ohms meter ?

[tommyboy66]

Really ? Do I have to buy one of the junky ohm readers I see on alot of vape sites, or can I get a simple multimeters from Lowe's or Wal-Mart?
They seem to be built better and cost around the same price as these 'dedicated' ohm meters.
My only concern is do they have the range and accuracy needed when building sub-ohm coils?
Please help!

 

[Mechanical Andrew]

As long as the multi-meter you're buying from lowes isn't analog and reads to the hundredth ohm it'll work. But, you can get an ohm meter from e-bay for 11$ with free shipping.

 

[Rickajho]

A junky meter from Lowes or WalMart will be even worse. Inexpensive DMM's do not read low resistance accurately. The ones that Harbor Freight sells may be off by as much as 4 ohms when trying to read the resistance of a 1 ohm coil.

The cheapest DMM I could recommend would be a UNI-T UT39B for low resistance accuracy and that will still set you back about 30 bucks or more. Specs in the manual here: http://uni-trend.com/manual2/UT39ABC Eng Manual.pdf

 

[autobiogphnation]

If the DMM you get has the correct resolution for resistance, you can use it. But IMO having the little simple meter with a 510 connection makes it 20 times easier and you'll get a steady readying. You could build your own connection to use with the DMM so that you're not having to hole the leads to the 510, but not worth the effort when the meters already exist and dont cost much. I use the Smok omnitester, it's a better looking/quality imo.

 

[State O' Flux]

Ohm meter/build boxes are convenient... and provide a continuous, consistent readout (vs the sometimes "dancing" readout common with probe testers)... usually to the one-thousandths place.
Some have terrible accuracy, and some get pretty close to a much more costly 4-wire ohm meter. The better ones are made by USA Ohm meters, in Florida. I've tested them against both 4 wire meters and a Fluke 88 with a "Half-Ohm" milliohm adapter.

It's always a good idea to have a multimeter... for testing battery voltage and - if mechs are your thing - conductivity. You don't need a Fluke 88, but a good DMM will be less likely to have internal resistance. Don't count on finding a good quality meter that reads beyond tenths of an ohm... why I got the "Half-Ohm" adapter.

 

[Rickajho]

Just a reminder: resolution does not equal accuracy. If you can't find the specs for a DMM and it's accuracy, reading out 3 or 4 positions right of decimal doesn't mean squat. Cheap DMM's don't even state their accuracy for resistance measurements - for a reason.

 

[juicynoos]

When sub ohming you want to have something decent, a reasonably good DMM and a "junky looking" ohm reader might be a good thing so that you can cross reference between the 2 and be certain of your build resistance.

 

[SmokingAStogie]

Ohm meter/build boxes are convenient... and provide a continuous, consistent readout (vs the sometimes "dancing" readout common with probe testers)... usually to the one-thousandths place.
Some have terrible accuracy, and some get pretty close to a much more costly 4-wire ohm meter. The better ones are made by USA Ohm meters, in Florida. I've tested them against both 4 wire meters and a Fluke 88 with a "Half-Ohm" milliohm adapter.

It's always a good idea to have a multimeter... for testing battery voltage and - if mechs are your thing - conductivity. You don't need a Fluke 88, but a good DMM will be less likely to have internal resistance. Don't count on finding a good quality meter that reads beyond tenths of an ohm... why I got the "Half-Ohm" adapter.

So in other words the USA ohm meters are the best 510 connection meters you've used? The half ohm adapter is a project or something you buy?
That page looks like a headache waiting to happen specially for someone like me who doesn't know much about electric projects. I need a good and accurate meter as well.

 

[ginny005]

I use both. I use the ohm meter when I build the coil and a multimeter to check the coil when its on the mod. I don't like taking the atty off the mod unless I absolutely have to.

 

[State O' Flux]

So in other words the USA ohm meters are the best 510 connection meters you've used?
Yes. The boxes from USA Ohm Meters are quite accurate. They use China chips... but built to specification and assembled in the US. Fair pricing and good after-sale customer support.

