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Accuracy of 3.5 digit multimeters

Gough Lui

Low cost 3.5 digit multimeters are pretty much ubiquitous amongst hobbyists, but how accurate are they? I try to find out, using the Keithley 2110 I was awarded in a RoadTest as a reference source.

 

The full details are in my blog post: Investigation: How Accurate is that 3.5 digit Multimeter? | Gough's Tech Zone

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  • Wow, that will take some time to absorb but it's clearly very comprehensive!!

    We're currently purchasing some more bench and handheld multimeters and so it will be fun to follow your post.

  • in reply to shabaz

    If you have time to compare the accuracy specs, you should be able to get an idea of what they are capable of. The fun comes when you start comparing values ... but admittedly, with 3.5 digit multimeters being so inaccurate, it's very easy to discount any error contribution from the 5.5 digit meter used as reference because the error magnitude is much greater than the 5.5 digit meter! But it also shows that we shouldn't necessarily be putting that much faith in the last digit (almost regardless of meter)!

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  • in reply to shabaz

    If you have time to compare the accuracy specs, you should be able to get an idea of what they are capable of. The fun comes when you start comparing values ... but admittedly, with 3.5 digit multimeters being so inaccurate, it's very easy to discount any error contribution from the 5.5 digit meter used as reference because the error magnitude is much greater than the 5.5 digit meter! But it also shows that we shouldn't necessarily be putting that much faith in the last digit (almost regardless of meter)!

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