Agilent U1252B Teardown/Review

[gamozo]

I finally got the Agilent U1252B. And I followed the standard procedure here of 'Don't turn it on, take it apart'.



If you want more info, or something covered more in depth, feel free to ask. This is my first time doing a teardown and a review, so I know I missed stuff. Man, I need more enthusiasm.

[shadowless]

Great review.

Quick question. Blown the 11a fuse in the u1252b, can i use fluke fuse in place of the SIBA fuses.Fluke fuses seems to be cheaper.

[gamozo]

I'm not quite sure on that. You may have to resort to directly contacting Agilent (although they may be biased just to get your money). Unless you can find the exact fuse specs somewhere online. I'm assuming there would be no issue, as they both are 11A HRC fuses, but maybe there are tiny things that could change compatibility. (Perhaps the size of the fuse in the first place, I wonder if it would even fit)

[shadowless]

Seems to be the same size base on the same amp rating. Everyone sells fluke fuses and they seems cheaper. Probably get the fluke ones.

[alm]

Agilent uses fuses with a higher interrupt rating in some meters. I wouldn't use fuses with worse specs, all safety tests were performed with these specs in mind.

[Fox]

Good Review gamozo
I like the case of Agilent Multimeters too, i have a U1241B and it has basically the same case as yours.

@shadowless
i think you can use fuses from SIBA, they have dedicated fuses for usage in a Multimeter see the attached Pdf.
Fluke uses fuses from Bussmann DMM-B Series if you looken for an other supplier than Fluke directly.
The sizees of the fuses are standardised 10x38mm for the 11A and 10x35mm for the 440mA one.

[alm]

The Agilent U1252B manual states that the fuses have an interrupt current of at least 30kA. Fluke fuses were 20kA last time I checked. Can't find the spec for Siba. My assumption is that since Agilent uses better fuses, they probably changed some other parameters so the expected fault current is higher. Why else would they go for more expensive fuses if the inputs are rated for the same CAT IV 600V / CAT III 1000V?

[Fox]

You can find the specs on the SIBA Site, thou they are not that easy to find. Search for the URZ Type Fuses.
I attached the only specs for the 10x38mm Fuse, cause the Pdf for all of the URZ TYpe Fuse is just too big for the forum limits.

[alm]

Thanks for the datasheet, a cursory search on the Siba website only yielded product catalogs. The specs you posted appear to match the Agilent specs, so I agree that the fuse should be fine. Funny how the 11A version is missing from many listings, though. You would expect it to be more popular than the 12A version.

[saturation]

Thanks for the review!  You can find other reviews on eevblog on the 1252a, is twin brother that's just a bit blue, just to compare notes.

[Wartex]

Did you film this with a toilet plunger?

[shadowless]

Yeah the SIBA fuses are 30ka and they are hard to find. Trying to ask for the agent in US. What is the difference between the 30ka and 20ka rating?

I thought i will never blow them till yesterday.  They are really fast blow, accidental touch of a battery terminals, one spark and they are gone. 

[Kiriakos-GR]

If you take a CAT III 1000 V meter with the test leads in the amps jacks, you will have a series
resistance of approximately 0.1 ohms (0.01 for the shunt, 0.04 for the test leads and 0.05 for the
fuse and circuit board conductors) between the leads.
Now when you accidentally place the leads across a 1,000 volt source, by
Ohms Law you will generate a current of 10,000 amps (E/R=I, 1,000/0.1 = 10,000).
You want a fuse that will break that current and do it quickly.

For the full story read this.. 
http://assets.fluke.com/Appnotes/2041429_w.pdf

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

I finally got the Agilent U1252B. And I followed the standard procedure here of 'Don't turn it on, take it apart'.



If you want more info, or something covered more in depth, feel free to ask. This is my first time doing a teardown and a review, so I know I missed stuff. Man, I need more enthusiasm.

Hi,
 I would like to give you intense appreciation for this video teardown .Have USD 200 to spend and cannot think of anything better .any suggestions guys other then buying this

[Baliszoft]

Usd200 wont buy you a 1252. I  prefer it over on the 87V, if that helps.

[nanofrog]

If you're after an Agilent, Baliszoft is correct. You'd actually need to double your budget for that meter in the US, and probably a bit more since you're in Europe. The U1242B would be much closer to your budget I suspect (~$216 - 226USD in the US).

BTW, for anyone that is interested, the cheapest source for fuses I found (US) is directly from Agilent. Shipping was free, so I only paid ~$6USD for the 11A unit (pricing was less for the 440mA fuse).

[Bored@Work]

and probably a bit more since you're in Europe.

Sure, India is now in Europe ...

[alm]

India and Europe are now two different countries? When did that happen?

[nanofrog]

andSure, India is now in Europe ...

Accidentally saw Baliszoft's country flag rather than Amarbir's during my reply in regard to location. It was an honest mistake. 

[Amarbir[Lynx-India]]

Well,
 i have made a new thread for the same -> https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/wanted-digital-multimeter-for-usd-200-max-for-repairing-work/

[Achilles]

About the Fuse question again:
Try to check out on the Agilent site or write your service center. I got my spare fuses there and they were much cheaper than in the online shops.
The 11A Siba fuse was 7,54€ incl. VAT. A fluke 11A fuse is around 8,5€ incl. shipping.
So it may be worth checking. You can check the prices only on the Agilent site if you go to the U1252B meter, on the right side you can click on a "spare parts" and see the fuses there. The prices there are excl. VAT and may change (mine were a bit cheaper).

Well, they do have a minimum order of 35Euro here, so I bought a bunch of them and paid no shipping.


...just in case if you need spare fuses

[LaurenceW]

Wow - do you REALLY have to strip the meter down that far, just to change a fuse? Hmmm

[T4P]

Wow - do you REALLY have to strip the meter down that far, just to change a fuse? Hmmm

It's a good meter but that's just nuts, having to get to the other side of the board just to change the fuses 

[M. András]

cos you are not supposed to pop the fuses

[nanofrog]

Wow - do you REALLY have to strip the meter down that far, just to change a fuse? Hmmm

It's a good meter but that's just nuts, having to get to the other side of the board just to change the fuses 

Not the simplest fuse changes, but assuming the user isn't blowing one very often, I see it as an acceptable compromise for what the meter can do/offers in value, particularly for bench use. And it doesn't take that much time (could see it as a real PITA for field work though, particularly in regard to finding dropped/lost screws).