Lost 3 hours and $85 on that Supco multi-meter clone

I bought a knockoff multimeter off Amazon for $85 trying to save some cash. It showed voltage on a dead dryer outlet but the real Fluke found nothing. That fake reading sent me down a rabbit hole replacing parts I didn't need. Anyone else get burned by cheap test gear that lies to you?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.evan1mo ago

sage_green hit it on the head with the DC versus AC setting trick. Those cheap multimeters are basically toys, not tools. You got what you paid for at $85 - a box of lies with a screen. If you're gonna be doing electrical work, buy a real Fluke or Klein and stop crying about $85. The $500 you spent on dryer parts you didnt need is the real lesson here, not the meter.

sage_green1mo ago

Did you check if the knockoff was set to DC voltage instead of AC when you tested that outlet? That's a common trick these cheap meters pull because they'll show a reading from stray capacitance even on dead AC circuits. A quick polarity check on a known live outlet before trusting it would have saved you that headache.

the_anthony1mo ago

That reminds me of a bigger thing I've noticed with cheap tools and appliances lately. It's like we've all gotten used to things kinda working most of the time, so we stop checking the basics. Same deal with those no-name air fryers that run ten degrees hotter than the dial says or the gas station phone chargers that fry your battery slowly. Everyone just assumes the numbers are right because it's easier than testing everything ourselves. Then when something fails, we blame ourselves instead of the junk we bought. It's the whole "everything is fine until it isn't" cycle playing out in garages and kitchens everywhere.