Conrad stuff whats it like?

[winchman]

Thinking of buying this for our 16 year old.
http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/...-tool-box-Voltcraft-VC-170-Digital-Multimeter

Looks to be a good starter set what's peoples thoughts?

 

[winchman]

JUst found this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-PC-PIE...157097?hash=item4d387c60a9:g:NtgAAOSweW5VXOJh

 

[julianthegypsy]

JUst found this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-PC-PIE...157097?hash=item4d387c60a9:g:NtgAAOSweW5VXOJh

That leaves £16.50 to get a multimeter that does dc amps. Not an easy task...

 

[winchman]

Good point
Whilst I have most things he wants his own stuff and I felt it was a good start?
He has a good set of normal screw drivers and spanners so I though it would be useful?

 

[daleyd]

It's Only rated at 250v so it's no use if he decides to do anything 3 phase.

Personally I'd look for something rated for 600v and know that you won't need to buy another. While you can get by with a cheap meter, I wouldn't go too cheap, at the end of the day there's potentially lethal voltages on the end of those prongs, even in a normal household supply.

 

[winchman]

A very good point. He will only be looking at vehicles, domestic only under my supervision using my Fluke meter, I know its cheap but he only need something cheap to try and cultivate his interest, he wants to build a Bobber so this would be used for the electrical side of it, and he has a car that we need to do a few bits on.

 

[Sidewinder]

Why do you want insulated tools from eBay?

 

[daleyd]

Ah, for automotive use it may be fine, but the price for the whole lot looks suspiciously cheap ...

I'd personally look at spending a bit more on a meter, I've seen some ISO tech ones going for new on the bay of evil for ~£40 - I've used them in the past and while I wouldn't say they were as good as a fluke they didn't seem far off. (I worked for pilkington when we had them and they were used on proper industrial high power stuff)

 

[winchman]

Why do you want insulated tools from eBay?

Sorry I am causing confusion
I was looking at another post who posted a Link to Conrad tools, so I lost an hour of my life looking around.
I liked the tool kit with meter for £22 but then looked on Ebay as i just wanted a few basic electrical type tools to encourage him and felt the Conrad one was the best value, I have just bought it so I will keep you posted, we often forget you cant buy much for £20 these days

 

[Sidewinder]

ISOTech is RS own brand IIRC.

 

[winchman]

Ah, for automotive use it may be fine, but the price for the whole lot looks suspiciously cheap ...

I'd personally look at spending a bit more on a meter, I've seen some ISO tech ones going for new on the bay of evil for ~£40 - I've used them in the past and while I wouldn't say they were as good as a fluke they didn't seem far off. (I worked for pilkington when we had them and they were used on proper industrial high power stuff)

Whilst I fully understand what you are saying he is only starting out and may loose interest, I have Flukes and a Durite specialist one for auto stuff, but I also have a Draper on in the car and cant fault it.
He will only be doing basic stuff, I just want to encourage him but try not to steer him in one direction or another as his career has to be his choice.
Just really struggling to find a scarp motor bike for his bobber project!
Many years ago when I sold tools for a living I used to say buy it cheap then replace the stuff you brake with better quality, but I tend to find these days some of the cheaper stuff is excellent look at the Halfords stuff.

 

[daleyd]

ISOTech is RS own brand IIRC.

Yes, though I have seen other places selling them as well. Certainly stood up well enough to industrial use, and seemed to be pretty well made (not just my words, we had a team of about 10 in the electrical/instrument department and no one had a bad word to say about them - we previously used fluke but replaced them with ISO tech. There were some complaints when we got told we wouldn't be getting new flukes but when the new ones turned up everyone was happy enough)

 

[daleyd]

Whilst I fully understand what you are saying he is only starting out and may loose interest, I have Flukes and a Durite specialist one for auto stuff, but I also have a Draper on in the car and cant fault it.
He will only be doing basic stuff, I just want to encourage him but try not to steer him in one direction or another as his career has to be his choice.
Just really struggling to find a scarp motor bike for his bobber project!
Many years ago when I sold tools for a living I used to say buy it cheap then replace the stuff you brake with better quality, but I tend to find these days some of the cheaper stuff is excellent look at the Halfords stuff.

Yes, that's a fair comment - I have a cheap draper meter and to be fair it's been fine for the odd time I use it at home. I actually really rate halfords ratchet scanners (£30 a set for the flex head ones when on offer) having used them quite heavily for a number of years.

 

[skotl]

Thinking of buying this for our 16 year old.
http://www.conrad-electronic.co.uk/...-tool-box-Voltcraft-VC-170-Digital-Multimeter

Looks to be a good starter set what's peoples thoughts?

FWIW, I think this would be a great starter set for the money and I would have loved something like this when I was 16 (I'd been into electronics since I was around 10).
As you said, you don't know if this is a passing interest or something serious and I don't think there's much point in thinking about 3 phase, 415V stuff unless he's looking at it as a career, at which point he'll be spending hundreds of quid on kit!

The only suggestion I'd make is if you have a Maplin close by then see what they've got, but other than that I reckon the conrad stuff should see him well.

 

[winchman]

Just had a look at Maplin, nothing quite like it, cheapest meter is £20.

 

[Maker]

The only suggestion I'd make is if you have a Maplin close by then see what they've got, but other than that I reckon the conrad stuff should see him well.

I had a cheap multimeter from napkin once and it was an absolute piece of crap, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[skotl]

Just had a look at Maplin, nothing quite like it, cheapest meter is £20.

I'd go with the kit you originally posted then.

 

[julianthegypsy]

I have a Uni-T meter from halfords and it's fine. I have a digital clamp meter that does dc amps that I bought second hand from ebay and it's fine but it's industrial so designed for huge voltages and amps so not ideal for me mucking about on twelve volt stuff where I want to know if I'm putting out 1.2 or 1.6 amps. Seems to be common.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

JUst found this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-PC-PIE...157097?hash=item4d387c60a9:g:NtgAAOSweW5VXOJh

But £15 for postage.......

 

[Bill Edwards]

I think that the cheap stuff will be fine for the intended purpose. If he gets seriously into it in the future that would be the time to spend money on decent gear.
Just be aware that the screwdrivers will be soft as muck and certainly won't take heavy use or abuse. The cheap meters aren't as nice to use but seem to work perfectly well.