Fluke 83 fix

[Elvee]

Here is a fix I found for this multimeter, which others might find useful.

I have owned a Fluke 83-III for a little more than a dozen of years now, used it regularly but not intensively (I have other instruments), and several years ago, problems began with some ranges: the first to go was the mV DC. For a short time, I could get around by wiggling the function switch, but it quickly became totally unoperative, next were the mA-µA, and finally the Ohm function began to malfunction.

That's when I said to myself it was time to tackle seriously these problems, as the thing was beginning to become next to useless.

I had already had a look inside earlier, at the beginning of the troubles, but I had seen nothing obviously wrong.

This time, I looked more closely, and dismantled it completely, including the function switch.

I noticed that the gold plated PCB islands were tiny, requiring a great positionning accuracy.

I also noticed that the plastic shaft of the rotary swich was worn at the hole through the PCB. The tiny play this introduced was probably sufficient to cause the troubles.

There were no obvious solutions, but then I saw that this hole too was plated through: I then had the idea of tinning it: this would make the fitting tighter and soften the contact between de plastic and the raw surface of the hole.

I did it, reassembled the whole carefully and bingo! Everything was functionnal again.

[mrmodemhead]

Thanks for posting this. I fix multimeters as a hobby and while I haven't seen that particular problem, I'll file away your solution in case it's needed.