Brilliant. Having just bought the HT118A I will have to watch this presentation several times to enable me to digest all of the information. Your English is excellent and easily understood. Thank you.
Good analysis!! I only understood 5% of what you said, but I listened to the whole video since I bought this multi-meter in 2020 based on the price and reviews. There are some short comings, but I don't feel bad as I don't do this for a living...
I bought the Kaiweets HT118A, I also bought the pro master test leads and now I don't have a problem with the continuity. the continuity has a fast response time when I tap the test leads together no matter how fast that I can it beeps every time . I also took my multimeter apart to see how well it was made and it looked better than the one in this review. plus mine had a chip instead of that black blob, also the motherboard had a very clean and nicely solder parts that was all seated like it was suppose to be. The version on my board is HT118A (1106)-v1.3 My recommendations is buy the pro master test leads or any other high quality test leads that has gold plated tips, it will make this meter a lot more responsive and accurate. Hope this helps. God Bless.
It is often the case that continuity on budget meters can be improved by simply using decent leads. Thanks for sharing that this is the case here too. And for the interesting information about apparent improvements in the built quality. I think it is encouraging that they do improve, just unfortunate if one is stuck with the early version. Maybe the lesson is to wait a while before buying?
@@KaMyKaZii Here is the picture, God bless. github.com/tommyconley34/Kaiweets-HT118A-MULTIMETER/blob/main/297023723_762464241728398_5136380628194391097_n.jpg
I just added a 4.7uf 50v capacitor to that empty capacitor pad. So, far what little testing I did I can't tell the difference. I just know that it didn't make it inaccurate. If you do it, do it at your own risk I'm not responsible. God bless. Here's the link for the picture. github.com/tommyconley34/Kaiweets-HT118A-MULTIMETER/blob/main/20220824_210320.jpg
I appreciate those 'hobbyist features' since I usually only have to use a meter to check things when the car breaks. So it's nice to have "idiot assistance" for when I forget / or haven't drank enough coffee yet xD. Based on your dissection & array of testing, I'm going to be getting one of these as it hits the mark for price and what I generally expect to use it for. Unless there is other multi-meters in the under 50$usd range you would suggest. --- edit --- Also that comprehensive look at this meter is why I hit subscribe. I appreciate comprehensive + through reviews even if some information is above my current knowledge/skill levels
Yes, a good point but be aware that the guide lights only show for a few seconds when switching ranges, so you can miss them. Also it does not sense if you still plug them in wrongly, despite the lights. Other meters like the Brymen BM235 have no guide lights but sense which sockets the leads are is plugged in and will make a heck of a lot of alarm noises if its wrong. You have to correct the leads to stop the alarm. Unfortunately a BM235 (in the US) is probably twice your $50 budget. Within its price range, the HT118A is a fine meter and better than most.
Habe mir jetzt das 20000 counts gekauft. Mein erstes eigenes Multimeter. Brauche es zunächst für überprüfen von Spannungsfreiheit von Steckdose. Tolle Videos. Schöne Grüße
Wow, you really did that much work for this cheap meter!!! Surprisingly impressive..+1 Did you consider putting a input Cap at the blank place? I don't understand why youtube algorithms are so mean to you...you are awesome man. That meter was never made to test in >3 amp range. As you said earlier it will have hard times and I am afraid it will have drift in it's property if continually measures high current.
Thanks for the nice words. It always helps (and spread the word if you like my channel). I don't quite understand the "input cap blank place" question. Can you give more details what you mean? Pretty much all meters suffer from drift caused by the heating of the shunt. In fact, often you see a warning in manuals that the 10A range is meant for measuring for only 10 or 20 seconds maximum and then a long cool-down pause is required. The HT118A may be a bit more affected because of the type of shunt used.
@@TheHWcave Hi, thanks for responding, Above the battery terminals on board, there's an unpopulated marking for Cap. that's for the meter startup inrush support I believe , I was talking about that. Yes but that SMD will be damaged far sooner and might not recover in contrary to solid wire or power resistors. And for youtube I would suggest you to get into shorts that is much appreciated by them and it will help you get more audience faster.
