Urgent Fluke recall on T110, T120 and T130

[Specmaster]

Fluke are advising anyone with one of these testers that fall within the dates shown on the following link to stop using them with immediate effect because of safety reasons, infor here https://www.fluke.com/en-gb/support/safety-notices/tpt-recall

[Co6aka]

I have a T110 that's part of the recall but Fluke has refused to honor the recall because the T110 isn't a USA product; they suggested that I dispose of the T110 and purchase another Fluke tester that doesn't have the safety issue. Nice.

[Specmaster]

Oh, so thats a nice public spirited company for you, suggesting that you deliberately pass off a potentially dangerous product onto some poor unsuspecting mug. That for sure actually cements the image that they are a reputable company only as long as they don't get caught with defective items. Makes you wonder just how many other so called big name and reputable companies out there are happy to leave knowingly faulty items in circulation hoping that they don't get found out?

[retiredcaps]

I have a T110 that's part of the recall but Fluke has refused to honor the recall because the T110 isn't a USA product; they suggested that I dispose of the T110 and purchase another Fluke tester that doesn't have the safety issue. Nice.

I suggest you phone again and point them to this.  I'm assuming USA is a "NON-EU" country?  If 1st line customer support doesn't give you the answer you want, ask nicely to speak to supervisor or manager.

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

NON-EU Countries

Contact the Fluke distributor in your country and arrange for return of your product to their facility. The Fluke distributor will exchange your T-Pole tester free of charge.

[threephase]

I think in the USA, the recall is being handled by the Fluke distributors and not Fluke themselves, maybe contact where you purchased it from if there is no further help from Fluke direct. I presume it would be more economical for them to batch ship the products over to Netherlands rather than individually as mine was.

Whilst it isn't a good response from Fluke, I would say that 'dispose of' in this instance, should be destroy and dispose / recycle and not sell on to someone else.

It was about a 2 week process from start to finish to replace mine.

Kind regards.

[Muttley Snickers]

After seeing this thread about the Fluke recall I went on a hunt for any local information in regards to Australia, Recalls Australia didn't have any notification listed and the only other notice I found was from Celemetrix who are the Australian service agent for Fluke products. There was also a video posted on Youtube which I had linked below but for some silly reason it wouldn't work.   

https://www.productsafety.gov.au

http://www.celemetrix.com.au/tpt-recall

[Co6aka]

I first called Tequipment who are an authorized Fluke distributor. Tequipment called Fluke and were told essentially the same thing. Tequipment suggested that I call Fluke directly, which I did, and was told as I posted above. Previously, about three weeks ago, I filled in and submitted the online form on Fluke's website, but have not received or heard any response from Fluke. Today I submitted another online form (and haven't yet gotten any response, though it's certainly too soon for that.)

[threephase]

Hmmm, that's no good.

Hopefully a bit of embarrassment on here will get them to take note and get things moving.

It took them 4 to 5 days to send through a dispatch label to me for UPS to collect, but that was about a month ago and I think they are struggling with the number of returns currently.

Hope it gets sorted for you.

Kind regards.

[Muttley Snickers]

The Australian Fluke website displays a huge banner showing off and promoting their products and then in the fine print at the base of the page is a link to a critical safety alert, common sense says it should be the other way around just like the extremely dangerous wiring configuration shown on one of their products, sorry but this attitude not unlike some of their equipment is completely out of order.   

Fluke Australia
https://www.fluke.com/en-au

Dodgy Pruducts
https://www.fluke.com/en-au/support/safety-notices/critical-safety-alert-for-173x-174x


Safety is not a Fluke.

[Specmaster]

100% agreeance here, if someone was to get killed using one of the dangerous testers and it subsequently became known that the user either did not know about the recall or that Fluke had said dispose of it then buy a new unit rather then them standing by their obligation, then that would be very damaging for them if it leaked to the press?

Come on Fluke, stand to your responsibilities, people buy your products, believing that they are the best and safest around, and that belief is upheld by millions of customers around the world, so you can afford to safeguard that reputation by ensuring that every known bad product is removed from use a replaced with one fit for purpose.

[threephase]

Wow, didn't know about the 173X test lead recall.

I actually found out about the T110 recall from Farnell where I purchased the T110 from in the UK. I then got another notice of it the next day from an electrical distributor in the UK and then it was blogged on here.

My meters are registered with Flue as well......

