Fluke Meters

[Gary_S]

I have an Extech meter, the 330 and it's good but i'm definitely thinking of buying a Fluke. The question i need answering is: what are the advantages of the Fluke over the meter i already have? Is it more accurate? does the display give me a settled reading quicker than what i already have?

Basically what are the advantages of having a premium quality meter. The Extech does the job for me but sometimes the display jumps around and it takes a while for the reading to settle to what you're sure is the correct readout.

[eleventeen]

Good question. I have an older Fluke 77 which I really, really like. The rugged case has been beneficial. You can of course get that in many of the cheaper brands. It is hard to say how a Fluke versus another brand handles "unsettled" voltage conditions without having both in hand, under test. I would bet that there are some conditions in which the Fluke would be easier to read and some other conditions where the other one might be easier to read, and what the difference in conditions might be, I couldn't say.

As far as being a meter, Flukes have a feel of solidity but as a purely functional item, I see no reason why a cheaper meter would be less accurate, especially if you are talking about tube amps where we are not looking at 2 decimal places in our voltages. Especially if you can buy 6 of the cheaper ones for the price of a Fluke. It is nevertheless nice having something that you know is reliable. This, they do very well. Yes, they are pricey but people usually do not regret popping for them.

I like the idea of getting the prior model (you have to know your model nos) lightly used, at a pawnshop. If the thing works with a fresh battery and it hasn't been run over by a truck, it will probably work and stay working. They are tough. I have had my 77 for 20 years and I am not always gentle with it.

More often than not, getting a very nice set of test leads that works well for the particular way you use the meter will make *any* meter a lot more useful.

[Gary_S]

Thanks eleventeen. Interesting points. I'll stay with my Extech for the foreseeable future as it's a nice meter and i don't do amps as a living, just work on my own for fun. The Fluke definitely gets the best name and reading other techs comments you get talked into the idea that if you have a cheaper meter then it'll be no good. You then feel you have to splurge for the more expensive models.

[John]

I use a Greenlee Klein from Home Depot that I'll probably never wear out as a hobbyist. Think I paid about $50 for it.

I looovvveee the old Triplett 630 I got from ebay, IMO it's at least the equal of any of the Simpson 6series I've played around with. But that's a different topic.  

[PRR]

There's 234 different models of Fluke. (So it seems.)

I have one, it's nice, but if I lost it I'd be happy with my older Radio Shack or probably the $19 DMM at Home Depot.

I'm not giving up my analog VTVM. IMHO, that is THE tool for most tube-amp work. Digi-meters give useless "precision" and hide the true nature of tube circuits. It is very worth finding a clean HeathKit VTVM on eBay and refurbing it just like an old Fender (clean the switches, maybe re-cap, *maybe* re-tube (ONLY if tube is dead), find the toasted resistor that put it in the closet for decades.)

> Triplett 630

A super-useful machine, and does Volts without a battery.

And it IS what many older amp-plans are notated for.

Being passive, it puts up to 60uA load on the node being measured. In other words, the 3V scale is a 50K load, compared with 10Meg for VTVM or DMM. Since most g-amp plate and cathode circuits run more like 1,000uA, the 60uA loading is not a big deal. But sometimes it may be.

[John]

That's good to know. So far it seems to be extremely accurate, measured against the Klein DMM (not Greenlee, that's my household meter) What I like about the Triplett over the Simpson is that for me the scale is much easier to read, and more intuitive.

I do have a Heathkit VTVM that I've only played with a little, so your comment will prompt me to plug it into my power strip along with everything else. If it's always on when I'm working, I'll use it more often. IIRC it was also very accurate measured against the DMM.

[PRR]

> a Heathkit VTVM ....IIRC it was also very accurate

There's full calibrations inside. (As a kit, you had to calibrate it after building.)

But it's not a go-to *if* you need to know 305V versus 310V.

OTOH, we rarely need great precision in tube amps.

It's much better than a digi-meter, IMHO, when you need to see trends. Does the B+ dip when you hammer the amp? Does the tremolo wobble? Are plates sitting at 50%-75% of the B+ they are fed from? Yes, you can compute 356.2V/245.9V, but you can eyeball the needle-scale faster, and with sufficient accuracy to spot a dubious stage in a jiffy.

[John]

when you need to see trends. Does the B+ dip when you hammer the amp?

I was playing with the 630 last night, and it was cool watching the needle dip a little, then rise a little- I had it hooked to the cathode of the 6v6. Not a big swing, but fun. Never even thought about checking plate voltage swing.

But, I have to renege on the 'accurate' part on the Heath. It does funky things when measuring bigger DC voltage, so probably it does need new caps. Refurbishing it should be fun!