Oh, I see. No I am not too bothered about the inrush current. Two AAs can handle that easily. I was more interested in the spikiness of the steady-state power consumption because the HT118A was the first multi-meter where I actually looked for and found a considerable AC current draw on top of the DC one. In the past, when measuring multi-meter power consumption, I always measured DC current only. I wonder how many other multi-meters actually draw AC+DC. For sure, I will check for AC+DC the next time I am doing these kinds of reviews.
I got the Habotest marked HT118A recently and it lasted just 3 months. I walked into my shop (dragging my feet?) and turned it on (it was Not connected to anything..). The lights flashed and then it went dead as a door knob☹
That is indeed very bad. I hope it is still under warranty but still a lot of hassle. It seems budget meters these days fall under two categories, Some have fake CAT ratings and nothing of protection at all and then there are others that actually try meeting CAT ratings and still skimp on protecting against simple static discharges..If you look at Joe Smith's channel (of that same name) it is amazing how many branded meters did not survive a grill starter discharge. Look like the HT118A may be one of those. I don't want you to spoil any warranty claim but if you have a chance opening the meter, it would be interesting if there is anything visible giving a clue what happened, but chances are slim.
Thanks for the review, it is helpful. I'm picking Habotest 118A though, instead of Kaiweets and still in shipment. A little hesitation because of the continuity test speed you showed but the overall performance and price made up my mind and choose it. BTW, I see from the advertisements (and briefly from your video) that the display has bluetooth icon on the left but not being said in the specs or anywhere. Is there any bluetooth-PC connection feature or maybe a chance to modify it like one that done in other similar DMM because it'll be nice if I can log it's data on PC.
Mine does not have Bluetooth. Maybe they plan to add this in the future so the display is already prepared for it, but there is nothing obvious on the PCB hinting how it could be added.
HWCave- love your voice. Thank you for being so thorough. Would u pls test very small capacitors and resistors? I was told the DMM can’t read them. There is no REL button. How do we reset without the REL button?
Thanks Jacky Jack, unfortunately I don't have the HT118A anymore so I can't do more testing. However, in the video I did test 1 Ohm and it was spot on. When I held the probes together, the meter read zero (after a moment), so I wouldn't worry about anything >= 1 Ohm. The HT118A only shows 1/10 Ohm so anything lower that 1 Ohm would be pretty inaccurate even with rel mode. If you have a power supply with constant current mode, a far better approach is to select a constant current of say 100 mA, let it flow through the resistor you want to measure and measure the voltage across it.Even cheap multimeters are far better at DC volts & millivolts than at any other measurement. Using Ohms law, a 1 Ohm resistor should read 100mV. A 0.1 ohm resistor still shows 10 mV which you can read easily. This method is very accurate and doesn't need rel mode or 4-wire kelvin probes or such things (I guess I should do a video about this). On the capacitors, I had temporarily misplaced my reference box that goes down to 200pF when shooting the video, so unfortunately I can't tell how the HT118A behaves. I did notice that the HT118A does shows 0.000 nF before I started the test. Like in ohms mode, it appears again as if the meter automatically nulls itself.
Lo utilizo en mantenimiento de maquinas CNC funciono muy bien durante 10 reparaciones de maquina, en un periodo de 3 meses, de pronto al encenderlo la pantalla encendía y se apagaba constantemente y luego funcionaba, después de eso dejo de tomar las medidas de voltaje quedando en blanco la pantalla, solamente indica los HZ en la parte superior, lo cual no lo remplace y no lo recomiendo, fue una mala compra.
That is a strange error. It would be interesting if the screen back light turns red if you provide a voltage of more than 80V. Or try continuity and see if it still beeps when putting the probes together, and shows the red and green lights depending on the resistance. If all that still works, it might be just the LCD that has bad contacts or something like that.
i have habotest ht118a.i compared with holdpeak hp-890cn. unfortunately the measurement speed of ht118a is slow. To test this, you can measure the fluctuation of tp4056's output.
no doubt it isn't terribly fast but not the worst either. Your comment serves as a reminder that I should really include checking speed in any future reviews of meters. I only checked the bar graph update rate. Thanks for reminding me what's of interest in these reviews. I'll get there eventually.
