Fluke Addiction Thread

[j3rf]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I have a Fluke 115. I've had it for years.
Good meter, but I want a second meter and I'd like to get something more, something better.

I've had my eye on the classic Fluke 88-V automotive multi-meter since my needs revolve strictly around automotive use.
I can get one from my Snap On guy for $600 (not sure on ETA). I'm not sure if that's a good deal or not.
Depending on where you look, I see them for about $500 to over $700 (new, not used), and they seem to be on backorder by several weeks as well.

So, if I can get my hands on one without the wait from Snap On, would you buy one or not? $600 is a lot of money, but is that a good price? If no, what's a good alternative option, rather it be Fluke or another brand?

Fluke 88-V is probably the best automotive specific meter hands down. I would probably have one if I didn't buy my Snap On EEDM525F.

 

[Uofime]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I have a Fluke 115. I've had it for years.
Good meter, but I want a second meter and I'd like to get something more, something better.

I've had my eye on the classic Fluke 88-V automotive multi-meter since my needs revolve strictly around automotive use.
I can get one from my Snap On guy for $600 (not sure on ETA). I'm not sure if that's a good deal or not.
Depending on where you look, I see them for about $500 to over $700 (new, not used), and they seem to be on backorder by several weeks as well.

So, if I can get my hands on one without the wait from Snap On, would you buy one or not? $600 is a lot of money, but is that a good price? If no, what's a good alternative option, rather it be Fluke or another brand?

What are you doing in automotive?
You don’t usually need a fancy meter.
You do need a good probe set
You might want a current clamp
You might want a pico scope
You might want a diagnostic scanner

 

[Citation]

I prefer the 87 to the 88. The 88 however, is often sold with a probe kit that will be more useful for automotive applications.

 

[redwrench60]

I’m slowly learning to hate Klein multimeters so my love for a Fluke 87-5 solidifies. The Flukes are fast reading, reliable, trustworthy and user friendly. Klein makes great hand tools but the meters and leads are cheap junk.

 

[Citation]

If you don't want to spend Fluke money the meters made by Brymen are great options. Greenlee is one of the brands that sell Brymen based meters

 

[AJHD]

If you don't want to spend Fluke money the meters made by Brymen are great options. Greenlee is one of the brands that sell Brymen based meters

I've actually wanted a Brymen meter for many years. A remnant from my electronics days is I still watch Dave @ EEVblog, and he has an EEVblog version of a Brymen meter.

 

[Citation]

I've actually wanted a Brymen meter for many years. A remnant from my electronics days is I still watch Dave @ EEVblog, and he has an EEVblog version of a Brymen meter.

They are nice. I bought a dirty DM820a off eBay for $50. Works great and most of the dirt could be easily cleaned off. It's basically a Fluke 87 class meter. The drawbacks vs the 87 are it's bigger, it's only 6000 count (no 20k count mode) and, to me the biggest issue, no touch hold. Touch hold really is a killer feature. I don't recommend the Fluke 11x series meters precisely because they lack this feature. For equal money the smaller Bryman based meters are just better in that range.

 

[Shergar]

I was issued this new in 1996, (despite being last calibrated in 1993!) and as the storeman is long since retired, never did mange to sign it back in….

Fluke 23 good for 750V AC - I was regulary working on 650V power supplies hence the rating. I was also quite often the only electrician in the team, hence the sharpie AC & DC markings! Those in the UK might notice printed in the display the italic BR model number - BR being British Railways. I wonder what the minimum order for a unique designation was?

I no longer touch anything of that voltage anymore so who knows how accurate it still is, however bar a few battery changes, it’s doing sterling service for an almost 30 year old piece of electronics.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

 

[j3rf]

That is a nice and expensive drawer.

 

[mrjaw14]

I was issued this new in 1996, (despite being last calibrated in 1993!) and as the storeman is long since retired, never did mange to sign it back in….

Fluke 23 good for 750V AC - I was regulary working on 650V power supplies hence the rating. I was also quite often the only electrician in the team, hence the sharpie AC & DC markings! Those in the UK might notice printed in the display the italic BR model number - BR being British Railways. I wonder what the minimum order for a unique designation was?

I no longer touch anything of that voltage anymore so who knows how accurate it still is, however bar a few battery changes, it’s doing sterling service for an almost 30 year old piece of electronics.

I have a Fluke 23 and still use that for basic measurements when I'm on the road and don't want to take my 87V

 

[genog]

Sometime back 25 or so years ago, this meter fell off of a PG&E truck and a friend of mine picked it up from the middle of the road
He swapped it to me for a cheaper meter that I had.

It's way overkill for what I need and use it for, but it's an indispensable tool for the shop

 

[GuidoK]

I've actually wanted a Brymen meter for many years. A remnant from my electronics days is I still watch Dave @ EEVblog, and he has an EEVblog version of a Brymen meter.

I have a Brymen BM869S and it is awesome. Super easy to use (remembers all your settings), and a lot of functions (especially the dual display with AC+DC is nice. Crazy resolution (500k count).
Fluke's are just too expensive here in Europe. I also have a fluke 115 which I had for ages (since 2007 I believe), which is of course a far more simple meter, but it's here still more expensive than the Brymen BM869S.

