Fluke 15B cracked clear bezel (cheap) or save for used 87V

[wasyoungonce]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Fluke-15B-Digital-Multimeter/202306182063?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Ok, this fluke 15B appears to be selling cheap on fleabay, so far $35 probably I'd pay $45
Aust max.   It has some fracture cracks on display plastic bezel, LCD looks ok. 
Or
Should I save for used Fluke 87 III or V.   

Ok ok ...I know the answer already and the 87 suites my needs much better...but...here I am in hospital on drugs making crazy decisions and atm it is cheap.  I can fix the 15B easily by myself.

I have 1 hour to make the decision! Any thoughts from the forum on this either way?
edit:
Anyone the MRN FOR THE 15B /17B clear bezel ...I can mould one.  What's the bet Fluke only sell the whole front case half!

[wasyoungonce]

Problem solved for me by idiot bidders    At least they stopped the frenzy.....it just wasn't economic at the price it went for.   Well it'll work at least

[Fungus]

It's on;y a 15B, not even the newer 15B+. You can almost get a new one for what that one sold for.

(if you can still find one)

[wasyoungonce]

Hi Fungus...yeah was thinking same its a 15B!  Jeez  Still its a fluke.

I'll save my pennies get a used 87.  They are shall and dare I say "batshitcrazy expensive" in Australia.

The 87 has the functions and decimal accuracy I'm after.  Won't be long just saw an opportunity and you know about them...never let a chance go by!

Thanks

[MosherIV]

Fluke 87 is not the best meter, just a very good meter for both electrical and electronic work.

The discontinued Fluke 187 or 189 are better.
Their replacement, the Fluke 289 is anouyingly slow 

A better value dmm is the Brymen 869.
Love to get one on ebay but they are so loved by owners that they never come up on ebay

[wasyoungonce]

Thanks Mosher...I was brought up (started on) 8020's in Avionics back in 70's...so any Fluke to me is gold.....Jeez I'd even go an 8020 now!

[MosherIV]

No problem.

What kind of work are you planning to do with your dmm (electrical or electronic)?

The fluke 110 series are mainly for electrical, they lack uV and mA ranges.

The 70 and 170 series are good general purpose meters. Being older in design, lack the better input protection. They differ from the 87 because they are only 3.5 digit and lack advanced features such as pulse width or AC over DC.

The 10 series (10, 12, 15 and 17) are for Asia market. Still very good for the money.

The older Flukes are good general purpose dmm but they lack the better input protection of the modern dmms. Still perfectly useable, just do not use on mains distribution type work (CAT IV)

Most people only really need upto CAT III (mains behind a fuse box), electronics work is mainky CAT II (not connected to mains)

Fyi, the CAT rating is all about protection from high power transients

[wasyoungonce]

Hi Mosher

Electronic and some DIY Electricial

I repair Losmandy Telescope computers, digital CPU Based with analogue servo motors, digital PIC control loop.

Mostly 12/18V DC can measure down to low micro amp SRAM & RTC battery drain in standby to 3A motor drive.  I also use CROs, but need freq counter (the Tek 2236 scope I have does this nicely) yet measuring PIC control is real hard without a DSO.   Right on the limits of a 100mhz...needs ~ 250Mhz DSO.  The freq meter does period to 6 digits!   I used a goof isolation transformer!

I built small test boxes for circuit parts.  I have my own zener tester to 65V DC and lost of crap meters one UT61E.  I have good PSUs.

So a good GP meter that retains accuracy that can do electronics from nano to 220V and some frequency like 50Hz to lets say 100Khz ...edit...oh decent sample rate is important really only need accuracy to lest say 2 decimal although have to measure low micro amps. I have the tek 2236 CRO...and need a DSO lest say 150Mhz

Anything else I need.....yeah my backs foobar...in hospital atm for 3rd spine fusion (2nd Lumber) and still have fractured C5 and spat disc (C7/8 already fused)...

So waylying away time and money adhoc atm looking for bargains to take my mind off it all

/rant

Brendan

edit:
oh forgot I do all sorts of Astro camera repairs and even designed built our own our own PCB designs, firmware fixes, microminature hardware...damn its small.  Been on my back shelf for 1 year due to back issues....really peeves me.

Then there's home duties, toasters, vacuums, computers, ovens.....what a list

[Fungus]

Hi Fungus...yeah was thinking same its a 15B!  Jeez  Still its a fluke.

I'll save my pennies get a used 87.  They are shall and dare I say "batshitcrazy expensive" in Australia.

If a 15B would have done the job then a brand new 17B+ certainly will, for much less than an 87.

[MosherIV]

Hi

So, the general purpose ones (70, 80 and 170 series) are the ones you should be looking for.
The higher end models 77, 79, 87, 177 and 179 have most features that you are looking for.
The high end 10 series (15 and 17) will work for you as well.

In addition, look for any Brymen, Keysight (formerly Agilent, formerly HP) U125x or U127x (the U123x are for electrical work).

Most dmms keep their accuracy, even the UT61E. There have been reports of the UT61E loosing cal and this has been down to poor/failing multiturn pot. Easily replaced, go for a higher quality and lower drift one.

[wasyoungonce]

Sorry for the few hrs delay guys....(and typos) using a small Intel atom lappy while in hospital which itself causes typo grief!

Ahh so yes I can absolutely see what your saying wrt meters and needs and wants.  My 61E was a dog with wandering accuracy till I
finally replaced the pot (as said to by this forum members)  (purchased a cal std and cal'd it as best I could)....she's good now but it let me down enough to want and need better.

Funny enough I did look at Aglient and was impressed as they could be purchased from decent houses like RS/Element14 on specials quite cheaply....usually the U123X's though.

