Author Topic: If Brymen BM869s is cheaper and as good, why people would still buy Fluke?  (Read 194985 times)

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Offline BeBuLamar

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So my experience with Fluke is both good and bad. Still I think I would buy a Fluke instead of a Brymen.

You throw around terms like "co worker" and "Fluke rep came to see me". Is this a corporate account? How many Fluke meters do you have around?

It wouldn't surprise me that anybody who buys enough meters to have a "rep" gets better warranty treatment than the average joe.

You also say things like "in 2004". Fluke has changed hands since then so I'd have to wonder if it's still the same today.

In some cases like with my 87 I contact Fluke as a person because it's my own meter. My company do not have account with Fluke but we do buy a good number of Fluke meters. In my plant (our company have about 60 plants) we have about 30 or 40 meters. They are 87V, 287, 289, 376, 381, some IR cameras and a scopemeter. We buy them thru Grainger which we have corporate account with. I generally send meters that used in my plant out for repair so a co worker break it I would take care of the repair process. I don't really see a difference after Danaher bought Fluke although all companies change and most for the worse not the better. As far as the Fluke rep came to see me because I swap the IR3000FC several times with Grainger so they decided to ask Fluke to send a rep to see me. In fact back in 2004 when I bought the 189 Fluke contacted me and sent a couple of reps to interview me about the features of the up coming 287 and 289. They gave $100 gift card after the interview.
 

Offline wizard69

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Back in the day, I was working in a plant literally fresh out of high school doing college at night.   Ended up breaking my fluke meter (cracked LCD) and sent it back to them.   I'm pretty sure they didn't know me from a hole in the ground and the plant I was working in at the time wasn't large enough to register on any corporate list.   At the time I was certain the warranty had expired but they got the meter back to me in a few days and no charge for anything.    So my experience, reinforced with other experiences with Fluke is that they stand behind their hardware no matter whom you are.   For me that was a good thing in many respects, for one starting out one doesn't have a test equipment budget, two it highlighted that I can count on the company.   Even much later in my life, working for a much larger company, I still see very ethical behavior and good service from Fluke.

That isn't to say the company is perfect, no company is.    What it says is that you can expect good service no matter if you are a peon at a tiny family run business or and established tech at company with 1000's of employees.

So my experience with Fluke is both good and bad. Still I think I would buy a Fluke instead of a Brymen.

You throw around terms like "co worker" and "Fluke rep came to see me". Is this a corporate account? How many Fluke meters do you have around?

It wouldn't surprise me that anybody who buys enough meters to have a "rep" gets better warranty treatment than the average joe.

You also say things like "in 2004". Fluke has changed hands since then so I'd have to wonder if it's still the same today.
 

Offline rsjsouza

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Fluke has many examples of good service around, which is always excellent.

In my experience, Brymen also stood behind their products once when the stupidly fragile stand of my BM857 broke and they shipped me a replacement in no time - and I am a nobody for them as well. Also, the experiences reported by Joe and Dave regarding their genuine interest in listening to feedback from real users makes me confident their path is being traveled in a very good foundation.

I sincerely hope that Brymen becomes a top of the mind brand alongside Fluke - we will all benefit from that.
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline J-R

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Can't believe this is still being discussed, but I suppose for other shoppers coming along later it's still useful info.

Last year I E-mailed Fluke about an 87V test lead issue and I got two new sets in the mail a few days later.

The handheld Flukes I own (87V, 88V, 287) really surprised me with their DCV accuracy and temperature stability.  60F to 80F and they are basically spot on at first turn-on.

Under the same conditions I'm always having to take extra care with my higher-count Brymens (869s, 789).  50k/60k count; so what, the last 1 and sometimes 2 digits are not valid in cases where they really should be.  Maybe the Brymen 85x series DMMs are better in that regard?

The magnet/speaker issue with the 78x affected me and I still don't have a full resolution, although I added some shielding so at least the speaker is audible with the magnet attached.

But on the flip side the Flukes have their negatives and the Brymens their positives, obviously...

The best part is if you're shopping for either, the information you need to make a good decision for your use case is here on the forums if you're willing to put in a little effort.
 

Offline tooki

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A big reason Fluke can continue to charge what they do is because we know how Fluke meters age: a 30 year old Fluke still works perfectly, and will still be in-spec. While that is no guarantee that an individual Fluke meter will survive that long, it’s a strong clue as to the quality of their designs and component choices. Other brands that have similarly long, positive track records command similarly high prices.

Aggressively priced newcomers could design a meter that’s every bit as good and will have the same long-term performance. But they won’t be able to command a high price for another few decades.

Does this matter to a hobbyist? Not really. Does it matter in industries where test gear is safety-critical? You bet. They need to minimize risk, and buying a new brand is a higher risk than the old, well known one. Even better if the specific models have been around for ages, as using a model they already know reduces risk even further.
 
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Offline Cymaphore

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The magnet/speaker issue with the 78x affected me and I still don't have a full resolution, although I added some shielding so at least the speaker is audible with the magnet attached.

Mine works fine if the magnet is in the upside down orientation. I considered cutting the other end of the magnet so that I can still use the strap. But I rarely need that, so not done that yet.
 

Offline BeBuLamar

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As far as Fluke lifetime warranty it seems that I can always get them to fix it once but not twice.
 
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