Fluke 189 with leaking surface mount supercap (also Fluke 287, Fluke 289)

[sotos]

I agree with retiredcaps.  When I tried to change mine it got bricked, I had to send it to the service center and after the repair it was also calibrated, for free.

[firehopper]

I'm not the original owner.. I bought it used off ebay. I did register the serial number on flukes website, on fluke's advice.  so no idea if I should still send it back, like I said remove batteries and it forgets time and date.

replace it myself or send it in..

If you are the original owner and bought it from an authorized Fluke dealer, I suggest sending it in for the following reasons:

1) you might get a complete new pcb with the latest modifications and firmware
2) you are likely to have the 289 (either repaired or new pcb) with its calibration checked for "free"
3) shipping within the USA even with a tracking number should be a reasonable $10 to Fluke

The calibration check normally costs between $50 to $100 and you get it back knowing it is within its accuracy specifications across all ranges.

[retiredcaps]

If you are not the original owner, then Fluke, technically, has no obligation to fix it under warranty for you.

Here are the options that I see.

1) If the date and time setting are not required, just ignore the problem and leave the capacitor as is.  Alternatively,  you can remove the capacitor and the unit will function fine.  Note, I can't remember if it is in this thread or this model, but at least one person who removed the capacitor couldn't get the meter to power on again.  So there is a non zero chance of screwing something up if you are not careful (lift a solder pad, short something out, zap components/pcb with ESD, etc).

2) Fluke built its service reputation in the past, as reported here and in other forums, by providing fantastic service to the customer.  Sometimes, but not all, the service centre will fix the problem regardless of the terms and condition of the warranty for free.

So you could take a chance and send it to Fluke (make sure you get a tracking number + insurance) for around $10 USD and see if Fluke will fix it under warranty and ignore the fact that you bought it from ebay second hand.  It is my understanding, and you should confirm by talking to a customer service representative, that if you do not qualify for warranty repair that Fluke will contact you with an $$ estimate to fix your meter.  Then you can decide if the price is reasonable or not.  If you choose not to get it fixed due to cost, then Fluke will send it back to you unrepaired.  I believe Fluke will pay return shipping so at most you are out the original shipping costs.

Again, you may want to talk and verify with a Fluke customer service representative.  If you choose the second option, please report back so we know the outcome.

PS. I am well aware of negative posts about Fluke customer service.  I find that by talking nicely to a person and treat them the way you expect to be treated, that you will get a lot better result.

[Kibi]

PS. I am well aware of negative posts about Fluke customer service.  I find that by talking nicely to a person and treat them the way you expect to be treated, that you will get a lot better result.

I totally agree that good manners will get you a long way.
However, politeness and good manners don't get you anywhere with Fluke UK. Their representatives are polite, well mannered and sound professional. I treat them over the telephone as they treat me, but unfortunately that is the last you hear from them. They never once got back to me about my spare parts request on any of the three occasions that I telephoned their service centre. I also sent the same request over email, but I got no response either. In my opinion, this is very poor service on the part of Fluke UK.
Hopefully their other branches provide a better service.

I went elsewhere and then got my parts within days.

[retiredcaps]

However, politeness and good manners don't get you anywhere with Fluke UK.

My professional experience/industry is not the T&M so I don't know how it works in T&M, but when I call a company for help, I'm usually assigned a case number.  That case isn't closed until I say so.

In the past coule of years, I have made contact with Fluke Canada and Extech USA.  Neither provided me with a case number.  Without a case number, I have no way to escalate to a supervisor and when I get passed onto another customer service representative, there is no history or case notes.

[retiredcaps]

So you could take a chance and send it to Fluke (make sure you get a tracking number + insurance) for around $10 USD and see if Fluke will fix it under warranty and ignore the fact that you bought it from ebay second hand. 

@firehopper, see this thread wrt to above comments.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-287(9)-leaking-super-cap/msg692664/#msg692664

[D. Head]

Hello Everyone,
this is what the supercap from my Fluke 289 looks like.

Is this "bad" enough to send it back to Fluke?
(i live in the area of Eindhoven)

Thanks

[retiredcaps]

Is this "bad" enough to send it back to Fluke?

The cap is supposed to keep time and date.  If you take the batteries out and it doesn't properly keep time and date, then you would have a valid claim for warranty service (free).  Take a look at my post 225 above again for why you might want to send it in.

[M. András]

Is this "bad" enough to send it back to Fluke?

The cap is supposed to keep time and date.  If you take the batteries out and it doesn't properly keep time and date, then you would have a valid claim for warranty service (free).  Take a look at my post 225 above again for why you might want to send it in.

I dont recall from the manual how much time it supposed to hold the time and date settings? wanna see how is my unit holding up without taking it apart

[dr.diesel]

Measure the parasitic power draw.  When mine went bad it was almost 10mA, lost the time/date instantly if batteries removed.

[Muttley Snickers]

The super capacitor in my 289 looks a little bit crusty but the meter still seems to work well and I have listed the current consumption details below for reference. I recently opened and inspected my 189 again and it is still in immaculate condition in relation to the super capacitor, I have owned this meter since brand new and as mentioned elsewhere on the forum I religiously remove the batteries after each use and have always done so.