No, of course please use your own judgement. I try to be as unbiased and critical as I can and I make that also clear to companies offering things for review (not many actually). Not surprisingly, of those a lot never follow up or even answering when I state my policy. I like that KAIWEETS is obviously confident enough about their product. If you watched my video, the low resistance accuracy is not great and they kind of confirmed this a problem area of the KM601. As far as I know, no other reviewer has mentioned this and there are plenty of "reviews" of this meter. This is not a meter I would buy for myself but for a beginner struggling with which socket to use, what mode to select and so on, it might be perfect. If you are a member of the EEVBlog (highly recommended), I have entered the KM601 into Joe Smith's next big multi-meter test. If you want to see how it holds up against Joe's rigorous high voltage transient tests, please go there and vote for the KM601. Joe will only test the meters with the most votes, because he has to buy every meter he tests and they are tested until failure. Joe's tests are on RUclips (search for Joe Smith which is his channel name)
I was frustrated not being able to measure DC PWM frequency with it - thank you for clarifying that it can only measure AC frequency. Is there a way to measure DC PWM without an oscilloscope?
You can connect the ground as normal and the DC+ line of your PWM through an external capacitor say 1uF to block the unwanted DC voltage and turn it to an AC voltage as far as the meter is concerned. Depending on frequency you may have to experiment with different cap values. Make sure the cap is rated for the voltage and should be unpolarized but if you can find only polarized ones (eg electrolytic) the connect the plus to the incoming DC+ line from your PWM circuit and the negative to the plus input of the meter.
Hi, Very nice and detailed review! Lot of thanks! I have a simple question : is it possible to connect all these 3V meters to a lithium cell (3,7V but 4,2V when fully charged) without any damage for the electronic card or for the screen? Because my Habotest HT113C has only 2 little AAA cells, and so i could use the backlight easily when necessary with a lot of mAh. Friendly, Michel from France
I might work but its risky and you would certainly void warranties. It would also depend on the individual meter's circuit so a general answer is not possible. Most 3V meters will have some sort of boost converter if their internal chip operates at 3.3V. If the input voltage is 4.2V, the converter would need to be capable to switch to buck mode and since meters are built on a tight budget that is not likely. It is possible that the converter just passes the too high voltage which could damage the chip
great Review . is it possible to make a somewhat destructive test ? evaluating the common mistakes that goes with using it ? such as ohm mistaken with voltage ... the wrong Amp range and so on ... kinda to see if the tester will operate normally before changing the fuse . needles to say everyone done that at some point ;)
Maybe in the future. Its a bit tricky, you see. If the meter gets damaged, I can't use it to shoot more footage, so everything important has to be filmed before doing such tests. Btw, "joe smith" has tons of videos where he tests multi-meter robustness, often rather destructively... ol not the HT118A but others.
@@TheHWcave Yeah i can imagine it's a bit Tricky . Thanks for the advise i'll check on Joe smith . it wold be interesting to see this kind of destructive tests and run some diagnosis
Is this diode mode in case of shorted diode give short beep in forward and reverse direction normal?? not like other multimeters give continuous buzz in shorted diode ,short beep if diode Or transistor good
Not really. None of my other multimeters beep in in diode mode with the exception of the OWON XDM1041 which does beep continuously if there is conductivity (forward mode). Luckily in the XDM1041 you can turn the very loud beep off. I gave my HT118 away (too many multimeters!) so I can't verify but I am pretty sure it doesn't beep in the reverse direction.
Is there a better multimeter I should buy for about under $40 usd? I want one which is auto-ranging and will last for a long time, and also durable and can handle a bit of abuse.. But having the min/max setting is really useful to me. Which a lot of the cheaper ones don't seem to have.
