That $40 digital multimeter from Amazon that nearly fried my panel

I was in a rush last month wiring a subpanel in a garage remodel and figured my old Fluke was fine, but I grabbed a cheap no-name multimeter I'd bought online for a quick continuity check. It read 120 volts on a line I knew was dead, so I touched the bare wire and got a nasty tingle that threw me back into the drywall. Turns out the meter's leads had bad insulation and it was giving false readings. You have any horror stories from bargain bin tools that almost got you killed?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucasw8419d ago

My cousin almost burned down his shed with a $15 heat gun from a gas station. It didn't have a thermostat or any kind of safety shutoff. It just kept getting hotter and hotter until it melted the plastic handle and started smoking. I walked in on him fanning the smoke with a wet towel. At least you got a tingly story out of yours, I just got the bill for replacing his melted breaker panel.

emma45519d ago

Your cousin's story is honestly scarier than mine lmao. At least my tingly fingers went away, a melted breaker panel sounds like it could have been way worse. I'm honestly surprised those gas station heat guns don't come with a free fire extinguisher lol.

ruby65919d ago

Used to think cheap tools were fine for one-off projects, but now I'm definitely reconsidering after reading this. Idk maybe it's just me but a few extra bucks for something with a safety shutoff sounds worth it now lol.