Back when they were still Sunny Vaping, I bought several as Christmas presents for friends. Before wrapping (wouldn't want to hand out crap X-mas presents), I tested them against a Fluke 88 with the Tech-Thing "Half-Ohm" adapter and a loaner Extech 4-wire milliohm meter. the Fluke/half-ohm combination were within 0.002Ω of one another.

The 'worst' one, which I kept for myself, varied 0.03Ω+/- max from my references... the rest varied no more than 0.02Ω+/-.

The half ohm adapter is a project or something you buy?
You can order it direct from Tech-Thing. They're in Estonia, so although the adapter is only around $17 and weighs nothing, it will still cost $5 to ship.

That page looks like a headache waiting to happen specially for someone like me who doesn't know much about electric projects. I need a good and accurate meter as well.

This page is the point-of-sale page for Tech-Thing.

As it's always a headache looking for a place to happen... I don't generally recommend specific DMMs. I don't know what your budget is... but you will be well served if you get something in the $45 to $100 range.
Yes, you can spend as little as $10 and as much as several hundred, if you make your living testing electrical devices, but... you'll be unhappy with the former, and (probably) won't benefit from the latter.

 

[daviedog]

If you do buy a DMM, be sure it is auto ranging. Many mistakes have been made without this feature. Also go for an RMS meter.
Now that I have you up to 75 bucks, it is a tool you can grow with..

Next, an inline volt meter?

 

[State O' Flux]

Next, an inline volt meter?

Nice to have, but sometimes, for "some people"... better to not know, than to compare their voltage drop (VD) value to other's values, without the benefit of a known resistance or repeatable methodology. They may freak out when their numbers suck.

Every now and again, someone will compare their VD value to those of Jkuro's VD testing (perhaps the best single source, unbiased mech mod VD values there is)... again, without benefit of his consistent methodology and conditions.

While I'm sourcing Jon Kuro's VD tests... I might as well include his vape conditions battery load testing too. ;-)

 

[SmokingAStogie]

This page is the point-of-sale page for Tech-Thing.

As it's always a headache looking for a place to happen... I don't generally recommend specific DMMs. I don't know what your budget is... but you will be well served if you get something in the $45 to $100 range.
Yes, you can spend as little as $10 and as much as several hundred, if you make your living testing electrical devices, but... you'll be unhappy with the former, and (probably) won't benefit from the latter.

Ok thank you so much for the help! So far i've heard a few people say the USA Ohm meters were good. $45 is a bit high for my ohm meter budget. My IPV3 already gives me the .x ohm reading. I would like to get an accurate reading though. Would it be a good idea to get an ohm reader that can get to the .xx range?

 

[State O' Flux]

Ok thank you so much for the help! So far i've heard a few people say the USA Ohm meters were good. $45 is a bit high for my ohm meter budget.
I think you may have Ω/build boxes and DMMs confused as the same thing. The USA ohm meter / build boxes aren't $45... they are under $30, and are dedicated 510 female thread meters.

My IPV3 already gives me the .x ohm reading. I would like to get an accurate reading though. Would it be a good idea to get an ohm reader that can get to the .xx range?

The USA meters will work fine. If all you use is regulated mods, a DMM will still be good to have, but not just about mandatory, as it would be for a RDA / mech mod user.

As to the Half-ohm, milliohm adapter... it's useless unless you have a standard test lead spacing DMM.

 

[SmokingAStogie]

The USA meters will work fine. If all you use is regulated mods, a DMM will still be good to have, but not just about mandatory, as it would be for a RDA / mech mod user.

As to the Half-ohm, milliohm adapter... it's useless unless you have a standard test lead spacing DMM.

I use RDAs. Little boy RDA and a Mutation x RDA and i'm expecting my pegasus mech mod tomorrow.