Just got (today) an 8060A from eBay, under $40 shipped. When I went to put in a battery, I noticed the negative terminal on the 9V snap was badly corroded, someone must have left a battery in it. A quick twirl with some sandpaper and that worked, but it's very chewed up some eventually I will need to solder on a new 9V snap. I also noticed the small glass fuse was missing, so I need to order one of those.
Powered it up, some LCD segments were out, some were dim. I was going to post about it here, but I did some searching and found a few threads referencing what I was thinking anyway - the elastomeric connector between the board and LCD. So I pulled everything apart and carefully remove the LCD and cleaned the contact point on the LCD and on both stripes with isopropyl. Put it all back together and - all segments light equally during the self test and it fired up. Did a few check measurements and the readings seem reasonable, though I'm sure it long out of cal. Can't test amps until I get a replacement fuse.
Used some alcohol wipes to clean up the outside of the case and it looks better, but can stand some more cleaning. I did hit upon Mr. Modemhead's repair page, perhaps I will take It apart again and clean the case halves with some warm soapy water. But otherwise - what I feared may be a dud purchase looks to be yet another winner.
And what is it with me and old Flukes? This makes 3 now, an 8012A, 45, and this 8060A.
Now that I read the manual, this thing is even MORE amazing. What an awesome meter, even by today's standards.
Tried the self test that checks the AD converter. Manual specifies a reading of 10000 +/- 10 counts. I get 9996, so
The other one is a button test, get all the proper readings indicating each button/switch combo. New fuse for the amps should be hear tomorrow or Thursday so I can finally test amps. I also have a calibrated precision voltage source which has DC and AC, and a precision 100KHz frequency and several calibrated high precision low coefficient resistors on the way to see just how accurate it still is after all these years.
Switch contacts might need some cleaning, it seems to flip out a bit when changing ranges or when changing from AC to DC volts, then the reading will settle back to 0 or 1 on the LSD, with no probes connected.
Great thread
I'll have to read all of it when I get home from work tonight. I also have an 8012 that I've had for a few years, until recently it was my only 'good' meter.
After seeing a few of Dr. Taylor's posts and also Mr Modemhead's site, maybe I'll change out the electrolytics just for grins. I keep forgetting to check the date code on the chips when I have it open to see just what vintage this one is.
I DID take some pics of the inside last night, I need to transfer them to my computer and upload. Not that the inside of an 8060 is new ground for anyone since Dave did a teardown video. But you can see all my LCD segments light up nice and bright during the self test - capturing that with the lag in my phone was fun.
Finished the whole thread, lots of good info on there. Goit my fuses today, so now I can use amps, the big main fuse inside was good, it was just missing the smaller one you replace via the battery access. I did take it apart yet again to examine the caps, this time I looks at date codes on the ICs - mid 83 it looks like. Wow.
Do need to see what's up, on the comparator test is starts at like 9991 and drifts up and then holds at 9996. The manual online is a much newer revision and it says +/- 10 counts, which means mine is fine, but in the thread, Dr Taylor says +/- 4, so it's marginal. It also runs up and down on lower DC volt settings with no probes, and even worse on AC. DC has settled a bit after the last disassembly and cleaning, but hook up a set of probes and it's up and down by ,0030-.0040 on to 200mv and 3v ranges. AC is really whacky. Short the probes and the DC settles at .0001 or 0. AC still is .0020-.0030 with shorted probes. 20V and up ranges are generally fine. Ohms seems fine. Frequency, it reports an AC wall outlet bang on at 60.00. I should have a 100KHz reference to try soon. Haven't tested amps, didn't have anything handy to wire it in series with that would be within one of the ranges, and I don't have a constant current supply.
My 45 does the same jumping around with no device under test, but both of them instantly report the reading if I connect something to the probes, for example I tested a brand new 9V alkaline battery and both meters show 9.588. A new AAA reads 1.5868 on both meters. A used one in my laptop mouse read something like 1.157 on both, though maybe not the same, they were measured a few days apart. So I';m not sure - are they working as intended or is something really wrong with both of these meters?
Short the probes on AC it should measure nothing. With the leads open it is likely to pick up RF and other energy. Other things to try for accuracy is a new battery and let the meter warm up to see if it's heat related drift. For EMI problems move the multimeter to another location with no other equipment and different lighting etc. Batteries tend not to be great for comparisons as they go up and down in charge so take that into consideration as well as the meters range and internal resistance on that range.
