Re: For those with Fluke Handheld DVMs

Just an FYI: Flukes generally carry a lifetime warranty - and this expedient would void that warranty. A more serious failure would then render the unit worthless and without resort to Fluke.

Just keep this in mind.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Really. Does that apply to the 8000 series ? Buddy of mine has one the batteries leaked all over and now it acts erratic. We have NOT modified the unit, just took out the batteries. If that is under warranty hell, we'll send it in !

Eveready or Duracell, either will replace the unit at no cost. Chinese crap, no. Fluke would call that negligence, and rightly so.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

The last duracell battery leakage claim I filed resulted in getting a prepaid credit card. Had to get an all new flashlight, but it worked out in the end. Not sure how they deal with more expensive stuff like test equipment.

My wife once upon a time collected Fiesta Ware pottery. As you (should) kno w, back in the day that Fiesta first started, many of the glazes used radio active salts for certain colors including orange, green and a few others. S o, I acquired a geiger counter, military surplus, for checking that possibi lity. Not that the stuff was passively harmful, just that one would not wis h to serve food in those pieces that were radioactive. Well, the (Eveready) batteries leaked. I sent it off to Eveready, and about a week later, recei ved a check for $357.32 (I DO remember that number), which represented the cost of that unit when new plus the cost of my shipping the item to them. T hat, along with a very nice note suggesting that batteries should be remove d from expensive test equipment when it is not in use to avoid inconvenienc e. I went back to the same source I got the first counter, and replaced it with a Navy surplus device for $75, including shipping. I gave that to my s on-in-law, as he and his dad collect items that involve glazes and glass, a nd I now have a Civil Defense kit including scintillators and several other testers that I purchased NIB at a municipal "yard sale" for $25. Works nic ely.

I now also remove batteries from my "good" stuff if it is going down for mo re than a week or so.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

"Industrial Products Limited Lifetime Warranty

"Lifetime is defined as seven years after Fluke discontinues manufacturing the product, but the warranty period shall be at least ten years from date of purchase. *(Lifetime Warranty applies to products manufactured after October 1996"

batteries leaked all over and now it acts erratic. We have NOT modified the unit, just took out the batteries. If that is under warranty hell, we'll s end it in !

All true. But my direct experience with Fluke is that they will send on the "next best thing" when a piece is unfixable. NOTE: they have fixed, also i n my direct experience, some pretty sick puppies.

Zippo will repair their lighters similarly, even if it is only a strike whe el that remains of the old device. Their factory tour (Bradford, PA) goes b y the repair room where these lighters come in - and the dedicated (in ever y way) staff that does the repairs. A fascinating operation. Many here coul d learn a few things. I certainly did.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Yeah I don't think the warranty they lived by early on was anything to write home about. Somewhere in time I dropped some good coin on a 97 scope meter and within 3 years of owning it, the backlight for the display went out, the battery pack didn't charge anymore and eventually (using it as a bench meter of sorts at that point) the charging wart failed.

They wanted somewhere around $300 for a repair on everything and I just didn't think it was worth it. I found another ac adapter at a hamfest (remember those?) and continued to use it but these days it's in a box buried in the basement somewhere.

This is what I really wanted to comment on, those guys really do that.

I had a plain chrome lighter (but engraved) someone gave me years ago and pretty much was a daily use item, always carried it around and in use. It didn't "click" anymore, that steel spring thing was broke, the hinge was loose (you needed 2 hands to use it at that point) and the fence/wheel was blackend with use along with the wheel being wobbly.

One day while trying to slide it back in my pocket I missed, it bounced off the wood stairs I was on and fell over the edge onto concrete basement stairs.

At the bottom it was in peices, everything just fell apart.

So I knew about the "no matter what" lifetime warranty, filled out the form from the website and mailed it in. I figure they would say something like, are you nuts or something but surprise, surprise, in a about 3 weeks it was returned, totally repaired and even came in a new box and old parts thrown in as well.

No charge.

I mean it's just a lighter but I can't think of another company or product that is backed up by a real lifetime warranty like that. Someone should give Zippo an award or something.

-bruce snipped-for-privacy@ripco.com

product

Perhaps they were counting on a smoker's lifetime not being that long...

Mike.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: > On Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at

That's a good practice. They only leak when you don't expect it. Then there are always the batteries that are good for a decade past the "good until" date.

Didn't know red was the radioactive color. I do like that green-ish radioactive glass from the era of uranium based home products.

Couple years back I bought a Micronta 22-206 FET multimeter, virtually "new old stock".

Well, not quite. While everything looked pristine - Radio Shack branded batteries had been installed (1975 date code) and just left in there when the thing was boxed back up.

The batteries, a C-cell and a 9 volt, were totally flat but had never leaked. Not even a little.

Dodged a bullet on that one.

Mark Z.

This thread lead me to check the battery-included instruments I keep at/near the bench:

B&K LCR meter Fluke DVM Transistor Analyzer ESR Meter Micronta Digital DVM (travel kit) RF/AF Signal Injector Micro Maglite

Any one of which could be a significant inconvenience should it fail at a critical time and/or have to go away for a while.

The Geiger counter lives in the closet. It gets used perhaps twice per year.

Ah, well.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Peter, the Fluke meters that I've repaired all had GE labeled NiCads. They were assembled in the form of two packs of two cells that were soldered together in a pair, and they used some Berg terminals that snapped onto tiny ball tipped terminal posts. They were approximately C cell sized, and each pair was in a snap on cover, one on each side of the line transformer. I have located a supply of new cells from another OEM, but the wires are hard as a rock, and most of the terminals ar damaged in the latest batch of Fluke 8050 meters that I received. I have been unable to locate the part number for the terminals. It isn't listed in the Fluke manuals. We used that terminal at Microdyne, but I no longer have any contacts there now that it is part of L3-Com, in Philly. As far as I know, they dropped support for every product that used that terminal, as well.

Send them to Fluke. Betcha you will be pleasantly surprised.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Lifetime by Fluke is defined as seven years after they stop production of the device:

My 1980s vintage Fluke test gear 9100s, 9010s, etc., is long past their lifetime warranty.

John ;-#)#

Be extra careful with the maglights. Leaked battery swell up and the juice that comes out will corrode the aluminum and constrict around the battery. It can be impossible to get the batteries out. I had a Kel-Lite destroyed that way. Somebody on usenet suggested wrapping the cells in saran wrap so if they leak you can just slide the whole mess out.

That probably won't help. You have to pull them out and there's nothing to pull on. I had a maglite with that problem. I had to saw it in half to get a look at the markings on the battery. Was Duracell. Sent them a picture. They sent me the cost of the light.

Fluke used to sell replacement battery packs, so there was no warranty. These did not damage anything, they simply loose the ability to take a charge of the decades. The problem is that you can not use the meter from AC, since the battery powered version has an inverter that needs the NiCads on the input side to operate. Look at the schematic of a model 8050, and read the manula where it warns you not to use that version with dead or missing battery packs.

Otherwise, they would still have to support old vacuum tube based equipment that they built in 1948. They don't even list the manual for my Fluke 8050 meters. Luckily, several free archive sites have it in PDF.