This is a complicated question because it depends on so many factors, what is available in your area and what is important to you. Are you considering yourself experienced or more a beginner? Will you generally use it for low energy electronics only or plan to check your house wiring ?... I recently bought an ANENG AN870 that may be even cheaper than the HT118A (it also has max/min). I am quite impressed by it except for electrical robustness. I would not use that meter to poke around in high energy mains circuits. I think the HT118A has the edge on that. Also the HT118A's hinting what sockets to use and the danger light is good stuff to have if you are new to meters. There are no warnings or hints in the AN870. KAIWEETS has the KM601, which goes even further in guidance and has a full auto mode (smart) and a "mobile phone" look if that is your thing. If you follow Joe Smith's RUclips channel. you notice that even very expensive meters (Keysight ) turn out to be not very robust at all, so price alone is no criteria. I myself swear on Brymen and if it is available the BM235 is an excellent meter and built like a tank. It is quite an old model by now so maybe you can find it on discount. Another option is a 2nd hand meter from the likes of Fluke. But that is a bit like gambling. You might get lucky and get a very good one or one that people have messed about. Sorry of not being able to be of more help
@@TheHWcave Thank you for the reply. I will look up those other models. I am mainly working on cars, between 3v and 15v. The max/min is very useful since mechanics usually work alone, you will leave the multimeter connected while you go turn the engine over or something. But since I'm in school I can't afford the more expensive meters. I am very much a beginner in electrical still.
Sorry for replying in English. It is hard to diagnose the problem. Can you describe it a bit more detailed? Has it never worked or did the problem only appear recently? What are you measuring and how, and what is shown on the screen?
I don't think it is practical. As a start you would need get the 0.005 Ohm value right. That is hard. Secondly, copper changes its resistance as it gets hot. Proper resistors and shunts are made of alloys that are designed to minimize that. Lastly there is so little space, that fitting your copper shunt without it touching (and melting) anything is hard. A better suggestion is to buy an external shunt (see my video on that topic ruclips.net/video/aZR5ZwUYyWU/видео.html) and using the HT118A (or any other multimeter) to measure the voltage across the shunt. That way you can measure really large currents for hours without worrying about overheating the meter
Possibly, bur as always things inside could be slightly different. For example Tenma and UNI-T often sell the same meters but the MOVs and fuses inside may be different.
Totally agree. A big hint is the light-show to indicate which sockets to put the probes in. It may help novices but would be unnecessary for professionals.
No thanks I still rather trust bk and fluke any day without having to worry about false readings down the road. This is a knock off to two other meters I have seen. Sorry man I'm sticking with paying for quality and longevity, than cheap Chinese junk..
Well, you are right that you get what you pay for, but I bet you will be surprised when you use lower-end "top brand" meters with a signal that has both DC and AC components with a large difference between them. Many meters (including expensive ones like the Agilent 34401A) tested with this have problems when trying to show the DC or the AC part, mostly because the auto-ranging gets confused. The better ones at least make it obvious. Meters that can display DC+AC seem to be better at this, I guess because the firmware has been designed to handle mixed signals
Their stuff is nothing special....they just live off their name which was built decades ago. You're literally just paying for a name that means nothing.
Incredibly detailed review, you earned a sub, thanks!
Same here
Brilliant. Having just bought the HT118A I will have to watch this presentation several times to enable me to digest all of the information. Your English is excellent and easily understood. Thank you.
Good analysis!! I only understood 5% of what you said, but I listened to the whole video since I bought this multi-meter in 2020 based on the price and reviews. There are some short comings, but I don't feel bad as I don't do this for a living...
Very nice i love this video for deep knowledge ❤
Thanks you very much
Love you sir
I bought the Kaiweets HT118A, I also bought the pro master test leads and now I don't have a problem with the continuity. the continuity has a fast response time when I tap the test leads together no matter how fast that I can it beeps every time . I also took my multimeter apart to see how well it was made and it looked better than the one in this review. plus mine had a chip instead of that black blob, also the motherboard had a very clean and nicely solder parts that was all seated like it was suppose to be. The version on my board is HT118A (1106)-v1.3 My recommendations is buy the pro master test leads or any other high quality test leads that has gold plated tips, it will make this meter a lot more responsive and accurate. Hope this helps. God Bless.
