Digital Multimeter beeping when changing switch positions

Thread Starter

meddyliol

Joined May 5, 2014
8
I have just received a new multimeter (only a cheapish Morpilot from Amazon. Looks to be a fairly well built bit of kit. The problem with it and I have never come across this in 50 years as an Electronics Technician, is when changing switch positions I get an annoying beep. Has anyone else had this with any other meter?

Thanks

Brian
 

kubeek

Joined Sep 20, 2005
5,794
I know meters that have five awful beeps before they finally auto turn off, but never when just switching the range.
I would try returning it and getting a different one if possible.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
I have a Micronta from the early 1990's (from Radio Shack, remember when they sold cool stuff?) that gives one beep every time you change the setting. My Fluke does not.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
That beep can be a useful reminder of range changing, very useful in places with poor lighting. My suggestion is to raise your annoyance threshold a bit. My guess is that it is a "feature" suggested by the marketing group at the manufacturer, who are unable to tell the difference between features and quality.
 

Thread Starter

meddyliol

Joined May 5, 2014
8
I am looking at the Tacklife DM01M from Amazon, not autoranging but that's not a problem for me. Is Tacklife a decent maker of multimeters? I only tend to fiddle about with Arduino etc and cannot afford a more expensive one. I gave my Fluke to my son.

Would you believe it, just checked a review of this meter on YouTube and that beeps as well. Wish I had kept my old Fluke now.
 
Last edited:

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
If the beep is that annoying, and the meter is so inexpensive, just crack it open and disconnect the beeper. Although that would disable the audible part of your continuity feature... Maybe add your own toggle switch to enable/disable the beeper. Is it really that bad?
 

Thread Starter

meddyliol

Joined May 5, 2014
8
I think that I'm resigned to the fact that I will have to put up with it. It's not that bad I suppose, it is quieter when switching positions and louder when on continuity test. I am just being a wimp.
Anyway, sorry if I have wasted your times.

Brian
 

OBW0549

Joined Mar 2, 2015
3,566
I think that I'm resigned to the fact that I will have to put up with it. It's not that bad I suppose, it is quieter when switching positions and louder when on continuity test. I am just being a wimp.
Anyway, sorry if I have wasted your times.
Not wasted at all.

One thing you might be able to do to reduce the annoyance is to muffle the piezo beeper a bit; some of them are pretty loud. Open up your DMM and take a look inside to locate the beeper. If you see the raw piezo element itself, without any housing, you can spread a layer of rubber cement over it; this will cover the piezo with a layer of viscous material that should cut down the sound level significantly. If it's covered by a small, inverted plastic cup with a hole in the top, try plugging the hole. That should help.

For additional discussion, check out this thread: Things That Go Beep In The Night.
 

kubeek

Joined Sep 20, 2005
5,794
I think the simpler way to take volume of the beeper is to add a resistor in series (if it is on wires and not spring contacts).
 

ebp

Joined Feb 8, 2018
2,332
Tacklife is just a sell of miscellaneous stuff, as far as I can tell. I bought a Tacklife USB voltage/current/energy device that seems OK.

I have a Fluke DMM that produces an abominable noise on a resistance function. It is useful for continuity testing but bloody annoying otherwise. I stuck a label on the back of the meter to remind myself how to turn the beeping off.

Too many things in instruments get put there by designers who don't actually use instruments. Some of the earlier digital oscilloscopes were horrendous because the controls got designed by programmers instead of oscilloscope experts.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
I would find a beep useful if it would beep when a reading stablized, since sometimes I have to focus rather closely on where I am probing, with both probes. Really, though, there are so many much more important things to be bothered with. So once again I am suggesting to raise your irritation threshold a bit..
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
That's a great DMM feature, the option to beep and freeze a reading once it's stable, or when you talk to it, etc.. I can't tell you how many times I've been probing something itty bitty only to have the probe slip when I look over to read the meter. Fluke if you're listening; I can talk to my cell phone, why can't I talk to my DMM? "read now", "freeze reading", "change to continuity", etc..
 

ebeowulf17

Joined Aug 12, 2014
3,307
Some of the earlier digital oscilloscopes were horrendous because the controls got designed by programmers instead of oscilloscope experts.
Meh, you can't expect to find qualified programmers who also happen to be subject matter experts on whatever you need programmed.

On the other hand, a good embedded programmer (or at least my idea of what defines a good programmer) will take however much time is needed up front determining user requirements, becoming familiar with prior art, learning how similar systems are implemented and used, etc. I've seen projects where far more time is spent researching, discussing, outlining, making charts, etc. than actually programming. Often the actual coding is much simpler than deciding what should be coded. If you don't spend the requisite time up front, the rest goes to crap. GIGO.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
I find the beep on my Fluke on the Diode test useful, it beeps continuously below 200Ω, one short beep between 200Ω and 2kΩ, no beep over 2k.
It saves me from looking at the dial.
On the resistance range there is no beep.
Max.
 
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