Fluke 732B on the 'bay - let the games begin

[TheSteve]

I'm not bidding, but I will certainly be watching - http://www.ebay.com/itm/172828644034

Paging Professor TiN...

[MisterDiodes]

That looks like it took some very severe shipping damage, or fell off the bench.  The rattling inside might be the pieces from the broken end cap casting.

[TiN]

Those are souls of sad volt-nuts rattling around. 

[bjcuizon]

Happy Fluke Bidding Games...May the odds be ever in your favour!

[glarsson]

Six days left in this GBP 0.99 starting bid auction. Why 11 bids already and over GBP 1070? Makes no tactical sense at all. 

[MK]

something fishy about this:
"Looks clean inside. P.S. something is rattling inside."
If he has opened it to know it is clean, why does he not know what is rattling?
I suspect it shot up because it featured on here, and one of those guys who puts anything and everying up for telephone number prices wants to add it to his pile...

[HighVoltage]

It is really a surprise how high it is already with 6 days left at GBP 1430
The price is already too high now, to buy.

[ManateeMafia]

The rattling is most likely a dried out battery. I would be more concerned with leaking electrolyte damage. I have one 732B that showed signs of leakage at the bottom. I would also go out on a limb and say that is what caused the corrosion.
 

[lukier]

It is really a surprise how high it is already with 6 days left at GBP 1430
The price is already too high now, to buy.

Yeah, absolutely crazy. 732B is an excellent reference, but here in this condition, with unknown history and from unknown source it is not worth much IMHO. I'd get 732A for less.

Or maybe someone is trying to pull-off bid-shielding. I once fell victim to that. I wanted to buy Verity monochromator, but on the final day of the auction I saw the price was already above my set limit. Then when the auction ended it turned out the obscenely high bidder somehow retracted their bid (I didn't know it's possible) and their accomplice was the second bidder with a bid lower than what I was prepared to pay.

[CalMachine]

It is really a surprise how high it is already with 6 days left at GBP 1430
The price is already too high now, to buy.

Yeah, absolutely crazy. 732B is an excellent reference, but here in this condition, with unknown history and from unknown source it is not worth much IMHO. I'd get 732A for less.

Or maybe someone is trying to pull-off bid-shielding. I once fell victim to that. I wanted to buy Verity monochromator, but on the final day of the auction I saw the price was already above my set limit. Then when the auction ended it turned out the obscenely high bidder somehow retracted their bid (I didn't know it's possible) and their accomplice was the second bidder with a bid lower than what I was prepared to pay.

Interesting strategy...

[TiN]

That happen to me once (however I was 2nd highest, so I got the unit as result), but I believe there should be a legitimate reason for ebay to have winning bid pulled. Don't quite me though;

[dr.diesel]

Darn thing is up to $1984 now.

What does a shiny brand spanking new 732B go for today, $10k?

[ManateeMafia]

Last I checked a few years ago, $10k was a ball park figure depending on whether you wanted it in the off state, calibrated, or calibrated with estimated drift data. I would think the repair cost on a 732B is probably near the cost of a new unit.

[MisterDiodes]

If you're running a business, it makes no sense to pay Fluke to repair a 732b that's damaged like that - If the oven section needs to be replaced it'll be almost as much as a new unit, and you might as well get the warranty that comes with "brand new".

Off Topic but related as more eBay red flags:
There is another 732a  on ebay now from GoldenRubi that claims they will calibrate and send you the cal cert after the fact.  Which is hogwash...about the only way to cal or measure a 732 to spec is at a facility that maintains a JJA.  As in you get it cal'd at Fluke, or measured at Boeing or Sandia Labs, etc.  I doubt GRubi includes that cal cert -from Fluke-, but it doesn't sound like it:

www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-732A-DC-REFERENCE-STANDARD-W-OPT-NEW-BATTERIES-NIST-CALIBRATED-W-DATA-/192286709397



 

[martinr33]

One thing you do know for sure if you are buying used equipment - if the unit you get works well, it is probably pretty tough!

The AAF units looked credible, because they looked like obsolescence rather than failures. If the units come from a lab being closed down, I'd expect better chances of a stable box. A unit with no obvious history is more likely to be scrap. Another  thing to look for is recent cal stickers.

One might also ask the question as to what most sellers would do with a sticker that said "can not be  calibrated" or some such thing.

[Tony_G]

One might also ask the question as to what most sellers would do with a sticker that said "can not be  calibrated" or some such thing.

I don't know what most sellers would do but one particular seller on eBay left the yellow sticker on the unit but scrubbed the pixels in something like Photoshop so that you couldn't read what was on the sticker - On the basis of that alone I didn't bother buying. Sometime later I saw the same item from the same seller with a massive price drop and, lo and behold, a yellow sticker saying something like "Failed Cal. Unrepairable.".

Looks like they just reposted the unit after they failed to sucker someone at a higher price. I'm not sure why they just didn't remove the sticker.

TonyG

[MisterDiodes]

Again off topic but related on that supposedly cal'd 732a:

The seller reports that is not a real Fluke cal but just checked in-house with their own NIST quality instruments (whatever that means - I suspect that is worthless), and they do not have any drift data from previous cals, and they do not know when it was last in cal, and they got it from a government auction (Like every other equipment dealer claims).  It was not working when they got it but unknown what was repaired.

It allegedly has new batteries but I really doubt the battery charger was adjusted properly.

So basically just like most any other 732a on eBay.  Maybe she's fine, or maybe she's a drifter.  Looks like it'll cost around $1600 or best offer to find out.

[Edwin G. Pettis]

As a calibration tech, it would be highly suspicious that a seller has removed all of the calibrations stickers, that is an immediate red flag that somebody is hiding something serious and doesn't want anybody to know about it.  Particularly if a 'failed' and 'cannot calibrate' sticker was put on the instrument (often by Fluke since they're about the only ones that can certify a 732 to spec technically), a seller will remove these stickers knowing that the unit would likely not sell with them on it.

As pointed out, some other cal labs may give you a reading on a 732B but they usually will not adjust it, only read it, there are very few cal labs that are certified by Fluke to correctly certify calibration of a 732B and they wouldn't touch one with those stickers on them either.

Boeing or Sandia Labs will only give you a reading, they will not adjust it so if that is good enough for you, you can save some money there. 

[TiN]

I like "failed" and "cannot calibrate" stickers, but at accordingly proper pricetag  .

[ManateeMafia]

I like "failed" and "cannot calibrate" stickers, but at accordingly proper pricetag  .

At least this unit has corrosion to match that 3458A. All you would need is a rusty old 10k standard resistor for a perfect set.

[HighVoltage]

Bidding ended at crazy US $2,189.35

Would be nice to find out, if the buyer will be happy.
May be the buyer will see this post one day and give us a repair / tear down thread.