Urgent Fluke recall on T110, T120 and T130

[WackyGerman]

I sent my T130 back on the 6th december . Still no replacement unit received 

[belasajgo]

Today I noticed this information on the Fluke recall status page:

"For the T-pole recall campaign, we are currently processing the returns that were received in our warehouse on the 19/11/2018 – 23/11/2018."

https://www.fluke.com/en/support/safety-notices/tpt-recall-status

So I am afraid that we will have to wait about 2-3 months until we will get a replacement product.

On the german recall status page, what I also checked today, they write that they received a much higher volume of returned products than expected (what I also thought), that's why they have this long delay in the replacement of the faulty products. But didn't they know how many products they sold in the last 6-7 years? Or did they expect that the people throw these away after a few years, just to buy a new one? When I buy Fluke products, I buy them because I expect to have a long-lasting product with the well-known Fluke quality and I want to use that product for as long as possible (at least 10 years or more). So I don't know what to say more about this, I am speechless...

I wrote today an email to Fluke to get more information about the shipping date, because I can't stay for many months without it. And even if you would want to buy a new product (a second one), you aren't able, because this product is out of stock in most local and online stores, and where you can still find a few products in stock, the remaining products are affected by this recall.

[WackyGerman]

Yes so the most electric companies which mandatory need a voltage tester, so they have to buy another one from a diffenent brand . No company can wait such a long time . That´s a really really bad service from Fluke and so many companies will think about not to buy from Fluke anymore . When I sent it to Fluke they promised me to sent a new one back between 24 to 48 hours after receiving my old one . Piss take , maybe after 24 to 48 days or months . Makes me really really mad  . Quality  , customer service 

[belasajgo]

I received from Fluke Germany an email with answers to my questions two days after I wrote them. They say that in the beginning they had problems getting these "very high quality cables" that meet the VDE requirements (for Germany) and Fluke's quality demand. They say that their employees are now working in extra-shifts to fulfill the demand (I'm curious in which country are they manufacturing these cables...).  They also wrote that the replacement units for us (who returned the faulty units in the first week of January) will be shipped no sooner than at the end of February or maybe later. They are also apologizing for the poor communication (not informing the customers immediately about the long delays) and they mentioned that they were overwhelmed by the large number of emails, phone calls and returns.

[Faith]

Well Fluke sure haven’t a clue what’s going on.

I wanted to pick up a new T130 and knowing there was a recall I called my local test equipment retailer to check whether or not they had any stock ready for collection and more importantly whether or not it was one of the newer serial numbers which aren’t affected by the recall.

My retailer did have stock and they told me they’ll check with Fluke Singapore directly on whether or not they can sell the product to me, and Fluke Singapore said no problem the serial number checks out as good and is not affected by the recall. Yay!

They didn’t want to give me the serial number for me to check myself but whatever I took their word for it.

So I took my time to go down to my retailer to pick the product up... and lo and behold the serial number was in the affected batch of products which have been recalled... but Fluke Singapore told my retailer that it was ok to sell. So kindly excuse my pirate-ette mouth but... WHAT THE FUCK?

My retailer then called Fluke Singapore again and asked what’s going on and they insisted that the serial number was fine, so we directed them to the Fluke website dedicated to the recall:

https://www.fluke.com/en/support/safety-notices/tpt-recall-r0en

And Fluke said “the affected serial numbers are only from “4352999 to 43529999” and yours is 42XXXXX.”



So Fluke hires representatives who don’t know how to read basic rows and columns then.

The Fluke website clearly states that the recall affects serial numbers from “2157000” OR “21570000” *TO* “4352999” OR “43529999.” So thank you very much Fluke for wasting my afternoon. Imbeciles.

My retailer wasn’t amused either and said “and this is why I hate dealing with Fluke.”

You and me both.

Annoyingly Fluke do make nice products... but bless you if you ever have to deal with them directly.

[belasajgo]

A few days ago I received my new Fluke T110 VDE voltage tester. I am happy to have one again, but I find the overall build quality of the product worse than how my original product was. I wonder if the engineers at Fluke use their products in real life (for work or hobby), or they just develop them and use products of other manufacturers.

When I first unpacked the new product, I noticed many differences, compared to the original product that I owned. The "new" cable between the two probes seems to be a bit longer and I think it is also a bit softer (you can bend it better) - but this is the only "positive" difference. The other differences are not so good and I would say that they represent a quality problem. As example, the probe tips (the thin ones) are not as shiny as they were on the original product and the metal finish is pretty rough, they also have a different metal colour than the 4 mm screw-on pins, I was wondering if they forgot / skipped a step in the manufacturing process. The red insulation of the red probe tip is a little shorter compared to the black one, so when you screw on the 4 mm metal pins onto the probe tips, you have an unaesthetic gap between the metal pin and the red insulation (1 mm big), which also could be a problem if the probe tip with the pin remains hanged somewhere on the rim of an uneven hole (I had this problem). Furthermore, there is that black rubber thing where you can store the plastic probe tip covers and the 4 mm metal pins, that was a useful accessory, but at the new model I noticed the problem that one of the metal pins is almost slipping out, while the other one stays in there firmly as expected, so one of the holes is larger than the other one. Last but not least, when you slide the black probe onto the yellow probe (with the red tip), it stays there very loose. When you hold the voltage tester with the probe tips facing the ground, the black probe slips sometimes easily out and falls to the ground. This is not good at all. The original product that I got, had no such problems, I rather had the problem that I needed some force to push the black probe onto the yellow probe, but it was staying there firmly, without sliding out, no matter in which position I was holding the voltage tester.

