which is best multimeter in the world? Fluke or extech?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#22
poobah said:
soongsc,

You have a fluke that does not work??? Have you tried a new battery?
Click to expand...

It's not the batteries. I sent it to the local rep and they just said it needed new guts which cost about have the price for a new one. The LCD sort of fades and you can't see anything. I'm not sure whether it measures well or not.
 
#23
anatech said:


soongsc, what happened to your Fluke? As I recall, switch contacts were a problem, so were display elastomers (but cheap). You may even have a broken lead in the battery connector.

-Chris
Click to expand...

After sitting there without being used for a year or two, I turned it on one day and couldn't see a reading even with new batteries. The local rep said it's the display, but they only will do gut swapping and not just the display asking about half the price for a new one.
 
#24
Hi soongsc,
That might be an easy fix. Try this. Remove the circuit board and display unit. There are some things that look like grey or tan plastic connectors between the display and the board. Clean the contact points on the board, display and ends of the "plastic" with 99% alcohol. Use a cotton swab, not not push hard. Reassemble. You must remember which side of the display is up.

Some Fluke meters have a rotary switch that gets noisy. Clean the switch. All these parts are available as spares.

Finish putting it together with a fresh battery and test. If the display still fades, measure the voltage at the battery connections to the PCB to make sure the clip is okay.

-Chris
 
#26
I spent a lot of time researching meters. I dont have a lot of money and i needed something that had standard VOM functions and was RMS accurate over the whole audio frequency spectrum for AC voltage measurments, and would measure capacitors to at least 20,000uf. and the Fluke 189 fit the bill. I managed to find a used one on ebay for a good price and it has been my bench side companion for some time now. I love it so much i wont take it in the field with me. By only complaint is that it runs on batteries only. I really wish it had an AC adapter available.

No other tool i could find would do everything i needed it to do like the Fluke. I could have purchased several other pieces to do the same functions, but the fluke does everything very well! There just want any reason to buy anything else.

Zc
 
#27
I worked in a calibration and repair lab for 7 years and used multimeter for all my professionnal life. Fluke are the kings of multimeter. Maybe more expensive but worth every penny. What you read is always the exact value. Their calibration last forever. They are tought, reliable and accurate. You cannot go wrong with them. Also their service is just perfect. they have all the replacement parts and they are easy to repair. Fluke is the way to go. The Fluke 189 is one of the best DMM available. I have the older 89 model since almost 10 years now. Still working like a charm. A real accurate true rms multimeter, 4 -1/2 digits great meter, the fondation of a good personnal workshop. Even if you don't have a lot of money, try to find a used 77 model. I will last a lifetime. Have fun.
 
#29
In this part of the world, with all those cheap rubber on solder contact for the LCD, I have not seen a fluke work reliably. Even the pcb absorbs moisture and shows erratic redings.
I prefer my Beckman DM73 (pen type) to the fluke.
Humidity here is mostly above 80%.

Gajanan Phadte
 
#34
AudioFreak said:
Either that or ask someone in USA to get it for you and then have them forward it via USPS EMS. I'm sure if you ask nicely there are plenty of people here that would help you out.

Cheers and Happy New Year.
Click to expand...

I pulled it out again just to refresh my memory on the problem. It seems like it isn't measuring correctly either. 9V battery reads something like 12, 110 VAC reads something between 170~220. 4 ohm resistor reads in the Kohm range. Looks like it's really messed up. But the Fluke 189 certainly looks attractive. I've also been eyeing some second hand cheap 8010A for the bench.
 
#35
Fluke is nice if you have the money, and care about the brand. But generally you can find cheaper meters with more features and just as much accuracy.

Whether you use the extra features, or have other dedicated equipment which is more accurate (RLC tester for example) is up to you.


Here is a small review of a few meters:
http://www.reed-electronics.com/tmworld/article/CA274064?spacedesc=testBench


Accuracy is basically good enough, unless you get a cheapo meter. Also there are no clear winners across the board, some are better in certain areas.
 
#36
We have a lot of Fluke 85s at work, good meters that get heavy (ab)usage but they have ALL gone intermittent where the probe sockets are connected to the PCB. The first sign is wandering readings on low ohm resistors. Easy enough to fix though.
 
#37
Fancy DMM's

Guys,
You are going to hate me.

Ive got a Fluke 77 here in Kuwait with me, and it's just fine. Got it from a dealer in Florida for about $100 US and other than fuses and batteries it has yet to fail.

Try to by a US made 77. Word on the street is the Chinese made ones are no were near as good.

Back home in Virginia got a couple of outlandish meters.

An old but very good shape HP 3456A. Won that on Ebay for about 100 bucks. 6.5 digit with a fancy AC converter. On dc mode you can hook it up to a 1.5 volt battery and watch as the internal chemical reactions drop the output voltage, microvolts at a time.

Four wire ohms is a very handy thing to have too.

Handy for some of the exotic stuff I have to fix. Mostly it's over kill but it looks impressive to visitors.

Same for the next one....

Also have an old Fluke 8500A It's a 5 1/2 digit DMM, the ohms converter is out of it but for a basic DC meter, it's great.

Back in their day, I used to be a cal lab/ repair type, and these units were the in thing.

Look around on Ebay, you can find some amazing bargans with a little time and effort.

Imagine what you can do with a Fluke 5220? Talk about a low z driver.

Later guys
Jack Crow in Kuwait
 
#38
Re: Fancy DMM's

Jack Crow said:
Back home in Virginia got a couple of outlandish meters.

An old but very good shape HP 3456A. Won that on Ebay for about 100 bucks. 6.5 digit with a fancy AC converter. On dc mode you can hook it up to a 1.5 volt battery and watch as the internal chemical reactions drop the output voltage, microvolts at a time.

Four wire ohms is a very handy thing to have too.

Handy for some of the exotic stuff I have to fix. Mostly it's over kill but it looks impressive to visitors.
Click to expand...
I picked up one of them off ebay australia for $230aud ($160usd) a few months back, and just love it for bench work
Was nice to find out that my cheapo multimeter was just about spot on accurate apart from rounding down when it was meant to round up at times

The only thing i would concider replacing this meter with is its big brother the 3458A
 
#39
Hi thomas997,
I will say it again. The Fluke is the most accurate handheld meter on the market. Most other hand held meters will not be in tolerance to their own (rather wide specs.) In a year or two, they will be so far out of tolerance it would shock you. Then there are the higher frequency AC specs. Most hand held meters are useless much over 120 Hz.

For bench meters, the best ones are HP and Fluke. A Fluke 189 hand held is more accurate than off branded bench models. Maybe better than the older 8010's etc. (haven't checked, but by now they may be).

It seems many members here were employed in calibration labs at some point. I suspect these observations bear some weight. We even agree. Hmmmmm.

-Chris
 
#40
soongsc wrote
I pulled it out again just to refresh my memory on the problem. It seems like it isn't measuring correctly either. 9V battery reads something like 12, 110 VAC reads something between 170~220. 4 ohm resistor reads in the Kohm range. Looks like it's really messed up.
Click to expand...

I have the same problems with my Fluke and the things start improving when I keep it below a table lamp. So I suspect u also have the high humidity around, which degrades the meter

Try and find out

Gajanan Phadte
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom