Fluke multimeter Question

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PedroDaGr8

PedroDaGr8

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Joined 2009
H E Pennypacker said:
This is just not a rational statement.

You know that a lot of modern Flukes are Extech re-badges from China?
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While I agree about the rationality of your statement I doubt the Extech part. I've been wrong before but considering Extech doesn't make their own meters they have OEM'd mostly by CEM but a few by Brymen I doubt they make for fluke. Its possible they are involved but not likely and EVEN less so as the ODM. The major Chinese/Taiwanese OEM/ODM are Mastech, CEM, Victor, Uni-Trend Group (Uni-T), Brymen and Appa. Uni-T is known to make at least a few of the fluke meters for Chinese domestic use like the Fluke 17 and Fluke 17b, so I would look at them first.

crippledchicken said:
I found this comparison, I'll let you more qualified folks look it over to see what you think. :) Extech EX530 Details vs Fluke 87V Details in Digital Multimeters (DMM)
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First, RUN from Extech Ex series, I've seen many of them and inside they are bad. The Ex430 was the one I saw a resistor dangling with a thin filament of solder connecting it to the pad. Don't confuse the Ex line with the MM560/570 which are Beymen made (much to my pleasant surprise).

As for that comparison it's deeply flawed in that it takes no account for reliability, tempature drift, durability, precision, quality, etc. It just says ok the meter has this many counts and this cost this much. It's like saying well both the Ferrari and this Yugo have four wheels, they both go sixty miles an hour and with the Yugo you get four doors so clearly the Yugo is a better deal. Reality just doesn't work that way. Now that's not to say the Ferrari doesn't have competition, just not from Yugo. Flukes competition is Agilent (now Keysight), Brymen, Yokagawa, Gossen plus a few others.

Please excuse any typos or missing words. I'm sending this from my phone.
 
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lanchile

lanchile

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lanchile

lanchile

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Joined 2008
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Algar_emi

Algar_emi

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Agreed. I worked for 10 years in the instrumentation labs business and you always get what you paid for. Compare a commercial one as Fluke with 20-30 years reliability in all kind of abuse, drop to concrete floor, overload, etc with a cheap current model from other Cie and you'll see which one will survive and stay accurate. An old used Fluke is a Fluke. Will last a lifetime if care in a workshop for sure. I have two, a 87 and a higher accuracy bench model.
 
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PedroDaGr8

PedroDaGr8

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Joined 2009
A quick look inside and out. One thing to note, it appears to have built in water resistance. Also the rubber case feels more rough abd rugged than fluke cases. Some will like this feel others won't.
 

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PedroDaGr8

PedroDaGr8

Member
Joined 2009
lanchile said:
LOL...Fluke will always be imitated...but NEVER duplicated! Now open a Fluke 87v:p...if you do not see a difference in quality....you must be blind:D
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Actually, I have and I'm not blind nor am I a fanboy. As a scientist I've long trained my self to be objective and challenge personal prejudices. The difference in quality is minimal at best. If anything, the input protection on the Brymen is slightly better. I know its not what you want to hear but its the flat out truth. The fuses on the brymen are isolated, whereas on the Fluke the are free standing. Same with the input sockets, on the Fluke the board is cutout providing an air gap. On the brymen there is an additional plastic isolator inserted. There are more fusible resistors (Flukes only use one). The major difference is this one uses spark gaps instead of MOVs. Some people will prefer sparkgaps for their higher performance rating and lower capacitances (less attenuation of high frequency signals). Others will prefer MOVs for their higher action speed and the ability to select lower voltage cutoffs (good for meters with lower safety ratings). You can say "but...but...but its a FLUKE!" all you want. The fact is the 87V is a great all around meter, its accurate, its safe and its reliable. That being said its not the BEST at any one thing. There are more accurate meters (even within flukes own lineup), there are meters with better input protection and there are meters with similar build quality (ergo reliability). What you do get is the fluke name, easy access to replacement parts and a device everyone knows and loves.
 
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lanchile

lanchile

Member
Joined 2008
PedroDaGr8 said:
Actually, I have and I'm not blind nor am I a fanboy. As a scientist I've long trained my self to be objective and challenge personal prejudices. The difference in quality is minimal at best. If anything, the input protection on the Brymen is slightly better. I know its not what you want to hear but its the flat out truth. The fuses on the brymen are isolated, whereas on the Fluke the are free standing. Same with the input sockets, on the Fluke the board is cutout providing an air gap. On the brymen there is an additional plastic isolator inserted. There are more fusible resistors (Flukes only use one). The major difference is this one uses spark gaps instead of MOVs. Some people will prefer sparkgaps for their higher performance rating and lower capacitances (less attenuation of high frequency signals). Others will prefer MOVs for their higher action speed and the ability to select lower voltage cutoffs (good for meters with lower safety ratings). You can say "but...but...but its a FLUKE!" all you want. The fact is the 87V is a great all around meter, its accurate, its safe and its reliable. That being said its not the BEST at any one thing. There are more accurate meters (even within flukes own lineup), there are meters with better input protection and there are meters with similar build quality (ergo reliability). What you do get is the fluke name, easy access to replacement parts and a device everyone knows and loves.
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You should watch a few of Dave's videos...He loves to " take it apart".
EEVblog #64 - Fluke 28 Series II Multimeter Review & Teardown - YouTube
 
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