Late last month, I posted about a great sale price on Klein’s MM500 tough and waterproof multimeter. That Klein meter has limited functionality, with its rough and tough case being its primary selling point. It’s not a good choice for one’s first or primary multimeter.
Extech’s EX330 digital multimeter, on the other hand, is an excellent meter, and it’s not very expensive either. I bought one a couple of years ago, as an upgrade to a smaller Extech I had been using, and it has served me well.
My Extech EX330 has played third fiddle ever since I bought my two Agilent/Keysight A34461A benchtop multimeters, Actually, it’s not even third fiddle, as I have a couple of excellent Fluke multimeter samples that I’ve had the pleasure to test and use.
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Even so, my EX330 still seems some use, and I cannot bear to part with it. It’ll probably be a part of my test & measurement rotation for years to come.
The EX330 is an autoranging meter that can measure:
- AC and DC voltage up to 600V
- AC and DC current up to 10A
- Resistance
- Capacitance
- Frequency
- Temperature with included Type K thermocouple
It also can also test for a couple of other things:
- Diode check
- Continuity
- Non-contact voltage detection
It’s versatile, compact, easy to use, and easy to read. There’s not much more to ask for at this price point.
Price: ~$60
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fred
Looks like a nice meter – BTW – Amazon price (link) seems to show it for $50.93 – maybe $41 was one of those fleeting moments at Amazon.
I tried to compare prices at Zoro – lots of Extech meters but no 330.
I did see that Zoro is doing a tiered % off deal ( 15% off $150 up to 25% off $300) using code “PILEITUP”
Hilton
$50.93 x 0.80 = $40.74 which is pretty close to $41.
Remember the holiday discount of 20%
Stuart
Sorry, I edited the post to make the price clearer. It’s $51 before discount.
I received my order from Zoro yesterday, or hinged-lid plastic containers. So many were damaged – impact damage (broken parts), and severely bent hinges. They ship small tools alright, but I’ve had horrible luck ordering small metal cabinets or plastic bins from them.
fred
I received my Milwaukee 2753-20 Impact driver an a few Bessey flooring clamps from them yesterday via UPS. They packed them in 2 separate boxes – I guess so the heavy steel clamps – didn’t smash the plastic driver.
Nonetheless – based on your comments – I’ll be wary of ordering things from them that may get smashed up.
Andy
I stopped buying from Zoro after my last L-BOXX order. Half of them came broken. Two of them were missing their accessories (internal containers, foam). And two of them were heavily used and beaten up (broken locking tabs, covered in mud, scratched up interiors).
Replacing them was a PITA, even though I sent Zoro photos and was very polite in all of my communications. Zoro’s customer service and return policy is nowhere near as customer-friendly as Amazon’s. Zoro flat-out assumes that the customer is in the wrong.
Sean
Wow, I would be furious if I had used stuff sold to me as new. That’s the kind of crap that happens on eBay.
I was shopping Ego 56V stuff on eBay awhile back, and a large majority of the sellers were selling their stuff as new with warranty. You clearly do not get the warranty if not purchased from the only authorized retailer (Home Depot, unfortunately). Also, where were they getting them new? I emailed each of them, and some responded with obvious lies, others flat out ignored me. I finally ordered from the one honest seller (who also had the lowest prices) and got a product that looked like it had never been opened. Karensbarn was the seller, I believe.
Nathan
Hehe either Stuart missed his morning coffee, or my eyes are doubling up several words in that post.
Got this multimeter http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA/ this year for about half the price of the 330. I needed one pretty quick (Amazon Prime quick, anyway) at the time and the price was right. Obviously there are a few feature differences but in general are there any compelling reasons to pick up the 330 over that Innova one? It seemed to do what i needed it to.
Stuart
I proofread twice – once after midnight and again before 8am, thank you very much! =P
I looked it over again now, can’t find a double-up.
P.S. I don’t drink coffee, or tea. Maybe I’ll try coffee again one of these days, but do I really need another food craving/addiction?
Nathan
“Last last month” 😉 and i can’t find the other one but there is this: “EX330 still *seems* some use”. No coffee here either. Not sure artificially goosing a system evolved over milennia is a good idea.
Seems like the non-contact voltage detector here is not as useful as in a purpose built probe. It tells you there’s voltage but not where. How useful is the temp probe? Anyone actually make use of that?
I’m trying to convince myself i need to upgrade from a perfectly good multimeter but failing.
Stuart
Whooooops, that should be “late last month.”
Jimmie
IIRC, the EX330 won EEVblog’s $50 multimeter shootout a while back.
Wayne R.
A bit off topic, but somewhat appropriate: The “Pen” DVOMs like Extech’s “381676: Pen DMM with Non-Contact Voltage Detector” are terrific for on-your-feet troubleshooting since the meter and one probe are combined, leaving only one wire for the other probe.
I’ve got several good quality Flukes, but this Pen is easy to stash in a tool bag/pouch and is certainly very easy to put to use. About $45. Best for normal, everyday power work.
Tim B.
Not true RMS, but still a solid meter. In my experience, most Extech hardware is very good in the performance vs cost category.. and I am a bit of an electronics testing tool snob.
One thing not mentioned in the article that I think is a KILLER feature for the DIY consumer is the *built-in Non-contact voltage detector*! I think this is the only one I’ve ever seen with such a feature built in, aside from some clamp-on meters… If I didn’t have an old Fluke 8060A in my home electrical tool bag, I’d be very strongly considering this.
Wayne R.
The Pen DMM above also has the NCV feature built in, and yes, it’s handy.
Andrew
How good are these at checking capacitance?
I’m going to be checking a tv that stopped working and the capacitors are typically the culprit.
Arty
I repair electronics, caps are the culprit maybe 30% of the time at most. You also can’t check microfarads while caps are in circuit, so you would need to remove the cap from the board.
Andrew
I should revise what I said, this Samsung plasma is known to have bad capacitors.
Mike
The upper range limit is 200 uF on this meter. That’s far, far too low to check what you’ll find in your application.
JG
I got one, love it. Unbeatable in this price range, mine has spot on accuracy, NCV is a savior as well. EEVblog Dave totally sold me on it, or should I say – his mega test did.
Toolfreak
How easy is it to access/change the fuse on this EX330? I sold my $100+ True RMS Extech meter without having used it once I found a lot of reviews about how the entire meter had to be taken apart just to access the fuse, located at the center, sandwiched between the circuit boards. Seems like a fuse would be a good thing to locate at a spot where you can get to it just by taking the housing apart.
Mike
I just checked the manual and the fuses are accessible through the battery door. As they should be, in my opinion. If the fuses are not the self resetting type it should never require disassembly of the meter to replace them.
Stuart
Removing the battery door is easy, but I just took a peek and the fuses are recessed in their own little cubbies. You’ll need a small nylon spudger or mini pry bar or slotted screwdriver to pry them out, and maybe a small tool or pinky finger to seat the replacement fuses. Not a big deal.