Fluke 289 Current Consumption

Power Off, Logged for 20 mins.....32uA
Power On, Ohms Open, BL Off......22mA
Power On, Ohms Open, BL Low......36mA
Power On, Ohms Open, BL High......56mA

Firmware Version 1.12/V0.88 (Now upgraded to 1.16)
Calibration Date: 25/07/2010. Calibration Count: 1.  Board ID: 1.

[Fonnesbek]

Hi

I have just replaced the super cap in my 189 I also have a 289 but the cap looked ok in that, so I will not change it at this moment.
I replaced the cap with a EDLRD224H3R6C which I got from amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017V3X02S?ref_=pe_385721_37038051_TE_3p_dp_1
It can properly be bought cheaper but shipping rate and time was an important factor.

I have attached a few pictures of the replacement, the last one is of the super cap in my 289.

/Fonnesbek

[Helix70]

My 287 supercap failed in a different way to most on here. Mine won't hold charge. I took it out, attached it to 3.3V and it immediately jumped to 3.3V drawing 40uA. This current slowly decays over about 2 minutes until it hits about 3uA. I set the meter to >10G input impedance and disconnected the supply, and in 5 seconds the voltage on the supercap dropped to about 2V, then 1.8V after 30 seconds, drawing < 0.02uA.

Needless to say, the meter did not hold date and time, and the corrosion on mine was minimal (ignore the flux on the leads, I put that there).

[toni31]

I'm considering purchasing a new fluke 287 from an authorized dealer
does anyone know if fluke has resolved the leaky cap issue

[Helix70]

All fixed. Got a 0.1F supercap from RS - a Kemet FCS0H104ZFTBR24. Cost $4 for two delivered.

I had to snip the lower left plastic corner off to make it fit around the SOT23 part, otherwise it fit very neatly. The shroud fits over it without issues.

Tried it for 15 minutes without batteries, all ok. Hopefully with the increased voltage rating this one won't die or leak!

[hansibull]

I just desoldered this 0.33F 5V Matsushita super cap from some almost-unused equipment. Can/Should I just whack this in, or should I get one that's almost identical to the original one. And how about the polarity, what is + and what is - on the PCB?

[VK5RC]

A recent purchase of a 289 view from the inside, looks like they have redesigned the board a little and the Cap has been replaced by a battery??

[Daruosha]

I just found this thread and wondered what is your PCB rev? I purchased two fluke 289 and production date of the first one is 2015 and the other one is 2016.

Anyone would suggest to break the warranty and tear them apart for further inspection?

[evava]

Hello everyone,

I also got Fluke 289 from ebay lately.
And I have got two questions:

1. when changing batteries, it actually "holds" time (and date), by which I mean time (and date) "freezes" until new batteries are put in and then time runs again from the point where I removed batteries, but delay remains.
So, it "holds" time, but time is not running forward when batteries are not in the meter - is it OK?
Or is it supposed that time counter continues when batteries are removed?
(comsumption when meter is off is about 50uAmps, which is OK probably)

2. on Lo Ohm (50 Ohms) range, with shorted input posts, readings slowly decreases from about 60 ohms to the 0 Ohms during ten (fifteen) seconds and through 0 Ohms continues to the minus Ohms readings slowly and still very slowly increases minus Ohms readings, just like in that video
 
and maybe never stops completely (it is not my movie nor mine instrument but the same symptom).
If it is normal behaviour, then it seems to me that 50 Ohm range is not any good?
Or is my meter broken?

[todd_fuller]

I recently acquired a Fluke 287/FVF and was quite curious if this was something I needed to be worried about. This was purchased from Amazon. Serial # 3567XXXX, 7/16 build date, rev 17 board.

As others show, cap is now replaced with a battery.


Off-topic: anyone know if the J5 header is is the UART to the IR? It would be interesting to add a BT module here.

[M. András]

measured my 289 in stanby today. consumes over 600uA as my testo clamp says OL back to a chinese meter it says 650uA if you can belive to them in terms of accuracy, the was bought back in 2012 so its still well within warranty, will see what the distributor says in the next days

[serggio]

My 287 after replacing super caps consumed 26,5 uA (238 uW)  in standby (OFF) mode.

[Electro Detective]

Both 189 and 289 have the ongoing cRapacitor problem which I cleaned up with some isohol
and may swap out one day when I get the right part and patience to do without killing it
(since Fluke in Oz want receipts n s***, to verify first ownership to fix a -FLUKE PROBLEM- for an 'unimportant' long time loyal Fluke customer) 

Strangely enough, the battery life on both has been great for over 6 months now, on or off, backlight on, logging stuff etc just using ANY weird name brand cheapies

i.e. same set of cheap batteries going well for 6 months, and no leaks yet.

Am I lucky, or 6 months use on a set of cheapies is no big deal?

I haven't been removing or blocking the batteries either btw (lazy, forgetful, busy, whatever) and the meters are still going fine


The math is that 5 or 6 dollars in total to swap out twice a year on batteries for each feature packed meter sounds like a good deal,
and may be beat any leakage happening too if doing so every 6 months

 

[Dwaine]

Yeah, I think your right about the header being for the IR.  Slap in a Bluetooth and the device could be used better for data logging.

[serggio]

Yeah, I think your right about the header being for the IR.  Slap in a Bluetooth and the device could be used better for data logging.

And for internal noise too  Or you'll do completely EMI testing with all Bluetooth module's modes? Or will changing firmware for sending "sleep" signal for bluetooth module?