Fading Fluke 87 display surprise fix!

[jewelie]

I've a very old original (first version) Fluke 87 with the classic fading display due to the deteriorating elastomeric zebra strips.

I'd already tried most other fixes suggested bar a proper replacement strip.

Unfortunately the plastic display mount clips have also deteriorated so badly that I dare not risk breaking another one, as I'd already lost two of the four.

So, as a pure "Hail Mary", to see if it made any difference, the last time I was inside the case (which you had to do to change the battery in the first 87's) I decided to drop some Deoxit D100L under the strip, and give it a gentle massage.  This was the pure liquid stuff that you apply with a brush, not the spray stuff.

24hrs later...

...well bugger me, the display is near perfect.  😃

And it still is, 6 months later, as you can see in the photos. 😲

I know a proper fix would be a new 3rd party strip but I can't do that without spending proper cash and hunting down a new display mount too, and it's just not viable or worth it for me.

I imagine there will be others in the same boat so I thought I'd share, just in case.

[BeBuLamar]

I had the same meter and the first time the display went bad Fluke fixed it under lifetime warranty. Second time they said they can't fix it any more and can only offer me $100 credit toward a 189 so I took it.

[BILLPOD]

I had the same meter and the first time the display went bad Fluke fixed it under lifetime warranty. Second time they said they can't fix it any more and can only offer me $100 credit toward a 189 so I took it.

You made the right decision BeBu, the 189 is a superior DMM and should never have been discontinued

[Fungus]

187/189 were peak Fluke.

It's all downhill after that.

[coromonadalix]

for the 83 87 lcd  zebra  the only trick i used was to compress the lcd plastic frame with some crafted metallic clamps

since the zebra in the 83 sit on thinned traces in my case, i redid the solder, cleaned  and put the clamp

never failed again ? so far ...   now  you have ebay kits ..


yes 187 189  where  the best ever,  alas  the only problem is the screws posts inside the case who crack / fail over the years,  power with superglue to the rescue

[BeBuLamar]

I had the same meter and the first time the display went bad Fluke fixed it under lifetime warranty. Second time they said they can't fix it any more and can only offer me $100 credit toward a 189 so I took it.

You made the right decision BeBu, the 189 is a superior DMM and should never have been discontinued

Yes the 189 is my favorite meter. More than the 87V or the 289 and 287.
About a month or so after I got the 189 Fluke reps contacted me asking me for an hour interview about their new meter. They showed me the simulator of the 189 on the laptop. I liked it but I didn't know the real unit is quite different. I didn't know that the real unit display contrast is too low and you almost always want to have it backlighted. I didn't know that it takes so long to boost up. I didn't know that it's so big. I didn't know that in resistance measurement it autorange very slowly. They asked me if I want to see the temperature display in both C and F and I said no. Only 1 unit at a time.
Any way Fluke gave me $100 Home Depot gift card so it's cool.