[Specmaster]

Well that last statement says it all really, they didn't even attempt to advise you of the potential danger 

[joeqsmith]

I read their post about the 173X.   

No equipment is child proof and even the best people make mistakes but still,  I would like to interview the person/s who shorted the phases.  What could have possibly been going through their head, before the plasma that is.

[Monkeh]

They should send owners new leads, if its just the leads that have problems.

The leads are not detachable.

[retiredcaps]

I first called Tequipment who are an authorized Fluke distributor.

Is that where you bought the T110 from originally?  If yes, and if the T110 isn't an USA product, then why is Tequipment selling it?

Am I missing something?

Or is the T110 an ebay purchase?

[Bassman59]

I first called Tequipment who are an authorized Fluke distributor. Tequipment called Fluke and were told essentially the same thing. Tequipment suggested that I call Fluke directly, which I did, and was told as I posted above. Previously, about three weeks ago, I filled in and submitted the online form on Fluke's website, but have not received or heard any response from Fluke. Today I submitted another online form (and haven't yet gotten any response, though it's certainly too soon for that.)

TEquipment doesn't have this product listed on their US website.

[Co6aka]

Am I missing something?

Yes...

On Fluke's website, on their page detailing the recall...

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

...scroll down to where it's written...

"NON-EU Countries: Contact the Fluke distributor in your country and arrange for return of your product to their facility. The Fluke distributor will exchange your T-Pole tester free of charge."

As I wrote previously, Tequipment is a Fluke distributor in my non-EU country, so I contacted them as per Fluke's instructions on Fluke's website.

PS- I presume from what Fluke wrote on their website, on this page...

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

...that they're only "recalling" and exchanging products if the owner is in Europe, Middle East, or Africa.

PPS- Hamfest purchase from a relocated Irishman.

[Muttley Snickers]

PPS- Hamfest purchase from a relocated Irishman.

Fluke are a bit funny with their warranty terms and conditions and as you did not purchase the unit from an authorised agent or distributor in addition to not being the original owner they may not be under any obligation to remedy your problem. You might want to have a read of the warranty terms and conditions applicable to your region, from memory I don't remember them ever making a specific reference to product recalls or potentially dangerous equipment in their warranty statements. Regardless of the situation they should at least inform you of your eligibility status in regards to a claim.

[Specmaster]

Fact still remains the product is dangerous regardless of where and how you obtained it etc. It also is clearly a Fluke branded product so they should not be trying to wriggle out of warrenty claims.

People are very forgiving about product defects providing such defect is resolved fully by the manufacturers. Prompt resolution of a problem actually enhances a companies reputation. Trying to get out if it damages their reputation and it can do a lot of damage to the brand.

[Muttley Snickers]

I don't know what their legal obligations are so won't speculate in that regard, they do however declare that this is a voluntary recall of the T series as opposed to a mandatory recall where they might have to answer to a higher authority or make good regardless.

They do make it pretty clear in their recall statement that this fault is of concern and could pose a risk to the user so I agree that it shouldn't really matter where the device was obtained, a product recall voluntary or otherwise needs to be properly addressed.     

[Co6aka]

Warranty and recall are two completely different animals; I'm not making a warranty claim, I'm responding to the manufacturer's recall. In other words, it's Fluke's problem, not mine.

Anyway, I've contacted a product safety attorney (via their website) so let's see if/how this works out.

(Hey, maybe I should find some crackhead willing to electrocute himself for a 50/50 split of plaintiff's judgment proceeds! )

[belasajgo]

When I purchased my first Fluke T110 VDE (German model) back in 2013, I was shocked to see that this expensive product is "Made in Romania". Many other big companies like Eaton also had big quality problems with their products after they moved the production lines of their circuit breakers to Romania, a big number of circuit breakers from the first few batches had severe safety problems, they did not work properly. And I noticed that in the last couple of years Siemens also started manufacturing their RCBOs in Romania, although I did not hear about any recalls from Siemens by now.

A week ago I received a safety notification about this Fluke recall from the shop where I purchased my product, today I filled out and submitted the online form for the recall. I hope it will not take them very long to replace my product. Although, on their website they say that at this moment the shipping of the replacement products may take up to four weeks. At least I hope that they have enough of their VDE model in stock, so that they can send out these sooner. They actually make you buy a new product, because you can't wait for the replacement product 4 weeks + 1-2 weeks for the free shipping label if you are working with it on a daily basis.

