Multimeter Info Request!

alana106 · « **on:** 9 Oct 2011, 04:44 pm »

Hi Fellas

Haven't seen many of you for a while, but was hoping some of you might help me with selecting a new meter to read Capacitance. I've heard that my VMPS RM40 speakers might benefit greatly with a cap upgrade. (Sonicap and Obbligato were suggested) I intend to tear open the RM40s, measure what cap values exist, and replace with upgraded caps.
Ebay has meters from Hong Kong starting around $20, and a Fluke 15B, also from China, around $80. Would appreciate anyone's thoughts/recommendations on these or any other meters that might do the job. For that matter, any info concerning a speaker cap upgrade project in general, would certainly be welcome.

Thanks,
Alan

electricbear · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 05:59 pm »

I use a Fluke for all my metering needs. I've had it 18+ years and it's performed flawlessly. They do cost a little more than some of the others but in this case it is worth it.

timind · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 06:05 pm »

A good Fluke meter should do the job but aren't those values printed on the caps?

Æ · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 07:43 pm »

I have several multimeters and I recommend FLUKE when it comes to measuring voltage and such. However I have an Elenco digital LCR meter which I bought exclusively to measure all my crossover components. You can get a decent digital LCR meter from MCM Electronics for $40-$60. Have you tried GOOGLE? "LCR Meter"
http://electronics.mcmelectronics.com/search.php?Ntt=LCR+meter&Ns=0

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Oct 2011, 09:29 pm »

I've had a FLUKE 83 for over 20 years that I love. Highly recommended.

Bob

alana106 · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Oct 2011, 02:10 pm »

Thanks to everyone who took time to respond and PM. Looks like the Fluke is the obvious winner. I'll grab one off of E-bay.

Quote from: timind on 9 Oct 2011, 06:05 pm

A good Fluke meter should do the job but aren't those values printed on the caps?

timind....You are correct. The values are written on the caps. I had already pulled one of the woofers. The midrange has several caps paralleled together, and fastened with hot glue. I didn't know if the printing would hold up after pulling them loose. Also this will be my first time replacing crossover caps, and thought I would match the new cap values up the best I can, since I'll probably be using multiples to get the values.

Thanks Again,
Alan