I got the Holdpeak HP-6688G, a HY3131 based 40000 counts meter, for $14 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: AE7OO
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2019, 09:35:32 pm
content: Hello,I was browsing Amazon looking for an upgrade to my present meter when I came across the Holdpeak HP-6688G. What caught my eye was a combination of the price at $18 and 40000 counts. I started looking for more information which seems hard to come by. I did find Darren Walkersand after watching it, went back to buy. I then found out that there was a coupon available for a little over $4 off, so in the end I got the meter for $14.18 shipped 2 day.While it is a bulky meter, I got it to use on my bench, so that is not a problem. And while there might be problems with it being a true CAT III meter(due to fusing and what not), I do 95% of my work at below 13.8VDC/5VAC. If for whatever reason I need to measure mains, I've got this little "meter"(left over from my HVAC days) made for that purpose, it has a host of idiot lights on it that will tell you the voltage range, freq and condition of your line. In the above review Darren does test it out it to it's claimed abilities, measuring over 230VAC and 1000VDC with no problems, so it should handle my work just fine.It uses the HY3131 as it's DMM chip, something it has in common with the 131GW, UT171A and the U1282A. And since that chip is capable of 50000 counts, I see no reason to doubt it's claim of 40000 counts.I have no real idea of what the suggested retail price is, but in my book, getting a new 40000 counts meter for $14 is a decent score.So was this a good find or not?

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2019, 10:49:12 pm
content: You got a ~$70 meter for $14, so thats good. Interesting case.https://www.amazon.com/Baugger-Digital-Multimeter-Auto-Range-Capacitance/dp/B081Y1HL1N/https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32963478800.htmlDoesn't look like they sell it any more for $14.

author: AE7OO
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 13, 2019, 10:42:57 pm
content: Hello...That meter on Amazon looks to be shipping from somewhere outside the US.Mine was available via Amazon Prime via 2nd day delivery.I don't HAVE clue why this meter was marked down to ~$19 to begin with. It's BRAND NEW in what looks to be a sealed factory box.Like I said, what caught my eye was the $18.xx price and 40000 counts, which in my mind do not go together. I'm still wondering why they did not kick the counts up to 50000 since the chipset supports it. As a matter of fact, it looks like at least 1 if not 2 of the known meters with this chipset go beyond the 50000 somehow...If something happens with it, I've still got 2 or 3 cheap DMM around, plus I've still got my first meter, a surplus Simpson 260, which is the meter I learned on when I was in the Navy, so I think I"m happy.And if I just had to have brand name, there is a glut of low end OEM'd Flukes on Amazon for $100 or less. They are real flukes, but they are not warrantied by Fluke USA.I'm having fun with this thing... Oh, and this thing is MUCH bigger than I thought it would be, here is a pix with an American dime for reference.

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 13, 2019, 11:10:50 pm
content: It looks like you get the 40000 counts resolution, but also $15 build quality and accuracy. Not all the test values may be accurate, but some should be better than shown.

author: AE7OO
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2019, 02:26:08 am
content: Hiya,Well it looks like the only real area that it is deficient in is front end protection. As long as I keep it away from power amps and such I should be ok there.After taking it apart I can't see anything that would cause that kind of intermittent behavior.On the other hand, it would not be smart to depend on those last 1 or 2 digits for anything super critical as I'm not seeing much outside of basic buffering. And without any shielding even differential lines may have problems.Since the majority of the heavy lifting is done by the HY3131, as long as the layout and build quality are decent to good(which they are), it may only be the last digit I need to keep an eye out for.The main reason I was looking for a higher count meter is that the DMMs I have are lucky to be able to measure VDC in the 50's of millivolts, let alone a microvolt.Some time in the next couple of weeks, I'll take it over to a Friends, and do a semi-qualification on this thing. He has a couple of 6 or 7 digit bench meters. And between now and then I'll see how consistent it is.And BTW, I"ve included a pic of the "meter" I use when I need to screw around with mains...

author: shakalnokturn
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2019, 12:16:42 am
content: It looks like they threw a DMM into a case designed for an insulation tester.20$ is the right price for this, not 50$.

author: AE7OO
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2020, 07:47:22 pm
content: Ok, you've sort of lost me.Yes, there are insulation testers in the 6688 series, along with a automotive electronics analyzer.Why does having a single case for the entire series reduce the price?Yes, it has open spaces. I was planningon filling the interior of it with a expanding foam I picked up a couple of years ago. It's non-reactive, non-conductive, does not burn and nothing sticks to it, or vice versa. That will give me better insulation while also preventing any types of drafts inside.

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2020, 08:27:13 pm
content: Quote from: AE7OO on December 14, 2019, 02:26:08 amThis a pretty important fail. In addition there is a totally bogus CAT III 1000 V label at the front. So in Europe this would earn it place on the RAPEX list (a list warning about dangerous goods that should be recalled for safety reasons).So it looks like a beginners design with lots of space for improvements.Given the look inside, the readings that are off could be really due to the meter and not just the cheap "references" used.Being able to measure rather small voltages is about the only good point - so the $14 may not be too high.When building a rather small series, reusing the same case may save quite a bit and the case may also be from another companies excess inventory sold cheap at the Shen-Sen market. With larger quantities it would be cheaper to get the right case and not use the hand soldered wires. So I would not expect many of these meters to come up - they may learn and the version 3 or 5 may be OK. The meter kind of shows that even higher resolution does not have to be expensive. A proper fuses may cost more than the chip set.

author: Veteran68
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2020, 08:59:10 pm
content: Amazon has it again, but for $40 with a 30% coupon bringing it down to $28.For a hi-res knockaround meter I might grab one if the OP has a good experience. I have good meters for serious work but am obsessed with collecting cheap meters that work well beyond their price point (ala Aneng 8008).EDIT: Watched Darren's video, and... no. It has some glaring issues to me, not the least of which is the measurements seem quite a bit off, even for a $30 meter, and the capacitance is nigh useless. IMO a far better meter with much better specs (albeit 20k count instead of 40k) in the $30 range is theAneng 870.