I see that they are recalling the products with the serial numbers between 2157000(0) and 4352999(9), my product has the serial number 2445XXXX and was manufactured in 2013, so I assume that also the products that were manufactured back in 2012 and probably 2011 had this safety issue, and like Fluke is stating on the recall page, the products manufactured until July 2018 have this problem. I ask myself why did Fluke wait until now to solve this issue, or why did they not notice this problem sooner? From 2011 or 2012 until now they had about 6-7 years. What is with the quality assurance at Fluke? I would apply for a job as a quality engineer, but I see no such open positions yet.

[threephase]

Reading the safety notice, I don't think it is a manufacturing quality defect that is wrong, but a design issue with the cable / strain relief. It may be that some people have experienced issues with the units over the years, that has caused Fluke to carry out more extensive testing and identified the issue.

The remedy is a replacement cable, but the unit returned to me was boxed brand new, with a serial number greater than the recalled and badged as made in the UK. This could of course mean that the components / cable is sourced outside of UK and just assembled there.

No, it isn't good that you have to send back first to get the replacement, especially as Fluke concede that the primary function of the T110 is for absence of voltage tests. What concerns me is the amount of time for you to receive the alert as this has been going around for some time now.

[belasajgo]

I submitted yesterday the online form for the recall, today I already received a shipping label via email (for shipping with UPS - standard shipping, not express shipping). I will send it away as soon as possible and I will see how long it will take to receive a replacement product.

Are there noticeable differences between the old and the new product?

You are right, this problem could also exist because of a faulty product (or cord / strain relief) design, but then they have a problem with the quality assurance regarding the desing execution or regarding the testing of the product in real-life conditions. I mean, when a product is designed, this is not made by only one employee but by whole teams of employees, the testing of the products and the development of the product testing methods is usually also made by whole teams. So critical problems should have been noticed theoretically right away, or at least in the first 1-2 years after the product launch. Maybe it was something that they did notice but they did not consider it as something critical, or they considered it as being an acceptable thing that can normally happen after x years of use - they theoretically also sell replacement cords if your cord gets damaged, but I think they were thinking about other types of (mechanical) damages, they did not expect that you could also have an "intermittent" problem that can pass the self-test. But it also could be that they just wanted to lower the manufacturing costs and save a few cents and hoped that there will be no problems with the products - like Weller did with the soldering stations by not installing a fuse on the primary side of the transformers - no one noticed it for many many years, only after Dave made a video about that, everybody started to go crazy about it. Only Fluke could give us an answer to this but they probably won't say anything about it...

The original description of the safety issue:
"It has been determined that certain Recalled Testers may experience premature failure of the interconnecting cable under cyclical bending stress. Recent experiments conducted by Fluke have shown a wide distribution in the number of cycles to failure exhibited by the Recalled Testers, meaning that certain Recalled Testers are subject to failure earlier than expected, leading to a useful life for certain of them that Fluke considers unacceptable.

Further, the cable may fail in an intermittent fashion where, depending on the cable flex orientation, it is possible for a Recalled Tester to pass a self check continuity test or validation on a known voltage source, while subsequent tests may display a false negative.

[...] Our R&D, Quality, and Safety teams have qualified a new cable to be used in the T-Pole Testers, which makes them more robust. In addition, we have now implemented additional improvements to the strain relief complementing the cable strength. Testing of these new changes has shown improvements in cable cycle performance."

When I purchased this product many years ago, Fluke advertised this product as a very reliable product with "a heavy duty molded case, a thicker cord with wear indicator, sturdy battery case, and well-fitting and durable probe protector". So I naturally expected that they test the cords from each batch accordingly, simulating many different wear and tear scenarios that normally occur in real-life usage (including cyclical bending stress). But now I ask myself what did go wrong at Fluke, in the case that this problem was noticed only now and not sooner? I also wonder what will Fluke do with the returned products? Maybe they replace the cords with the new ones and resell them as refurbished products?

[belasajgo]

So I sent my T110 VDE on the 3-rd of January away, Fluke received it on the 8-th of January. I am still waiting for the replacement product. I did not expect to miss my product so much on a daily basis, but now just with multimeters I see how useful my T110 was, it was much more handy than the DMMs.

I looked again at the original recall notification in german language what I received, published by Fluke, forwarded to me by the shop where I purchased my product, there was written that the customers will receive a replacement product 24-48 hours after Fluke receives the recalled product... They probably did not expect such a high quantity of returned products.

[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.