Could you post detailed pictures of the board on imgur? Thanks
It is often the case that continuity on budget meters can be improved by simply using decent leads. Thanks for sharing that this is the case here too. And for the interesting information about apparent improvements in the built quality. I think it is encouraging that they do improve, just unfortunate if one is stuck with the early version. Maybe the lesson is to wait a while before buying?
@@KaMyKaZii Here is the picture, God bless. github.com/tommyconley34/Kaiweets-HT118A-MULTIMETER/blob/main/297023723_762464241728398_5136380628194391097_n.jpg
I just added a 4.7uf 50v capacitor to that empty capacitor pad. So, far what little testing I did I can't tell the difference. I just know that it didn't make it inaccurate. If you do it, do it at your own risk I'm not responsible. God bless. Here's the link for the picture. github.com/tommyconley34/Kaiweets-HT118A-MULTIMETER/blob/main/20220824_210320.jpg
@@Tommy3429 Thanks for the update. If you use it more and notices something different (good or bad) it would be great if you'd let us know.
I appreciate those 'hobbyist features' since I usually only have to use a meter to check things when the car breaks. So it's nice to have "idiot assistance" for when I forget / or haven't drank enough coffee yet xD. Based on your dissection & array of testing, I'm going to be getting one of these as it hits the mark for price and what I generally expect to use it for. Unless there is other multi-meters in the under 50$usd range you would suggest. --- edit --- Also that comprehensive look at this meter is why I hit subscribe. I appreciate comprehensive + through reviews even if some information is above my current knowledge/skill levels
Yes, a good point but be aware that the guide lights only show for a few seconds when switching ranges, so you can miss them. Also it does not sense if you still plug them in wrongly, despite the lights. Other meters like the Brymen BM235 have no guide lights but sense which sockets the leads are is plugged in and will make a heck of a lot of alarm noises if its wrong. You have to correct the leads to stop the alarm. Unfortunately a BM235 (in the US) is probably twice your $50 budget. Within its price range, the HT118A is a fine meter and better than most.
Habe mir jetzt das 20000 counts gekauft. Mein erstes eigenes Multimeter. Brauche es zunächst für überprüfen von Spannungsfreiheit von Steckdose. Tolle Videos. Schöne Grüße
SUPER Greate video. Thank you and all best into new year :)
Ceramic = S sounding C (Seramic). Great work!
Great work!
Wooooow perfect review,
Very nice review! Comparable to Kerry Wong and almost Joe Smith :) Earned a sub!
Excelente análisis. Que tengas un feliz año nuevo.
Very well done!
Wow, you really did that much work for this cheap meter!!! Surprisingly impressive..+1
Did you consider putting a input Cap at the blank place?
I don't understand why youtube algorithms are so mean to you...you are awesome man.
That meter was never made to test in >3 amp range. As you said earlier it will have hard times and I am afraid it will have drift in it's property if continually measures high current.
Thanks for the nice words. It always helps (and spread the word if you like my channel). I don't quite understand the "input cap blank place" question. Can you give more details what you mean?
Pretty much all meters suffer from drift caused by the heating of the shunt. In fact, often you see a warning in manuals that the 10A range is meant for measuring for only 10 or 20 seconds maximum and then a long cool-down pause is required. The HT118A may be a bit more affected because of the type of shunt used.
@@TheHWcave Hi, thanks for responding,
Above the battery terminals on board, there's an unpopulated marking for Cap. that's for the meter startup inrush support I believe , I was talking about that.
Yes but that SMD will be damaged far sooner and might not recover in contrary to solid wire or power resistors.
And for youtube I would suggest you to get into shorts that is much appreciated by them and it will help you get more audience faster.
Oh, I see. No I am not too bothered about the inrush current. Two AAs can handle that easily. I was more interested in the spikiness of the steady-state power consumption because the HT118A was the first multi-meter where I actually looked for and found a considerable AC current draw on top of the DC one. In the past, when measuring multi-meter power consumption, I always measured DC current only. I wonder how many other multi-meters actually draw AC+DC. For sure, I will check for AC+DC the next time I am doing these kinds of reviews.