I am sad to say it, but this was the last Fluke product that I bought. And I made this decision not because of the initial safety problem that remained unnoticed for many years and not because of the long replacement period of the product, but because of the bad quality of the new product. I see that nowadays Fluke is also trying to lower the manufacturing costs (like other manufacturers do), lowering also the quality of their products. I would have preferred to receive only a new cable and replace it myself. The old product also wasn't flawless (like I wrote in one of the other replies), but the new product is worse.

[threephase]

Most of the pointers you have made are the same with both my replacement T110 and the original one I purchased back in March 2018. I blogged about my original tester on element14 - https://www.element14.com/community/groups/test-and-measurement/blog/2018/03/26/my-new-voltage-probe-has-arrived

The only one I have not had, with either of the units is the probe tips being loose in the rubber holder, they are a tight fit on my unit and easily hold in place.

One nuisance I would add, is that the 4mm adapters are actually 4.1mm in diameter and therefore don't go into some 4mm sockets.

Kind regards

[Electro Detective]

One can guess why these dud Fluke wands are always doing the rounds in pawn shops and Ebay,

and the used, grubby toolbox appearance prices aren't cheap either 


They get sold, then re-appear weeks later, be they the same and or new dud/stolen stock 

Fluke should round them all up before some apprentices or cashed up tradies sporting Fluke    to complement their tools in attention seeking YELLOW 

get their ass zapped real good on a job, or have already 


FWIW the Uni-T wands look identical, do they have an issue too?

or is Fluke more honest to drop a Recall Alert because more to lose if they don't ?


I've an older fluke T100 that works ok, but still don't trust it as the sole go / no go testing device on any job with heart stopping voltages   

[threephase]

No that would be hilarious, finding out that a Fluke T110 is just a rebranded UNI-T UT18B!

There are quite a number of visual differences, so I presume they aren't.

Kind regards.

[Electro Detective]

Well..some of the blister packed Uni-T wands I've seen at some electrical retailers and on Ebay are a RED straight up mimic of the Fluke
(or vice versa  )

The specs appear identical so... 

add that it's been a few years now and Fluke has not implied any forthcoming  -cease and desist or else-  actions yet,

or any Forum chat about it afaik 

[thaistatos]

same here:
red insulation is too short
they do not stick to each other but immediately fall off
small probes stick out of the screw on adapters (but not sure if it was the same before)
diameter of adapters is 4.19mm (but the old one had the same diameter)
black cap only fits without small black plastic insulators (but again not sure if it was different on the old model)

[belasajgo]

I wrote today an email to Fluke Germany about these quality issues. I am waiting to get an answer from them.

Be careful when walking with the voltage tester with the pins facing downwards. Because the black probe can easily slide out of the yellow probe, you can injure yourself if you are not wearing safety shoes and the probe falls with the sharp pin towards your foot (e.g. when you are doing something at home where you normally don't use safety shoes just to measure something). If you put the black rubber accessory holder cap onto the voltage tester (when the probes are joined together), then it is safer because the black probe is not sliding out so easily like without it, but it is not acceptable to have to put the rubber cap on each time when you are going from one junction box to the next junction box (e.g. when having a walking distance of just a few meters). I won't accept any comment like "you are holding it wrong", because holding it with the pins facing downwards is the most ergonomic way to hold the voltage tester when going from one place to another.

[WackyGerman]

Finally I got a new one after 3 month 

[belasajgo]

Today I received an answer from Fluke to the email where I asked for a statement regarding these quality issues. At first, they offered to send me another voltage tester, but since it looks like all these voltage testers have the same issues (more or less), it also would have been possible to get a worse voltage tester than what I have now. The answer they sent me as an official statement, was not really satisfactory for me (read below).

1. The tips are positioned using a two-cavity mold. The tip is insert-molded, a steel spike is hand-inserted into the mold and then overfolded with the red plastics.
This has not changed, but there will be a very small difference between probes.
This has no impact on functional performance.
2. We can't understand that here.
With our devices the adapters hold in the holder.
3. Regarding the two halves joining together via the moulded clip.
The interference fit really depends of geometry and dimensions of contacting surfaces of both tester body and probe.
There are several probe case molds, and no mold is identical. So there might be differences between built instruments.

I had the case reference number CAS-27274-H4M8B.

So they say that everything is fine, these minor quality problems have no impact on the functional performance (really?). The problem with the two probes not sticking to each other properly is also not a problem, it is a normal thing for Fluke. Even if one probe can easily slip out of the other one and can injure somebody, that is also nothing unusual, it is a normal thing for Fluke. Incredible!

[belasajgo]

As a follow-up:
Last week I received from Fluke an unexpected demo-product shipment. After inspecting and testing the included test gear, I observed that the Fluke products from a higher price range have no such quality issues like these products from the lower price range about which we are talking in this topic. At least, now I know that I can trustfully continue to buy Fluke products from the higher price range, because the quality of the higher-end products is still all right. But on the other hand, if you work in the industry and you have a job where you are always on the move and you are working on many different construction sites and in many different plants, then you know that there is a high chance for the expensive test gear to "vanish" suddenly. That's why many years ago I bought the Fluke T110 VDE voltage tester in the first place, it was not very expensive, but you still had a better product quality and more features in comparison with the products of other manufacturers. Unfortunately, the newer Fluke voltage testers about which we are talking here, were not so lucky to be flawless (considering the mentioned quality issues), but anyhow, electrically they are still very reliable.