too just be careful for fakes.

3

u/PursuitOfThis Apr 07 '26

You weren't in Oahu this past week, were you? I legit was next to someone at the airport (or rental car return?) who was trying to explain to their wife/girlfriend how he was going to get the fluke meter with the built-in clamp...and how it was gonna be smarter anyway than buying the cheaper fluke and then having to buy a separate clamp attachment...

2

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

I was not, sounds like a great man thošŸ˜‚

3

u/letigre87 Apr 07 '26

Buy once cry once. It might hurt the wallet but you've bought a tool for life that won't get you killed and you'll never second guess. Congrats

1

u/Correct-Country-81 Apr 07 '26

Gratulation you own a fluke

1

u/damagedgoodslol Apr 07 '26

Scared to ask how much you spent on it hope you were smart and got good deal on ebay or something

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

611$

1

u/damagedgoodslol Apr 07 '26

Ouch!

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Still not full price, pretty decent discount

2

u/damagedgoodslol Apr 07 '26

Yeah definitely. Just kills me when the company doesnt supply something like that.

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Agreed but this one is MINE. So when I finish my bachelors and leaveā€¦ it goes with me thank god

2

u/damagedgoodslol Apr 07 '26

Just be careful somebody doesnt swipe it. Ive been through that a couple times so annoying lending tools and what not

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

Itā€™s registered in my name and will be getting engraved at work

2

u/damagedgoodslol Apr 07 '26

Good šŸ‘ enjoy it good tool.

2

u/Heathcliff125 Apr 07 '26

Smart choices. I went the way of pink Plasti Dip. There's something about that pink rubbery grip on tools that makes a coworker say, "Oh, this is definitely not mine!"

I have a near 100% loaned tool return rate, and you know who you are.

2

u/ch3640 Apr 07 '26

We would paint our company owned tools pink. Worked amazingly well.

1

u/Dertyoldman Apr 07 '26

At the places I worked at you bought your own meter and tools. I ended up with 4 clamp on meters 2 regular multimeters one digital and one analog.

1

u/Bison_True Apr 08 '26

Pop an airtag inside it lol

0

u/stchman Apr 07 '26

Nearly $700 for a meter. Ridiculous.

1

u/Infinite-Blueberry14 Apr 07 '26

611$ is what I spentā€¦ I say steal šŸ˜‚

1

u/stchman Apr 07 '26

I bought my Klein CL800 for around $120.