I got the Habotest marked HT118A recently and it lasted just 3 months. I walked into my shop (dragging my feet?) and turned it on (it was Not connected to anything..). The lights flashed and then it went dead as a door knob☹
That is indeed very bad. I hope it is still under warranty but still a lot of hassle. It seems budget meters these days fall under two categories, Some have fake CAT ratings and nothing of protection at all and then there are others that actually try meeting CAT ratings and still skimp on protecting against simple static discharges..If you look at Joe Smith's channel (of that same name) it is amazing how many branded meters did not survive a grill starter discharge. Look like the HT118A may be one of those. I don't want you to spoil any warranty claim but if you have a chance opening the meter, it would be interesting if there is anything visible giving a clue what happened, but chances are slim.
Thanks for the review, it is helpful. I'm picking Habotest 118A though, instead of Kaiweets and still in shipment. A little hesitation because of the continuity test speed you showed but the overall performance and price made up my mind and choose it.
BTW, I see from the advertisements (and briefly from your video) that the display has bluetooth icon on the left but not being said in the specs or anywhere. Is there any bluetooth-PC connection feature or maybe a chance to modify it like one that done in other similar DMM because it'll be nice if I can log it's data on PC.
Mine does not have Bluetooth. Maybe they plan to add this in the future so the display is already prepared for it, but there is nothing obvious on the PCB hinting how it could be added.
Hello boss! Please name the side holded meter you used beside the HT118A. I want to buy that
It is the Brymen BM869s
HWCave- love your voice. Thank you for being so thorough. Would u pls test very small capacitors and resistors? I was told the DMM can’t read them. There is no REL button. How do we reset without the REL button?
Thanks Jacky Jack,
unfortunately I don't have the HT118A anymore so I can't do more testing. However, in the video I did test 1 Ohm and it was spot on. When I held the probes together, the meter read zero (after a moment), so I wouldn't worry about anything >= 1 Ohm. The HT118A only shows 1/10 Ohm so anything lower that 1 Ohm would be pretty inaccurate even with rel mode. If you have a power supply with constant current mode, a far better approach is to select a constant current of say 100 mA, let it flow through the resistor you want to measure and measure the voltage across it.Even cheap multimeters are far better at DC volts & millivolts than at any other measurement. Using Ohms law, a 1 Ohm resistor should read 100mV. A 0.1 ohm resistor still shows 10 mV which you can read easily. This method is very accurate and doesn't need rel mode or 4-wire kelvin probes or such things (I guess I should do a video about this). On the capacitors, I had temporarily misplaced my reference box that goes down to 200pF when shooting the video, so unfortunately I can't tell how the HT118A behaves. I did notice that the HT118A does shows 0.000 nF before I started the test. Like in ohms mode, it appears again as if the meter automatically nulls itself.
@@TheHWcave Thank you TheHWcave.
Lo utilizo en mantenimiento de maquinas CNC funciono muy bien durante 10 reparaciones de maquina, en un periodo de 3 meses, de pronto al encenderlo la pantalla encendía y se apagaba constantemente y luego funcionaba, después de eso dejo de tomar las medidas de voltaje quedando en blanco la pantalla, solamente indica los HZ en la parte superior, lo cual no lo remplace y no lo recomiendo, fue una mala compra.
That is a strange error. It would be interesting if the screen back light turns red if you provide a voltage of more than 80V. Or try continuity and see if it still beeps when putting the probes together, and shows the red and green lights depending on the resistance. If all that still works, it might be just the LCD that has bad contacts or something like that.
i have habotest ht118a.i compared with holdpeak hp-890cn. unfortunately the measurement speed of ht118a is slow. To test this, you can measure the fluctuation of tp4056's output.
no doubt it isn't terribly fast but not the worst either. Your comment serves as a reminder that I should really include checking speed in any future reviews of meters. I only checked the bar graph update rate. Thanks for reminding me what's of interest in these reviews. I'll get there eventually.