I keep on the Hunt but really didn't know the meter differences till pointed out...now how dumb is that not to know!

Thanks Mosher and Fungus.

[Fungus]

Funny enough I did look at Aglient and was impressed as they could be purchased from decent houses like RS/Element14 on specials quite cheaply....usually the U123X's though.

I wouldn't get one with an OLED screen though.

I was brought up (started on) 8020's in Avionics back in 70's...so any Fluke to me is gold.....Jeez I'd even go an 8020 now!

Maybe you could look out for a good 8060A on eBay. They're a really good meter and you should be able to get one for under $100.

Be aware that the capacitors in them are getting old and may be leaky. Replace them ASAP if you plan to keep using it for a few more years!

Full thread here, started by the guy who created them:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/old-fluke-multimeters/

And radio interview:

https://theamphour.com/180-an-interview-with-dave-taylor-multi-talented-meter-maker/

[wasyoungonce]

I used to love the satisfying "clunk" or the fluke 80XX meters.  I've used the 8060A....long long time ago.   You could never "blow them up".   I Loved them....but I see a few and most not cheap on fleabay!    Also, I have to factor in costs of shipping to Arsetralia and possible shipping damage!

On the matter of "Meters".....Maybe I should also consider some of the older Bench meters. I don't have one.  Being I'm nostalgic, I love older stuff that has a proven track record.

I've collected a few older Royel 800 & 900 soldering/de-soldering stations, dual iron Vac de-solder with resistance tweezers/thermal strippers.  I also have a few single Royel iron stations.   So, I can swap irons between them all.   Also have quite a a few (~15) spare irons of varying wattage, 70W ~30W, and size and a bucket load of new tips from a ebay find.

I also managed to pickup replacement new/unused old stock Royel resistance tweezers and thermal wire strippers from another fleabay buy...real cheap.  All American beauty stuff.  They are exactly the same and the new stuff.  After 30+ years...I cannot believe it, they are the same.  Same with the stations & irons...after 30+ years they still work A1+.  Wow!

IMHO, this old stuff beats the new stuff hands down...well that's my line and I'm sticking to it.

So,I'd be very interested in maybe some older bench multimeter ...and maybe I should also get a nice older used Fluke bench meter to supplement?

Jeez now you have my horizons broadened I'm salivating!

Oh many thanks for your assistance, I'd not had considered an 8060A and why shouldn't I!  I have other equipment top cover freq, 6 digitcount etc.
 

[Fungus]

I've used the 8060A....long long time ago.   You could never "blow them up".   I Loved them....but I see a few and most not cheap on fleabay!

I just had a look and there's not much doing on eBay at the moment.

They come and go, you might have to be patient to snag a decent one.

[wasyoungonce]

Ok sounds like a plan.  Thanks Fungus

I don't mind waiting, I've done that collecting the Royel stuff....and I don't mind refurbishing & repairing you put your personnel stamp on it and enjoy using it more so.

I've made an "fleabay auto alert" for them....cheers! I'll post back when I get one or two...one as parts spare.  In the mean time I'll do research on them "refurbish, repair wise".

Brendan

[wasyoungonce]

Quick stupid question...some of 8060A's appear to have   display readings with no input...as seen on fleabay sales yet some read zero (no buttons depressed either case) :

Reads zero

reads a value

Reads some strange value, 23.31

reads 22.51
   stray induced?

 

[Fungus]

Quick stupid question...some of 8060A's appear to have   display readings with no input...as seen on fleabay sales yet some read zero (no buttons depressed either case) :

Reads zero

Volts mode selected - reads zero. Correct.

reads a value

Reads some strange value, 23.31

reads 22.51
   stray induced?

Nothing to worry about, it's just the meter being awesome.

With no buttons pressed the meter is in high impedance volts mode, ie. the input impedance is in the 10s of gigaohms range.

ie. It will pick up radio waves. cosmic rays, etc. A single stray electron on an input jack will give a reading.

If you connect the probes to a 1.5V battery in this mode it will go on reading 1.5V long after you disconnect them due to there being more electrons in one of the wires than the other. You need to short the probes to get it back to zero (equal numbers of electrons in both wires).

[wasyoungonce]

Thanks Fungus

[Shock]

I wouldn't bother with a lesser Chinese model Fluke that is broken unless it's an absolute steal. Cosmetic issues are a headache I just ended up with another Fluke 87 (apparently) and parts are quite costly both here and sourced from overseas (sometimes the only option).

Don't be in a hurry either, there is no point buying something you don't really want unless you can easily resell it later. You might as well expend the energy on getting something fit for the purpose in "as new" condition from the US. You will still save a ton on the retail price and not be under pressure to just pull the trigger on any old crap that comes along.

I've even received two free multimeters. One had a crack so I got sent a replacement front panel (with the complete rest of the multimeter attached). The other I got another customers order by mistake and after they sorted it all out (no cost to me) I got the multimeter delivered and they offered me a refund.

Electronics can also be an income generating hobby. People chuck out stuff that doesn't work all the time, yet you can turn something free back into value for a few dollars in parts. So when you can, repair something to fund your next multimeter, it's not as painful that way.

[wasyoungonce]

Hi Shock...many thanks.

You can bet I'm one of those who research's everything, twice!  Yes, I do most myself, ain't the internet great, but wouldn't be if people didn't post their blogs and own web pages....MrModem heads repair pages are a classic just to name one.  But, that's why I'm here picking the brains of the test gear guru's for a question that escapes me.

Fungus I missed the volts button depressed on the first link...since I pride on accuracy...hmmm I should have seen that!  Thanks.

I was thinking of induced stray volts as I've seen from 220V fluro's in test leads.  Since no leads...it surprises me and obviously confused me.

Many thanks gents