HIOKI DT 4252 mini review

[giorgos]

INTRODUCTION:

I was always believed that nothing in life is impossible, also you cant predict what life can bring to you.
So I confirmed for even one time, by being the winner of a HIOKI meter.

I had the first contact with DT4252 through ITTSB, and it raised my interest.
It has preceded the presentation of DT4280 series model, a high class meter, but far from my budget, so DT4252 seemed to be a perfect choice for me.
Even so my economic situation didnt allow me to purchase it, but fortunately ITTSB gave me the chance to win it.
Now I am finally the owner of a quality meter.

My other meters its quite old but still functional.
The first one is a METEX M3650 bought in 1991 (as a present to myself),when I was a student in technical college.
After few years I bought a SOAR 3250. A very reliable instrument, autoranging with good protections against false wiring. However its a weathered meter.
I have also a UNI-T uT61 meter, a typical low budget meter.

So the main conclusion is that I havent a reference meter in order to make a complete review, but I will attemp to make it with any resources I have.


APPEARANCE:

After unboxing DT4252, you can realize immediately that you have to do with a quality meter.
First of all, it has an unique appearance and design, that differs enough from other meters.
The body is square shaped, made from good quality plastic, it  has a blue external protective rubber material
which seems to be well designed, in order to provide efficient protection to the meter against shocks.
Also into the box you can find the manual and a set of test leads.

The test leads are according new safety standards, with covered tips.
The good point is that covers are removable , something useful if you want to measure for example an unassembled component.
They have a grey colour, and they are rather thin too (rated for 10A) but made from good quality plastic.
Their cables are very flexible,something positive.Their tips are not so sharp, also maybe they are gold plated (or something like that).
Anyway after a period of use,test cables will appear their resist in time and their quality.

On backside of meter there is a cover for batteries and fuse for easy accessing them. Also rubber part has holder posts for test leads.

On front side you can see the 3 inputs marked with relative colours, the rotary selector switch, function buttons and display.All indications are well readable.

Rotary switch has a perfect feeling, very smooth to operate it ,even with one hand holding the meter too, and accurate too as moving through positions.

Function buttons are made from rubber material with good feeling when you press them, and good ergonomic too.

Display has digits in right size according dimensions, and well readable indications. There are a second set of digits on upper side,in order to indicate frequency, when you make AC measurements.
The backlight (white colour) activates by pressing a button. It has low intensity , as Kyriakos has noticed too, but even so when you really need backlight (in dark environments) it will do its job very well.
We must know that backlight destination is not to use it as a torch...

And at last ,I have not to forget to mention ,that it has a red led too, which lights when we are making continuity measurements.


MEASUREMENTS:

Lets see now my first impressions from using DT4252.

At voltage measurements, I noticed that when range changes (auto-ranging mode), the buzzer beeps short, to indicate the change of range.
The meter's response to variable voltage is immediate, very fast comparing to the meters i have use until now.
At AC range , a second set of digits appears on the upper side of display,to indicate the frequency of measured voltage too.
Very useful function!

At ohms, the first point that someone can notice, is the over-range indication.
In this case the display appears a blinking "6000".
I have to admit that it annoyed me a little, but anyway I think that its something that you can get use with it, if you work for a little time with DT4252.

The continuity tester has a very fast response, a positive point too.
I would prefer a little louder level of buzzer sound, which is rather low and it could be a weak point if you are working in a noisy environment.
Anyway the extra led on the top of display, which lights following the buzzer, partially solves the problem.
Diode tester works fine too, providing enough voltage to lights a led.

Capacity tester works fine too, with a relative delay according to the value of measuring capacitor. It needs about a second to measure a 100n capacitor, but if you want to measure a 1000μ
capacitor, the measuring time reaches the 6-7 seconds.

The current measurements is following the overall quality of meter. This meter covers a wide range of current measurements that reaches 10A. I found this suitable for my requirements,
instead of having a meter with low current rate, that requires to use an extra clamp meter for higher current measurements.

The function buttons have a good press sense, and they response perfect to their destination. Also by using them in combination with selector switch, you have access to some special functions
(apd on/off, buzzer disable etc).

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the beginning of this topic, I haven't any reference equipment in order to verify the accuracy of DT4252 ,so regarding measurements I posted only some
points I noticed, by using DT4252 for a short period of time.

CONCLUSION:

HIOKI made a great bridge between budget and high class meters with DT4250 series.
You can have a meter with performance near to expensive models, with a middle cost.
DT 4252 is an excellent meter, safe for the operator according new safety standards, with good construction.
The only disadvantage i noticed was the sound level of buzzer, and maybe I would prefer it, to has a temperature measurment too, in order to be more integrated.
But anyway those disadvantages are not so important, and in any case cant reduce the overall image of this instrument.

[Kiriakos GR]

Thanks giorgos for your mini review, most of your comments are in the right direction. 

Over - range alert with flashing red back-light  (or LED)  it should work that way only at 600V or 1000V range.

In my case the flashing OL in ohms mode is what annoyed me the most.
And I hope HIOKI to be able to correct that by a firmware update. 

The data logging kit for this HIOKI meter I am assuming that it should be from now and on, your next goal.
This will expand the DT4252 capabilities in full.

The Data logging KIT retail price seems a bit high to me in comparison with similar KIT from other vendors, possibly HIOKI needs to do something about it. 
Especially when their competitors offer their KIT at less than 50 Euro (retail plus VAT)