Should I trust your judgement 0:16
No, of course please use your own judgement. I try to be as unbiased and critical as I can and I make that also clear to companies offering things for review (not many actually). Not surprisingly, of those a lot never follow up or even answering when I state my policy. I like that KAIWEETS is obviously confident enough about their product. If you watched my video, the low resistance accuracy is not great and they kind of confirmed this a problem area of the KM601. As far as I know, no other reviewer has mentioned this and there are plenty of "reviews" of this meter. This is not a meter I would buy for myself but for a beginner struggling with which socket to use, what mode to select and so on, it might be perfect. If you are a member of the EEVBlog (highly recommended), I have entered the KM601 into Joe Smith's next big multi-meter test. If you want to see how it holds up against Joe's rigorous high voltage transient tests, please go there and vote for the KM601. Joe will only test the meters with the most votes, because he has to buy every meter he tests and they are tested until failure. Joe's tests are on RUclips (search for Joe Smith which is his channel name)
@@TheHWcave Always cut AWAY form you not toward.
I was frustrated not being able to measure DC PWM frequency with it - thank you for clarifying that it can only measure AC frequency. Is there a way to measure DC PWM without an oscilloscope?
You can connect the ground as normal and the DC+ line of your PWM through an external capacitor say 1uF to block the unwanted DC voltage and turn it to an AC voltage as far as the meter is concerned. Depending on frequency you may have to experiment with different cap values. Make sure the cap is rated for the voltage and should be unpolarized but if you can find only polarized ones (eg electrolytic) the connect the plus to the incoming DC+ line from your PWM circuit and the negative to the plus input of the meter.
Hi, Very nice and detailed review! Lot of thanks!
I have a simple question : is it possible to connect all these 3V meters to a lithium cell (3,7V but 4,2V when fully charged) without any damage for the electronic card or for the screen? Because my Habotest HT113C has only 2 little AAA cells, and so i could use the backlight easily when necessary with a lot of mAh.
Friendly, Michel from France
I might work but its risky and you would certainly void warranties. It would also depend on the individual meter's circuit so a general answer is not possible. Most 3V meters will have some sort of boost converter if their internal chip operates at 3.3V. If the input voltage is 4.2V, the converter would need to be capable to switch to buck mode and since meters are built on a tight budget that is not likely. It is possible that the converter just passes the too high voltage which could damage the chip
@@TheHWcave Thanks for your answer. I will quietly use original 3V cells.
great Review . is it possible to make a somewhat destructive test ? evaluating the common mistakes that goes with using it ? such as ohm mistaken with voltage ... the wrong Amp range and so on ... kinda to see if the tester will operate normally before changing the fuse . needles to say everyone done that at some point ;)
Maybe in the future. Its a bit tricky, you see. If the meter gets damaged, I can't use it to shoot more footage, so everything important has to be filmed before doing such tests. Btw, "joe smith" has tons of videos where he tests multi-meter robustness, often rather destructively... ol not the HT118A but others.
@@TheHWcave Yeah i can imagine it's a bit Tricky . Thanks for the advise i'll check on Joe smith . it wold be interesting to see this kind of destructive tests and run some diagnosis
Is this diode mode in case of shorted diode give short beep in forward and reverse direction normal??
not like other multimeters give continuous buzz in shorted diode ,short beep if diode Or transistor good
Not really. None of my other multimeters beep in in diode mode with the exception of the OWON XDM1041 which does beep continuously if there is conductivity (forward mode). Luckily in the XDM1041 you can turn the very loud beep off. I gave my HT118 away (too many multimeters!) so I can't verify but I am pretty sure it doesn't beep in the reverse direction.
Is there a better multimeter I should buy for about under $40 usd? I want one which is auto-ranging and will last for a long time, and also durable and can handle a bit of abuse.. But having the min/max setting is really useful to me. Which a lot of the cheaper ones don't seem to have.
