Fluke Connect and Field Sense experience?

[mrjaw14]

I'm a die hard Fluke fan. I have a 23, and 87v that I absolutely love, so I decided to treat myself to a 378 FC... and I just returned it. I was super excited to get it on special for black friday, but when I tried the Bluetooth I could barely get 10' away from the meter before it lost connection in open air at home outside where there's no electrical noise. If I tried to use it as a remote display when working on a trailer or something instead of a 30' test lead, it was unusable. Spec sheet says up to 20 meters, or 3 meters if in a metal panel box. I was getting metal box performance all the time. Batteries not the issue. I can get 30+ feet with a headset or other bluetooth device no issues.

The other thing that I noticed is that field sense is not accurate. It's supposed to be 3% + 5 digits accuracy, but on a 120v probe measured circuit I was getting a very bouncy reading of 113-115v. That's 3.5-6%, or up to 2x off spec! My use case is RV service where low voltage to an AC or other component is a concern and field sense would be a god send...If I could trust it. I get that field sense isn't as accurate as probe, but to be consistently outside the 3% spec I just can't trust the reading. Keep in mind that Hospitals have very tight voltage drop requirements, so if it was going to be used there 3-6% swing in accuracy is significant. Can't it be close to right even once vs being on the outer edge of it's spec all the time?

I'm so bummed out the meter behaved like that. Am I being unreasonable to expect tighter adherence to the spec sheet on a meter that lists for almost $900?

I reached out to Fluke and started a case, but they have not been quick to respond. I got nervous they weren't going to do anything about it, or that I'd have to ship it back on my dime only for them to say no trouble found, so I figured the sooner I just return it the better chance I'll get my money back.

At this point I'm trying to crowd source opinions. I'm hoping for an overwhelming response of "my 378 FC doesn't behave like that, and you got a dud".
If you have real world experience with the Bluetooth Fluke Connect, or Field Sense on something like a 376,377, or 378 I would love to hear about it. I can still possibly have the vendor send me a replacement instead of a refund, so tell me my faith in Fluke isn't misplaced and this was just a bad unit!

 

[CoogarXR]

I have a Fluke 233 with the detachable wireless display. It's also rated 10 meters. I never really tried walking that far away from it, but I know I've used it 20ft away from the base and it worked. 15ft through an open door in the next room however, didn't work.

I was going to try the Fluke 3000FC, so I could use the Fluke Connect App on my phone as a remote display and have basically infinite distance, but the app has practically all one-star reviews.

So while I haven't used your hardware specifically, it would seem that Fluke FC series aren't highly regarded for their wireless features.

 

[AV tinker er]

I recently bought a T6-1000. If you aren’t aware this a tester not a meter. I get very accurate readings when I ground the unit instead of “floating” it. YMMV

Edit: my tester came with an alligator clip that I attach to something.

 

[mrjaw14]

The 378 FC clamp meter you have to be grounded with the alligator clip in order for Field sense to work. It's not like the T6 where you can put your finger on a metal pad on the back of it. The measurements I took were grounded direct to a copper ground wire.

The Bluetooth range is what was really atrocious. No where near the spec sheet listed for range. It was useless as a remote display, which is what I think many people would want it to do, vs being a data logger. Who's going to leave their phone or tablet laying around for hours? I could maybe see that with the PC version of fluke connect, but it doesn't support bluetooth! It's wifi and USB only. I'm still not convinced mine wasn't a dud, but I've yet to come accross information that anyone has got it to work any better.

At the end of the day I'm still a Fluke fan, and I'll probably get something like a 325 until the higher-end ones get a few more generations down the road and hopefully work better.