Watch out for fake terminal blocks on cheap testers

Had a customer bring in a multi meter that read 50mV off on every setting. Pulled the block and the brass inserts were aluminum with a brass coating. Check your tools if you bought them off Amazon in the last 6 months. Anyone else run into this?

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2 Comments

janaf915mo ago

Why would a cheap tester being off by 50mV even matter for most people's use? If you're not doing lab work or calibrating expensive gear, a few millivolts is basically nothing. Aluminum with brass coating still gets the job done for everyday checks like car batteries or household outlets.

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charliep795mo ago

Gets the job done" is exactly right. If you're just checking if a car battery is dead or an outlet has power, 50mV is basically a rounding error.

2