On Sep 3, 2012, at 1:54 AM, Picbits Sales wrote:

> "He was trying to measure voltage when it was set to the current range"
>=20
> Connect that meter on its 10A range across a car battery and you'll see a=
=20
> similar meltdown.

There was discussion on EEVBLOG about some of the technical details.
Apparently the big problem is that these meters contain a little bitty 0.5A=
 250V fuse (says so on the back) that is not adequate for protecting you fr=
om stupid mistakes. (even though the top voltage range is supposedly 1000V.=
)  Accidentally short a 480V high-current AC power main, and the whole mete=
r/fuse/leads assembly turns into a big "exploding wire with arcing" demonst=
ration.

A "real" meter apparently contains special safety fuses rated for higher vo=
ltages, spec'ed to interrupt very high currents, and costing more than the =
whole HF meter.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-203403-Digital-Multimeter-Replacement/dp/B007IV=
5KPE/

I don't know about 110V.  Seems like it should be barely OK.  (anyone have =
examples of spectacular failures in 110V circuits?)

BillW

--=20
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