Ideal Electrical 61-557 Voltage and Continuity Tester w/LCD,GFCI,Flashlit and NCVT

GOOD TESTER, WORTH BUYING, IDEAL did a whole lot right here. I kept this tester partially as a reminder to keep an eye out for a future follow-on version that hopefully has some things improved. What really caught my eye is the low-Z feature, something the similar Klein ET250 doesn't have. My big Fluke 289 has low-Z, which has been extremely helpful over the years since you can definitely get ghost voltages induced from long bundles of tightly packed wires in conduits. I like that the display backlight and the front flashlight can be turned on/off independently of each other. I love that the audible beeper for NCV is (a) loud enough when turned on to be heard over road noise (a Klein got returned over that issue) AND (b) the audible beeper can be turned off for times when you only want the light indication. I like that the continuity function is a manual button and NOT "automatic" as it is with the Klein ET250, for various reasons from past experience. Love that the test leads are full length for safety, with the removable tip covers to go from CAT IV (cover on) to CAT II (cover off) depending on your need. Nice substantial test leads. The optional hanging strap is another win. I have this recurring problem of only having two hands, but needing one hand for the negative lead on testers, one hand for the positive lead, and one hand to hold the tester. That often leaves me one hand short. :( The strap helps solves that (better than the alternative of Gorilla Tape to stick the tester to something nearby). What I DON'T LIKE - and this is a BAD ONE - is that the display doesn't have the tenths of volt digit to the right of the decimal! Should be a 4 DIGIT DISPLAY, NOT 3. Which means the voltage resolution would reduce from the current 1V to 0.1V on both AC and DC. Come on IDEAL, this is critical. If I'm looking for voltage fluctuations due to a variety of causes I need to see how stable that digit is. To be fair, the Klein ET250 doesn't have this either. I'm forced to whip out the Fluke 289 if I want to see what is going on with the two digits to the right of the decimal. :( Sad because I can see there is easily room in the display area to add a display panel with one more digit, even if they have to shrink the bezel slightly on the sides. IN FACT, I'll even double-down on that ^^^ :) Below 100V, like say minus 48VDC for telephone circuits or 24VAC doorbell circuits or 24VDC for industrial PLC controllers, how about showing TWO digits to the right of the decimal - hundredths of a volt - which matters when you only have 24V. Still 4 digits in the display, just a floating decimal point for "24.67VAC", etc. Another thing I don't like is that the battery compartment door is held on with TWO PH1 PHILIPS SCREWS at cover top and bottom, rather than some quick-and-easy opening screw design like on the Fluke 289 (can use a dime to turn the opening screw slot). The problem here is that I may only use this meter a few times a year. Due to loooooong experience, I always remove the batteries and plastic-bag them separately before a long storage period of any electronic device, so when they leak (all will eventually) they don't corrode all over the inside of the device. But to IDEAL's credit here at least they have brass female screw inserts into the case plastic so it won't strip out over time. THE GOOD NEWS here: that battery cover fits pretty tightly, and the two screws at the end are captive (another design win, good job IDEAL), so I can simply leave the cover on as a friction fit with the two screws loose and sticking out. :) Works great. A puzzler/suggestion is why didn't IDEAL include a resistance test as a second level function on the continuity button? So continuity first press, resistance second press, back to continuity third press. Continuity and resistance measurement are best friends. If your circuit is doing continuity, and you have the micro-controller inside running the digit display, should be pretty much a no-brainer to calculate and show resistance. With 3x AAA powering the tester it could probably could measure up to 5 meg-ohms. Happy Measuring, Y'all! :)

Excelente

It’s a great tool and that’s all needs to be said. If u a sparky it’s a good one to have.

Perfect tester for the back pocket.

Easy to read screen

Meter is small in hand so it fits nicely in the pocket. Has a few options to measure voltage to eliminate ghost voltage which is nice when working on PLCs. Overall a nice meter and has a few more features than my regular tester that is bigger in size. Meter measures resistance and also has a feature that of a pen tester for testing power.