I don't have a reference voltage so when I want to do voltage comparison readings, I just plug my meters into an ATX PSU molex connectors simultaneously.
Short the probes on AC it should measure nothing. With the leads open it is likely to pick up RF and other energy. Other things to try for accuracy is a new battery and let the meter warm up to see if it's heat related drift. For EMI problems move the multimeter to another location with no other equipment and different lighting etc. Batteries tend not to be great for comparisons as they go up and down in charge so take that into consideration as well as the meters range and internal resistance on that range.
I've been testing it (and the 45) sitting here at my desk...with 2 monitors, an ipad, iPhone, and cable modem sitting on it, with 2 computers and a dual band router next to it, in a room lit with LED lights. Considering the relatively high amplitude signal my scope sees with unshorted probes, no wonder the meters go a little nuts. With no probes connected, the DC is steady 0 at any range. AC still shows activity - and it's highly directional, No probes connected, AC in 200mv can show anything from .007 to as much as 2.68 depending on the orientation of the meter and the position of my hands relative to the meter body. But indeed, shorting the probes results in a perfect 0.00 reading. The 45 might have an issue though, even with shorted probes on AC it won't go below 0.25mv
Darn it, my reference was supposed to be here today, but there have been no tracking updates since Monday on the shipment. Hope it gets here today or Saturday, Monday is a Federal holiday so then I'll have to wait til Tuesday (the day, not the group...)
My precision reference came today, it's the DMMCheck Plus r5. Being somewhat impatient I wanted to see how close my meters were. Clear evidence of temp coefficients - the calibration data lists 68 deg F as the conditions, but since it's about 20F outside right now, despite the package being in the house (nominal 68F) for a few hours, between the static bag and the layers of bubble wrap, the unit was quite cold to the touch, probably 40F or lower. So knowing I was going to get incorrect readings until everything warmed up, I went ahead anyway.
8060 DC volts and amps - bang on within specs. AC volts reads high, AC amps reads high. Resistance values bang on, within specs. Frequency perfect, cal says 100.006157Hz, meter reads 100.01.
Switched over to the 45, DC volts and amps bang on within spec, ac volts high, ac amps high, 10K and 100K resistance high, 1K and 100 ohm low, frequency high. But by now it was obvious the DMMCheck was warming up, as the AC volts was fluctuating downward, every few seconds one less LSD, closer and closer to the actual value.
So I'll try it all again tomorrow once everything has had a chance to stabilize in temp (and I will also power the meters on well ahead of time as well, the 45 at least says minimum 1 hour, I don't think the 8060 specifies a full hour before checking cal, but it too will be allowed to run for a while before making any comparisons and then I will see if either or both of these meters need adjustment. I also need to dig out my 8012 and check that.
Is there a lesson here? I KNOW I'm doing it completely wrong, and the results are pretty meaningless - but that it's even close and is another bunch of datapoints otherwise not obtainable is meaningful. Plus it bodes well for when I DO do it the right way. If it's reasonably close under improper conditions, it shouldn't be wildly off when everything is right.
Some real numbers on the 8060 after allowing the standard and the meter to run for over an hour, nicely on my desktop at a temperature reasonably close to the cal temp (I don't have a thermometer - but they are out of drafts and direct sunlight and I try to keep my house at 68-70F)
Ref: Actual reading:
5.0000 VDC 5.001VDC
1.0000 mA DC 1.0004 mA
1.000 mA AC 1.0022 mA
4.999 VAC 5.013 V
100.027 K ohm 100.00 K
10.0008 K 9.999 K
999.32 ohm 999.0 ohm
100.054 ohm 100.03 ohm
100.005157Hz 100.00Hz
For the 1K and 100 ohm I shorted the probes and used the REL to account for lead resistance.
Compared to the manual specs, DC volts is well within stated accuracy. As is DC current. Likewise with AC volts and current.
Resistance values all show within rating as well. The frequency is dead on.
SO - I may have a winner here.
It's certainly close enough for anything I'll ever be doing. I'll just leave the battery snap until it's time to replace the battery - it's snapped in 2 pieces so it likely will be destroyed taking it off. Not like that's a tough fix.