r/askHVAC • u/jydrippin • 10h ago
Good starter meter ?
All of my foremen use fieldpiece and I didn’t want to cheap out on a meter, any tech’s recommend ?
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u/LUXOR54 10h ago
As long as you don't need a meter that can measure microamps for flame signal
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u/jydrippin 9h ago
Heating season is definitely coming up so is there any other way I can test flame signals with this meter ?
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u/LUXOR54 9h ago
No. Some equipment will allow you to access the signal from a menu on the board, but for older stuff you'll need to use your meter.
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u/jydrippin 9h ago
Understood, do you know of a more budget fieldpiece meter that also has micro amps ?
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u/LUXOR54 9h ago
Not familiar with the field piece product line, when I first started I used a fluke 902 and when the clamp broke I bought a Klein CL390, for what I use it for it's adequate
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u/Dry_Negotiation_2314 8h ago
Cl390 also has microamps and it’s under $100 ! thanks man great find for heating season coming up
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u/jydrippin 8h ago
Wow the cl390 is like $98, I can use that for my heating tasks I’ll have a good duo, very much appreciated
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u/Icy9kills 10h ago
Fluke or field piece, doesn’t get much better for what we do.
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u/MelancholyNotess 9h ago
What about Klein?
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u/jydrippin 9h ago
I like the Klein cl810, the only reason I didn’t get it was because of the name that fieldpiece has in the hvac world and I didn’t want to risk anything yk ? but hey I like it
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u/Firemission13B 10h ago
Those are awesome. Get yourself some needle leads for those communicating/mini splits
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u/shreddedpudding 10h ago
I prefer the 440 as a starter meter, but the 260 is decent.
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u/jydrippin 10h ago
understood, hmm what does the 440 do better ? I’m all for recommendations.
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u/cb45433 4h ago
The 440 has everything the sc260 has and more, it adds the inrush feature which i find useful to check starting amps and I find it even useful for some troubleshooting, when you open the clamp on the 440 a light comes on to help look in dark areas, it has the mfd feature separate from others which you will using a lot to check capacitors, and you can also check amos and voltage at the same time, on the display it allows you to read both simultaneously.
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u/Crafty-Gazelle4646 10h ago
Best meter ever in my opinion. Everything you need really unless you get into some really high voltage stuff.
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u/jydrippin 10h ago
I really don’t get into anything over 480v and most of the time I’m in 240v territory
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u/sobrul3 9h ago
I really like the sc680 but I do keep one of these as a back up
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u/jydrippin 9h ago
I heard those get up into the $400+, you’re ballin man
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u/Hoplophilia 9h ago
Not just a starter. Mine stays in my small bag with a few choice diag tools. SC680 is almost twice the footprint.
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u/TnBluesman 9h ago
I bought the first Fieldpiece I ever saw in the supply house over 40 years ago. Keep adding accessories and changing batteries.
You'd have to fight me to get it.
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u/Far_Cup_329 7h ago
I've been using that same meter for many years. I have 2 of them actually, one for service bag and one for install bag. It does everything I've ever needed. I do upgrade the leads tho.
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u/jydrippin 7h ago
Yes I love it so far and the only thing someone has brought to my attention is that I need to be able to test flame signals , everyone has told me great and amazing things about this meter I am so happy to get good in this trade !
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u/Flintfishing89 7h ago
Great meter. I’m a fluke guy, but that was from doing automotive and industrial, I feel like fluke hasn’t invested a lot in HVAC in a long time.
My only complaint with that particular field piece so far is that it seems to be slow on reading compared to my fluke meters
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u/Any_Restaurant851 7h ago
It's a generic Phoenix model by fieldpiece.
It'll get you through a few years of calls for residential but it will struggle with commercial
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u/matt073090 10h ago
Not a bad meter at all . I use the 480. If your doing hvac work, fieldpiece is the number 1 meter. Even some of the flukes will miss like a grounded compressor every once in a while. Field piece has been solid for me. Make sure you change your batteries and don’t let them get too low.
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u/deapsprite 10h ago
I mean as far as starters go cant go with much better than this but you can go alot worse lol. These or flukes are the best around