This is a complicated question because it depends on so many factors, what is available in your area and what is important to you. Are you considering yourself experienced or more a beginner? Will you generally use it for low energy electronics only or plan to check your house wiring ?... I recently bought an ANENG AN870 that may be even cheaper than the HT118A (it also has max/min). I am quite impressed by it except for electrical robustness. I would not use that meter to poke around in high energy mains circuits. I think the HT118A has the edge on that. Also the HT118A's hinting what sockets to use and the danger light is good stuff to have if you are new to meters. There are no warnings or hints in the AN870. KAIWEETS has the KM601, which goes even further in guidance and has a full auto mode (smart) and a "mobile phone" look if that is your thing. If you follow Joe Smith's RUclips channel. you notice that even very expensive meters (Keysight ) turn out to be not very robust at all, so price alone is no criteria. I myself swear on Brymen and if it is available the BM235 is an excellent meter and built like a tank. It is quite an old model by now so maybe you can find it on discount. Another option is a 2nd hand meter from the likes of Fluke. But that is a bit like gambling. You might get lucky and get a very good one or one that people have messed about. Sorry of not being able to be of more help
@@TheHWcave Thank you for the reply. I will look up those other models. I am mainly working on cars, between 3v and 15v. The max/min is very useful since mechanics usually work alone, you will leave the multimeter connected while you go turn the engine over or something.
But since I'm in school I can't afford the more expensive meters. I am very much a beginner in electrical still.
Bueno moentras funciona, 3 meses, no gasten
Are you saying it stopped working after 3 months? Can you share what went wrong?
Comprei um HT118A mais está fazendo a leitura errada tanto em DC como em AC o que pode ser?
Sorry for replying in English. It is hard to diagnose the problem. Can you describe it a bit more detailed?
Has it never worked or did the problem only appear recently? What are you measuring and how, and what is shown on the screen?
Do you think it's a good idea to solder a thick copper wire to replace the resistor as the shunt?
I don't think it is practical. As a start you would need get the 0.005 Ohm value right. That is hard. Secondly, copper changes its resistance as it gets hot. Proper resistors and shunts are made of alloys that are designed to minimize that. Lastly there is so little space, that fitting your copper shunt without it touching (and melting) anything is hard. A better suggestion is to buy an external shunt (see my video on that topic ruclips.net/video/aZR5ZwUYyWU/видео.html) and using the HT118A (or any other multimeter) to measure the voltage across the shunt. That way you can measure really large currents for hours without worrying about overheating the meter
Thanks for the alternate solution. I wonder if they had designed those two through-holes for a bar shunt.
Hey bro? Can you read value resistor r1 r2 r3 r4 r5 r6 in ht118a? Thank. Because i don't know read resistor.
Sorry, can't help. I gave my ht118a away and all pictures I took from the inside are too grainy to make them out.
++ Teşekkürler.
Hey, your english sounds like you have a swiss accent. are you from switzerland? I chume oh us de schwiz
I have to disappoint you, it is probably somewhat hessian
Habotest 118A is also same as it. So that’s it copy or habotest ?
Possibly, bur as always things inside could be slightly different. For example Tenma and UNI-T often sell the same meters but the MOVs and fuses inside may be different.
Habotest is the OEM. Kaiweets is a rebranding of habotest
This multimeter is marketed for the hobbyist and not for the professional.
Totally agree. A big hint is the light-show to indicate which sockets to put the probes in. It may help novices but would be unnecessary for professionals.
No thanks I still rather trust bk and fluke any day without having to worry about false readings down the road. This is a knock off to two other meters I have seen. Sorry man I'm sticking with paying for quality and longevity, than cheap Chinese junk..
Well, you are right that you get what you pay for, but I bet you will be surprised when you use lower-end "top brand" meters with a signal that has both DC and AC components with a large difference between them. Many meters (including expensive ones like the Agilent 34401A) tested with this have problems when trying to show the DC or the AC part, mostly because the auto-ranging gets confused. The better ones at least make it obvious. Meters that can display DC+AC seem to be better at this, I guess because the firmware has been designed to handle mixed signals
Most Fluke meters are made in China now!
BK and Fluke are way over priced.
Their stuff is nothing special....they just live off their name which was built decades ago. You're literally just paying for a name that means nothing.
Lovely 😍💋 💝💖❤️