Dropped $80 on a fancy multimeter that lied to me on a fridge call

Picked up this Fluke knockoff from Amazon with good reviews. First real test on a compressor run capacitor, it said 45 microfarads which looked fine. Replaced the part anyway cause the unit was six years old and still wasn't cooling. Well the original cap was actually 25. Wasted two hours and a return trip. Has anyone else had a cheap meter mess up a diagnosis like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisab3218h ago

Cheap meters lie all the time, learned that one the hard way myself.

fionamurphy14h ago

Yeah I bought a $20 one once, never again.

emma_jones14h ago

Depends on the meter honestly. Sometimes you get what you pay for but my cheap one has been fine for years.