[Jack1962]

Flukes are very good and very expensive , if you are a electronics tech/eng then by all means yes buy a fluke , however if you are not any good meter is fine.

[SoundmasterG]

I've got 3 or 4 Senior volt-ohmyst VTVM's....only one has a probe though. I have been meaning to go through all of them and verify operation beyond the standard turn on and yep it works mode, but haven't had a chance yet. Once I determine they work well, I'd be into selling a couple if someone wanted one. I'm keeping the probe btw.

Greg

[alerich]

I have a Fluke 111. It's about 10 years old. Very gently used - even has the plastic film still on the display.

The knob just broke off about 10 minutes ago.

I shall not be purchasing another Fluke meter. I am open to suggestions.

[PRR]

Contact Fluke. Excellent repair service is part of the price. I dunno what it costs on a 10 year old product, but if it is just the knob, they might not bother to charge.

[catnine]

I never had a fluke . I have an old radio shack or Micronta DVOM 22-185A . It's not auto range which is fine. everything is in 3's on the selector switch . starts out at 300mV to 3000 . It has it's own off/on switch. it is pretty steady when reading . The one thing I did not like was it has small sort of banana jacks so you can't plug in a bias rite . I also have a green lee DM-200 which has the banana jacks and is auto range and has a hold feature and you can use it in manual range it just moves the decimal points on the screen . It's not as steady as the RS one. And I have an old Micronta analog same plugs as the RS DVOM . a 22-211 that you can close like a clam shell. I used to use it all the time but as time went on I am a bit rusty on the readings. I never did have one with a cap tester. They work well enough for the tube amps and other uses . I got them when I worked on cars and trucks yet they all still work and read pretty close if I compare them.

[Slimtim]

i've had 3 different flukes each a different model.i have very limited electrical know how and most of the functions are beyond me at the moment.but i've kept one around over the years.currently have a 115 true rms,previous 2 were double digit models.i've never had a problem with any of the three going back the 17 years i owned one or the other.but having said all that i can't say they are any better or worse than any other brand i've ever used when talking about accuracy of readings.but they are rugged,especially with those hard yellow cases.and i love the backlit screen on my 115.that has come in very handy.

[teisco88]

I use two Fluke 8050a DMMs.  They work well and stay accurate, even though they are 1980s gear.  I also use even older Heathkit IM-18 and RCA Senior VoltOhmist VTVMs.  I learned in the pre-digital era, so working with a jeweled needle movement is still second nature to me--much more reassuring than the faux-accuracy of the digital readout.  Hey, tube electronics is a single-digit accuracy endeavor, when you get down to it.

[eleventeen]

[G._Hoffman]

Yup. 

I buy Fluke meters because I KNOW I'll never wish I had bought something else.


Gabriel

[LHPcope]

We are talking about a voltage measurement instrument when we are talking about DMMs.  The truth is that DMMs do some things better than other voltage measurement devices, VTVMs do some things better, oscilloscopes do some things better, and spectrum analyzers do some things better. 

The advantage to fluke meters that I see is their reliability and their environment hardened construction.  I think of them as being a field instrument more than a lab/bench piece.  With any DMM know what you are getting and its limitations.  Does it read true RMS? What is its frequency response?  What is its input impedance/resistance?  What other useful features does it have?  All that being said, my DMM is a Fluke.

[eleventeen]

Most coincidentally, I recently blew up my Fluke and was able to fix it! The internet, again, is incredible. (yeah, I know, buggy whips and all)

I think what I did, was I measured the output of a power supply I had built and I *just slightly* exceeded the 600 V input voltage.

Meter still worked on AC/DC volts, but on "ohms" the readout flipped back and forth from "0" to "K" to M' and was unusable. And, continuity beep was always on, always beeping.

You can talk to me all you want about bench meters...but I would bet that MOST meter use is just testing for continuity. Anyway, plenty of mine is.  And obviously ohms is very important. I was in mourning for my beloved yet crippled Fluke meter. I've had this for getting on to 30 years. Great meter, and I haven't always treated it nicely.

Son_of_a_gun.

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/multimeterstroubleshooting-fluke-75iii-fluke-77-repairable-or-disposable!/

Searched for "troubleshooting Fluke 77" and found this forum. The last post (from Jan 19, 2011) shows a fat resistor which turns out to be a fusible input resistor. "About 1K"

So, I checked that "resistor" and found it open. Bridged the resistor w/a 1 K ohm resistor (yes, I know it is wrong to not have a fusible resistor there) and the meter started working again PERFECTLY. Measured some 1% resistors = dead on the money. \

Very thankful. I was anticipating "no problem, send it in and we can fix it, our minimum charge is $250 plus shipping". (Meter cost me a tad under $100 IIRC)