Test/review of DMM Vici VC8145 (Cheap bench meter)

HKJ · 2018-04-02T06:39:10.000Z

Pete7874:

Can this device also be used as a voltage reference board (to test accuracy of other DMMs)?

You can compare the DC reading to other meters, the precision is rather good there. I will not recommend adding wires to make the reference accessible from outside, but instead use a battery for reference and connect both meters to it at the same time.

Andrew_Debbie · 2018-04-02T07:40:38.000Z

$ Value comparisons:

VC-8145 $152

82,000 count Bench meter. DCV Basic accuracy 0.05+5 ACV Basic Accuracy 0.8+50 dropping to a not good 5% at high voltages.

Uni-T UT-804 $273.49
40,000 count bench DCV ±(0.025+5) ACV ±(0.4+30) 10A max current 600V Cat II and 1000V Cat I.
Adds µA range, USB and 9999 measurement storage. Volts on a separate input jack. Can run on mains or battery.

Uni-T UT-71C $142
40,000 count hand held. DCV ±(0.025+5) ACV ±(0.4+30) . 10A max current.
USB and 100 measurement data logging

HKJ · 2018-04-02T07:46:29.000Z

Andrew_Debbie:

Uni-T UT-804 $273.49
40,000 count bench DCV ±(0.025+5) ACV ±(0.4+30) 10A max current 600V Cat II and 1000V Cat I.
Adds µA range, USB and 9999 measurement storage. Volts on a separate input jack. Can run on mains or battery.

This bench meter use a normal range switch, you need the UT-805A to get a relay controlled range switching. It is a more expensive and probably also much better meter.

Andrew_Debbie · 2018-04-02T08:49:30.000Z

Yeah. The UT805A is about $420.00. It is an order of magnitude better. 4 wire sense … 200,000 count. I’ll add it to my earlier post.

From what I’ve read, Uni-T do not cheat on CAT I, II, III ratings.

FOr me the biggest drawback on the VC8145 is the poor high ACV accuracy. I measure 240V all the time and 400-600VAC occasionally.

I also don’t like that standard probes don’t fit well. I seen that on other cheap meters.

HKJ · 2018-04-02T08:56:43.000Z

Andrew_Debbie:

From what I’ve read, Uni-T do not cheat on CAT I, II, III ratings.

That depends, some of the models for the Chinese marked are marked too high and may be missing parts.
Buy one from a big EU dealer and it will live up to its CAT rating.

Andrew_Debbie:

FOr me the biggest drawback on the VC8145 is the poor high ACV accuracy. I measure 240V all the time and 400-600VAC occasionally.

The problematic area is above 560V, i.e. you barely touch it, but generally bench meters are not that safe to use at high voltages (See CAT rating).

StandardBattery · 2018-04-02T23:24:49.000Z

Nice Review!

Barkuti · 2018-04-03T02:06:09.000Z

HKJ:

…

Software

The software is rather old and the newest Windows it works on is XP V1, a XP simulation on Win10 do not work.

…

What is XP V1, some sort of emulation?

I still have an old laptop with Windows XP :-D SP3, the meter's software would straight work flawlessly on it, right?

Cheers ^:)

HKJ · 2018-04-03T04:20:00.000Z

Barkuti:

HKJ:

…

Software

The software is rather old and the newest Windows it works on is XP V1, a XP simulation on Win10 do not work.

…

What is XP V1, some sort of emulation?

I still have an old laptop with Windows XP SP3, the meter’s software would straight work flawlessly on it, right?

Cheers :partying_face:

It was SP1, your service pack is way to new.

Andrew_Debbie · 2018-04-03T12:45:30.000Z

Updated Value for Money Table, The Chinese bench DMM edition.

Digimess/Grundig DM200 £139 (Farnell) Calibration Certificate available.
4000 Count DCV basic accuracy 0.3% 20A maximum current.
Cat II 1000VDC 750VAC Real Cat II. CE marked. Battery or Mains power.
Rotary Knob.
Also seen as MasTech 9803R.

Vici VC-8145 $152

82,000 count Bench meter. DCV Basic accuracy ±(0.05+5) ACV Basic Accuracy ±(0.8+50) dropping to a not good 5% at high voltages.

Uni-T UT-804 $273.49
40,000 count bench DCV ±(0.025+5) ACV ±(0.4+30) 10A max current 600V Cat II and 1000V Cat I.
Adds µA range, USB and 9999 measurement storage. Volts on a separate input jack. Can run on mains or battery.

Uni-T UT805A $420 (+ import duty)
200,000 Count bench DMM. DCV ±(0.015+3) ACV ±(0.2+100) —> ±(0.4%+100) at 750VAC
2- and 4-wire resistance.

Rigol DM3058E £435 or $560+import duty
5 1/2 digits over 100 readings per second.

Rigol DM3068
6 1/2 digits

Upper bound will be something like:

Keysight 34450A £850
51/2 Digit over 100 readings per second.

HKJ · 2018-04-03T12:54:37.000Z

It may also be a good idea to check Siglent.

