obnoxious Fluke 87 V meter problem

Fluke does not make meters like they used to any more. Actually, I don't think they make them in the US any more. The last I heard, they are all made in china now..

For a while, they were having the low ends made in china and kept the upper models where ever they were doing it the last time. Then, that changed and all of it is now chinese made.. That's what the sales rep told us.

We have a Fluke 289 that was not made in china. Couple of the guys wanted a 289 so when theirs came in, those were made in china and you can see the difference in the case and switch action, they are not the same quality..

It does not surprise me that you have found that design flaw.. You most likely got a chinese designed version in a case that mimics the original fluke and approved by fluke, which is nothing more than an office and web sight, as far as I can see.

Jamie

NOT per

Oh-oh. If you have one of the older units, you may have RF susceptibility problems, which includes clearing the flash and bricking the meter (15min):

and the fixed version (18min):

Old and new versions comparison:

or just listen to the beep. The old model has a rather loud beep. The new version has a much quieter beep. Also, the new one comes with shrouded probe tips.

It's really hard to tell what the heck those photos are supposed to be, but I do have the one with the metal stub on the mode selection switch, which would be rev 11 or the new one, I think.

So I just ran a test.

power on meter with no leads. Great.

I then dampened a qtip and squeezed it as dry as it can get as they're too fat to slide in the jack all the way when fluffed up.

I jammed it into the uA range jack and the meter started the several beeps er second and LEAd (or whatever it looks like in 7-segment) freak out input protection mode.

I stuck the other dry end of the qtip in the jack and it still won't settle down, even after being shut off and on. A second qtip still can't dry the jack enough. No amount of rotating or just straight up and down action with any number of qtips seems to dry the thing out enough to work again.

The only ranges that act normal are mA and uA.

From this photo

You can see there are two solder leads per jack. It seems that one side is the "working" terminal of the jack and the other is just for sensing when a probe is inserted because it will short out both pins. Inside the red plastic jack each half terminal is just a nearly semicircle shaped contact that wraps around almost half the banana-ish plug you's stick in there.

Whatever they're sensing must be in the microvolts or microamps of leakage between those half terminals. Whatever it is, it's way over sensitive.

Fluke will fix it for free or replace it under the warranty. Do not try to fix it yourself.

I have some experience with Fluke Service. Although nobody is perfect, they are really the best in the business.

If you needed a waterproof meter you should have bought a 28 series II, which has identical features.

Mark Z.

The Fluke 110 series (116, 117, etc) are Chinese made. The 80 series are all still U.S. made.

Even the Chinese ones are made to high standards, but only carry a 3 year warranty, whereas the U.S. made models have the famous "lifetime" warranty.

To my knowledge there are no Chinese - made 289's. Frankly somebody would have to prove this to me.

I have a brand-new 289 and it is definitely American.

Mark Z.

Sorry if I responded too quickly to your earlier post if you've already opened it.

Nevertheless, you should get it to Fluke for service. They really will fix it for free.

I've even heard of many cases where they cover units not 'technically' under warranty, not original owner, no purchase documentation, etc.

I'm assuming you are in the U.S.

Their turnaround is usually about 2 weeks, including UPS both ways.

Mark Z.

we have at least 7 people in the shop using them and they're all chinese made, accept the one I have. It's possible you can still get US made ones. Our sales rep told us differently..

This reminds me of the Baldor micro AC drives we get, (VS1MD) series. if you go to their web sight and look at the advertised drive, they show a membrane keypad with a slightly different art design on the face. when you actually buy one, you get a chicklet push button keys and the front is just a plane jane control. It really does not matter but the point is, they are not shipping you what they advertise.. Also the ones we get are made in S.Korea.

Jamie

Comparison of a Rev 9 meter with a prototype Rev 11 meter.

You did the water test, not the RF susceptibility test. Find a GSM phone and see what it does. It wasn't my 87-V meter, but one of the techs on a mountain top radio site announced that his meter was dead and unusable anywhere near a source of RF. He sent it back to Fluke for repair. I think (not sure) it was replaced by a later model.

As for waterproof, it appears that the 87-V is NOT waterproof. That's the newer type 28 meter.

Reading from left to right on the above photo, that's: + terminal - terminal mA/uA Amps While the mA/uA and Amps terminals have split pin connections, the + and - terminals do not. I can see a possible problem with leakage across the split terminals, but not across the + and - which don't seem to have a sensor. My guess(tm) would be something is leaking across the PCB, possible from the two Amps terminals to ground or internal power. It might also be testing for any resistance between the two Amps terminals, or between the Amp terminals and the + terminal, which are unusable conditions.

True. Find a tiny o-ring that fits into the connector and cram it down to the bottom until it seals the receptacle. That's should help.

Incidentally, I have two Fluke meters (Model 10 and 73). No problems and well worth the money.

I'm doubting the meter is "broken" in that it won't behave like any other one just like it. I don't need waterproof, just to know that the meter doesn't have water absorbent plastics in it and it won't completely stop working if my glasses fog up for a second when going to another room.

The slightest trace of moisture doesn't seem to need to get past the jack itself, and it's not like I'm pouring water into the jacks. Maybe I need to make some rubber plugs for the damn thing.

It reminds me of those horrible ceramic thick film resistor looking dew sensors in VCRs that always failed on their own. Just drawing on them with a pencil seemed to take care of that (not really sure how though).

down to the bottom until it seals the receptacle. That's should help.

I have a 85-III, an 87-V, a 27-II, an 8800A/AF, the new 289 and an 8840A. In my experience they have been absolutlely reliable, and in measurements there's not over about 400 microvolts difference on DC volts between them, even the 8800 produced around (?) 1975 and the 8840A made around 1986.

Yes, I am a "multimeter junkie"...

I have left my 87-V in my refrigerator for days on end getting min-max on temperature. It would get condensation when moved from the cold to a warm room, but never malfunctioned.

I have not submerged any of them, but the 27-II is supposed to be waterproof...

The 87-5 has split terminals for the current jacks - this may explain why the other fellow was getting the "leads" indication with moisture in there.

Mark Z.

I just confirmed that just one breath like one would use to clean eyeglasses is enough to "short out" the small current range jack.

Can anybody else try this?

I'm going to ask fluke about this.

I'm going to agree with you. I think that is a fault. I'm going to try it with mine.

Mark Z.

Doesn't happen with mine. Serial # is 96800437.

Just another example of the sales bullshit not matching reality.

OK, I checked my 87-5. DOES NOT trigger the lead warning by any amount of close-up hot breathing into it.

Also checked my 289 again to confirm "Made in America".

It is, "of U.S. and non-U.S. components" - about as I expected.

Mark Z.

I got an RMA today for mine.

The tech support guy was basically able to cut me off before I described the problem, and suggested I clean the jack with pure alcohol, which I tried already. That didn't work so it's going back. It was hinted it would take years of grime to build up on the jack before it acts weird, which obviously isn't the case.

So it's back to the 73 series II for now I guess.

I'm really curious as to what the resistance is between the "shorted" contacts, but I can't measure it without desoldering the jack, which would probably cancel any warranty work on the unit.

DC resistance between split halves of current jacks on the 87-5 = 2.4 meg

on the 85-3 it is 30 meg on mA jack, 25 meg on Amp jack . The 289 appears to use optical sensing.

Mark Z.

Interesting- I'll test resistance with HP 34401 (which has been mostly surprise free except for the really low input impedance of the AC ranges) before I ship it off.

Yesterday was less humid in the house, and it took an extra puff to trigger the lead error, but it was still easy. Maybe the shroud of the jack uses a water absorbing plastic like nylon.