On Friday, October 17, 2014 9:39:36 AM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"N8N" wrote in message

...

The one thing that worries me about them is that if you did something

stupid with them will the fuses in them protect you from the consquences?

There was a thread either here or on GJ a while back about why the fuses

for a Fluke or Simpson meter were so expensive that kind of explains what

I'm talking about...



ah, here it is



http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=257415



when I got my 260 (used, probably from a pawn shop) I found that the fuses

were not the correct ones. Now I didn't buy them direct from Simpson as

they're awful proud of their stuff, but I did order some from McMaster

with the exact correct ratings. I also ordered some for my Flukes as

well. Somewhere in my "home tools" roll cabinet there's a piece of paper

with the Buss equivalent part numbers for both Fluke and Simpson meters

written down on it...



Fluke has a video that shows how not using a correct fuse can be very

dangerous to your health if say you try to measure voltage while in the

current or ohms range. The fuse arcs over and does not interrupt the flow

at all , the leads melt and if you are holding them, when the insulation

melts off in a fraction of a second your body becomes the current path.



I worked on circuits at 480 volts and 300 or 400 amps, so good test

equipment was needed. In a home most circuits are fused low enough it is

not that much of a problem with the inexpensive meters, but if I have a

choice, I grab the Simpson or Fluke.


Right, I don't want to be "that guy."

The HF meters are excellent for working on e.g. a car or low voltage stuff or measuring resistance on de-energized equipment - I'm a little nervous about using them on 120VAC but have done so; I would definitely not use on 240 or 277

here's more on that, from Fluke

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/uses/comu...ing+a+fuse.htm

Now, when I said I didn't use the "right" fuses, I didn't mean that I ignored this advice - I made sure to purchase name-brand fuses of the correct current rating, and just as important, the correct or higher interrupt rating.

I'd be more specific, but I don't have my notes or spare fuses handy at the moment.

nate