
   
We used to buy Beckman 110 and HD110 ("ruggedized") versions for use
by electricians in the steel mill where I work.   After a while we
got round to filling all the current-input jacks with silicone -
electricians have a regrettable habit of not checking where the last
guy left the leads before using a 3 1/2 digit 0.5 % autoranging $400
meter to check if a fuse is good or not. Its very hard on meters
(and electricians) when you put the milliamp shunt across a 600 volt
bus. 
  But that's not why we stopped buying Beckmans - after a while a 
lot of them got "funny" in the LCD display.  A black stain would
spread from one edge, or else they'd come adrift from those
Zebra connectors and fail to operate.    Now we buy Flukes, the
low-end 20 series mostly ( and we still fill the amp jack with 
silicone). 
  What the world needs is a meter that won't let you change ranges or
turn it on/off with a lead stuck in the amps jack - a little bit of
clever plastic detailing would take care of this and make the world
safer for electricans, anyway.
   Not that I've ever put a meter on the wrong range into a live 
circuit, no, not me...not more than a dozen times, anyway....
    Bill
