Safe Meter for measuring CAT IV

[evingar]

Hi Folks,

BIt of advice required here please.

At the "day job" we are required to measure feeds that need a Category IV meter:-

"used on locations where fault current levels can be very high, such as supply service entrances, main panels, supply meters and primary over-voltage protection equipment."

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimeter

We have a set of good quality Fluke multimeters that comply with that requirement on the voltage setting that have been in use for a number of years. However, during a recent review of safety a question mark has been raised about using such multimeters in situations where high voltages and extremely large amount of current are available. The reason for the question mark is that it is possible that the meters could initiate an arc / flash-over condition if the multimeter were to be set to measure resistance when measuring is attempted.

The obvious solution would be to specify meters that can solely measure voltage - i.e are not multimeters. The problam appears to be these are as rare as rocking poo. Does anyone have a recommendation, or does anyone work for a utility company that needs to Cat IV equipment if so, what do you use.

[Mark Hennessy]

As you probably know already, the Fluke 87V is the default choice for industrial electricians. It's rated for 600V at Cat IV at the voltage input jack.

The rating applies to the terminals, whatever the setting of the mode switch - otherwise the front panel markings would have to reflect that.

Well, that's my understanding of the situation. Why don't you ask Fluke directly?