In this episode: Dave stops fighting his irresistible urge to become a mad scientist. Maniacal laughter ensues.

Dave, you need to work on your evil laugh. How can you expect to become a proper mad scientist if you can't even cackle like a professional?

If you want a sudden impulse, just turn the tester on fist then connect the meter. Much more likely to cause damage due to inductive ringing and capacitive coupling/flashover

If you look at the scope trace for the arcing test, notice how the first spike is larger than all the rest. The initial arc was harder to start than the subsequent ones, as ionised air is more conductive.

Meh, I bought an 8008 to both see what it was like in person (Reasonably pleasant, definitely a Harbor Freight $5 meter "killer", lol); the 1 microvolt and 0.01 ohm resolution is nice too. I also own an Amprobe AM-140-A, a HP 3456A (A 6.5 digit meter from the 80's and a genuine HP), as well as countless others over the years, so I'm reasonably experienced in that regard. The 8008 seems to be a good meter for sticking in your bag just in case you might need a cheap DMM and you don't want a nicer meter to get damaged or stolen. It's not particularly rugged, but for the price you could pick up a Pelican case for it and still have enough cash for dinner at McDonald's ;-) I get that it's cheaply built and doesn't have the standard MOV protection you might otherwise expect, but for me the vast majority of the work I do is with 12V and logic-level voltages so having CE-rated input protection just doesn't matter and I'm not going to knock a $25 meter for not having the same protection as a Fluke-- different market segments and use-cases. It just seems like being a meter snob to slam it for not being the same as more expensive meters when it has some very nice features that are unique to its price point. Being aware of its limitations is one thing (Especially if you ever have to deal with higher voltages!), but just refusing to consider it a "real" meter because it lacks some things is silly.

We had same insulation tester at my previous work. It was freezing pretty often (had to be turned off by e-stop, nothing else worked) and cables were failing pretty often, so it shown much higher resistance than thermocouples in reality had.

nice HV probe Dave.......may the force be with you!

Thank you Dave :-) intro is just awesome

What NOT to do with a high voltage probe. Leave the probe overnight in a very cold vehicle causing condensation to form inside it then take the probe and insert it to measure 29 KV (thankfully low current) Somewhere from the handle it arced to me and exited at my elbow burning a hole in my jumper at that point i am also told there was an arc from the swivel leg caster to the concrete floor. Thankfully all I suffered was a lot of pain and fright.

Thanks for basics videos

Love the authentic evil laugh @12:12

Who would be crazy enough to test 5KV with a $25 eBay meter?

That scope has a lovely sharp display

"Joe Smith" has some good videos on high voltage transient testing of multimeters. I believe he has also tested a pre-production EEVblog 121GW meter.

I knew you couldn't get enough of that.

Wow Dave, you need some minions now, these semi evil style videos recently and all. :-)

Keep in mind the 8002 and 8008 place the PTC and clamp after the selector switch. The switch has to handle the entire voltage. Obviously it can't. These meters are a little odd in that respect as normally the first layer of protection is in front of the switch. The interesting thing from watching this video is how the 121GW appears to breakdown as well the first time you hit it. It's possible you blew out some contaminates around the switch assuming it was an older version of the meter. I never tried to push the unmodified prototype meter to higher levels after it was damaged. But I did have the meter far above this and would think if there was a clearance or creepage problem with the layout, I would have seen it in those tests. Strange. I'm guessing conductive particles.

No one else caught the 1.21 GW Reference from BTTF? Nice little reference Dave! And a nice name for what seems to be a nice meter. :)

Your laughing sounds like Dr. Frankenstein playing in his lab with high voltage :-)

That laugh is going to get programmed into "bobble Dave". Very interesting indeed.

Shocking results!

Great Video! I think I'd rather buy the Aneng then the Brymen. It looks like a great value. I think Dave doesn't like it because its better value than the EEV blog meter.

So even you can't blow-up the 8008 $25 meter! What's next, the throw it off the dam test?

Dave's laugh while the arcs are going on - instalike

That's one of the (few) sad things about the demise of CRT colour TV's... The supply of cheap 'hot dog bun warmers' has dried up... once was a time every service house had a HV probe good for 25kV :)

Don't know why, but putting HV across multimeters and SMPSUs makes fun, everytime!

Ahh that Rohde & Scharz is so beautiful! I want one!

Actually the AN8008 impressed me more than the insulation tester. At least its processor didn't crash, not even with arcing at the range switch. I don't think many top-brand products would pass that test! Basically none of these meters, not even Cat-rated ones, should be used in the vicinity of >1kV supplies than can deliver any significant current. They are not rated to remain safe under such conditions. I guess one question that arises with the AN8008 is whether those very short fuses would arc after they blew with such voltages. Probably yes, in which case they're effectively not a fuse under those conditions.

At 12:10 Dave laughs maniacally. And to my shame - so did I.

Is there no ground connector on the HV probe? Does it use just the mains grounding?

Really distracting that you didn't have the vertical scale divisions aligned with a zero voltage point instead of offset by -20 or -10 :P

where'd the link for the diy hv-probe go???

OOoooooo, that's nice! This is why I don't have a problem spending $800 for a Fluke and $10 for a replacement fuse.

Survive is good enough for the price, well worth it

POTENTIALY useful... sorry, couldn't hold back this pun

"Potentially" useful. I see what you did there!

was that classed as a eddy current at the beginning ???