The difference between 5½ and 6½ digit meters is not so much the extra digit, but check the extra functions you get (Often communication).

The bench meter I have most copies of is Keysight 34461A, but I require a computer link from my bench meters. My most expensive bench meter is a Keithley DMM7510

Pete7874 · 2018-04-03T13:13:27.000Z

Andrew_Debbie:

Digimess/Grundig DM200 £139 (Farnell) Calibration Certificate available.
4000 Count DCV basic accuracy 0.3% 20A maximum current.
Cat II 1000VDC 750VAC Real Cat II. CE marked. Battery or Mains power.
Rotary Knob.
Also seen as MasTech 9803R.

There is also MasTech MS8040…
22,000 count
DCV accuracy +/-(0.05%+6)
10A max current
CAT II 1000VDC 750VAC
USB interface

Amazon US has it for $158.

Andrew_Debbie · 2018-04-09T14:49:46.000Z

The unofficial twice updated Value for Money Table, Chinese bench DMM edition.

Digimess/Grundig DM200 £139 (Farnell) Calibration Certificate available.
Mastech 9803R
4000 Count DCV basic accuracy 0.3% 20A maximum current.
Cat II 1000VDC 750VAC Real Cat II. CE marked. Battery or Mains power.
Rotary Knob.

Mastech MS8040 $119 (Circuit Specialists)
22000 Count DCV Basic accuracy ±(0.05% + 6) ACV ±(0.05% + 30)
CAT II 1000VDC 600VAC
Rotary Knob. USB Possibly an updated 9803R?

Vici VC-8145 $152 (Ali Express)
82,000 count Bench meter. DCV Basic accuracy ±(0.05+5) ACV Basic Accuracy ±(0.8+50) dropping to a not good 5% at high voltages.

Uni-T UT-802 $156
20000 Count DCV ±(0.1+3) ACV ±(0.5+20)
Rotary Knob Manual Range, Mains or battery

Uni-T UT-803 $179
6,000 Count DCV ±(0.3+2) ACV ±(0.6+5)
Rotary Knob. USB Mains or 6 D-cell battery power.

Uni-T UT-804 $273.49 + import duty? (Ali Express)
40,000 count bench DCV ±(0.025+5) ACV ±(0.4+30) 10A max current 600V Cat II and 1000V Cat I.
Adds µA range, USB and 9999 measurement storage. Volts on a separate input jack. Can run on mains or battery.
Rotary Knob

Mastech MS8050 $279 (Circuit Specialists) $244(AliExpress)
53,000 Count DCV ±(0.03%6) ACV ±(0.5% 40)
1µV and 0.01Ω resolution (±10 counts). dBm measurements.
Vacuum florescent dual display
CAT II 1000VDC

Siglent SDM3045X $389 (Saelig - US)
60,000 Count DCV ±( 0.01% +6) ACV±(0.6% +10) 150 readings / second
4-wire resistance measurement
TFT Display. 480x272
1Gb NAND Flash. USB and ethernet, SCPI command set.
dBm, statistics, histograms and trend charts.

Uni-T UT805A $420 (+ import duty)
200,000 Count. DCV ±(0.015+3) ACV ±(0.2+100) —> ±(0.4%+100) at 750VAC
4-wire resistance measurement.
Dot-matrix LCD 256x64. USB & RS-232

Siglent SDM3055 $469 (Saelig - US)
5 1/2 Digits (240,000 count) DCV ±(0.015% of reading + 0.003% of range) ACV ±(0.2% of reading + 0.05 of range) 150 readings / second
4-wire resistance measurement.
TFT Display. 480x272
1Gb NAND Flash. USB and ethernet, SCPI command set.
dBm, statistics, histograms and trend charts.

Rigol DM3058E £435 or $560+import duty
5 1/2 digits over DCV ±(0.015% of reading + 0.003% of range) ACV ±(0.2% of reading + 0.05 of range)
USB, ethernet, RS-232 and GPIB standard.
4-wire resistance

Siglent SDM3065X $729 (Saelig)
6 1/2 Digits (2,200,000 count) silly accuracy.
TFT display
Other features similar to SDM3055

Rigol DM3068 $882 (Saelig) £762 incl. VAT.
6 1/2 digits (2,200,000 count)
Dot matrix LCD
dBm, statistics, histograms and trend charts.

A few links

EEVblog #829 - Siglent SDM3055 Bench Multimeter Teardown - YouTube (3055A teardown)

MASTECH Testing and Measuring Equipment and Tools

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鼎阳科技网站404页面。鼎阳科技（SIGLENT）是通用电子测试测量仪器的行业领军企业，产品涵盖数字示波器、频谱仪、信号发生器、频谱分析仪、矢量网络分析仪、台式万用表、射频信号源等通用测试测量仪器产品。

Lightly · 2018-09-27T09:36:49.000Z

First, thank you HKJ for the review.

I know this is an old thread but just wanted to add my thoughts. The 8145 has many of the problems of cheaper meters I am sure. For those who work with high voltages and high currents then this is not the device to use perhaps.