But with all: no meter is perfect alas.

 

[Steve_P]

Fluke leads are decent but are not good enough to justify the ridiculous asking price. I decided to try out the probe master leads after the cheap insulation material broke at the bend point one one of my leads. The probe master leads are so much more pliable and the readings were just as precise.

I bought a master type set of Fluke leads, clips, probes.... I don't know if they were the premium line, but the price was premium as it was >$100, and this was ~10 years ago. After buying the Fluke set, I saw Probe master praised here, and I bought several of them, and then many more, and replaced all of my Fluke leads- the Probe Master are just so much nicer, and the price isn't bad- and they're made in USA, I think CA.
I have two Fluke DMMs and an amp clamp, no pics handy but there are several people that have already "won" with their pics LOL

 

[BreeStephany]

Here is a little bit of my growing addiction to Fluke!

I have 2x Fluke 289 DMMs, each with a Fluke i410 current clamp. I also have a Fluke IR3000 FC adapter and Fluke PC3000 FC USB receiver for connecting them to Fluke Connect, mostly for firmware updates and occasionally downloading data recordings.

I've also got a Fluke 96 Series II Scopemeter, a Fluke 87V DMM, a Fluke 87IV DMM, a Fluke 1507 'megger', Fluke 9040 phase rotation meter, Fluke 376 clamp meter with a Fluke iFlex i2500 flexible current clamp and a Fluke 1621 earth/ground resistance testing meter.

My most recent Fluke acquisition is my second Fluke 289 DMM. I just picked up a Fluke TLK-289 lead / thermocouple / TPAK set for it, I have a spare Fluke i410 current clamp that I picked up a while back that I will be adding to the set. Now just need to source a case for it. I wish Vanguard still made the case I am using for my primary 289, but this will likely end up going with a 'Hazard Fraught' "Apache" case, which seem to be actually standing up to a significant amount of abuse.

 

[Jr5]

Nice! Anyone know the difference between a Fluke 115 and 117 other than no-contact voltage testing?

Edit- im a dummy, I just read up on the difference.

 

[KnurledNut]

I picked up a used temperature probe recently.
Fits any standard .75” spaced double banana plugs.
It reads 1:1 in the mV setting.
I paired it with my Fluke 12 since it has ****-end connection.
Glass-reinforced Valox probe with nickel plated copper tip good for -58°-302°F. Safe for use with solids, liquids (water, lubricants, fuel, most solvents), or gas.
Spot on compared to my Fluke 52.
Gotta love dinosaur tech that is reliable.

 

[rsanter]

I love my fluke stuff.
In fact I have a bunch that are like new that I got a few years ago at at auction.

So if anyone needs clamp meters or volt/ohm flukes I have a few spares I can sell

 

[OldnSlo]

Hi, my "new to me" 79 series iii appears to duplicate my current multimeter functionality, but its not auto ranging like this Fluke does. I'm still learning about it. With just a few minutes of usage my first observation on reading a wall outlet voltage is that it quickly picks up AC voltage (and registers correctly) but switches to mV reading and tapers downward with its reading when the leads are removed from the outlet. It might be ghost voltage? It never really reads 0 mV even with the leads 3ft away from household current.

Is this normal?

 

[desrosd]

Hi, my "new to me" 79 series iii appears to duplicate my current multimeter functionality, but its not auto ranging like this Fluke does. I'm still learning about it. With just a few minutes of usage my first observation on reading a wall outlet voltage is that it quickly picks up AC voltage (and registers correctly) but switches to mV reading and tapers downward with its reading when the leads are removed from the outlet. It might be ghost voltage? It never really reads 0 mV even with the leads 3ft away from household current.

Is this normal?

I have the same Fluke 79-3 meter, that is normal operation when in AC autoranging mode. What I usually do is hit the "RANGE" hold switch multiple times until it is on the scale I want.

 

[OldnSlo]

Thanks @desrosd , I was surprise to find from Fluke that the owners manual for this is not in their archives. The ser ii is there, but not the iii. I've asked them (today) how similar these two are.

 

[desrosd]

Thanks @desrosd , I was surprise to find from Fluke that the owners manual for this is not in their archives. The ser ii is there, but not the iii. I've asked them (today) how similar these two are.

Fluke 79/26 III Instruction Sheet: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/2053054/Fluke-Iii-Series.html
Fluke 79/26 III Calibration: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1139652/Fluke-79-Iii.html#manual

 

[OldnSlo]

Yup, @desrosd , I had those previously downloaded but the 66-ish page manual is not out there. I appreciate you taking the time to post those.

 

[OldnSlo]

Ahhh...makes sense now. This directly from Fluke:

When we migrated to the Series III multimeter family, we changed the manuals to only offer either Instruction Sheet or Calibration Manual we no longer offer Service Manuals for the multimeters.

 

[AV tinker er]

My small collection.

 

[Markoos]

Nice score today.
New set of probes/clips/leads, £65 from gumtree.