wewire2,
In addn to the things you mentioned, I've found that a voltage drop tester (the Ideal Sure Test, or Tasco model, and now Amprobe has one), is very valuable.
It loads a 15 or 20 amp branch circuit with a 12 amp load for 8 cycles, measures the voltage drop, and calculates the percentage voltage drop. It also calculates the impedance of each conductor. It does other stuff too.
It's great for finding a weak connection in a circuit. Measure voltage drop along a circuit (guessing on the layout), when voltage drop increases dramatically, that's where the bad connection (or damage to the conductor) is.
Also, for troubleshooting intermittant problems, I've found the Fluke 189 (now the 289) very valuable. Either is a recording DMM. There are other manufacturers that also make recording DMMs.
Lastly, I'm finding the new Fluke 381 amp-clamp with the removable / remote display is a real useful tool. It uses bluetooth to link the meter with the display. Good to 50 feet in the open.
I've recently heard about a DMM called Redfish that uses wifi to send the data to your iphone or ipad. Good to 100 feet they say. Pretty pricey for a basic DMM, though.
Cheers,
Cliff
