Test/review of DMM Aneng AN8008

That table first get really interesting when you can compare it for a couple of DMM’s.
I plan on publishing more reviews and I am also open for ideas of meters to review.

I was also thinking about some of my better meters, but I do not keep the box or accessories with the meter, i.e. I would not be able to show what a delivery includes. On possibility was to add a expensive bench meter (I need another one), it would be a good contrast to the cheaper meter, but I doubt many (or any) people reading the review would buy one.

I have seen his test and a couple of other reviews of it, but I do not remember seeing any other review catching the problems at high current (It might also be a problem with my copy of it).

I also got this some time ago. My meter is very accurate on low voltage stuff. The display is fine too and the backlight is a plus.

If someone’s searching for the meter, type Aneng, not Anang.

Luckily it was only the title that was wrong, not the filename, it is easy to fix.

Great review HKJ! How would you compare the Aneng AN8008 & AN860B+ meter?

I like the small size of the 8008, but 860 is a more fully feature DMM. I was not really impressed with the input terminals, then are made the same way on both DMM’s but worked better on the 8008.

Both meters are fairly unprotected, i.e. be careful where you use them or they will not last very long.

There is a method to activate temperature on the AM8008
You have to set a few bits with the progammer clip
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/an8008-us-\$19-10000count-1uv-0-01ua-0-01ohm-resolution-meter/msg1312471/#msg1312471

The same type of DMM chip is used in a lot of meters and as can be seen in the EEVBlog threads there are many ways to change the DMMs, but you are still limited by the range switch and the connections inside the meter.
If you want other functions than AN8008, it might be a good idea to check the other AN800x meters (I have a review of AN8002 in queue).

Would love to see one on the Fluke 179... I am in the fence about it right now...

I have one of them, but I was not thinking about doing a review of it:

  1. It is a couple of years old, maybe Fluke has changed something inside the meter.
  2. I would not be able to show what the meter includes, I do not keep track of probes and papers.
    (The above would, of course, be fixed if I bought a new one, but I will not think about that just now, there are other DMM’s I would like to get first).

I generally like the meter, but current starts in AC and it is lacking uA. It do have Average and auto-hold

Nice, I have ordered both, the AN8002 and the AN8008. They were to cheap to let them go.

It is normally better to have different meters for different tasks.
E.g. A good meter for electronics (Uni-T 139e) and a dual leads phase tester (Duspol) for mains CAT III and IV.

That is also cheaper than a Fluke 87V which can all.

The resistance function of this meter is driving me nuts. Mostly gives inaccurate values, sometimes couldn’t even complete measuring. My cheapo yellow manual ranging multimeter is way better for resistance when compared to AN8008.

So is it just my model or is the same for everyone else too? :zipper_mouth_face:

Tested my AN8008 against the Agilent 34401A and they agree to the last digit (1-2 off) on the Aneng. Tested with 4, 200 and 1000 ohm resistors.

It may be the probes or probe connection, but can also be the range switch.
Try switching probes with your cheap meter and see if the problem stays or moves.

You’re right. This time I used the extra probe with interchangeable heads which came along with this meter, used the crocodile clips head on one end and the readings are much much more stable now.

Looks like Aneng shipped the worst probes they could ever find along with this meter as default probes but also included another pair of better quality ones? :rage:

Well good probes are not easy to get nor they are cheap.
The long time recommendation in the EEVblog forum are these Brymen ones:
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Brymen-Silicone-Gold-Plated-Test-Leads-Probes-for-Multimeters-CAT-IV-1000V/171162377470?\_mwBanner=1

The probes in my aneng are quite nice and defects always happens. Sad that you get a faulty one.

The Brymen probes are nice, but they do not fit perfectly in the Aneng meter.

How do I in simplest manner measure a batteries internal resistance with this DMM? Only the capacitance (F) function seems to work in
Ohm mode.

HKJ has an article about measuring internal resistance on his site: Internal impedance of a battery

Do you know about any good budget Resistance / Impedance meter, maximum $38 incl shipping?
Or where can I buy a Resistance device with power resistor to be used with the DMM while measuring the batteries voltage when the resistor is connected? As explained in HKJ method 1 Internal impedance of a battery

There is an effective way of measuring battery/cell DC internal resistance with the aid of a precision power supply, some copper tabs, neodymium magnets and of course a multimeter which can do mV precisely like this one. Its about pumping some given and meaningful current into the cell with the power supply, mentally recording the measured voltage at some given “current cut-off point” and, at that very moment, cutting off the current and inmediately afterwards (≈1 second) recording cell voltage again. At cut-off point battery/cell voltage diminishes inmediately due to current times DC resistance, then it continues diminishing much more slowly due to capacitance but this of course must be ignored and the recorded voltage value is taken before this. This is easy to notice as the measured voltage figure will sort of “freeze” before the capacitive phase. The absolute difference value between both recorded voltages divided by the current value equals the internal resistance. For this to work well the multimeter probes must measure battery/cell voltage right at its terminals, as any contact resistance in between times current ratio will cause an error drift.

In my experience this method works quite well.