There are two AC classes for multimeters that I know of (and probably many more that I don’t), these are mains and audio. A mains meter needs to be good at high voltages and high currents. An audio meter by contrast needs better low-voltage measurement combined with audio bandwidth.

The 8145 was plainly designed by a real audio enthusiast. It handles proper audio-bandwidth RMS (as was mentioned in a post above and is fairly unusual). It can measure in dB. It even has selectable input impedance and so measures dBm - which is very unusual. It has good AC accuracy for low voltages (better than most) but great accuracy for audio bandwidths (very unusual). For example, it claims less than 3% error at 10mV. I know, that does not sound much but try and find a meter that equals it. Of the meters I have looked at so far, only the Fluke 287 can do it.

Fluke 287 = 2.2%
Vici 8145 = 2.6%
Mastech MS8050 / 8218 = 5.8%
Brymen 869s = 7%
UNI-T UT61E = 13%
UNI-T UT171C = 19%
UNI-T UT171E = 72%

I am not sure that there are any other meters with all these audio features at anything like this price. New or second-hand. So, if you are a mains measurer, this is probably not your meter but if you work with audio then you will find that this is one choice from what equates to a very small pool.

I hope that all makes some kind of sense.

HKJ · 2018-09-27T09:47:17.000Z

Measuring in a ordinary mains outlet is usual not very problematic with cheap meters, but industrial or distribution is very dangerous with a cheap meter. Bench meters is just about never rated for usage in industrial or distribution.

High end meters and bench meters will often have a good bandwidth, dB readings and good sensitivity for low voltages, the nice thing with this meter is that you get it a fairly low price.

Lightly · 2018-09-27T10:12:25.000Z

HKJ:

Measuring in a ordinary mains outlet is usual not very problematic with cheap meters, but industrial or distribution is very dangerous with a cheap meter. Bench meters is just about never rated for usage in industrial or distribution.

High end meters and bench meters will often have a good bandwidth, dB readings and good sensitivity for low voltages, the nice thing with this meter is that you get it a fairly low price.

I concur HKJ.

Just one point though; I tried to buy another cheap handheld meter with a similar low-level 20kHz performance. This is when I noticed just how few meters can do it. Even bench meters are often not great I found. Most bench units (but not all) do low-level accuracy, some (generally pricier ones) do audio bandwidth but few have the accuracy at low-levels AND at audio bandwidths. Despite what you say, I think this even applies at the high-end.

HKJ · 2018-09-27T12:25:55.000Z

My bench meters do a fairly good job of it, the mV values are for 100mV range:

Keysight 34461A: 10-20kHz 0.06% + 0.03mV
Keysight 34462A: 10-20kHz 0.05% + 0.02mV
Keysight 34470A: 10-20kHz 0.05% + 0.02mV
Keithley DMM6500: 10-20kHz 0.04% + 0.02mV
Keithley DMM7510: 10-20kHz 0.06% + 0.03mV
Fluke 8846A: 20-50kHz 0.12% + 0.05mV
Rigol DM3068: 10Hz-20kHz 0.06% + 0.08mV This meter has a 200mV range

Lightly · 2018-09-27T11:24:49.000Z

HKJ:

My bench meters do a fairly good job of it, the mV values are for 100mV range:

Keysight 34461A: 10-20kHz 0.06% + 0.03mV
Keysight 34462A: 10-20kHz 0.05% + 0.02mV
Keysight 34470A: 10-20kHz 0.05% + 0.02mV
Keithley DMM6500: 10-20kHz 0.04% + 0.02mV
Keithley DMM7100: 10-20kHz 0.06% + 0.03mV
Fluke 8846A: 20-50kHz 0.12% + 0.05mV
Rigol DM3068: 10Hz-20kHz 0.06% + 0.08mV This meter has a 200mV range

I don’t know what you are expecting to prove HKJ except that you have a lot of money to spend on multimeters.

Good luck to you.

I won’t ever post on here again.

HKJ · 2018-09-27T11:56:55.000Z

Lightly:

I don’t know what you are expecting to prove HKJ except that you have a lot of money to spend on multimeters.

Just that many bench meters can measure 10mV AC in the audio range with good precision.
I posted this due to your comment: “but few have the accuracy at low-levels AND at audio bandwidths”

I believe many people around here know that I have used some money on test equipment (Not only multimeters). This pile of equipment is very useful for my reviews.

maukka · 2018-09-27T11:48:34.000Z

HKJ:

Keithley DMM6500: 10-20kHz 0.04% + 0.02mV

Oh, sweet. Review somewhere in the future, maybe?

HKJ · 2018-09-27T11:55:53.000Z

maukka:

HKJ:

Keithley DMM6500: 10-20kHz 0.04% + 0.02mV

Oh, sweet. Review somewhere in the future, maybe?

I did not buy it to do a review, but because one of my other meters has a intermittent fault. I hope to fix it, but need a new meter for now.
But I will probably do a review of it, before I swap the meters.