with David L. Jones
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EEVblog #60 – Fluke 117 Multimeter Review and Teardown
Posted on February 8th, 2010 18 comments
18 responses to “EEVblog #60 – Fluke 117 Multimeter Review and Teardown”
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awesome stuff and review…
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Nice review. I’m still using my cheapie R/S meter. I really don’t need to go into microvolts, or even microamps.
It cost me all of $30US a few year back.
And reasonably accurate. It’s all I need as the electronics work that I do is more hobby than pro.
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Dave, thanks for the review. If I were to take a Fluke multimeter apart, the very first thing I would look at is the design of the knob switch. On my aging model 83 the contacts are carbon and printed on the PCB. Metal wipers sweep across the printed carbon contacts as the selector switch rotates. The problem with the design is that, over time, the metal contacts smear the carbon in arcs across all the carbon contacts. The smears cause small amounts of battery drain even when the meter is switched off and the meter becomes a battery hog. As expensive as the meter was I’m still paying for it in dead batteries when I forget to remove the battery.
Another problem with the meter is that the LCD is pretty much shot. I’m pretty bummed that such an expensive meter didn’t hold up better. I will buy something other than a Fluke next time.
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Any chance you could go over how Volt Alert works? I’m not sure what makes it work on wiring that’s not actively flowing current like the cord you held up but didn’t go anywhere. Is it really safe? Is there situations where it will give false positives or worse, not warren you that there is dangerous voltage? Maybe on your next multimeter video blog. Thanks.
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Volt Alerts are notorious for giving false negatives more than false positives. They work great in some situations (ie non shielded cables, in plastic or no conduit (ie steel conduit stops them from working…))
Most people DO NOT follow the RULES of there use, FIRST TEST ON A LIVE CIRCUIT, make sure it gives a positive reading, then check the circuit to work on, then check again on a live circuit.
I have known of at least 10 deaths due to faulty “volt sticks” in Au in the last 20 years (when I started an advanced diploma in EE OH&S was a mandatory module as EE’s are usually in charge of techs etc)we studied the law and cases etc. some of the volt sticks did not work when the coroner tested them after the death.
I usually prefer to use a meter to physically test a circuit (both from active to neutral and if no voltage from active to ground and neutral to ground (to make sure the switch / breaker is not in the neutral conductor))
Safety these days is taken too lightly by “cowboys” if you look at the Australian news feeds, we have a Federal Government house insulation scheme to install insulation in roof spaces. To date there are 5 deaths in under one year of people installing insulation (both aluminium foil and batts) some is from dodgy wiring (before IIRC 1970 the plastic used did not stand up to heat and humidity of the tropics and is failing) some are due to staples or nails holding insulation in place penetrating live conductors.
If I wanted a quick check device and was doing electrical work for a living, I would not use a <au$200 contact tester, I would use one of the more expensive ones that could also detect buried cables and pipes (used to scan walls before chasing and drilling)
Regards,
Kat.
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Ross Moffett February 8th, 2010 at 20:22
A tic tester works by detecting the electric field, which is where the false positives come from. Static can throw false positives. Basically, I think it’s a very sensitive transistor with the base connected to an insulated metal prod at the front. I’m sure there’s more complexity, and maybe a whole other methodology in a professional device, that’s just what I saw in a DIY circuit once.
I worked for an oil company where there could be dodgy panels from 50 years ago, or new panels that simply had faults due to a lot of problems that can come up out there. The required safety procedure for approaching and working on a panel (besides the requirements for gloves, face shields and etc) was to use a tic tester on it first to verify the whole metal case wasn’t charged, then turn it off, verify that the cutoff wasn’t broken by checking the voltage with probes, and proceed.
It’s also useful for finding wires in a wall before you start nailing things in it or to track a run. It’s not 100% reliable, by any means though, as Kat said.
I think this is the same meter that came in our FIRST Robotics rookie kits this year, I’m mentoring for a team and the first thing I did was check the continuity speed, LOL.
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Drobbs February 10th, 2010 at 00:45
Hi Dave, boys and girls. I know you have been doing terribly many multimeter reviews lately but I have a proposition for the next one to review(if you can get hold of one, that is). You mentioned that you like Japanese stuff in your Metrawatt review and I’ve seen these Japanese Sanwa meters on the internet. They have pretty good spec’s for a good price. The older models with high spec’s don’t look too pretty but they seem to have a well thought out design(like double off postions on the range switch).What do you think?
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So I’ve seen you put up many many multimeter reviews over the last year, have you ever considered other test equipment reviews like a budget-benchtop multimeter?
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Dave’s reviewed other gear as well, but you can guess what Dave’s biggest fetish is
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Newton February 10th, 2010 at 11:37
Just got one of these last week !
Home electric install.. I was not willing to use my 87 for it.-
Newton,
Have you looked at the videos on the Fluke site ?
There are a few on safety, and they all point out the most important point.
Multimeters have a rating (EG Cat III 1000V) these are what you need to look for. In the cast of the 87V these ratings are Cat III 1000V and cat IV 600. These are more than adequate for house hold circuits. Given the cat IV 600, you could measure 2 phase voltages on the supply side of the incomming fuses (assuming you have a fuse before the meter like in Au (in Au these are HRC fuses that limit the fault current from blowing the power meter))
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Dave can you do one on Yokogawa TY500 or TY700 Digital Multimeter thanks
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Dave, another one to add to the multi-meter list: the Smart Tweezer digital multimeter. It looks like a very handy gadget but I’m wondering what you think of the device in general – it is billed as “high precision”.
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Drobbs February 16th, 2010 at 04:21
The Hack a day dudes have reviewed it some time ago(although the review was not that great).
Why don’t you just use a cheap tweezer attachment. It’s way cheaper if you have a good multimeter to attach it to.
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I like the 117 it seems to have all the features an electrician needs and it is reasonably priced also. My experience as an electrician leads me to believe the That the most impressive feature is on the fluke 233 “The removable display” I found taking measurements in awkward Standing, Squatting, and Horizontal, positions is the biggest problem an electrician can have, And having the ability to put the display right in front your eyes is a real asset. Especially When trying to balance a ladder to check a light ballast or some other crazy position problem. It seems better to spend the extra 100 dollars and move up a notch.
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George Herold February 17th, 2010 at 07:38
Hi Dave, There is one test of a multi-meter that I haven’t seen you talk about. (Perhaps I’m the only one who cares.) I’m always using my DMM (Fluke 189) to measure DC voltages from BNC jacks. To do this I put a BNC to twin banana adapter on the end of a coax cable and then plug the banana jacks into the meter. This mostly works great. But some meters don’t have the standard 0.75″ spacing between the banana jack inputs. This ticks me off a bit. But a worse problem that I’ve run into with a few meters is that the plugs on the meter are recessed so far that the BNC to banana adapter doesn’t reach them and engage. So I want a meter with the ‘standard’ 0.75” lead spacing and also one that accepts input from ‘standard’ banana plugs.
Keep up the good work.
George H.
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walter delbono February 8th, 2010 at 13:12