EEVblog #171 - Agilent U1272A Multimeter Teardown

[Kiriakos-GR]

Great Job Dave ..

I am a lover of quality , and after viewing an such teardown, I am also impressed .


Congrats







 

[Fox]

Yes very impressive construction.
I would like to take a look at the schematics, but i doubt that there is any chance  .

Intrestingly the Agilent U1241B 200€ meter uses the same 24bit ADC, so the number of Bits of the ADC is not everything.
e.g. The Fluke 28II uses the 20Bit LTC2035 and has about the same specs as the U1272.

And.. Great Job Dave as always

[Geir Tore Simonsen]

Just a word of caution for anyone considering ordering this meter:

Based partly on this teardown and the response/firmware update I decided to buy a U1272A a few days ago. I was very surprised when I got home with it, and without touching a screw or even inserting the batteries I could pull it open at the top without using almost any force with my bare hands. The rest of the meter felt solid, but at the top it just felt cheap and flimsy - not at all what I expected after watching this video, especially at the 2:35 mark.

I went back to the store the next day to get a replacement, but the other meter they had in the store was just like the one I got. Not sure what's going on, but I would never buy this meter without being able to check it out in the store before buying. I just got a refund and continued to consider options.

I don't know much about multimeters and electronics in general, but I needed a multimeter with logging capabilities in order to find a non-constant current drain on my car battery. After the disappointment over the Agilent, I decided to buy a Fluke 287/FVF instead that I just brought home . Way more expensive than what I was looking for initially even though it was discounted due to being replaced with an upgraded version, but at least I feel confident that it's a good piece of equipment.

[saturation]

I also reviewed this DMM and couldn't find this problem; however, that was a while back at the time of its introduction.  I wish you had taken videos of the problem to bring it to Agilent's attention.

Just a word of caution for anyone considering ordering this meter:

Based partly on this teardown and the response/firmware update I decided to buy a U1272A a few days ago. I was very surprised when I got home with it, and without touching a screw or even inserting the batteries I could pull it open at the top without using almost any force with my bare hands. The rest of the meter felt solid, but at the top it just felt cheap and flimsy - not at all what I expected after watching this video, especially at the 2:35 mark.

I went back to the store the next day to get a replacement, but the other meter they had in the store was just like the one I got. Not sure what's going on, but I would never buy this meter without being able to check it out in the store before buying. I just got a refund and continued to consider options.

I don't know much about multimeters and electronics in general, but I needed a multimeter with logging capabilities in order to find a non-constant current drain on my car battery. After the disappointment over the Agilent, I decided to buy a Fluke 287/FVF instead that I just brought home . Way more expensive than what I was looking for initially even though it was discounted due to being replaced with an upgraded version, but at least I feel confident that it's a good piece of equipment.

[Geir Tore Simonsen]

Unfortunately I didn't think of documenting it until after I had returned it, but I suppose the store (Elfa Distrelec in Norway) will return it to Agilent so they get the word that way. It's really a shame, I think the feature set was pretty good considering the expected build quality and price compared to the alternatives.