At 13:07 the BM 235 displays "InEr" when you turn it on. Is that normal, or did it perhaps suffer some damage from the test?

Could you make a vid comparing TVS Diodes and Varistors?

When you do your HVP-70 probe tear down how about showing it configured to and the result when viewing your AC mains? Thanks!

When I saw the intro I went back from fullscreen if I am not mistakenly watching photonicinduction...

What about some content having as subject supercapacitors?

You should do a fun video where you build the largest capacitor bank you can for sensible money to blow things up.

bro i have same multimeter and he dead for high voltage (400kv) how to fix it please ! how to know dead components

Nice! Can you try it with one of the extremely cheap meters?

So what happens if you discharge a flux capacitor into the 121GW meter?

And one more thing. Always verify any questionable instrument . Check your HV probe using 500 VDC setting on the IR tester and compare the reading to a direct DMM measurement.( use 2 DMM s)

It would help to go into more detail why someone would get these type of voltages anyway.

Dang, you didn't even try to light a cigar with it. :)

Ohhh, 'e pawped eet!

i like it!

To get a energy dump you could have charged the insulation meter then connected the lead to the D.U.T

Dave's new nickname is "Sparky"

Right, enough teasing, when is the 121GW going to be released?

Connect an external cap to the tester, and then zap the meter with the cap. Breadboard style with 5kV would be nice.

5KPlus constant volt surge into the Aneng and it kept on ticking!!...definitely seems engineered well enough to me ;) Great video, thanks!

Nah, that's not HV testing, you need a Photonicindution Big Boy's Power Supply for that... :P

I bought one of those Anengs for a laugh - I wonder if it'd be possible to add an aftermarket MOV to give it a bit more protection?

I don't get it.. That looks like Gas Discharge Tube protection to me.. the gas is air, and the tube is the plastic case.. It breaks down at a predictable 3kv.. what's not to like?

I may be late to the game on noticing this, but I like the BTTF reference...Model 121GW .. EPIC!!

That was too many 'squizzes' for me. I'm not a young man anymore. :-D

Maybe he should build Joe Smith's transient generator and use that...

Sounds like you need a TLP DAVE. Good thing I work at a boutique TLP solutions company.

Your mmeter looks good. +1

13:20 T1 ROTARY_EEVBLOG

You can make a hv pulse generator like you want cheap. Use a car ignition coil. Coil one plug coils have a 3 or 4 prong connection. Ground, +12v, and +12v trigger and they will fire a pulse.

12:10 needs some Star Wars music.

Sorry but is there a video that would explain what is a MOV and how it operates to clamp a voltage on this situation? How can these things dissipate kilovolts? I thought this video would give more explanation.

don't get why everyone is having ago at this video this was way over my head but really enjoyed it i don't care how accurate it is but i tell you its got me trying theses types of tests myself im happy with my crappy £10 meter haven't got a clue how to use it and yes the magic smoke has appeared more then once lol

UNI-T... Dave's favorite brand. But this might be a reasonable device, lets see if Dave has to say anything about it..

Dave, you were taking entirely too much pleasure at torturing that poor defenseless meter.

But Aneng was the only multi meter that fought back to UNI-T...Respect

Energise the IR tester before applying across the DUT.

who designs that eevblog metre??

never do that with a velman one fore sure....

Dave you need to learn that MOVs are rated in operating AC voltage . The clamping DC voltage is much higher 575VAC = 900 VDC clamp Anyone using a DMM without HV probe should limit their probing to less than 1000V peak.( As per specs ) At 1kV both meters are just fine. MOVs or no MOVs.

1.21 Gigawatt multimeter? I want one.

i decided to buy the an8008 yesterday and i feel like it wasn't a bad decision. only payed 18$ for it. i feel like it'll be fine for anything up to 230volts ac. i don't thin i'll be dealing with 2kv or higher peaks. And even if i do, whats the deal. the worst thing that could happen is the meter dying.

speaking of high voltage and multimeters, anyone know if joe smith is coming back? Great video, Dave, BTW!

sooo... when do we get the newer meter?

BOOOM !

Daiyve, Daiyve, Daiyve Lots of high voltage at Pine Gap, Australia. Load up your kit in the old Subaru and get out there.

> Claims uni-t meters are shit > Tests proper meters with a uni-t tester.

Years ago, I have connected car ignition coil through thyristor in serial whit light bulb as a ballast, connected to 240V to Primary 12 V winding. Deadly Plasma Lamp Was Born.

Pretty blue :O

Is HVP-70 on discount again? I missed BARGAINPROBE, hopefully this is my chance :-)

MOVs* not MOV's

It would be funny to see an EEV BLOG Aneng meter!

That evil laugh.

Air Ion-channel clamped meter. Clever design. ROFL

I'm thinking about hacking this 8008 by adding some movs etc. Could it benefit from that or it is just too crappy in design to ever achieve any sort of protection?

electrified video ever

Aneng survived it, I bet eev meter wouldn't survive half of that

My „Voltcraft“ german crap multi sucked and arced at ~1200 V. Took three days getting the stench outa the room.

2:36 5 kHz ?

You need photoinduction....

Can I fish with it?

12:14 for the evil laugh.

TEAM UP WITH PHOTONIC INDUCTION AND BLOW THEM UP WITH HIGH VOLTAGE PROPERLY!

Clearly dielectric grease would make that an8008 basically the same as any other meter.