Fluke 8500a - Need A Little Help

[GeeVee]

Hi All

I recently purchased a used Fluke 8500A multimeter for a good price and certainly hope that I did not throw my money away.

I do not know much about these meters and need some help.

The unit appears to be fully functional, with the exception of the resistance / ohms setting.
The measured resistance values are way out, and i am not sure if it is a callibration issue or an electrical fault.

If anyone has experience with these meters, i would welcome your comments.

Also, does anyone know where I can find a service manual for this unit.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

Regards
GV

PS: I must admit that my purchase was also partly based on its looks!!!

[jackinnj]

A manual will cost you about $50 from www.w7fg.com -- usually the current source has gone wonky. I have several (3) HP3456's one of which is "bad ohms" --

[Conrad Hoffman]

Or, you can probably buy a scan here for $10. I've also had very good luck with Ridge Equipment , but they don't list your model number in their inventory. They tend to be far less expensive than others.

[GeeVee]

Thank you for your assistance gentlemen.

Looks like I will have to order the manual.

Tried all of the usual free sources.

I suspect that the problem with the resistance measure is a fault, rather that a calibration problem.

Spoke to Fluke today here in Australia, who advised that if there is a problem with the 02 option / module (ohms) it may be cheaper to find a 2nd hand module.

Regards,
George.

[GeeVee]

Boy do I feel silly.

I managed to solve the problem.(well Fluke did!!)

When I called back Fluke to ask them some questions, the service tech reminded me to ensure that the shorting straps were installed.

What shorting straps I asked?

The one that connect the 2 positive terminals together and the other one that connects the 2 negative terminals together.

Hmmm. Problem solved works like a charm

Regards
GV

[wkchew]

You dont have to short it, if you configure the measurement to 2 wire without using the sense wire. I think your 8500 is set to 4 wire measurement to compensate for low ohm reading but then
you have to use Kelvin probe for this application.

[GeeVee]

Originally posted by wkchew
You dont have to short it, if you configure the measurement to 2 wire without using the sense wire. I think your 8500 is set to 4 wire measurement to compensate for low ohm reading but then
you have to use Kelvin probe for this application.

Hi
Thank you for your response.
I am not sure that I fully understand.
When I strap together the positive terminals to each other, and the negative terminals to each other, the unit works perfectly for resistance measurement.
However it does not matter if they are strapped together or not for voltage measurements.

How do I configure for 2 wire without using the sense.

Sorry for having to ask a simple question.

Look forward to your response.

Regards
George.

[niemi24s]

Originally Posted by GeeVee

How do I configure for 2 wire without using the sense.

You can't. If you haven't already figured it out, short the terminals as shown for all measurements except when making 4-wire Ohms measurements. The instrument in the picture is a Fluke 8502A, but I think its front panel connections are the same as yours.



Regards