Recommend to a Friend

Good Product

4.0

AEMC 5233 DMM is good product, very hand , compact and accurate.

Raghbindra Singh on Jun 07, 2019 I found this helpful (0)

Recommend to a Friend

AEMC DMM Model 5233

4.0

This is an review of the AEMC 2125.54 DMM Model 5233. It may be the first review ever written on the device, at least I was never able to find one before purchasing it although it has been available since mid-2012.

I bought the DMM on price and the reputation and longevity of the company, Chauvin Arnoux, which seems like sort of the French GE, half expecting French or Canadian manufacture. I was a little disappointed to see “Made in China” on the containing box, although I should have expected that from the really great price.

This is more my first impressions than a solid review of internal construction and DMM accuracy. Here are the things I have noticed:

• With only 6 buttons besides the rotary switch, some functions are not obvious, and most buttons have multiple functions, depending on the rotary switch position and length of time pressed.
• All the controls are positive and have a good feel.
• The case is solid with a 4-screw back door (into threaded inserts) for the 9v battery and 10A fuse. The battery touches blade/spring connections and doesn’t use the annoying 9v battery clip on a wire.
• The kickstand is a little odd and locks into place a little too solidly. The specs say the DMM has “multi-position mounting”, but I have found nothing about that in the minimalist user’s manual and I’m not ready to push the kickstand too far out of its comfort range.
• I had to search for some time to find the LCD backlight, pressing the “Hold” button more than 2 sec. The light times out after about 10 sec and button presses or measurements do not extend the timeout. That is annoying in a low-light situation trying to hold leads and touch contacts. I would rather have the ability to leave the backlight on until I turn it off, or at least a minute before it is extinguished. I don’t mind replacing the battery a little more often.
• Without much incident light and with the backlight off, the large digits are legible, but the small mode, units, etc. indications are hard to see. The display could do with a low-level backlight on all the time the meter is on.
• There is no mA scale and there is apparently only a 10A fuse.
• The Non-Contact AC voltage detector works well; you have to be within about an inch of a 120v 60Hz line to activate it.
• The provided 5’ leads are nice, but a little too long for most of what I do, but leads are an easy change.
• For normal high-impedance voltage measurement, there is only a single selection, V DC&AC. The default is DC and more than a few times I have attempted to measure AC in the default DC mode, but it didn’t seem to bother it. In other words, the DC or AC is not “auto ranging”.
• That the DMM can be calibrated at AEMC in NH helps my confidence in the meter, although I don’t need such accuracy.
• All measurements seem “right on”, but I have not compared to known standards.

Conclusion: I am quite happy with this solid, sub $100 DMM, especially since it has many non-standard DMM functions, such as Temperature, Capacitance, Frequency, Non-contact voltage detection, large LCD, and low-impedance AC. Let’s hope its quality proves to be as high as it seems.

Verified Purchase Anonymous on Apr 03, 2015 I found this helpful (6)